March 16, 2005
The Magical Television Three Week Easter Period
Marcus Casey has written a great article in the Daily Telegraph about Australian television networks screwing over their viewers in an effort to squeeze more money out of advertisers. Marcus - we salute you. Network Television Stations (specifically Seven) - boo, boo!
According to Seven spokesman Simon Francis, the reason behind the three week absence of new hit shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost is because “People hooked on these shows go away and many could miss key episodes”. How thoughtful of Seven to juggle their programming schedule around the needs of those families who choose to take three weeks holiday to a cave without electricity in the middle of nowhere in order to celebrate The Jesus’ death and resurrection! Thank God they won’t miss their favourite television show!
I’m loving Desperate Housewives at the moment, and I think of myself as a reasonably loyal fan - but I fear any loss of momentum in watching it might lead to me forgetting when it’s on and where the plot is up to, and the next thing I know, I’ll be accidentally watching Eddie McGuire asking a frazzled contestant “Now, are you REALLY sure you want to take the money? Hold the cheque, just for a moment. Smell it. Taste it. How do you feel? What would your wife say if she weren’t just a random gimp in the audience grinning inanely through gritted teeth whilst clenching a foam stress ball?
The networks seem to think that they can juggle shows around however they like, and viewers should - if they have any soul whatsoever - loyally go along with any changing of the traditional schedule. Frankly, it’s a little insulting.
Channel Ten pissed me off no end late last year with its treatment of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy’s second series. I’d loved the first, and quickly got into the habit of staying in Monday nights to watch it (whilst taping Life Support on SBS). Mine is a lonely existence, just so you know. Hell, I even sat through the seven hour long Kevin Costner-produced director’s cut of The Making Of The Video Clip For The Theme Of The Show Special!
By the time series two came around, I was pumped. All New Queer Eye! Yes! Celebrate The Gay! Twelve weeks of non-stop new make-overing, here I come!
But it was not to be. Every fortnight or so, Ten would swap a new episode of the show for a series one repeat in an effort to drag the show out for as much of ratings season as possible, leaving me confused (“But… it said All New Queer Eye, yet I recognise that mullet!”) and changing channels. I don’t need to see someone’s back waxed twice, guys. After a month or so, I just gave up and forgot to watch the show at all - and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.
Channel Nine pulled the same trick with the last series of Friends. From memory, the programming schedule for the show went along the lines of…
Week One -
New episode of Friends!
Week Two -
Classic episode of Friends from Series Four!
Week Three -
New episode of Friends!
Week Four -
Oprah Special - How the Friends stars feel about the impending end of the series!
Week Five -
Classic episode of Friends from Series Seven!
Week Six -
Viewers choice - favourite Friends moments!
Week Seven -
New Episode of Friends!
Week Eight -
Sophie Formica investigates the popularity of Friends!
Week Nine -
Television movie called “Friends Like These” which is nearly Friends, see?
Week Ten -
The Pallbearer - starring David Schwimmer from Friends!
Week Eleven -
Classic Friends episode from Series Two!
Week Twelve -
New episode of Friends!
Week Thirteen -
‘True Romance’ - A Ross & Rachel Retrospective!
Week Fourteen -
Ray Martin Interviews The Cast Of Friends!
Week Fifteen -
Fools Rush In - starring Matthew Perry from Friends!
Week Sixteen -
New episode of Friends!
Weeks Seventeen to Twenty-Eight -
Best Episodes from Seasons One to Three!
Or something along those lines. I can safely say that due to the muddled up programming, I managed to stumble across only one episode of the last series of Friends, despite the ending of the sitcom being (apparently) a historic event in the history of humankind.
Don’t even get me started on Jake 2.0!
Yup, network telly bosses have shown in recent years that they’ll do anything to squeeze out extra advertising dollars with apparently little regard to perhaps their most important client at the end of the day - the viewer. And for many new shows, such greedy dollar-chasing behaviour from a network can cost them their existence.
Seven, Nine and Ten - you’ve got some great new series lined up for the rest of the year… DON’T STUFF IT UP BY SCREWING AROUND WITH THE TIMESLOTS AGAIN, OKAY? Give the shows time to build a decent audience - we need a chance to let word-of-mouth do its stuff.
Posted by Jess at March 16, 2005 11:24 AM— Filed under Common
Comments / Trackbacks (URI)
What you said. I got so pissed off and confused with Seven’s stuffing around of Arrested Development, I bought the Series 1 DVD off eBay and ditched watching it on TV altogether. You hear that, Seven? I didn’t watch it on telly, so I didn’t see the advertisers so I couldn’t give your advertisers any money. You see how that works?
If I had a computer to handle it I would be downloading West Wing, DespHo’s and Lost and bypassing the networks altogether.
As a Star Trek fan I have always been baffled about Nein’s treatment of those series. I mean, I understand shunting something from primetime if it is tanking, but when its already on at 2am on a Wednesday morning along with Guthy Renker anyway, whats the harm in leaving it there? Whats with punting it to a different slot every week, take it off, put it on, take it off, put it on. Santa Vaca.
