I definitely think they should be shown back to back. Just as you are getting into the storylines, they take it off air and then a week passes and another. A small break would be okay, but more than a week or so is too much.If you are a massive fan, you will put up with it and catch up, but if you are new to a show, surely this is the way to kill ratings (as proven) as most people will have moved onto something else, getting bored waiting or just forgetting all about it between,until one day, a few episodes missed or when they are playing playbacks, they go 'oh, yeah, this was good wasn't it? No point in catching it now. I don't understand what the hell is happening now!"
Breaks between shows is just not a good idea in my humble opinion. It is bad enough having to wait another week to see our favourite shows. You know the good ones that usually end up getting scrapped before they have had a chance to begin or start to suffer against up and coming ones because they are not getting the fair justice (excuse the pun-smallville)they deserve.
Let's see more of great, quality shows like Smallville, Dexter, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Chuck etc and let's see them properly...How many episodes of rubbish like Eastenders and mind-numbing tv is there on a week, every day? Haven't we with a brain all suffered enough???
Joe - 14 years ago
I think that it should run episodes every week or at least do a shorter period wait two months really did hurt the show. and also move it back to monday-thursday, everyone is either working or going out on fridays. Friday nights i think is the Networks deadzone.. please be smart about this!! even though the ratings show smaller number everyone has to remember there are acutally much more people watching it then the ratings state.. please move it from FRIDAY nights.. also. This season of Smallville has really really stepped up espically the heroic scene in last weeks episode of checkmate it acted like a comic book pause was brilliant!!
jeff - 14 years ago
Why not go back to having 24 to 26 episodes a season? I like the GLEE approach as well. Have two mini-seasons.
Kaleb - 14 years ago
I really didn't care for either selection though I picked the longer break in between Id rather see something more like what Glee did where they basically have 2 seasons in 1 season have 13 episodes for the fall season release those episodes on dvd and then prepare for the spring season Smallville's breaks are out of control 3 weeks for thanksgiving a month for Christmas. And then random 2-3 week breaks randomly its annoying! And then you have shows like v, Flash forward and True Blood that take massive ridiculous breaks that tick off fans sometimes its even questioned if the series has been canceled.
Jrock - 14 years ago
People did give up on smallville over the years. I believe they stepped up in season 8 despite that season finally. And this season, man is it good. I really don't mind those long comercial breaks because it gives them a chance to tell the story a little longer before going to break. I didn't like this long month+ break and the fact that they didn't really advertise for the next episode. Also that they didn't show repeats of smallvile.... Love smallville
Promise - 14 years ago
If it wasnt for the DVR, I would of forgot it came back on and I been watching Smallville since day 1. The thing is though, the episodes or later seasons starting with 8 have gotten away from the story of Clark Kent, the breaks actually go fast because I'm not on suspense waiting to see what happens on the next episode, but in the end, just give me the straight 22 episodes, or like someone else said, take a two break and comeback on. Like show the first 11, 2week break, last 11 episodes, then longer breaks between seasons.
It is better to make a season last from september to may a have little breaks. That way you can get big teasers and have marketing strategies between breaks, maybe non-canon shorts or viral advertising that gives data that helps better understand the series but you can also live without. But I think it mostly depends on the show itself and the way producers want to run it.
They need to do a better job of marketing the show. Three weeks of no episodes with terrible marketing.... I don't think I ever saw a preview other than what airs after the last new episode - Not really that much of a mystery. They promoted the hell out of Absolute Justice... better ratings. Not rocket science.
This tendancy to have breaks throughout a series of a Tv programme is very much an American thing - its avaoided as much as possible over here in the UK - but then we tend to have our programmes in series of 6 or 13 episodes rather than the USA normal of 22 or 27. What that allows us in the UK to have is two series a year sometimes for certain shows (like Top Gear). Perhaps two blocks of 12 episodes a year maybe better? - 12 Episodes from January and then 12 episodes in the Autumn leading upto a feature length Christmas special? a 13 episode run in the spring followed by a single big event like Christmas special certainly works well for the new Doctor Who series since it started in 2005.
kistach - 14 years ago
I think one break is okay, and allows for a couple of cliff hangers during the year. The long breaks seemed to started when they had the writer's strike. There was a break, and then they tried to get as many episodes in as possible. Now, I think it gives people a chance to check out other shows, and if the new show being checked out looks interesting, then there is a conflict. I prefer 22 episodes (I miss it when there used to be 24 or 26 episodes, and under 15 minutes of commercial time. Now one third of the show are commercials. So between the long weeks, and the 6- 7 minutes of commercials at each break, Smallville suffers from 2 things. Long breaks and too much time taken up with commercials which really hampers plot development.
Jared - 14 years ago
Having these month long breaks here and there really makes a person lose interest because by the time the new episode comes along, the person doesnt remember what happened
Kal El (really) - 14 years ago
OFC ANY show needs airing without a break until its current season finishes, simply because in an age where stories can (and do) arc all season long you need to keep the continuity there. Also, most viewers of any TV series are casual rather than die hard, and tbh a casual fan just cba tuning in on any given week to find a repeat or nothing at all, it is an instant turn off for them (and in a lot of cases, a permanent turn off) so it is no wonder that after a month break surprise surprise viewers magically disappear.
Also, especially in the case of 'Superboy' most people know Lex grows up to hate him, he has an on/off love with Lana, Jonathan dies etc etc. Therefore we kinda know what is gonna happen well in advance, which is another big viewer turn off as there is no 'suspense factor'. A lifelong Superman/Boy/Legion fan I recently watched every episode of Smallville in order from ep 1 to present day, and tbh, the ONLY reason Smallville is still on the air is the utter charm and brilliance of Allison Mack who plays Chloe. (Some of her moments are the best viewing I have seen in my 40 years). If Allison is let go or just doesn't want to sign for a 10th season, then Smallville ratings in sn 10 will I believe not even get above the 1 million mark and the series will be wrapped up and taken permanently off the air at the half way mark.
Jen - 14 years ago
I live in England, UK. Here your American shows air from Jan - July we have a month break inbeetween because you have one, personally I think it's better to just air the 22 episodes in one run as people forget about what happened x
Krypto Profe 83 - 14 years ago
Even the trend of 10 or 11 in a row and then a month or so off works, but the CW has behaved this season as if they wanted Smallville to die on the vine, so to speak. Smallville was the flagship series on the air back when the WB and UPN merged to become the CW. I'm betting that as long as Smallville pulls good ratings, they have little choice in renewing it due to some contractual language back when the CW was created. Friday nights tend to be the graveyard of unwanted TV series. Smallville has beaten the odds. Hopefully, it will be given a better night, such as Weds, its original night on the WB, if it is not returned to Thursdays next season. In any case, when I cannot watch it live, I always record Smallville. I also like to replay favorite seasons or rewatch favorite episodes.
However, TvByTheNumbers upped Smallvilles numbers for last week from 1.99 million to 2.1 million, an adjustment they often make on Smallville ratings.
Daniel Duncan - 14 years ago
I would rather have a new episode every other 2-3 weeks and not have a break at all. If you switch it to run the entire season back to back, during the much longer break people are going to find another show to take over or they will wake up and smell the coffee and realize we been sucked into a show or......... if you keep it the way it is now, ratings will drop, because most people dont pay attention to when the 2nd half will premiere and forget about it. HOWEVER I think its safe to say that the people that do still watch Smallville are not your every day average fans. We are all hardcore fans that post on forums and keep a close eye on when It will be back. And I dont know how the articles poster got his info but Smallville is moving up in the world. Smallville hasnt had this good of ratings since season 4. Tom and Allison has already signed for 2 more years, so we got at least Season 10 and Season 11 to go. Also theres talk of Lex coming back which will revive the show for at least another 4 seasons after that. AND DID I mention that Smallville is 8 Episodes away from beating Stargate's World Record for Longest running Sci Fi Drama Series EVER!!!
