Rant: I see reruns as far as the eye can see (commercials, tv season)
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One good thing did came out of this, I got to watch a great PBS program of the disection of a great white shark. What a fantastic show that was and one had my regularly scheduled show had aired, I might have missed.
They showed every cut up to the cut of the eyeball, removing the two or was it three livers, which were humongous. Normally I'm squimmish, but I didn't blink or turn away once.
But, I'm still sick of the reruns. Just sick of them.
BTW, it's not so much that it's mid season reruns, they've been doing the interruptions from the start of these new shows, some just three weeks into the new shows, that's what makes it so much more annoying. I've pretty much already seen some of the other shows on the alternate stations, now seeing reruns of reruns.
I'd rather see re-runs of lost classic TV shows. It irks me when cable networks are airing reuruns on the same shows on different cahhnels. "Married With Children" and the "Law and Order" shows are bad at this. Pick one channel and stick with it!
The networks try to do as few new episodes as possible, figuring they can string us (the audience) along. Reruns allow them to have zero production costs with twice the advertising revenue.
Season orders from the networks have gotten progressively smaller over the decades, even for their highest-rated shows. In the 1980s I recall shows like Dallas and Knots Landing havingseason orders of 30-32 episodes. They started reducing the number of episodes as the shows got more expensive, but most shows would have 26-episode seasons. That became 22, and then 20...17...nowadays you are lucky to get the 22 episodes. Having a 32-episode season allowed you to go from mid-September (the traditional beginning of the new fall season) until about the end of May with five or less reruns or pre-emptions. As that dwindled to 22, the networks had to "ration" the new episodes for Sweeps periods (November, February, May) and fill the rest of the time with reruns (or later, going on a "hiatus" and letting a mid-season replacement series run four or five weeks). Having mid-season replacements might seem like a great way of having twice as much new material to watch, but it hurts both shows' ability to establish themselves in viewers' minds as part of a routine viewing option. Now, with shows barely getting full-season orders, they can't even maintain regularly-scheduled episodes long enough to be closely identified with one regular time slot. A show will premiere with maybe a six-episode order from the network, and if it does well the network will order six more, then add the final ten or so. If the network hesitates in ordering more episodes, they might get cancelled before even hitting their stride.
If the networks want to do shorter seasons like the Brits do, that might be an interesting evolution. There would, in theory, be tighter plots and more interest in seeing every episode. I just think US TV networks are just too accustomed to our longer seasons and producers just can't come up with enough original ideas to have three or four new shows in one time slot in a calendar year.
Season orders from the networks have gotten progressively smaller over the decades, even for their highest-rated shows. In the 1980s I recall shows like Dallas and Knots Landing havingseason orders of 30-32 episodes. They started reducing the number of episodes as the shows got more expensive, but most shows would have 26-episode seasons. That became 22, and then 20...17...nowadays you are lucky to get the 22 episodes. Having a 32-episode season allowed you to go from mid-September (the traditional beginning of the new fall season) until about the end of May with five or less reruns or pre-emptions. As that dwindled to 22, the networks had to "ration" the new episodes for Sweeps periods (November, February, May) and fill the rest of the time with reruns (or later, going on a "hiatus" and letting a mid-season replacement series run four or five weeks).
Thank you for that very good explanation of the TV season. It explains why I am seeing so many repeats.
The season's are shorter due to primarily the high cost of producing them. Stars salaries for one person can run easily from $250,000 to $500,000 per episode. And if the numbers don't look good for the stations showing them then they get cut. Re-runs are more profitable for the stations. Remember it's all about the $$$.
Notice how the 1 hour show now is about 45 minutes of actual show. Ads take up the rest of the time to pay these outrageous salaries.
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