When TV Networks Stop Caring about Their Schedules

You wouldn’t think that such a thing would happen. But it seems that every so often, a network can just stop caring about what it airs on their own network. It may not happen that much, but it can be a thing that happens from time to time.

What’s a sign that a network doesn’t care about their schedule? One is that they are airing the same thing over more than one timeslot. Another is having a bunch of unusual specials all airing at the same timeslot. If there are always reruns of shows, specifically the same show, in one timeslot, then you know that they just don’t care anymore.

What causes a network to give up in some way about schedules? Well, part of it relates to cancellations, whether they are owned up to right away or not. They might not have something to replace it right away or at all. This has been a problem on CBS for some seasons: not having the right number of sitcoms leaving an odd number and leading them to show reruns of The Big Bang Theory in its place. You don’t always see this as a problem, but that’s merely one example.

FOX is notorious for airing things of little to no importance on Fridays from time to time. NBC once aired tons of Dateline in place of shows that were pulled from the schedule. ABC has taken to airing twice as much Shark Tank instead of finding a quick replacement for 10 Days in the Valley. I don’t even know what PBS has used to fill the gaps of Charlie Rose or Tavis Smiley. Those were different circumstances, though. CBS can make weird choices, normally during May sweeps. As for the CW, they are the best in terms of caring about their schedule and even if they don’t, they will find something fairly quickly.

That’s about it for this post. You’d have to pay attention to schedules on networks from time to time to see when or if they gave up in some way relating to a certain part of their schedule. It is hard to tell all the time when this happens, but it happens a lot more than you would think.

My Thoughts on the Sexual Harassment Allegations

There is a lot to cover in the whole scandals against a constantly increasing number of men and I’m not sure if I’ll trend as carefully as I should. It is hard to know what to think and there is so much always changing with it over and over again. Maybe I should start with a history of the whole thing.

Long before Harvey Weinstein became a synonym with sexual harassment, there was a man named Bill Cosby who was no longer considered the great man that we thought he was. Numerous women started accusing him of rape and similar crimes. Why is this relevant to what would come later? It is because you never know what could wind up happening with people you once respected like him.

It can be hard for me to have something other than mixed feelings about all this. Now you might think that surely I should just have a hatred of whoever is accused. But what if I like the person? Plus, you’d have to wonder if all of these are true. Sure, some may seem true and most probably are. The more people who accuse someone of sexual harassment, you’d think that would make it more likely that all of them are true. But there is still the possibility that some of the accused are innocent.

Ryan Seacrest is an example of what could be false in this whirlwind of sexual allegations. Maybe it was just the one non news source that I heard about it. But it made it seem like the supposed victim was wanting hush money instead of coming forward with this. If he doesn’t pay the money, she would tell people. But why ask for hush money? If you could tell someone about what happened to you, why would you even ask for hush money? Plus, if you are wanting him to look guilty by saying that it isn’t true, just remember that people will deny what isn’t true as it would be highly moronic to say that you did something terrible that you didn’t do. Remember Amanda Knox?

What does all this mean for women? Some wonder if things will go back to the way things were. I sure hope not. But things could still be bad. For one, some supposedly aren’t wanting to hire women now that they are afraid they will be accused of sexual harassment. If that’s your takeaway, clearly you aren’t learning things in this world. Remember that sexual discrimination is a thing too. Will women earn more of the jobs that men once used to? Will they earn the same amount of money or more than men do? One can hope.

I am also wondering if any women will be accused of sexual harassment. My mother doesn’t think so as they aren’t in positions of power in the first place. But I don’t know if it will happen and probably would rather it not happen.

It is hard to keep track of all of the people affected by this and what the reactions are for the various people. Some are instantly fired. ABC got rid of The Great American Baking Show for the rest of the season leaving a two hour gap on the schedule because of the allegations against a person. Yet they still made the most recent Bachelor in Paradise season even after its scandal. I don’t know if blindly firing everyone accused of sexual harassment is right. While it does send a message that this type of behavior isn’t tolerated, it also makes me worry that you aren’t researching it and making sure that’s what for sure happened with these people. Make sure that the accused are guilty.

