What happened to Weekend Viewing Habits? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

mets82 · 08-31-2011, 09:57 PM

Remember when Friday and Saturday nights had great television on? Remember Dallas, Falcon Crest, TGIF, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, 227 etc.? What happened to that? I mean now on Friday and Saturday nights, you have very little first run shows and repeats of shows from during the week. When did this happen? Do you think we will ever see Friday and Saturday nights back to where they were in the 80s and early 90s?

benjamoon · 08-31-2011, 10:51 PM

We will def not see them back to where they were in the 80s/early 90s. People can tivo/watch online/etc so easily now, it would be hard to get a smash hit in the demo. That being said, all hope is not lost on the night and there's definitely an older audience out there. CBS is solid from 9-11pm on Friday, and I think they could even do something on Sat if they tried (with dramas, not comedies like they are trying this season). I'm glad networks aren't giving up on Fridays, but I don't think you'll see high profile shows land there ever again.

TVFactFan · 09-01-2011, 01:46 AM

network executives today thinks the entire country goes out on Friday and Saturday night.

SpenceOlchin · 09-01-2011, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

network executives today thinks the entire country goes out on Friday and Saturday night.

old grouch · 09-01-2011, 10:14 AM

I remember watching 'Dallas', 'Benson' and 'The Dukes of Hazzard' on Friday and 'The Love Boat', 'The Golden Girls' and 'The Facts of Life' on Saturday.

robyrob · 09-01-2011, 12:16 PM

i don't really understand their logic - I DVR shows that air on Friday and Saturday nights just as easily as the ones that air on any other night of the week.

there are some current shows that have had success airing on those nights - Doctor Who, Star Wars The Clone Wars, Batman the Brave and the Bold, Both Nickelodeon and Disney premiere their live-action shows on the weekend, help me out here...

Nyan · 09-03-2011, 08:27 AM

Networks should just entirely change to extra news channels up to this point. Nobody really watches them for anything else but and when they do watch the network shows, they're usually online.

CommonTater · 09-03-2011, 12:29 PM

I was a kid in the 60's and we only had 3 channels. The thing is.....there were good shows on every single night. Not anymore.
There are VERY few decent shows on during on the week, on weekends, there is nothing.

LUNCH · 09-03-2011, 02:10 PM

Same here CommonTater.Only I was a kid and young teenager in the 1970s,and we had the 3 major tv stations,plus a couple of local stations.And there was always something good to watch every night.Also during the day there was usually always something good playing.Sometimes we would even actually run intead of walk home from school to catch some tv show or cartoon playing.

Regulus · 09-03-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUNCH

Same here CommonTater.Only I was a kid and young teenager in the 1970s,and we had the 3 major tv stations,plus a couple of local stations.And there was always something good to watch every night.Also during the day there was usually always something good playing.Sometimes we would even actually run intead of walk home from school to catch some tv show or cartoon playing.

Every now and then there would be that occaisional "Dull" Night where some "Special" that didn't tickle my fancy would pre-empt a show I'd like, and the shows opposite it weren't my cup of tea either, but we'd break out a Board Game like Monopoly or Aggravation or Life and entertain ourselves that way. And then there were those evenings when the President would tie up ALL THREE Channels and

up your evening.

(When I first got Cable TV in 1980 one of the first things I did was invite my friends over to

arty: on an evening when Then - President Carter had scheduled a News Conference. We tuned to NBC tho catch the beginning of the Conference ("This is an NBC News Special Report"), then CERIMONIOUSLY Switched over to HBO to watch the Movie)! We thought the day of "Nothing on TV" was OVER. If we only knew....

Today I have my DVDs, so IMO there isn't a "Dull Evening" anymore. I cannot admit Perfection, but I do have a system, and it works.

UMFaninMD · 09-03-2011, 03:38 PM

Apparently networks think their coveted age demographic parties every weekend so the really young, the elderly and those of us that stay home because we have kids, can't afford to go out every weekend (*raises hand*) or just isn't a clubber or a bar-hopper gets shafted. And networks wonder why more and more of us turn to the Internet to get our TV needs met...

Mr. Television · 09-03-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUNCH

Same here CommonTater.Only I was a kid and young teenager in the 1970s,and we had the 3 major tv stations,plus a couple of local stations.And there was always something good to watch every night.Also during the day there was usually always something good playing.Sometimes we would even actually run instead of walk home from school to catch some tv show or cartoon playing.