SVfan - 14 years ago
I agree with cathy the problem is friday nights move it to thursday because in Friday some people work they can't catch the episode at 8 so if you can move it to another day thursday would be perfect !!i know a lot of my friends who loveeee this show but can't watch it on friday so they watch the episode the next day online !! and yes too much of this hiatus kills the show !! You need to air like 6 episodes and then break for 2 weeks cause 1 month is tooo long !!
and one more thing for god sake The Cw promote smallville moreeee !! 1 Trailer is not enough promote it please !!
dan - 14 years ago
I think if we look logically though smallville ratings have gone down for a reason, I mean it just dragged the same stuff over the first 7 seasons with a nice refreshing gree arrow in 6-7. And i season 8 it renewed itself as the REAL becoming of superman, not superman going to the prom etc. Problem is by this time most people had given up, they dragged its ass out to the max. It's a shame I really feel people should watch it S8+ it really has become an amazing show, though I still do crave for superman, I find myself enjoying every week since S8 started. But people don't know its got good, its a different show, if they did change it to "Metropolis" change the damn theme music etc people would be like oh ok.. Its refreshed itself, still not superman but refreshed non-the less.
I dunno man, I don't think Smallvilles ratings are too heavily affected by the breaks, just seems to me like its the dragging ass of the first 7 seasons, everyone gave up, they come back now even when the eps are awesome and go "fucking hell be superman already, almost 10 years"... Though I kinda agree, I fucking LOVE S8+9 :)!
CK61938 - 14 years ago
Here in the UK we have such shows as Dr Who, Merlin, Spooks and a few others. Spooks for example runs for 8 to 10 weeks back to back between Oct and Dec with no breaks. Then we wait an entire year til it's back on our screens again. It's been like this in the UK for as long as I can remember.
The US need to adopt a similar method. It's the only way to keep fans interested and also when new fans start watching they prefer to see whats going to happen next in a weeks time rather than wait more than 3 weeks. When shows like Smallville and 24 are finished in the US, they are shown every week here in the UK without any breaks between episodes. Others like Flashforward, Lost and Heroes get shown a few days after being played in the US (I'm sure you can all guess why).
But it would be nice if the US networks can adopt 24's strategy and do all episodes in one swoop and keep the gap between seasons longer. That is how you generate interest.
Smallville944 - 14 years ago
i think they should keep the current system i don't think it's ther way they air it is the problem maybe they nned to advertise more on Return Dates but ratings don't go down too much just a little some shows it hurts yes but most it doesn't the problem with airing 22 all at onmce would be a really bad move than airing sept-May Holidays Like christmas would hurt the ratings even worse though that would be 8 Months without New Programming which would really hurt Ratings for all The Networks and The Ratings for the Shows Next Season would go Down Drastically cause people would forget about the show it would be hurt ratings wise alot worse than Sept-May System
Cathy - 14 years ago
The problem is Friday nights and the 3 weeks where there were no episodes. Smallville had better ratings on Thursday nights than The Vampire Diaries have now. Smallville should be on during the week and not Friday nights. Also,
the 3 weeks with no episodes, did not help.
supermanbbp - 14 years ago
i don't mind the current system, but don't take a month long break or 2 month break , like bones did. all i think you need is have run of 8 or so straight then a 2 week break. then pick it up again with like 2- 4 straight and take a break and so on. 1-2 month break does kill shows. that's why smallville and other series are suffering.
LDeneroff - 14 years ago
I would like to see TV series run every week for however long it takes to tell the story (16 weeks, 22 weeks, 30 weeks). When episodes were self-contained, it was easier to miss an episode and still enjoy a series. These days if you miss one, you may have difficulty picking up the storyline. When a series disappears for 2 months, it just may not be worth the trouble of finding it when it returns.
Esmond - 14 years ago
Or, for something inherently less serious than the last article-sized comment, THIRD! OMG Smallville FTW!
Esmond - 14 years ago
It's a serious hamper when shows keep spreading out their episodes for people to keep tuned in; it lessens interest for current fans to invest in the show if they have to wait consistently long periods of time just to see a new episode in a single season, and it drives potential fans away if they don't know when to expect the next episode if all they get is repeats or replacement shows in its stead. In current times, people's attention spans are, on average, barely enough to keep interested in a weekly show: how do networks expect to draw people in each week if they don't have new material for that week? If there ever was the lesser of two evils for television networks to decide between, the clear and obvious choice is to put a longer break between seasons and return to a new episode weekly format. If there has to be a DVD release of 2 volumes of one season of a show, then something is seriously wrong with television networks (Either that or they're just a bunch of money-grabbing corporate bottom-dwellers, which is honestly the most likely reason.) This is, ultimately, the entertainment business: as in, the business is to entertain its audience, not annoy the crap out of them. If television shows are simply unable to make the cut and have to take breaks in-between episodes for two, three, even four weeks, then say goodbye, because eventually, even the most die-hard fan will be forced to move on and find a show that will have a stronger consistency to their release dates, no matter how amazing the show is. And if the crews of those respective shows are unable to catch up for whatever reason, creative or corporate, then maybe it's time to pack it up, finish off your season with a bang, then say 'Sayonara'; no hard feelings.