Oh, and as for people going on holidays and missing shows : It’s called a VCR.
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dancing with the stars
hey, wheres the dancing with the stars update? i’ve been waiting all morning
yes tv sucks, but little britain cracks me up
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I’m so there. It’s the same as the treatment of the West Wing I rail about to anyone who stands still long enough - except there it was the London Omnibus effect: no episodes for more than a year, then multiple episodes, often unadvertised, in erratic timeslots on variable nights and the stunned mullet response from 9 when they lose viewers. One might almost say ‘fuckers’.
More importantly: I am desperately loving Housewives at the mo, and may not survive the interregnum. Without it I’ll be Lost. ahem.
Of course, the worst news is they’re only ‘resting’ Eddie and the Daughters for one week, when they should clearly be rested ‘Aussie Queer Eye’ style.
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I have to agree with your post. It was with much dismay at the end of Desperate Housewives when I was informed it would be taking a three week hiatus. I must admit, as much as I do enjoy watching television I know I’m watching less than I used to and books and the internet are getting more of my vote.
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When did they ever care about their viewers?
They always screw the best shows too… you know, shows like Nowhere Man.
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Like everyone, i agree with everything Jess!
And can i just say…. re: Desp Housewives… that the sneaky and conniving manner in which it was pulled away from us (ie: at the end of the episode they just slipped it in!!! scuse the pun) was underhanded and MEAN and CRUEL!
Like most of you, i am quite clearly addicted to the show. Even my flatmate who tries hard to be the pictuire of coolness, used to just kind of walk around the flat sighing when it was on, then gradually, he started hanging around pretending to be doing stuff, and now is a FULL BLOWN addict and watches is with me. But also, like most of you, i fear that, like smoking, a few weeks off it and i will no longer crave the stuff.
SEVEN YOU ARE TAKING A CHANCE HERE - A BIG ONE!
PS - we should forward these comments to the cheeky fuckers at seven. As it’s clear our needs are a priority to them…
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re: Desperate Housewives, it could be worse. Remember when Nine pulled a new series of The Sopranos without telling anybody AT ALL until about two seconds before it was supposed to start they announced it had been replaced by an “encore screening” of the previous series? At least DH and Lost will be back in 3 weeks. Or will they…
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OH I HEAR YA! That was baaaaaaaaaaad when that happened.
There are countless unforgiveable events that have taken place by all the networks. If I wasn’t so dependant on TV, i would totally boycott it!!!
But I am, so I won’t…
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Buffy, Angel, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, The X Files, 24, The Sopranos, FOOTBALLER’S WIVES….. all great shows that I love dearly stuffed around relentlessly by the television networks. BASTARD television networks.
Although, if everything aired on free-to-air in a timely, organised fashion I’d lose my justification for purchasing box sets from Amazon…and JB Hi Fi would potentially go broke. Hmm.
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?
Its tv. Just TV. Nothing important like a bus strike meaning you cant go out. Just some TV shows changing times. And that’s newsworthy? Sitting there staring at the box is that big a deal?? Wow. Do people really care about tv that much? How dull.
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Blah, blah, blah, blah :)
You’ve proved your intellectual credentials, now off to an art gallery\theatre with you!
Yer on a website that discusses the Nikki Webster\Holly Brisley “war” with intense earnestness. Last night I dreamt Karl & Susan Kennedy got back together and told Izzy where to go.
It might just be a box, you intense clever intellectual you, but it’s my box and I do love it ever so much :)
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On the other hand - a bus strike… Phwoar. That is pretty important. And not being able to go out because of one. And because, presumably, it’s not possible to, you know, catch a train, hitch a ride, or, i don’t know, walk.
No, I agree. Let’s talk about bus strikes for a while.
So…
How ‘bout that bus strike, then?
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What if a bus strike was made into a tv show? Wouldn’t that be something!
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If you could get the networks to show it over Easter…
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And broadcasters wonder why kids down load the entire season from the net?
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Jessssss
Come and visit me. Let’s liven up the blogosphere!
By the way, your blog is as sexy as Angelina.
Even the Patrick bits. Truly.
Taz
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I will admit to letting out a small, pissed off, “NO!” when Channel 7 announced that. It was bad enough that the show would continually start 10 minutes late, meaning I was beginning to miss the end, but this is just the usual network arsing about with our entertainment.
Ah, well, back to the internet for me, with the lack of ads and increasing disdain for network television’s scheduling chicanery.
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Ten are the past masters of this sort of chicanery, especially with the Simpsons. They’re always shifting the new episodes around the schedule, or pulling them unexpectedly. Not that the new episodes are much good - but they make a change from watching highlights from season five for the ten millionth time.
Yeah - I’m always shocked if I haven;t seen an episode before. I thin the ratio of repeats to new episodes must be upwards of 11 to 1.