Televisions Little Annoyances

For all of my TV viewing life, with rare exceptions, TV shows have started and ended in convenient little intervals. They start and stop on the hour or half-hour, and last either 30 or 60 minutes. TBS did try some an experiment when they first started out with programming on the 5's, but obviously that didn't work out.

So, what is up with this stupid crap that Gray's Anatomy and The Office did last night and have been doing all too frequently? Gray's ran 62 minutes, and the Office went 31. The biggest irritant? Gray's ended, more or less at 60 minutes, but I can't turn it off until the Old Lady sees the coming attractions for next week. Not that she, or most of the viewing public will remember them, mind you, but it is done to stretch it out even more. This stupid ploy is a way to provide a lead in for the next program. But all it does is make me miss the opening of the show I want to watch. And, of course, make me angry with the Old Lady for making me miss it so she can see the previews that she is going to forget anyway. Here's an idea: instead of gimmickry, why not offer quality programming? That sleight of hand may have been more successful before remotes, but now, it just takes a quick click to get me out of bad TV.

Another thing that really makes me irritated is that it seems every successful show becomes a double episode. Biggest Loser was probably the first show that did it. The 2 hour super special season premiere episodes have morphed into a regular part of the schedule. And, of course, much of the show is just repetition, as they recap highlights seen earlier. And now, Deal or No Deal has adopted the same formula. It is almost as if they punish the faithful viewer and reward the channel flipper.

Considering my well-known short attention span, anyone can guess what I do. I watch a different show for the first hour, and then tune in later, or vice versa, just checking in quickly near the end of the show to see who won. Their programming strategy is doing, with me, exactly the opposite of what they wanted. They are encouraging me to tune out.

Not that anyone cares, but Leyla is my favorite Deal or No Deal model.