Maybe it's time to start rethinking the way networks release television shows on a whole because of this; even shows that are ultimately popular, but with a smaller fanbase than expected, are easily shelved in favor of any show that looks like the next American Idol (No offense, that's just the popular norm people seem to go for lately. It's not my cup of tea, but I realize I'm not anywhere close to the majority opinion, here.) Perhaps most infamously is well-known televison writer, creator, and popular filmmaker Joss Whedon. Wherever Whedon's next project goes, he manages to capture a smaller, but devoted fanbase. Why? Because there is a real quality to his work that captures people's attention. Regardless, thanks to network interference time and time again, Whedon's unconventional shows are consistently overlooked in favor of network ratings; and his fanbase is sadly, yet constantly snubbed. Whedon is only one creator among many that have been treated in this manner, and that's a truly sad thing. When Miller and Gough attempted their spin-off of Smallville with Aquaman, the emergence of the newly established network The CW chose, poorly in my opinion, not to pick up the series. Subsequently, its lone pilot proceeded to garner huge downloads and significant praise when it was eventually released on iTunes, making me at least wonder what could have been an early potential success for a dwindling new network.
With the power of the internet's influence over the general public at a consistent high (Look how many people travel through Youtube in a day; it's mind-boggling how many views some videos get), perhaps the current TV scheduling system is a sign of the changing times; a transition of audiences from television to the internet, mirroring the early transition for films and theaters to television oh-so-many years ago. Then again, perhaps not. It's impossible to tell, what with the relationship between TV and the internet the way it is; TV shows are now available online, and sites like CollegeHumor.com have quickly developed their own show through the networks. In the end, with the current schedule the way it is, TV's taking a hard hit for its ratings, and will continue doing so unless something is chang
David - 14 years ago
i agree with jeff, i think they should air an episode evry 2 weeks so that it would last longer through out the year
Jeff - 14 years ago
there has to be a better way to extend the episodes from September to may but not have such long breaks for example on smallville the month break that they just recently had was too much. maybe 2 weeks even 3 weeks (pushing it) would be good.
I definitely think they should be shown back to back. Just as you are getting into the storylines, they take it off air and then a week passes and another. A small break would be okay, but more than a week or so is too much.If you are a massive fan, you will put up with it and catch up, but if you are new to a show, surely this is the way to kill ratings (as proven) as most people will have moved onto something else, getting bored waiting or just forgetting all about it between,until one day, a few episodes missed or when they are playing playbacks, they go 'oh, yeah, this was good wasn't it? No point in catching it now. I don't understand what the hell is happening now!"
Breaks between shows is just not a good idea in my humble opinion. It is bad enough having to wait another week to see our favourite shows. You know the good ones that usually end up getting scrapped before they have had a chance to begin or start to suffer against up and coming ones because they are not getting the fair justice (excuse the pun-smallville)they deserve.
Let's see more of great, quality shows like Smallville, Dexter, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Chuck etc and let's see them properly...How many episodes of rubbish like Eastenders and mind-numbing tv is there on a week, every day? Haven't we with a brain all suffered enough???
I think that it should run episodes every week or at least do a shorter period wait two months really did hurt the show. and also move it back to monday-thursday, everyone is either working or going out on fridays. Friday nights i think is the Networks deadzone.. please be smart about this!! even though the ratings show smaller number everyone has to remember there are acutally much more people watching it then the ratings state.. please move it from FRIDAY nights.. also. This season of Smallville has really really stepped up espically the heroic scene in last weeks episode of checkmate it acted like a comic book pause was brilliant!!
Why not go back to having 24 to 26 episodes a season? I like the GLEE approach as well. Have two mini-seasons.