Another thing to remind people of is something called the Hollywood blacklist. A long time ago, when someone in Hollywood either was or accused of being a Communist, they wouldn’t be hired by anyone in the industry. You’d think that the sexual harassment thing would be a new version of it. The key thing that is different here is that these people would deserve it only if a very important thing is met first: the accused are all guilty. Another thing to note is that some are sorry and all will need to do something with their lives and if they can’t get jobs anywhere, that’s bad. If these people are willing to change and stop their terrible behavior, never to do it again, maybe a comeback would work for them.

Well, I’ve talked about a whole lot of different things in this post and don’t really know what else there is to say. I hope that I didn’t offend anyone with my various mixed views on the whole thing. Let’s just make one thing clear: sexual harassment is wrong and never should be done.

Why It’s Never Good to Miss an Episode of a Show you Watch

This post is probably the most obviously named one I could possibly do. But when it comes to peak TV, it isn’t something that one always realizes. You see, it used to be at one point maybe that you could watch shows and miss an episode here and there without it causing too much of a problem for you. Only now, things have changed. I’ll get into that more here.

Whenever you have missed an episode, even if you don’t know at first that you have missed it, you will have missed a part of the show that is important in some way, shape, or form. It will almost certainly be mentioned again in other episodes, this development. There was an episode of The Middle that it took me a while to see in reruns and it explained questions that I had before. Of course, what complicated that show in reruns for me was that holiday episodes weren’t rerun as normally as the others and this could mean constantly missing important things such as Axel’s broken foot.

The more episodes you can miss, the more problems this can cause. I wind up seeing episodes of shows out of order all the time. For instance, since I had a lot of The Flash on tape, it confused me when I saw some of the episodes live before I had caught up. I had seen the episode Paradox, which was the second episode of the third season before I had the third season premiere or even the second season finale. This messed me up a whole lot also because I frequently miss recaps of shows. At least in this case I could still see the older episodes in good time. But what happens when I don’t get to see or record an episode? Then what?

Basically what happens is I get really confused and go on whatever information I learn from it. If I miss any show I watch, I’ll probably want to know all the important parts about it. Of course, I don’t always want to know spoilers, but they can be a good thing to know. You can only get bits and pieces this way and nothing beats actually watching the episode you care about. And while I could most of the time, I am too busy most of the time to actually see these outside of what shows are reran on television.

This didn’t used to be a problem regarding TV shows. You see, I would be okay never having seen every episode of The Andy Griffith Show because it isn’t at all like shows today where every episode matters. I still don’t think that I would care enough to see every episode of most shows that I see. I just hate it when the episode I miss is a key episode. Sometimes this is unavoidable. I mean, I think that nearly every episode of The Flash is a key episode. And by key episode, I mean that it has something in it that you will feel bad for missing. Yet it is hard to keep up with everything and if anything you do to record something fails or can’t be used, then you are sol.

Well, I hope that this post wasn’t just someone like me who is addicted to TV complaining about things that can go wrong. There is no way that I will be able to see every episode of every show that I watch and I’m okay with it. It isn’t good to miss anything with the way TV is now. But I am okay with it even though, deep down inside, I always want to make sure I stay caught up on everything.

Why I’m Glad I Don’t Have Satellite or Cable

I hear it so many times and I’ll never understand it. Numerous people say that they don’t watch a thing on network television. Despite all the great shows being on it, they would prefer whatever comes out of other networks on other channels. Only I’m different in many ways. As you can tell by the title of this post, I don’t have either satellite or cable and I’m glad about it. I love network television and I would not want to start watching other channels.

Of course, not having satellite or cable and relying solely on network television can be a problem. For one, I tend to have shoddy reception of some networks. The only time that NBC comes in is when there aren’t leaves on trees here. And even then, it is unreliable. Of course, it used to be better at times, but that isn’t the real point here. While I miss out on things like better reception of channels, I do enjoy something that those with satellite or cable don’t: free TV.

While it would seem that TV wants us to think that many people steal cable, it probably isn’t the case with everyone or even most people. But why would I spend more money on other channels when the shows that I care about are on network TV? It doesn’t make any sense. Sure, I’ll never know if Game of Thrones is any good. But do I honestly care?

