high school reunion-related stories
Posted Aug 4th 2009 5:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
So I was watching
The Andy Griffith Show marathon that
TV Land seems to air every other day. This isn't my complaint, as I would watch that show every day of the week (as long as they're the black and white episodes and not the color ones, but that's another rant). No, my complaint is about the commercial that ran during the marathon.
The promo isn't online so I'll have to describe it. The narrator talks about how times change (with a montage of how phones have evolved over the years), how tastes change (a montage of different foods that people have eaten over the decades), and how we've changed (a montage of different hairstyles you might have had since you were a kid). The point of all this is that things change, but ... change is good! And that's why it's good that TV Land has a bunch of reality shows instead of classic TV shows, because things change and that's where viewers are now in their lives.
Continue reading New TV Land promo will make you sad, angry and maybe a little sick
Posted May 12th 2009 12:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Ratings
You won't believe which show is kicking the collective ass of TV Land's
The Cougar. Then again, maybe you will.
The New York Times reports that reruns of (Shazam!)
The Andy Griffith Show are the cable network's most watched show.
So does this mean that the former classic TV network will go back to running
shows that people actually want to watch? Probably not. Sorry to break the bad news to you. Oh, and there is no Santa Claus, and if the tooth fairy does exist, she's probably a big ol' commie.
Continue reading The Cougar is not TV Land's number one show
Posted Apr 13th 2009 7:19PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, OpEd
TV Land just keeps drifting further and further away from what they originally were. It wouldn't surprise me if some day we see them change the name to Reality Land and all of the older comedies and dramas dragged over to Nick at Nite.
The network has
announced a few new reality shows, including one that they call an "anti-makeover" show. If it's truly anti-makeover, it will be a scripted comedy, but I'm sure it's really just another damn reality program. They have also announced a third season (gah) of
High School Reunion. Guess all the people in their 40s and 50s like these things, though as someone in my 40s I'd just like to say HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT, TV LAND? I DON'T WANT TO SEE MORE REALITY SHOWS AND MAKEOVER SHOWS, EVEN IF THEY ARE "ANTI."
Continue reading Oh joy: more reality shows and makeover shows coming to TV Land
Posted Mar 29th 2009 12:38PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd
My family often watches TV during the dinner hour. There, I've said it. I'm not proud of that fact, but there you have it. We also force the kids to take 2-hour nature walks with us every weekend, so maybe it all evens out in the end.
Our favorite channel during the dinner hour is TV Land. In our neck of the woods,
Hogan's Heroes airs from 6 to 7 p.m., and
The Andy Griffith Show from 7 to 8 p.m. We love both these shows, and the episodes always spark laughter and a few discussion topics. Like, how could Colonel Klink be such a dimwit, and why can't more people be like Andy Taylor?
But we might have to start watching the Discovery or History channels or - gasp! - turn the TV off altogether, because the commercials on TV Land are making us gag on our organic mac-and-cheese. I'm talking about the commercials for TV Land's reality shows,
High School Reunion and
The Cougar.
Continue reading Reality shows on TV Land? It's a world gone mad!
Posted Mar 19th 2009 7:01PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Industry, Reality-Free
Cable channels used to have fairly rigid formats that followed simple formulas. Nickelodeon was the network for kids. ESPN was the network for sports. USA was the network for non-stop reruns of
Wings.
Now most of them have fallen into a strange gelatinous blob of unoriginal and unrecognizable sewage. I believe the technical term is "reality shows."
The TV Land network has been slowly engulfed by this blob of mediocrity with shows like
High School Reunion and
The Cougar. Their latest VP hire indicates it's about to be swallowed whole by more of the same.
Continue reading Hoping for less reality TV on TV Land? Keep on hoping
Posted May 1st 2008 1:04PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, OpEd
Many people think that the term "cougar," which is loosely defined as "older woman on the prowl for younger men to date" was introduced on last season's
How I Met Your Mother episode that had
Jane Seymour seduce Neil Patrick Harris' Barney. But like I said in my review back then, I had heard that term before that episode aired. But we can definitely say that
HIMYM popularized the term.
Now it seems like TV Land, which is becoming the network for reality shows starring people over 35, has decided to pick up a
Bachelorette-esque series where a number of young men will be
competing for the affections of "sexy and accomplished mature woman." The show is being produced by Mike Fleiss, who was the executive producer for the network's version of
High School Reunion.
Continue reading TV Land orders dating show for Cougars
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