{"id":4235,"date":"2007-05-12T18:34:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-12T22:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/?p=4235"},"modified":"2021-06-09T18:38:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T22:38:05","slug":"tv-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/2007\/05\/12\/tv-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/images\/tvbug.gif?resize=65%2C20&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"65\" height=\"20\">&nbsp; &nbsp; I originally envisioned this blog post as another diatribe against Fox.  I spent the last year becoming totally enamored by a 2002 show named <i>Firefly<\/i>, a wondeful series Fox thoughtlessly killed off after only fourteen episodes.  I was eager to watch a new series, <i>Drive<\/i>, mainly because it shared <i>Firefly<\/i>&#8216;s star, Nathan Fillion, as well as writer\/producer Tim Minear.  After four episodes, in only two weeks, Fox killed it off &#8212; just as the series was starting to find its bearings.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; I&#8217;ve spoken before about the dichotomy that is Fox.  How they consistently greenlight interesting and unique concepts, how these shows attract a rabid fan base, but then get canceled before they can really catch on.  It&#8217;s as if there&#8217;s some huge gulf separating the R&#038;D guys and the marketing guys.  (And, especially in the case of <i>Drive<\/i> the shows are given so little chance you&#8217;d think the programmers are ADD-addled kids who can&#8217;t sit still.  I imagine they&#8217;re all on their sixth or seventh marriages and living in half-furnished condos.)  The series attract critical raves but never seem to find their audience\u2026until it&#8217;s too late and they&#8217;re released in some retrospective DVD box set.  &#8220;How could they have canceled this?!&#8221; is a common refrain when watching these DVDs.  It happens so often with Fox shows I&#8217;d suggest Fox simply give up all their affiliate channels and go into the direct-to-DVD business.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; <i>Drive<\/i> was Fox&#8217;s lead-in to <i>24<\/i>, and Fox said <i>Drive<\/i> was canceled because its low ratings were actually affecting <i>24<\/i>&#8216;s ratings.  But now, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2007\/SHOWBIZ\/TV\/05\/09\/tv.missingviewers.ap\/index.html\">CNN says<\/a> that ratings are down overall.  &#8220;More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.&#8221;  Some claim this is due to the accelerated Daylight Saving Time change; others cite the increased use of PVR time-shifting.  Plus there&#8217;s always the underlying suspicion that the Nielsen polling data is poor and flawed.  Part of me wants to demand <i>Drive<\/i>&#8216;s return, seeing as it was removed from the schedule under false pretenses; but since I am a kind-hearted charitable soul, I will instead do Fox and all networks a favor.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; I might not be the average TV viewer &#8212; most notably since I abhor all forms of &#8220;reality TV&#8221; &#8212; but I am a dedicated TV viewer.  So, for what it&#8217;s worth, here is an honest and accurate list of what I watch.<br><br><table border=\"0\"><tr><td><b>M<\/b>:<\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:00 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>Heroes<\/i> (usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>Fox: <i>24<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>10:00 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip<\/i> (back when it was on)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>Tu<\/b><\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:00 PM<\/td><td>Fox: <i>House<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>W<\/b><\/td><td>10:00 PM<\/td><td>ABC: <i>Lost<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>Th<\/b><\/td><td>&nbsp; 8:30 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>The Office<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:00 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>30 Rock<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:30 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>Scrubs<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>10:00 PM<\/td><td>NBC: <i>ER<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>F<\/b><\/td><td>&nbsp; 8:00 PM<\/td><td>Universal HD: <i>Firefly<\/i> repeats (back when they were on)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>11:00 PM<\/td><td>HBO: <i>Real Time with Bill Maher<\/i> (usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>Sa<\/b><\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:00 PM<\/td><td>Universal HD: <i>Battlestar Galactica<\/i> repeats (usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>Su<\/td><td>&nbsp; 9:00 PM<\/td><td>HBO: <i>Rome<\/i> (when it was on) \/ <i>The Sopranos<\/i><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>10:00 PM<\/td><td>Sci Fi: <i>Battlestar Galactica<\/i> (back when it was on, and usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<td>&nbsp;<\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>M &#8211; Th<\/b><\/td><td>11:00 PM<\/td><td>Comedy Central: <i>The Daily Show<\/i> (usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>M &#8211; Th<\/b> &nbsp; &nbsp; <\/td><td>11:30 PM &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/td><td>Comedy Central: <i>The Colbert Report Show<\/i> (usually time-shifted)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><b>M &#8211; F<\/b><\/td><td>11:35 PM<\/td><td>CBS: <i>The Late Show with David Letterman<\/i><\/td><\/tr><\/table>&nbsp; &nbsp; I vouch that these are the shows I consistently watch each week.  Please do not cancel them.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I originally envisioned this blog post as another diatribe against Fox. I spent the last year becoming totally enamored by a 2002 show named Firefly, a wondeful series Fox thoughtlessly killed off after only fourteen episodes. I was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/2007\/05\/12\/tv-guide\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4235"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4239,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235\/revisions\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wastinaway.net\/shortfatguy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}