F-You, NBC
There is only one show that I choose to watch in “real time”, as opposed to Tivo. That show is The West Wing. Imagine my chagrin, when at 8:00 on Wednesday night, I tuned in, fully anticipating a new episode, only to be greeted with a re-run of Law and Order (possibly the most tired show on network television). There was no advance warning. In fact, NBC waited until 10 minutes into the show before running a crawler explaining the situation, although they did not acknowledge the reason behind the last-minute switch.
Last night, while channel surfing, I came across Will and Grace. “I’ll watch this,” I said to myself. Except is was—-you guessed it—- a re-run.
I seems that as a concession to viewers watching baseball, some networks have decided to pull original progamming and replace it with re-runs. Apparently, viewers, like you and and like me, are incapable of making our own decisions. This really pisses me off since I have Tivo, and I can watch whatever I damn well please whenever I damn well want to watch it.
My next thought was that I’d send a polite, but firm, email to the folks at NBC. Except I can’t. It seems that I am more than welcome to send snail mail, but should I, or any other member of the viewing public wish to send an email about anything other than a show, we’re S.O.L. You can view the FAQ’s page and learn all about what songs are played on which shows, but you can’t send an email. You can request tickets, but you can’t provide honest feedback. At least not directly to the folks who are making your decisions for you.
I know that this is a petty thing about which to be riled up, but it’s been eating at me for a few days, and when I let things stew long enough, they generally boil over. You’ll notice that CBS did not elect to show re-runs of Survivor. ABC showed a new Threat Matrix and Extreme Makeover. So, f-you, NBC, for not having enough faith in either your programming (which really is sliding) or your viewers.
October 17th, 2003 at 3:41 pm
Survivor (yeah, I watch it) was new, but the episode of CSI shown after it was a rerun from LAST SEASON. Ugh.
October 17th, 2003 at 6:00 pm
Damn. I hope I remember to put the seat down this weekend. I wouldn’t want to get her any more riled up!
October 17th, 2003 at 8:44 pm
AMEN! I’d been saving up ironing so I could do that while I watched Friends, Scrubs and CSI last night (really takes some of the drudgery out of it) but everything was a rerun. I was not a happy camper.
October 17th, 2003 at 9:44 pm
I would have been fine—really!—had i simply been able to send an email expressing my frustration (in a polite, yet firm, manner). I’m just way pissed off that they have taken even that from me. It’s a little thing, I know, but there’s a larger principle at work here.
October 19th, 2003 at 1:46 pm
John Eck is the head of programming for NBC. A google search gave me his e-mail address: john.eck@nbc.com. Give that a try. It can’t hurt.
October 19th, 2003 at 1:59 pm
Katie, you are my hero. Thanks!
October 20th, 2003 at 9:14 am
I think you’re just one small step away from those people who call the FOX-4 News feedback line to complain that the tornado coverage kept interrupting “Cops”. 🙂
October 20th, 2003 at 8:33 pm
No way…I hate Cops! 🙂
Seriously, though, I did email John Eck, and I received a cookie-cutter reply. Still, though, I won’t be happy until there’s a valid, quick-respose option like all the other networks (i.e. Fox, CBS, and ABC) have.