I really didn't care for either selection though I picked the longer break in between Id rather see something more like what Glee did where they basically have 2 seasons in 1 season have 13 episodes for the fall season release those episodes on dvd and then prepare for the spring season Smallville's breaks are out of control 3 weeks for thanksgiving a month for Christmas. And then random 2-3 week breaks randomly its annoying! And then you have shows like v, Flash forward and True Blood that take massive ridiculous breaks that tick off fans sometimes its even questioned if the series has been canceled.
People did give up on smallville over the years. I believe they stepped up in season 8 despite that season finally. And this season, man is it good. I really don't mind those long comercial breaks because it gives them a chance to tell the story a little longer before going to break. I didn't like this long month+ break and the fact that they didn't really advertise for the next episode. Also that they didn't show repeats of smallvile.... Love smallville
If it wasnt for the DVR, I would of forgot it came back on and I been watching Smallville since day 1. The thing is though, the episodes or later seasons starting with 8 have gotten away from the story of Clark Kent, the breaks actually go fast because I'm not on suspense waiting to see what happens on the next episode, but in the end, just give me the straight 22 episodes, or like someone else said, take a two break and comeback on. Like show the first 11, 2week break, last 11 episodes, then longer breaks between seasons.
It is better to make a season last from september to may a have little breaks. That way you can get big teasers and have marketing strategies between breaks, maybe non-canon shorts or viral advertising that gives data that helps better understand the series but you can also live without. But I think it mostly depends on the show itself and the way producers want to run it.
They need to do a better job of marketing the show. Three weeks of no episodes with terrible marketing.... I don't think I ever saw a preview other than what airs after the last new episode - Not really that much of a mystery. They promoted the hell out of Absolute Justice... better ratings. Not rocket science.
This tendancy to have breaks throughout a series of a Tv programme is very much an American thing - its avaoided as much as possible over here in the UK - but then we tend to have our programmes in series of 6 or 13 episodes rather than the USA normal of 22 or 27. What that allows us in the UK to have is two series a year sometimes for certain shows (like Top Gear). Perhaps two blocks of 12 episodes a year maybe better? - 12 Episodes from January and then 12 episodes in the Autumn leading upto a feature length Christmas special? a 13 episode run in the spring followed by a single big event like Christmas special certainly works well for the new Doctor Who series since it started in 2005.
I think one break is okay, and allows for a couple of cliff hangers during the year. The long breaks seemed to started when they had the writer's strike. There was a break, and then they tried to get as many episodes in as possible. Now, I think it gives people a chance to check out other shows, and if the new show being checked out looks interesting, then there is a conflict. I prefer 22 episodes (I miss it when there used to be 24 or 26 episodes, and under 15 minutes of commercial time. Now one third of the show are commercials. So between the long weeks, and the 6- 7 minutes of commercials at each break, Smallville suffers from 2 things. Long breaks and too much time taken up with commercials which really hampers plot development.
Having these month long breaks here and there really makes a person lose interest because by the time the new episode comes along, the person doesnt remember what happened
OFC ANY show needs airing without a break until its current season finishes, simply because in an age where stories can (and do) arc all season long you need to keep the continuity there. Also, most viewers of any TV series are casual rather than die hard, and tbh a casual fan just cba tuning in on any given week to find a repeat or nothing at all, it is an instant turn off for them (and in a lot of cases, a permanent turn off) so it is no wonder that after a month break surprise surprise viewers magically disappear.
Also, especially in the case of 'Superboy' most people know Lex grows up to hate him, he has an on/off love with Lana, Jonathan dies etc etc. Therefore we kinda know what is gonna happen well in advance, which is another big viewer turn off as there is no 'suspense factor'. A lifelong Superman/Boy/Legion fan I recently watched every episode of Smallville in order from ep 1 to present day, and tbh, the ONLY reason Smallville is still on the air is the utter charm and brilliance of Allison Mack who plays Chloe. (Some of her moments are the best viewing I have seen in my 40 years). If Allison is let go or just doesn't want to sign for a 10th season, then Smallville ratings in sn 10 will I believe not even get above the 1 million mark and the series will be wrapped up and taken permanently off the air at the half way mark.
