Monday, March 06, 2006
Oscar Mania
Last night, I watched the Oscars for the first time in 10 years or so. I don't know why I watched it either. Part of me wanted to see how Jon Stewart would do. Part of me wanted to make fun of the various celebrities. Part of me just couldn't find anything better to watch. And this is what I don't understand about TV programmers. Why don't they counter-program any better?
When the winter Olympics were on, Fox ran American Idol against it. CBS had new episodes of Survivor and CSI. I think there might have even been new episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives on ABC. People want to watch these shows. People don't want to watch the Olympics (well, except for every woman, which I already mentioned).
So, now the Oscars are on. And what does Fox do? They show Bad Boys II. Are you KIDDING me? Who on EARTH wants to watch that? Fox's usual Sunday night shows include The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle and Family Guy. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there's not a whole lot of overlap between Simpsons viewers and Oscar watchers. Why don't producers put on must-see TV shows against these stupid award shows?
There was a similar problem on Super Bowl Sunday. All day, every channel ran "counter-programming." In other words, they had chick-flick marathons. It's like they assumed that every guy was going to watch 10 hours of pre-game coverage. Huh? There's nothing MORE boring than Super Bowl pre-game coverage (with the possible exception of Olympic ski jumping). And yet my only other viewing choices were Hope Floats and How to Make an American Quilt?
I swear, one of these days, I'm going to hijack a TV station and start programming it myself. In other words, it's going to be all Simpsons all the time. And I'll get the highest ratings ever.
When the winter Olympics were on, Fox ran American Idol against it. CBS had new episodes of Survivor and CSI. I think there might have even been new episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives on ABC. People want to watch these shows. People don't want to watch the Olympics (well, except for every woman, which I already mentioned).
So, now the Oscars are on. And what does Fox do? They show Bad Boys II. Are you KIDDING me? Who on EARTH wants to watch that? Fox's usual Sunday night shows include The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle and Family Guy. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there's not a whole lot of overlap between Simpsons viewers and Oscar watchers. Why don't producers put on must-see TV shows against these stupid award shows?
There was a similar problem on Super Bowl Sunday. All day, every channel ran "counter-programming." In other words, they had chick-flick marathons. It's like they assumed that every guy was going to watch 10 hours of pre-game coverage. Huh? There's nothing MORE boring than Super Bowl pre-game coverage (with the possible exception of Olympic ski jumping). And yet my only other viewing choices were Hope Floats and How to Make an American Quilt?
I swear, one of these days, I'm going to hijack a TV station and start programming it myself. In other words, it's going to be all Simpsons all the time. And I'll get the highest ratings ever.
