A few weeks ago, Hallmark Channel dumped "Cheers" reruns after grabbing the rights and showing them for, well, a few weeks. Hallmark got the rights from TV Land, and so right now, as far as I know, there is no national outlet for this classic sitcom. How can this be?
Time for a caveat or two:
*I know Hallmark Channel stinks and butchers all its programs, anyway, and true fans of the show are better off not seeing it there.
*I know that all 11 seasons of "Cheers" will be available on DVD when the final set comes out in January, thus making its on-air presence less vital.
*I know that the show is, at first glance, not at all compatible with the usual Hallmark fare and is actually a bizarre program acquisition to begin with.
*I know that the network's quick trigger doesn't give us enough info to make accurate assessments about who was or wasn't watching and why.
*Similarly, there's a pretty good shot nobody even knew the show was ON Hallmark.
But STILL...
Fact is, Hallmark dumped this great show after giving it the slimmest of trials. Buying this sitcom was an odd choice to begin with. This lame entity, known for murder mysteries and family-oriented TV movies, also purchased rights to "The Golden Girls" and "I Love Lucy." I don't see how the somewhat raunchy "Golden Girls" fits with the wholesome agenda of Hallmark (though it certainly fits the age demo). Maybe Lucy will fare well. But "Cheers"? What was Hallmark thinking in the first place?
I want to lay all on the blame on the Hallmark Channel and give credit to fans of the show for not bothering to watch 20-minute-long versions on this inferior network. But I also have to recognize this: "Cheers" apparently didn't set the world on fire on Nick at Nite or TV Land, or presumably it would still be on one of those outlets. I don't see "Cheers" much in local syndication anymore.
Is it possible most TV viewers just don't care about "Cheers" anymore? It was a big hit in its prime, and it holds up fine today. I just don't get a media landscape in which "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Home Improvement" are on all the time, yet "Cheers" is exiled to DVDland.
If this is the state of America in 2008, I may have to move to Canada until the citizenry comes to its collective senses.
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1 comment:
As one of the people who fit the age demographics of the "raunchy" Golden Girls I feel that show and Frasier are the only things worth watching on Hallmark. Go to Canada, insipid little yuppie. Maybe they have the Stick Your Finger Down Your Throat shows that you are looking for.
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