I complain a lot about what's NOT on TV, so I think it's time to mix things up...by complaining about what IS on TV. I used to enjoy reading Sitcoms Online's news blog because it would bring news of an exciting program acquisition for a rerun outlet like TV Land or American Life. Now, at least once a week, I read something that makes me groan.
Let's examine what TV channels and networks are running when they're NOT showing classics like "Mannix," "Room 222," "The Paper Chase," or...you name it.
*Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye. I hate to rip on shows I don't watch just to make a point, but...well...I don't have a big gripe with this show getting rerun exposure (though I didn't know it ever really left Pax/ION), but do we need TWO channels' worth of it? Both American Life and Gospel Music Channel show this weekdays, with GMC giving it two shots a day.
That's a whole lotta Sue Thomas. I'm just sayin'. But at least this is a rerun of a show that isn't on anymore. We somehow reached a point where the mission of practically every programming outlet extant is to recycle the stuff that's on right now. Well, not literally right now, but currently in first-run, though chances are, whenever you read this, someone is showing...
*Bones: I don't dare make fun of this one, a Mrs. Cultureshark favorite. But, oh, boy, do I get my fill of this show, just by secondhand exposure. Fox shows it allegedly once a week, WGN America runs it, the local "My TV" affiliate airs it frequently, and then there's TNT. Oh, is there TNT.
As I write this, TNT is showing "Bones" at 7, 8, 9, AND 10. Tomorrow it'll be on at 7, 8, and 9. Thursday, an NBA game limits it to one episode, but Friday, Angel and "Don't Call Me Zooey" Deschannel return at 7 and 8.
There isn't this much "Bones" in the Museum of Natural History.
*How about "Ghost Whisperer"? CBS gives this its weekly airing Friday nights, but for some unknown reason, WE, ION, and SyFy are all showing reruns. You want to talk about unexplained phenomena? Someone figure out what the interest is in THIS MUCH "Ghost Whisperer." If you really want to do the research, you don't have to go visit a haunted graveyard or anything. Just turn it to SyFy Monday night and settle in for FOUR STRAIGHT EPISODES starting at 7.
Is every channel just giving up now? I know USA and Bravo programmers threw their hands up a while ago and decided just to run blocks of their own shows and "repurposed" acquisitions, but now everyone is getting in on the act.
Even shows I like are abused by this laziness. TV Guide Network and TV Land just bought rights to air hacked-up episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." I love "Curb," but, even avoiding questions of how good the show will be in censored form, I don't want to see it all over the place. Oh, did I forget to mention that WGN America will also be airing it?
I'm sick of this kind of programming, which is enough to drive a man to RTV, an outlet which sometimes shows the same episodes over and over again, but at least the episodes aren't ones that were on CBS last week.
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I am sick to the back teeth of TNT and its reruns. It's one thing to keep repeating the same series over and over (such as Bones, L&O, Cold Case, etc), but for goodness sakes, they could at least repeat them in ORDER (like they did for Charmed). How infuriating is it when you get into a particular two-part episode from, say, 2007, and then tune in for the next one to discover it's just another random episode from 2006? Why not play the darn re-runs in order of episode, so we can at least follow the on-going story and get to know the characters?
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