I promised to return to rant on this topic earlier, and now recent listings about upcoming new programming (to which I will respond next time) have brought the idea front and center again.
Once upon a time, the network television season was a nice, predictable animal. Shows premiered in September, just as school and, most likely, regular schedules resumed after a summer hiatus. Shows themselves went on hiatus in December in favor of holiday programming and came back in late January, bringing out all kinds of bells and whistles to keep viewers interested during February sweeps. Then the season proceeded along with few interruptions, usually with 22 or 24 episodes, until May sweeps, during which programs ended their seasons with cliff-hanger season finales. And all was right with the world. You knew when to watch for new shows, where to be to find the exciting episodes, and when you could catch up on episodes you missed. It was very comforting. I enjoyed this state of affairs.
Then along came the increasing popularity of pay cable stations and their move from movies to original programming and this comforting, regular schedule got blown to smithereens. I blame Sex and the City, myself. This show started a trend in 1998 that has only continued to grow. More and more, network and cable stations are throwing out the old system and calendar and premiering shows whenever they darn well please and filming as many (or, more accurately, as few) episodes as they wish. This new mentality does have some advantages, don't get me wrong. For example, new shows premiering in the summer is a genius move, since this season has heretofore been a programming wasteland.
However, the disadvantages are legion. One, the average viewer cannot possibly hope to untangle the new calendars and keep track of when certain shows are off the air for months on end (I'm talking to you, Lost), when other shows premier at quixotic times (24 comes to mind), or when new shows might be appearing (could be September, could be January, could be for some completely inexplicable reasons, March or even April, as with The Sopranos this year). Two, in a time in which DVR and Tivo and iTunes video are becoming increasingly popular, all this confusion seems virtually to assure that fewer and fewer people will be watching television in real-time and thus seeing fewer and fewer ads, the food that keeps these shows going, at least at present. I'm not saying I am overly in favor of commercials, but right now they are the bread and butter of the industry, yet the industry itself seems to be blithely uncaring about this fact.
I am not against change or new technology, by any means. I just want some clarity! And if I want it, devoted fan that I am, imagine how much Mr. and Mrs. Relatively Passive but Still Appreciative Viewers in the Midwest must want to know what the heck is going on. We can't all read the magazines and websites and blogs religiously to make sense of it all and expecting us to is unrealistic. So let's systemize, people! Let's publicize our logic and organize our efforts and regularize our calendars. Is this too much to ask? I think not!
2 comments:
Sing it!
Case in point: The bf and I are loyal House watchers. How do the geniuses at Fox (who "skipped" a few episodes of their 24 Season 5 rerun and yanked it entirely before it was over) reward us? No episodes for the last 3 weeks. Then, last night: NEW EPISODE, plus an "encore" to get us caught up/warmed up. And then....? No new episodes for the next three weeks! Huh? Way to shatter the momentum, guys.
And speaking of 24: they have this absurd 4-hour, 2-night premiere starting next Sunday, but I'll be darned if I don't know when the show's "regular" timeslot is-- if there will even be one. People: I need to plan my tv week! How can I be expected to follow 24 if it's jumping all over the map?
I'm just saying, I'm longing for the days when "your shows" were on at the same time every week, so at least there was some semblance of order in the world. That's all.
I hear ya, sister. In a world (read this in the quintessential tv announcer voice, please) of so much confusion and disarray, one constant remained: must-see tv. Only now, not so much.
On the one hand, Fox surprises me, in that they have the best "watch it for free on-line" set up of any of the major networks but at the same time, their best shows aren't available there, such as House and 24. Which is, in a word, dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Why are they not consulting us on these crucial decisions?!
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