Yea that's when I grew up and I agree. During the day you could watch reruns of classic 60's series and at night watch the 1970's shows. There was something on every night of the week and many different genres. I remember running home to watch Batman. lol

jimpickens · 09-04-2011, 02:19 AM

Yep those were the good old days and I agree with the networks being out of touch and weekend viewings never coming back to 70s-80s and 90s levels hell even cable both basic and pay are slacking a bit.

TVFactFan · 09-04-2011, 03:08 PM

I can understand changing your programming on Friday and Saturday nights in the summer time but in the month of November and December?

08-31-2011, 09:57 PM	#1
mets82 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Mar 14, 2011 Location: Connecticut Posts: 5,058	What happened to Weekend Viewing Habits? Remember when Friday and Saturday nights had great television on? Remember Dallas, Falcon Crest, TGIF, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, 227 etc.? What happened to that? I mean now on Friday and Saturday nights, you have very little first run shows and repeats of shows from during the week. When did this happen? Do you think we will ever see Friday and Saturday nights back to where they were in the 80s and early 90s?

08-31-2011, 10:51 PM	#2
benjamoon Bewitched Senior Member Join Date: Jun 15, 2000 Location: New York Posts: 1,450	We will def not see them back to where they were in the 80s/early 90s. People can tivo/watch online/etc so easily now, it would be hard to get a smash hit in the demo. That being said, all hope is not lost on the night and there's definitely an older audience out there. CBS is solid from 9-11pm on Friday, and I think they could even do something on Sat if they tried (with dramas, not comedies like they are trying this season). I'm glad networks aren't giving up on Fridays, but I don't think you'll see high profile shows land there ever again.
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09-01-2011, 12:16 PM	#6
robyrob certified wackball#3 Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 03, 2003 Location: hiding under the third booth at Arnold's Posts: 58,176	i don't really understand their logic - I DVR shows that air on Friday and Saturday nights just as easily as the ones that air on any other night of the week. there are some current shows that have had success airing on those nights - Doctor Who, Star Wars The Clone Wars, Batman the Brave and the Bold, Both Nickelodeon and Disney premiere their live-action shows on the weekend, help me out here...
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09-03-2011, 12:29 PM	#8
CommonTater no longer a forum member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 298	I was a kid in the 60's and we only had 3 channels. The thing is.....there were good shows on every single night. Not anymore. There are VERY few decent shows on during on the week, on weekends, there is nothing.
	__________________ It's amazing how differently we see things once we truly suffer. Please be kind to others, we never know what someone is dealing with. How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.

09-01-2011, 01:46 AM	#3
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,008	network executives today thinks the entire country goes out on Friday and Saturday night.

09-01-2011, 10:14 AM	#5
old grouch Member Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: montana Posts: 1,877	I remember watching 'Dallas', 'Benson' and 'The Dukes of Hazzard' on Friday and 'The Love Boat', 'The Golden Girls' and 'The Facts of Life' on Saturday.

09-03-2011, 08:27 AM	#7
Nyan Be The Rainbow! Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 29, 2011 Location: Land of Pop Tarts Posts: 141	Networks should just entirely change to extra news channels up to this point. Nobody really watches them for anything else but and when they do watch the network shows, they're usually online.

09-03-2011, 02:10 PM	#9
LUNCH Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 23, 2010 Location: New York State Posts: 1,304	Same here CommonTater.Only I was a kid and young teenager in the 1970s,and we had the 3 major tv stations,plus a couple of local stations.And there was always something good to watch every night.Also during the day there was usually always something good playing.Sometimes we would even actually run intead of walk home from school to catch some tv show or cartoon playing.

09-03-2011, 03:38 PM	#11
UMFaninMD I love a mystery Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,287	Apparently networks think their coveted age demographic parties every weekend so the really young, the elderly and those of us that stay home because we have kids, can't afford to go out every weekend (raises hand) or just isn't a clubber or a bar-hopper gets shafted. And networks wonder why more and more of us turn to the Internet to get our TV needs met...

09-04-2011, 02:19 AM	#13
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	Yep those were the good old days and I agree with the networks being out of touch and weekend viewings never coming back to 70s-80s and 90s levels hell even cable both basic and pay are slacking a bit.

09-04-2011, 03:08 PM	#14
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,008	I can understand changing your programming on Friday and Saturday nights in the summer time but in the month of November and December?