Oct 11, 2006

Yet More Channel Deviations

While trying to avoid the Pokemon virus that has infected every corner of Cartoon Network (including Toonami Jetstream, which means that Sean and Jason don't have control of what goes on there, sad to say), I noticed this other deviation.

You know, I used to like TV Land. I did. I mean, back in the day, it was like old-school Nick At Nite (when they actually spelled out "At" instead of using a damn @ sign), and they do tend to show some good retro favorites like The Jeffersons, Good Times, Benson, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Three's Company, I Love Lucy, and perhaps one of the most perfect sitcoms ever produced, The Dick Van Dyke Show (a title that could get censored in this overtly sensitive world of ours). Like nearly every channel on the dial, TV Land has deviated from its initial concept by airing more "popnost" and "celebreality" programming over the years (what's next? Schindler's List on Comedy Central? The Man Show on Lifetime? An original live-action movie on Cartoon Network - - oh, frak, that's already happening)

But one new show announcement, as I scooped on Sitcoms Online (a great sitcom news and info site if ever there was one), kind of shocked me more than seeing Fatal Attraction on the channel a few weeks ago. TV Land has picked up episodes of High School Reunion, a reality program that aired on The WB a few years ago that basically looked through an old yearbook and put labels on people that weren't what they were. Not only did they pick up the three-year old episodes, but they're also planning to produce new episodes exclusively for TV Land. Alas, like Boomerang, TV Land is also slowly forgetting their classic TV roots, which is damn shame.

Now, excuse me for a moment, I gotta watch this tractor pull tournament on C-SPAN in a few minutes.

No comments: