A lot of people don't understand this, but even though we write for a television web site and watch tons of television every single day, we can't keep track of everything or watch everything. There are many shows that I realize are on my television but simply don't watch (Grey's Anatomy, CSI, The Bachelor, Maury), and there are a few that I don't watch because I had no idea they were still on. Below are five such shows that I recently found out were still going strong (OK, five are still going strong, one is an old show that I didn't realize was being shown nowadays).
The People's Court: I used to watch this every single day when I was younger (the show's legal expert, Harvey Levin, now runs TMZ.com). That was when a real-life courtroom show was unique, before there were 27 of them on TV every single day. I knew that Judge Judy was still on, and shows with other various judges (Judge Hackett, Divorce Court, Judge Mathis, Judge Maria Lopez, Judge David Young, Christina's Court), but I didn't know this one was still on. It can't be the same without Judge Wapner and baliff Rusty though.
Temptation: This is a remake of the classic 80s game show Sale of the Century, which I used to love. Three contestants square off with each other answering pop culture questions, and along the way they are tempted with offers to get prizes for only a small fee, which will be deducted from their score. I was channel surfing last week and came across this and was shocked to see it's still on (if under a different name).
Soul Train: Yup, it's been on every week since 1971. New episodes aren't airing right now (the last new episodes were in 2006) but it hasn't been officially canceled yet and could still come back.
The Daily Buzz: This syndicated morning show, broadcast from Florida, ran in my area for just a short time a couple of years ago, and I was sorry to see it go. It wasn't great by any means, but it was fun and goofy and did something the other morning shows didn't do. I thought it was canceled, but it's actually still going. I guess they just decided to take it off my local station so they could add another damn hour of local news.
Sunday Morning Shootout: This AMC movie show, hosted by Variety's Peter Bart and producer Peter Gruber, was something I watched every Sunday morning, then it seemed to be pre-empted (or they'd show repeats) for several weeks, so I thought it was one of those cable shows that slipped away quietly into the sunset. But it's still going strong.
Lou Grant: OK, this isn't "still on" as if they're making new episodes, but I thought it was one of those shows from the 70s and 80s that got lost and wasn't run in syndication any longer. Not so. You can see it on American Life every Wednesday at 9 and 11pm. It's celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. I never understood why Lou didn't hire Mary and Murray from WJM.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-03-2007 @ 11:47AM
lucyfan62 said...
How funny that you ran this column today. I was channel surfing this morning and was surprised to see that MONTEL was still on! I saw TEMPTATION when there was a special primetime premiere on MyNetwork TV in the fall, but I've never seen the show play on any of my local stations since then (the host was a panelist on CHELSEA LATELY one night last week). I was also surprised to see the first season of LOU GRANT show up on iTunes last week. I didn't realize it was the 30th anniversary. That explains a lot, but Fox has no plans yet for a DVD release.
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12-03-2007 @ 12:17PM
kevjohn said...
I didn't know E.R. was still on until I started watching Life and I kept seeing the promos. Who the heck still watches E.R.? Did they bring Clooney back? Whatever happened to that guy?
I watch the Daily Buzz uhh, daily. It's funny, irreverant, sometimes amateurish, but still a step up from the 'serious' morning shows.
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12-03-2007 @ 12:48PM
Prateek S. said...
The only TV judge I watch is Maria Lopez... she dishes out the sassiness and fiery verdicts and she's pretty hot in my opinion!
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12-03-2007 @ 3:09PM
Jim said...
Isn't "According to Jim" still running? Explain that.
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12-03-2007 @ 3:23PM
n2 said...
You didn't realize the People's Court is still on? It's on like 4-5 times a day in my area. You'd be hard pressed not to channel surf between 4-7pm in my area and NOT find it.
I really like the latest version. The judge, in my opinion, is the best of the on air personalities. For some reason, Judge Judy seems bored these days, and tells the participants the case (based on reading a summary off-air) instead of letting them tell their story. It's kinda annoying.
As far as Soul Train... are they still filming? That would be kinda funny if there were. Didn't realize that show was still around. But since it hasn't been shown on air since 2006, my gut feeling tells me it really shouldn't be included here, as it's not "on"
Regarding the comment on ER, I can totally agree there! That show is still on?! It amazes me anyone still watches that show.
It also amazes me that Funniest Home Videos is still around. I think it found new life on ABC Family. Plus ABC revives it every once in a while.
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12-03-2007 @ 5:30PM
Michael Schmitt said...
I'm bummed that my local station decided to take off The Daily Buzz from the morning line-up. I agree that it has an irreverence that I find appealing...
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12-03-2007 @ 7:27PM
John said...
America's Funniest Home Videos regularly gets my 'Holy crap, that's still on' spit-take.
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12-03-2007 @ 11:15PM
Nicki said...
Funny, I wasn't aware any of those shows were on ever.
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12-04-2007 @ 5:08AM
scott said...
I can't believe that there are still enough inbred half wits to keep "Survivor" on...."Lou Grant" was a great show("I'm gonna kill you,Rossi!")
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12-04-2007 @ 8:57AM
Mike B. said...
'Sale' left the air in 1989, although reruns persisted on cable until the mid-90s. Temptation is new this season, and will be gone after this season, since the ratings are abysmal.
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12-04-2007 @ 10:10AM
horsenbuggy said...
Two things about "People's Court:"
Does anyone remember the episode of "Sliders" where "People's Court" was not just a cheesy TV show? It was a serious court where the losers were sentenced to death.
Also, there is a guy who hosts specials on the National Geographic channel (which they're trying to make sound hip by calling it Nat Geo - just stop, it's cooler without the nickname) who looks just like Doug Lwelyan (spelling?). Every time I see this "Nat Geo" guy, I do a double take and expect him to interview a guy outside a courtroom.
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12-06-2007 @ 9:57AM
Lauren said...
The Daily Buzz airs in Atlanta on the CW. I really like it!
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12-08-2007 @ 5:23PM
Bob Andelman said...
Bob,
You might be interested in this audio interview with Judge David Young: http://www.mrmedia.com/2007/12/judge-david-young-syndicated-tv-judge.html .
Bob Andelman
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