So THAT'S why!

So I haven't been blogging very often as of late and that's because there hasn't been a whole lot to blog about. TV is kind of my life, so given that there's been a whole lotta nothin' on lately, there just hasn't been much blog-fodder for me to utilize....which is odd...because it's February for cryin' out loud! Seriously, television, WTF?!

For those of you out there who don't know why it's odd for February to have reruns and other such crappy programming on, here's the deal. Along with November and May (and July, technically), February is a month during which the system of calculating viewership for television programming is most important. It is one of the four sweeps periods during the year. During these four months, networks air eagerly anticipated programs that are deliberately scheduled to boost television ratings. The higher the ratings, the more networks can charge for commercials and other promotions. Henceforth, February should be one of the best months for TV. If there's going to be a bomb scare in a hospital, it'll probably be during sweeps. If a major character might die, start scheduling the funeral for the third week of February. Explosions, gratuitous violence, inexplicable hookups, long-lost relatives, and mysteries being revealed are all fair game for sweeps.

So why in the hell has this February had basically nothing new to offer? Why will Gossip Girl not be back until March? And why is the primetime lineup every evening chock full of reruns and lame-ass award ceremonies that no one watches? Well, I finally stumbled across the answer the other day.

As it turns out, programmers scheduled all sorts of crap for February because of the digital change over that was supposed to take place on the 17th. Networks figured many households would still not have made the change over and did not want to waste new programming on a bunch of people who might not be able to view it. It makes sense, I suppose, but now that Congress has voted to postpone the switchover till June 12th, surely they'll rejigger the schedule and give us some new programming to watch, right?

Yeah... not so much.

From what I hear, viewers can look forward to a whole lot of reruns and stupid specials for the next couple of weeks at least. There will be a handful of new episodes here and there, but nothing like it should be for the middle of February. Perhaps it's because nearly 40% of broadcasters plan to switchover later this week regardless of Congress' actions. The FCC still has the final word on whether or not they'll allow it, so odds are if you're still using rabbit ears, you still have some time (for the most part, that is).

Anyway, regardless of when the switchover actually takes place, at least now I know why no one has been shot to death on House lately (and really, when better to finally kill off 13 than during sweeps?! People who don't even watch the show would be tuning in for that delightful event), no special guest stars have shown up on every show on TV (and for no apparent reason), and my beloved Gossip Girl is on hiatus (still!). Oy.

Dollhouse premiered on Friday, so at least that's something. I'll be posting my review of that tomorrow, probably. Oh, and there's always Burn Notice and Psych to keep my sane, but we all know I need more than that (like 10 or 12 more shows, at least).

So until Marchish, enjoy some truly, woefully, mediocre viewing options... :(