Too many people complain about satellite and cable that they have. It is too expensive. They can’t quit the contract (not easily, at least). They still can’t find something good on despite all the choices. They get things that they don’t want but have to in order to get what they do want. They always have shows on that you don’t care about when you visit them. I could go on, but you should get my point.

I can be satisfied with little in life and not getting as much as other people. Since I am raised without more options than network TV, I don’t have a problem only having it. I can’t name that many shows that I would care about on cable channels and I don’t have to watch it anyways.

Well, that just about covers it for this post. There’s not much else to say so there really isn’t much of a point to say anymore. I probably shouldn’t even have this closing paragraph, yet I do. So I guess that we will see what the future brings for this blog in the meantime.

Saturdays in Primetime Version 1

You might not see any posts like these that often unless something I’ve seen winds up on Saturday at any point in time. I might have done this last season when Ransom was on, but it didn’t happen then. I doubt that this will ever get caught up the other days of the week in terms of lining up one version with another. But you may see this again in the future. Just don’t expect it too much, if at all.

48 Hours: Status- Currently on CBS at 10/9 Central on Saturdays. There are times when it fills gaps in the schedule caused by cancellations on CBS, although that hasn’t happened in a while. Why I’ve seen it- I guess it was just me wanting to watch something that was on, although on occasion, I was interested in what the episode was dealing with. Description- A true crime series that is basically a documentary type show exploring a criminal case. Pros- The episodes are typically quite interesting. Cons- It airs at a bad time. It can also be gruesome and drawn-out. Note to Parents- Don’t let your kids watch this. It is far too dark for them. Recommendation- I guess that this is worth watching from time to time, although I don’t’ typically go out of my way to watch it typically. My Viewing Habits- I have seen this at times, but don’t tune in most times as it isn’t my cup of tea. Prediction- Somehow it has remained a long time on the air despite it typically airing on Saturdays all the time. I imagine that it will continue to last a while. Reception: positive. Grade: B.

Ten Days in the Valley: Status- On ABC on Saturdays. Why I’ve seen it- It looked good and interesting so I thought that I would watch it. Description- A woman’s daughter goes missing and we spend time with everyone related to her life in a period of ten days. Notable People- Kyra Sedgwick, most notable for her role in The Closer, is the star of this show. Pros- It is pretty good and interesting. Cons- It runs the risk of being too mysterious at times. Note to Parents- You probably shouldn’t let your young kids watch this, but teens should be fine with it. Recommendation- Watch it while you can because it won’t last much longer. My Viewing Habits- I saw it since it first aired and will watch the rest of it if I can. Prediction- This is practically over and burning off the rest of its episodes until the end of its run in early January. I wonder if it will be May when they own up to its cancellation or if they’ll do that sooner. If you want to see it, watch it or record it. But it will certainly be over after it finishes airing these episodes and it is cancelled in probably every way. Reception: generally favorable. Grade: A-. New review

Are Gays Overused in Television?

I honestly don’t know if I can write this post without sounding homophobic so maybe I’ll just hope that I don’t get any hate for this as I already know that I’m probably not sharing this post on facebook this time around. It is an interesting question so I figure that I might as well ask it. Are gays used too much on TV shows? I’ve heard reports that there are more gays in television than ever before. Is this a good thing? Do we need this many gay characters?

One thing that I remember reading somewhere online once (a place I can’t remember and won’t bother looking for) made it seem like gay characters were forced upon some CBS shows due to what they felt was a lack of representation or something dumb like that. The example that I remember is them adding Alicia’s gay brother to The Good Wife. This is despite the fact that an LGBT character called Kalinda was a regular on the show already. Maybe because she is bi-sexual, that wasn’t good enough for people. But it would seem dumb to make shows have gay characters because the writers can make them as bad people as they want to.

But there hasn’t been as many gay characters that were horrible people. The closest example I can think of is the cast of The Real O’Neals where pretty much everyone was horrible in some way. Only I don’t think that the gay character was as bad as all the other main ones. The only other show I can think of is Survivor, only that doesn’t have made up characters; it has real people.

