TWIOT: Burned by Television

The autumn's beginning means three big things - football season starts, kids go back to school and the new television slate kicks off on the major networks. I've covered football enough, and I've been out of school long enough not to care and not that long to have kids of my own. Therefore, by process of elimination, it's time to talk TV. However, unlike my zeal for football, I'm not that excited about the new schedule of shows, and I'll tell you exactly why - I'm afraid of getting burned.

Let me take you back to last year around this time. I was actually really looking forward to watching two new shows, FlashForward and V. They were both in the sci-fi millieu, and given that my favorite shows on TV at the time were LOST, sci-fi to the core, and Chuck, a show that wasn't exactly sci-fi but was a super-nerdy, super-quirky take on the spy genre, I was getting quite excited for new shows for the first time in awhile. Both shows started off good enough. V actually started off for me better than FlashForward. Still, the latter show held my attention enough to stay with it, and it actually improved as the season went on to where I was hooked. V, however, faded down the stretch to the point where the season finale was just terrible, cheesy in all the wrong aspects with no camp value to the point where I'm not at all looking forward to its return. As for FlashForward? It got cancelled with no closure, as the season finale was written with a major cliffhanger, as if it was to return this year.

This is not a new occurance for TV viewers, as shows come and go like the wind, viewers all across the country get burned like I did last year. It's a sad reality that if your favorite new show doesn't get gangbusters ratings right away that it gets the heave-ho. FOX is notorious for this, but other networks have itchy trigger fingers too. What's a fan of the boob tube to do? It's maddening to try and decide what shows to get invested into when you know that there's a great chance that it won't return, but there are a few things you can do.

First, if there's a show that you're potentially interested in, utilize the DVR to stockpile episodes while you can feel out the ratings. If the show is getting terrible ratings and is in danger of being dropped, you can delete them without watching them and save yourself the pain. Or you could wait and see if it gets renewed and then get that first season on DVD to catch up on it. Things like quick turnaround on DVD, DVRs and On-Demand-style access to shows make it so easy to pick up a show without watching first run. Hell, I didn't start watching LOST until Season 3, and spent the break between the fall and winter runs furiously catching up with the first two seasons on DVD. It actually enhanced my viewing of the show because I was able to have those first two seasons fresh in my mind as I viewed the third season live.

Secondly, you can get interested in shows on cable. Cable shows don't run with the rest of the major network shows, but more often than not, a cable show that comes on will be more likely to survive because of a less-strenuous demand on ratings. Therefore, shows have a much higher rate of sticking around. Yeah, you do get the occasional John from Cincinnati, but more of the talked-about shows on cable get to stick around longer. Plus, there's the bonus of cable having fewer restrictions on content, leading to coarser language and more risque content in some cases, especially on the premium networks like HBO and Showtime.

Those two tenets are my TV gospel nowadays. It sucks, but networks pull the rug out way too quickly way too often anymore. If The Event sounds like something I like, and it gets good ratings, then maybe I'll get the DVDs and then start watching next season. Until then, it's Chuck, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Venture Bros. and the usual football and wrestling for now.

IF you want to get more in-depth with TV discussion, I got two blogs for you to check out. One is a more popular, more mainstream blog written by Matt Ufford of the KSK fame, Warming Glow. The second is more of a fledgling blog from a guy out in LA trying to make it in TV. Yes, our official PWG correspondent, Tom Ford, writes a blog called Today in Television, which you should totally check out. (ETA: Fixed URL... sorry Ford!)

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!