Gee, I hope I will make sense here….

My friend told me that he was ready to see Carol Burnett last night because Barbara Eden was a guest. He was disappointed to find out that he only saw her “signing the book” at the end.

This confirmed for me that it was a butchered Carol Burnett Show, hacked down from one hour, as opposed to “Carol Burnett & Friends” which was a syndicated half hour of “best of” comedy sketches.

I just got Catchy Comedy a month ago, and every morning is a whole 60 minute Carol Burnett Show, replete with music and other features.

So, question:

As Weigel owns both MeTV and Catchy, why cannot MeTV show full hours? Trust me, it isn’t like they couldn’t clear 30 more minutes. I cannot imagine how many cycles MeTV has run Hogan, Andy (only the black & white), and other series into the ground with double- and quadruple-runs. Even as much as I love Green Acres, maybe it can go on hiatus for a spell.

Can somebody explain the rights issues of MeTV vis-a-vis Catchy, maybe music clearances, why MeTV cannot show what the lesser-count-of-affiliates Catchy can show?

P.S. There will be a test on this later. :D

cd

I think each network/channel not only negotiates the price of a TV show, but also the number of episodes, the duration of the contract and probably how often the program is aired.

I don't work in the industry, but I would think the cost of airing the entire CB hour with music would be much more than the highlights of CB comedy sketches.