I live in England, UK. Here your American shows air from Jan - July we have a month break inbeetween because you have one, personally I think it's better to just air the 22 episodes in one run as people forget about what happened x
Even the trend of 10 or 11 in a row and then a month or so off works, but the CW has behaved this season as if they wanted Smallville to die on the vine, so to speak. Smallville was the flagship series on the air back when the WB and UPN merged to become the CW. I'm betting that as long as Smallville pulls good ratings, they have little choice in renewing it due to some contractual language back when the CW was created. Friday nights tend to be the graveyard of unwanted TV series. Smallville has beaten the odds. Hopefully, it will be given a better night, such as Weds, its original night on the WB, if it is not returned to Thursdays next season. In any case, when I cannot watch it live, I always record Smallville. I also like to replay favorite seasons or rewatch favorite episodes.
However, TvByTheNumbers upped Smallvilles numbers for last week from 1.99 million to 2.1 million, an adjustment they often make on Smallville ratings.
I would rather have a new episode every other 2-3 weeks and not have a break at all. If you switch it to run the entire season back to back, during the much longer break people are going to find another show to take over or they will wake up and smell the coffee and realize we been sucked into a show or......... if you keep it the way it is now, ratings will drop, because most people dont pay attention to when the 2nd half will premiere and forget about it. HOWEVER I think its safe to say that the people that do still watch Smallville are not your every day average fans. We are all hardcore fans that post on forums and keep a close eye on when It will be back. And I dont know how the articles poster got his info but Smallville is moving up in the world. Smallville hasnt had this good of ratings since season 4. Tom and Allison has already signed for 2 more years, so we got at least Season 10 and Season 11 to go. Also theres talk of Lex coming back which will revive the show for at least another 4 seasons after that. AND DID I mention that Smallville is 8 Episodes away from beating Stargate's World Record for Longest running Sci Fi Drama Series EVER!!!
I agree with cathy the problem is friday nights move it to thursday because in Friday some people work they can't catch the episode at 8 so if you can move it to another day thursday would be perfect !!i know a lot of my friends who loveeee this show but can't watch it on friday so they watch the episode the next day online !! and yes too much of this hiatus kills the show !! You need to air like 6 episodes and then break for 2 weeks cause 1 month is tooo long !!
and one more thing for god sake The Cw promote smallville moreeee !! 1 Trailer is not enough promote it please !!
I think if we look logically though smallville ratings have gone down for a reason, I mean it just dragged the same stuff over the first 7 seasons with a nice refreshing gree arrow in 6-7. And i season 8 it renewed itself as the REAL becoming of superman, not superman going to the prom etc. Problem is by this time most people had given up, they dragged its ass out to the max. It's a shame I really feel people should watch it S8+ it really has become an amazing show, though I still do crave for superman, I find myself enjoying every week since S8 started. But people don't know its got good, its a different show, if they did change it to "Metropolis" change the damn theme music etc people would be like oh ok.. Its refreshed itself, still not superman but refreshed non-the less.
I dunno man, I don't think Smallvilles ratings are too heavily affected by the breaks, just seems to me like its the dragging ass of the first 7 seasons, everyone gave up, they come back now even when the eps are awesome and go "fucking hell be superman already, almost 10 years"... Though I kinda agree, I fucking LOVE S8+9 :)!
Here in the UK we have such shows as Dr Who, Merlin, Spooks and a few others. Spooks for example runs for 8 to 10 weeks back to back between Oct and Dec with no breaks. Then we wait an entire year til it's back on our screens again. It's been like this in the UK for as long as I can remember.
The US need to adopt a similar method. It's the only way to keep fans interested and also when new fans start watching they prefer to see whats going to happen next in a weeks time rather than wait more than 3 weeks. When shows like Smallville and 24 are finished in the US, they are shown every week here in the UK without any breaks between episodes. Others like Flashforward, Lost and Heroes get shown a few days after being played in the US (I'm sure you can all guess why).
But it would be nice if the US networks can adopt 24's strategy and do all episodes in one swoop and keep the gap between seasons longer. That is how you generate interest.
i think they should keep the current system i don't think it's ther way they air it is the problem maybe they nned to advertise more on Return Dates but ratings don't go down too much just a little some shows it hurts yes but most it doesn't the problem with airing 22 all at onmce would be a really bad move than airing sept-May Holidays Like christmas would hurt the ratings even worse though that would be 8 Months without New Programming which would really hurt Ratings for all The Networks and The Ratings for the Shows Next Season would go Down Drastically cause people would forget about the show it would be hurt ratings wise alot worse than Sept-May System
The problem is Friday nights and the 3 weeks where there were no episodes. Smallville had better ratings on Thursday nights than The Vampire Diaries have now. Smallville should be on during the week and not Friday nights. Also,
the 3 weeks with no episodes, did not help.
i don't mind the current system, but don't take a month long break or 2 month break , like bones did. all i think you need is have run of 8 or so straight then a 2 week break. then pick it up again with like 2- 4 straight and take a break and so on. 1-2 month break does kill shows. that's why smallville and other series are suffering.
