Is there such a thing as a US network TV almanac showing when it's all in reruns?
February 8, 2011 4:36 PM Subscribe
CuttingCableFilter: Is there such a thing as a (US, OTA) network TV season calendar that indicates premiere/new eps/hiatus status?
Sweetie and I have finally admitted to ourselves that our TV addiction is killing us. Between an 'all the channels in existence' cable subscription and that weird syndrome where you feel obliged to watch everything your TiVo collects just to empty it out, we're doing nothing but zoning out in front of the tube all night every night. Bleh.
But we also know that we're not going to be able to quit cold turkey. So we've been doing an experiment all month where we disconnected the cable and unplugged the TiVo and just hooked up a PC with a tuner card and used Windows Media Center to record the few channels we can pick up over the air. We've decided that while we'll miss a few basic cable favorites and guilty pleasures, we can get by with what we can pick up for free and be perfectly content - while significantly cutting down our TV diet.
But what we'd really like to do is to also take an 'eat what's in season' approach to TV as well, considering that we'll be back to the seasonal vagaries of the major networks. Premiere weeks, sweeps, etc. will be times of feasting. Some of our all time faves have been things like brilliant-but-cancelled midseason replacements that we would have missed if we hadn't been watching everything that was on anyway, and we won't want to miss those.
Other parts of the year will be 'fallow times' where everything will be in reruns or on hiatus - we'd ignore the TV entirely during that barren season and do whatever it is that people who don't own televisions do. Or maybe we'd leave a few shows recorded but untouched as they come out and ration them out to tide us over through the doldrums. ("Everything's in reruns for the next month; is it time to break the seal on this season of House yet?")
But with a zillion channels and a fat DVR for the last few years, we've lost touch with the network TV calendar. Is there some guide or TV almanac out there that rather than day by day detailed listings, gives an overview by month of when content is fresh and when it's all canned leftovers?
P.S. No fair just suggesting Hulu. We like the HD quality of OTA, and the fact that when you're done, you've got to wait a week for something else worth watching to come out. Digging into a Hulu stash would be cheating.
Sweetie and I have finally admitted to ourselves that our TV addiction is killing us. Between an 'all the channels in existence' cable subscription and that weird syndrome where you feel obliged to watch everything your TiVo collects just to empty it out, we're doing nothing but zoning out in front of the tube all night every night. Bleh.
But we also know that we're not going to be able to quit cold turkey. So we've been doing an experiment all month where we disconnected the cable and unplugged the TiVo and just hooked up a PC with a tuner card and used Windows Media Center to record the few channels we can pick up over the air. We've decided that while we'll miss a few basic cable favorites and guilty pleasures, we can get by with what we can pick up for free and be perfectly content - while significantly cutting down our TV diet.
But what we'd really like to do is to also take an 'eat what's in season' approach to TV as well, considering that we'll be back to the seasonal vagaries of the major networks. Premiere weeks, sweeps, etc. will be times of feasting. Some of our all time faves have been things like brilliant-but-cancelled midseason replacements that we would have missed if we hadn't been watching everything that was on anyway, and we won't want to miss those.
Other parts of the year will be 'fallow times' where everything will be in reruns or on hiatus - we'd ignore the TV entirely during that barren season and do whatever it is that people who don't own televisions do. Or maybe we'd leave a few shows recorded but untouched as they come out and ration them out to tide us over through the doldrums. ("Everything's in reruns for the next month; is it time to break the seal on this season of House yet?")
But with a zillion channels and a fat DVR for the last few years, we've lost touch with the network TV calendar. Is there some guide or TV almanac out there that rather than day by day detailed listings, gives an overview by month of when content is fresh and when it's all canned leftovers?
P.S. No fair just suggesting Hulu. We like the HD quality of OTA, and the fact that when you're done, you've got to wait a week for something else worth watching to come out. Digging into a Hulu stash would be cheating.
I like Zap2it. If you register and add the shows you like to favorites it creates a custom calendar for you. You can scroll through when your show will be on tv and when the next new episodes will be.
posted by jourman2 at 5:42 PM on February 8, 2011
posted by jourman2 at 5:42 PM on February 8, 2011
Slight derail ...
Hook up a TV antenna to your Tivo! It works incredibly well! Highest quality HD in the business, right there, for free.
posted by intermod at 8:00 PM on February 8, 2011
Hook up a TV antenna to your Tivo! It works incredibly well! Highest quality HD in the business, right there, for free.
posted by intermod at 8:00 PM on February 8, 2011
"an overview by month of when content is fresh and when it's all canned leftovers"
Network TV doesn't work as much like this as it used to. FOX and the CW might be running new shows while the big three are doing reruns. There are also more summer series now and other weirdness For example, Parks and Rec didn't start until January, but it's not a new mid-season replacement. 24 often did the same thing.
Epguides.com has rss feeds of new shows (US only or all countries) and cancellations as well as current network grids.
posted by soelo at 11:44 AM on February 9, 2011
Network TV doesn't work as much like this as it used to. FOX and the CW might be running new shows while the big three are doing reruns. There are also more summer series now and other weirdness For example, Parks and Rec didn't start until January, but it's not a new mid-season replacement. 24 often did the same thing.
Epguides.com has rss feeds of new shows (US only or all countries) and cancellations as well as current network grids.
posted by soelo at 11:44 AM on February 9, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by something something at 5:18 PM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]