As we gear up for the Fall television season, viewers are excited to welcome back their favorite characters; as well as looking to become familiar with some of the new characters this season has to offer. However, there are some rather unpleasant changes being made during the Fall line-up, and PUBLIC discusses the downside to ‘extended’ programming…
Since when did network producers completely over estimate our attention spans? Barely can I sit through a two-hour movie without looking at my watch, and now I’m expected to sit through mediocre programming WITH commercials for that long? I don’t know who’s in charge here, but where do they get off?
First of all, I blame American Idol. We all know that’s where this “two-hour programming” started, which, in itself is asinine to say the least. Really? 12 45-second performances takes two hours to broadcast? I know we have to watch Seacrest do his little song and dance, and the sponsors need their flashy airtime, but now this trend has spread to almost every network and has recently begun to infuriate me.
Watching the Bachelor, Bachelorette, and now Bachelor Pad for two hours was excruciating, although I had my routine down: cell phone out for discussion purposes, daily crossword for boredom, and fairly strong cocktail to curb my frustration. But it’s not just the Bachelor and AI. It’s America’s Got Talent, It’s Hell’s Kitchen, Dancing With the Stars…the list just goes on and on!
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However, my problem is this: You’re still giving me only one hour of enjoyable programming. After factoring in all of the “last week on____, or the “coming up next,” and then THE WORST one- the replaying of what we already just saw before commercial break. Then factor in the excessive fluff that’s there to just take up time and all you’ve got left is the original hour of programming that once graced our television screens.
So dear network producers, I beg you please. PLEASE give me back the hour-long show. Please don’t replay what I saw before commercial break (I did JUST watch it, I promise) and puhlease get rid of the DULL, boring, just-there-to take-up-time scenes! I know I’m already wasting my time watching this (usually garbage) two-hour programming, but just don’t make me regret it more than I already do.
-Arielle
Tags: entertainment, primetime, TV show