I would like to see TV series run every week for however long it takes to tell the story (16 weeks, 22 weeks, 30 weeks). When episodes were self-contained, it was easier to miss an episode and still enjoy a series. These days if you miss one, you may have difficulty picking up the storyline. When a series disappears for 2 months, it just may not be worth the trouble of finding it when it returns.
Or, for something inherently less serious than the last article-sized comment, THIRD! OMG Smallville FTW!
It's a serious hamper when shows keep spreading out their episodes for people to keep tuned in; it lessens interest for current fans to invest in the show if they have to wait consistently long periods of time just to see a new episode in a single season, and it drives potential fans away if they don't know when to expect the next episode if all they get is repeats or replacement shows in its stead. In current times, people's attention spans are, on average, barely enough to keep interested in a weekly show: how do networks expect to draw people in each week if they don't have new material for that week? If there ever was the lesser of two evils for television networks to decide between, the clear and obvious choice is to put a longer break between seasons and return to a new episode weekly format. If there has to be a DVD release of 2 volumes of one season of a show, then something is seriously wrong with television networks (Either that or they're just a bunch of money-grabbing corporate bottom-dwellers, which is honestly the most likely reason.) This is, ultimately, the entertainment business: as in, the business is to entertain its audience, not annoy the crap out of them. If television shows are simply unable to make the cut and have to take breaks in-between episodes for two, three, even four weeks, then say goodbye, because eventually, even the most die-hard fan will be forced to move on and find a show that will have a stronger consistency to their release dates, no matter how amazing the show is. And if the crews of those respective shows are unable to catch up for whatever reason, creative or corporate, then maybe it's time to pack it up, finish off your season with a bang, then say 'Sayonara'; no hard feelings.
Maybe it's time to start rethinking the way networks release television shows on a whole because of this; even shows that are ultimately popular, but with a smaller fanbase than expected, are easily shelved in favor of any show that looks like the next American Idol (No offense, that's just the popular norm people seem to go for lately. It's not my cup of tea, but I realize I'm not anywhere close to the majority opinion, here.) Perhaps most infamously is well-known televison writer, creator, and popular filmmaker Joss Whedon. Wherever Whedon's next project goes, he manages to capture a smaller, but devoted fanbase. Why? Because there is a real quality to his work that captures people's attention. Regardless, thanks to network interference time and time again, Whedon's unconventional shows are consistently overlooked in favor of network ratings; and his fanbase is sadly, yet constantly snubbed. Whedon is only one creator among many that have been treated in this manner, and that's a truly sad thing. When Miller and Gough attempted their spin-off of Smallville with Aquaman, the emergence of the newly established network The CW chose, poorly in my opinion, not to pick up the series. Subsequently, its lone pilot proceeded to garner huge downloads and significant praise when it was eventually released on iTunes, making me at least wonder what could have been an early potential success for a dwindling new network.
With the power of the internet's influence over the general public at a consistent high (Look how many people travel through Youtube in a day; it's mind-boggling how many views some videos get), perhaps the current TV scheduling system is a sign of the changing times; a transition of audiences from television to the internet, mirroring the early transition for films and theaters to television oh-so-many years ago. Then again, perhaps not. It's impossible to tell, what with the relationship between TV and the internet the way it is; TV shows are now available online, and sites like CollegeHumor.com have quickly developed their own show through the networks. In the end, with the current schedule the way it is, TV's taking a hard hit for its ratings, and will continue doing so unless something is chang
i agree with jeff, i think they should air an episode evry 2 weeks so that it would last longer through out the year
there has to be a better way to extend the episodes from September to may but not have such long breaks for example on smallville the month break that they just recently had was too much. maybe 2 weeks even 3 weeks (pushing it) would be good.