A problem with gays on television, if there is one, is that we can go a while without learning about their orientation. The first season of Supergirl made no hints that Alex was gay other than a lack of any love interest of either gender. But that was easily explained with her being too busy with work. Still, it wasn’t bad when they revealed that she was gay because it was never talked about before. Similarly, the show Fresh off the Boat had another character think that she’s a lesbian, which the age of the character being as young as she is, made it so that she didn’t realize it before.

Supposedly, Haley Dunphey, a character from Modern Family, is bi-sexual. This is what the actress who played her tweeted out. But this character has existed for years. There has not been any hint of her being bi-sexual. Even if they play it off as her suddenly realizing it, it would seem to suddenly change everything we know about this character. Plus, there are two gay leads on the show already. Do they need a third regular LGBT character?

Another problem that I see sometimes is that a character that is gay is not in any way different than what this character would be if he or she were straight. I saw this problem in some shows some times. This doesn’t happen too much. Like I know that it might not be too much of a problem, though. I saw it as a potential problem of Captain Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While they have made his character more than enough different from a straight one, it seems that most of the time, he could have been easily straight with almost nothing different about him.

In case you think I’m mentioning one problem after another with gay characters, here’s one that works in a different way: straight characters of the same gender getting together. This is a huge problem that I’m surprised the LGBT community isn’t upset with. I was so upset that Walden and Alan were getting married on Two and a Half Men that I ended up not watching the final season as a result. They have been straight the whole show and remained straight as one does yet still got married to each other. What is with that?

Back to the original point: why are there so many gay characters on TV shows? You could probably more easily name shows that don’t have any gay characters than those that do. Even if there isn’t a gay main character, there is normally an important enough recurring character that’s gay. Even closeted gays are gay characters. Even if they aren’t the main focus of the show, they are there. The Simpsons has never been about gays in most episodes, but Waylon Smithers who is in a lot of episodes, has been gay for a long time, although that’s not what the show is about. Neither is Sugergirl about Alex being a lesbian, although that remains unchanged.

I guess that my closing point is that there are a lot of gays on TV shows and you’ll see more of them over time. I have read in both Time Magazine and tv.com that there are more LGBT characters than ever be for. Why is that? I don’t know. I hope that it is still okay to do shows without them. And I hope that I didn’t offend anyone with this blog post.

The Winter Blahs: It Affects Television Too

Perhaps you’ve heard of the winter blahs. It is basically when you can’t accomplish much of anything and nothing really exciting happens. Parts of the winter make you feel like, well, blah. And the affect can be seen on television as well too. I’m not sure why this happens. But it seems like the winter is the start of when things get boring and dumb on TV.

This isn’t always bad that the winter blahs happen on TV. During December, you’d probably rather be doing other things while celebrating and getting ready for Christmas instead of wanting to watch shows that are on. It is understandable that they’d take a break while giving us Christmas specials during this time instead. It can also be nice to see reruns of different shows that we might have missed before. I’m just pointing out that the winter is the first time of the year this typically happens outside of a brief window of time when the World Series happens. That might be more due to something called sweeps happening at that time and that’s a whole different post.

A lot of shows can wind up going on hiatus the moment that November sweeps are over, which can be quite bothersome since it seems to be quite a blah thing happening. This seems to happen most on the CW which airs midseason finales of all its important shows and waits until mid January to start airing new episodes. ABC is notorious for airing lesser shows in at least December while a lot of their great show are gone until later. I think that NBC is a bit like that too.

So much of what they always do with shows always confuses me. They air new episodes on Thanksgiving and the week after, we see a whole lot less new things on. There are new shows right after the next year begins, only for a lot of it to quickly repeat again. Reruns aren’t even that annoying when you think about it. But we see them a lot more in December and January than any other time.

I don’t think that I have anything else to say. I’ll have to keep writing more of these posts in the future. I’ll be scheduling the rest of the posts for this year pretty soon. I don’t know when things will change, but keep an eye out for changes. Just know that you will keep seeing these Saturday posts unless I say something different. Don't be surprised if you don't see one one week.