Reruns Tonight?

[AB]

Does anyone know why there are so many reruns on the major networks tonight? Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, The Mentalist, The Vampire Diaries, Nikita, etc are all reruns. And I believe there will not be any new episodes of The Vampire Diaries & Nikita until April 7. Any ideas about this?

[Mr. Television]

The February Sweeps are all over so there's going to be more reruns now. The CW always seems to go on a longer break then the other networks. I think that's what hurts their shows so much,

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...one new episode of a "scripted series" on the networks last night: CBS' "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" {"Zygote"}, at 8:30pm(et).

[AB]

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

The February Sweeps are all over so there's going to be more reruns now. The CW always seems to go on a longer break then the other networks. I think that's what hurts their shows so much,

Thanks for the info. It's hard to get used to seeing reruns in March. I understand having them during the holidays but having them in March too, seems excessive. I miss the days when shows ran longer & reruns were mainly shown during the summer.

[AB]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...one new episode of a "scripted series" on the networks last night: CBS' "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" {"Zygote"}, at 8:30pm(et).

Yep, I watched that one.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by AB

Thanks for the info. It's hard to get used to seeing reruns in March. I understand having them during the holidays but having them in March too, seems excessive. I miss the days when shows ran longer & reruns were mainly shown during the summer.

I agree. I don't understand how shows in the 1950's had 39 episodes a season. Even shows in the 1960's had at least 30. I would love to have it like that again.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...began to be curtailed by the mid-'60s was that the brodacast networks found they could get away with scheduling less episodes and feature more repeats in the spring and summer {DUH!}. The 39 episode season was a holdover from radio, where a typical season of a successful live radio show [Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, "THE AMOS 'N' ANDY SHOW", "THE JOHNSON'S WAX PROGRAM WITH FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY", et. al.] was scheduled from around the start of October through the end of the following June, followed by 13 weeks of a "summer replacement" series lasting from July through September. When network televsion began by the end of the '40s, this practice continued into the new medium, even when filmed programming eventually overtook "live" series by the end of the '50s. In the early '60s, though, some shows began to produce 36 week seasons, while some were whittled down to about 30. By 1966, though, the consensus of the major networks was that the typical TV season would last from early September to sometime in April or May, depending on how many episodes per season were produced. "26" became the new standard by the end of the decade....then "24" in the early '70s (which meant some series ran out of fresh episodes by early March). Now, 22 episodes of a "standard" sitcom or drama are the maximum...unless the show is so wildly successful, the network might ask the producer for two or three additional episodes to extend the season and generate more ad revenue.

Nowadays, there are more repeats sprinkled in December, January and March, with the last handful of episodes held until May {"sweeps", which are also held in November and February, decide what stations and networks can charge higher ad rates, as determined by how many viewers they can draw with "fresh" programming}. Got that?

[Regulus]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...began to be curtailed by the mid-'60s was that the brodacast networks found they could get away with scheduling less episodes and feature more repeats in the spring and summer {DUH!}. The 39 episode season was a holdover from radio, where a typical season of a successful live radio show [Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, "THE AMOS 'N' ANDY SHOW", "THE JOHNSON'S WAX PROGRAM WITH FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY", et. al.] was scheduled from around the start of October through the end of the following June, followed by 13 weeks of a "summer replacement" series lasting from July through September. When network televsion began by the end of the '40s, this practice continued into the new medium, even when filmed programming eventually overtook "live" series by the end of the '50s. In the early '60s, though, some shows began to produce 36 week seasons, while some were whittled down to about 30. By 1966, though, the consensus of the major networks was that the typical TV season would last from early September to sometime in April or May, depending on how many episodes per season were produced. "26" became the new standard by the end of the decade....then "24" in the early '70s (which meant some series ran out of fresh episodes by early March). Now, 22 episodes of a "standard" sitcom or drama are the maximum...unless the show is so wildly successful, the network might ask the producer for two or three additional episodes to extend the season and generate more ad revenue.

Nowadays, there are more repeats sprinkled in December, January and March, with the last handful of episodes held until May {"sweeps", which are also held in November and February, decide what stations and networks can charge higher ad rates, as determined by how many viewers they can draw with "fresh" programming}. Got that?

So that explains why shows in the 1950s had so many episodes. They didn't have "Reruns" in the beginning, these most likely came on after they "shortened" the seasons to 26 or less episodes per season. Today there are times you are lucky to see 20 episodes per season, and running all episodes sequentially before repeating them has also become a thing of the past. I won't rant about the shortening of the individual episodes from 52 Minutes to less than 40 Minutes, as we all know why they did that!

Thank Heaven for DVDs!