[TV] why does american TV go to shit towards the end of the year?

[Deleted]

i usually stream any american tv shows i watch cause british networks suck arse at keeping up, the only ones that are usually even in the same season are either sky or living.

over the past few weeks i have seen pretty much all my favourite shows schedules get derailed and was just wondered why it happens ;o most TV over here still runs like clockwork through the holidays and was just wondering why your shows seem to be bouncing around atm.

i would have thought they would be trying their best to keep a routine schedule as to not confuse / lose viewers?

just a couple of examples from the shows i usually stream:

chuck 501-503, every week until 18/11, 504 doesnt turn up till tonight

bones 701-703, every week until 17/11, almost a 2 week gap till 704

terra nova 101-104, everyweek until 17/10, almost a 2 week gap till 105, back to every week till 109 then another almost 2 week gap till 110 which shows on sunday

TBBT 501-510, everyweek until 17/11, 511 doesnt show till 3 whole weeks later? :<

is this down to specific networks? or does all american TV do it? ;o

[Malaren]

It's a trend that I've only just noticed in the last 4 - 5 years or so. I think it may be a way of stretching out the television seasons so that people don't feel like it's a long in between the end of the season and when it starts again. A lot of shows will now have mid-season finales and then start back up about 2 months later. During that time, TV stations fill that with either re-runs of the show or their introduce new shows that will typically air during the winter and spring/summer timeframe.

[Skippy88]

Don't forget Big that they just had Thanksgiving down there so there usually is no new episodes for a few days. November is sweeps month so they sometimes do specials like the American Music Awards or the Gaga Thanksgiving special to try to bring in ratings and preempt a show which happened to Terra Nova this week. Lastly, in December things start to wind down as they may air 1 or 2 new episodes but usually viewers are out Christmas shopping so they usually just wait until January.

My suggestion is find go the network's respective website like abc.com or nbc.com to find out if your show is airing a new episode or not.

[Bigitybones]

its the mid season... all networks do this nowadays pretty much they wont air new shows during the holidays because ppl arent usualyl home much during that time... usually they break from dec to feb


also your numbers aren't quite right there was a one week hiatus for the big bang theory ( last week( with a new episode this week... remember they have to fill schedule untill april with these episode so they put repeats on what was shown to be the least watched weeks of the year.

[Spiralphoenix]

They take breaks. The ones you're referring to were over Thanksgiving break. Some/most will have gaps over Winter/Christmas break. It's not that hard to keep up - go to Google, type in "List of _____________ Episodes", click the wikipedia link and find the season. I've yet to find a show that these sites didn't exist for. They keep dates on all aired episodes and usually the date of the next one to air.

[Fooliecoolie]

Mainly networks scale back on new episodes between Thanksgiving and Christmas week to show holiday specials and sporting events such college bowl games.

[Sills]

Mainly networks scale back on new episodes between Thanksgiving and Christmas week to show holiday specials and sporting events such college bowl games.

Pretty much this I feel. Its extremely annoying since many of the programs I enjoy are ones the OP listed (plus a few more of my own personal tastes :P ) and when I tune in to see my show and get a) a rerun midseason or b) a christmas special it annoys me. However my frustration is eased by my love of Christmas so I usually will watch whatever Christmas special is on

[Kalcheus]

If the show debuts in September or early October, the first extended break usually takes place from Thanksgiving til Mid-January; sometimes there may be one or two eps in December but that's it. Even non-broadcast networks (such as USA) largely eschew the weeks before and after Christmas (Burn Notice ends on the 15th and no January debuts until the 17th).

Bones debuted late, but is doing fewer episodes this year due to Emily Deschanel's pregnancy, so it's not back until mid-January.

Remember that most broadcast network show orders are 22 episodes that air over 36 weeks; networks prefer longer breaks in December, January, and April rather than alternating new and repeat episodes. And then, of course, you have the occasional 24 or Lost that airs 24 successive weeks so it starts later.