...but I really, really don't like it. Okay, this post is about television, which I watch way too much of. I know this. But it is what I do. It is what it is.
I was just starting to figure out the new schedule for the shows I watch now that the holidays are over and shows seem to be starting up again with new episodes or settling into new timeslots and whatnot, and this week has thrown a big ol' wrench in the works. Grumble grumble.
First, Tuesday night there was a new episode of No Ordinary Family that aired on ABC. Now, this is far from my favorite show, but it is still fun, and until Glee comes back from hiatus, I can watch it live, which I have kind of been digging. But. For some reason, my local affiliate decided that instead of airing the new episode of No Ordinary Family on Tuesday, they were instead going to air "Good Morning Texas After Dark," an hour of the local morning show people talking about fashion during prime time. What the heezy? This wasn't even No Ordinary Family's first week back from break--who had this brilliant idea? It is all the more annoying because the show did air everywhere else. Yes, I know, I know, I can watch it online, but frankly, that's kind of a pain in the butt for me to do right now, because my time on the computer is limited to when the baby is asleep or watching Super Why, and I have other stuff to do besides try to watch television on it. Besides, there is a reason we bought a humongous television--and it wasn't so I could watch television on my much smaller computer screen. Sigh. I emailed the affiliate and very politely asked if and when they are planning to air the episode (I worked at a cable company for over seven years, almost two of them spent in correspondence, you can bet your bottom I was polite, I know what kind of ire that kind of thing can invoke and how easily most people can go off the rails about it to people who had no control over the decision). They responded quickly and just as politely to let me know it will run at 3 a.m. this Saturday morning. Great, thank you. My DVR is set. I don't have to watch it on my computer, hurray!
Now, if this had been the only incident, I could chalk it up to a fluke. But last night. Last night. Oh man. First off, I was super jazzed because from seven to ten, miracle of miracles, I had three shows scheduled to come on, one after another, with no conflicting shows, and that was it. Perfect. Two of those were new episodes of Human Target, which, I have recently realized, truly is my absolute favorite television show that is still on the air (all time fave props still go to Stargate Atlantis), and then there was finally going to be a new episode of The Defenders, which I really enjoy despite myself and never get to watch live.
Dinner time ran a little past seven, but I wasn't worried because that is what DVRs are for. So at 7:20 I sat down and fired up Human Target to find...an episode of Raising Hope. What?? Pull up the guide and it says that Human Target is what is currently on Fox, from 7 to 9. Um...okay. Fast forwarded through everything recorded up to the live footage, just in case something ran over, but nope. After Raising Hope came the coverage of the Arizona shootings memorial. Oh. Okay. Well, I get it. That is something that it makes sense to preempt a show for. I'm disappointed, because I was honestly really psyched about Human Target, but maybe it is just going to start late. I go to Fox's website to see if there is anything about the rescheduled time, but nope, it says that Human Target is a two hour special event from 7-9. Hmmm. I remember that when I turned the television on, an episode of Big Bang Theory was playing on CBS, so I flip back to that. The guide says "Live to Dance" is currently airing on CBS. Um...no it's not. Then that other comedy that I don't watch comes on when BBT is over, but the guide still says dancing. It also says that The Defenders is still set to come on at 9, but now I am skeptical, because the commercials I catch on CBS while I am flipping around say that the Dance show is up next, but nothing about The Defenders or the show that the guide says is supposed to be on at 8. Seriously, what the heck is going on here?
Fox, I get, actually. It was a last minute thing and they put some filler in around the special coverage. Makes sense. Their website now says that the Human Target episodes will be rescheduled soon. I've got my DVR set to record every ep now, so in case I miss the announcement and they come on at 3 in the morning, it should still catch them. It looks like they did tweet beforehand that the show would be preempted, but I of course did not get that. Oh Twitter, how I loathe you. The guide not catching the last-minute changes also makes sense, because, well, last-minute. I mean, if even Fox's website didn't show the change until halfway through, then the guide is excused. But I do not understand what was going on with CBS. They didn't air any coverage of the memorial, so why was their schedule all farked? It looks like the memorial went from 7:30 to a bit after 8, so CBS wasn't moving their show to a time where it wasn't against the special on the other network. Around 10 I checked out what was recorded in my buffer and it looks like The Defenders did come on, but it started about 20 minutes late. I hastily flipped over to CBS and hit record so I could catch the end of the episode. Sigh.
It just seems to me that in this day and age it is hard enough for networks to get people to sit down in front of their televisions to watch a show live. Screwing around with the time at the last minute, and not making sure that people are well aware of it (or keeping the guides updated so that the DVRs can catch the moved episode) seems like a monumentally stupid idea. That's all I am saying.
I realize these are petty concerns. I do. But still. I needed to vent a bit. I am a creature of routine. I get really really cranky when my routines are screwed with (just ask Hubby). I am learning to be more flexible about changes to the routine--it is a necessity of parenthood--but a little notice would be nice. It doesn't help when the change in the routine is also a disappointment in its own right. Also, I am a little bit irked because I came very close to missing an ep of No Ordinary Family, and I probably did miss a bit of The Defenders, and neither of these are shows that I am going to get on DVD. It is annoying.
But, on a happier note, the lack of anything new airing at a predictable time Tuesday night and last night meant that I burned through a lot more episodes of season two of Dollhouse, which I started watching this past weekend. I am now officially past the halfway point of the season. Four episodes to go. I had forgotten how incredibly intense and amazing those last few episodes were. Wow! Such an amazing show. Part of me wishes it could have gone on for a couple more seasons, because there were definitely some hints at stories I would have wanted to see developed down the road. But honestly, I am okay with the short run of the series, because it was concluded in such an amazing fashion. I won't call it satisfactory, because I think there was too much bad stuff that went down at the end to call it a happy ending. But I don't feel in any way gypped. A shorter story arc, when allowed to be given a start and a middle and an end, which this series had, comes away so much tighter and more intense. The Brits figured this out a long time ago. I wish the networks here could grasp that concept.
But they apparently don't even know what they are airing any more, so...yeah.
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