Sick of repeats of your favorite shows? During a full season of production, a prime-time network series generally will crank out 22 to 25 new episodes. There are 52 weeks in a year. Do the subtraction.
Of course, you expect repeats around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and in the summer. But reruns in the spring, with everything else fresh and new, seem especially irritating.
Local stations are the problem. They need fresh programming during the important Nielsen ratings period in May-a function once served by high-profile mini-series. When mini-series became high-cost projects with unpredictable ratings, networks turned to regular series to keep local stations satisfied.
At 22 to 25 new episodes each year, the only way to have first-run shows available for May is to air more reruns in March and April. Throw an earthquake or two into the mix, and things can get sticky.
Take NBC’s “Seinfeld.” You’re not imagining a long, dry spell. There hasn’t been a new episode since March 17, and there won’t be a new episode until April 28-six weeks between originals.
That’s different from earthquake-free ’93, when no more than four weeks elapsed between first-run “Seinfeld” shows in the spring.
Another show that’s taken heat for recent repeats is ABC’s “NYPD Blue.” Its most recent original aired March 29, and a fresh episode isn’t due until May 3-five weeks between first-run shows.
The bigger problem, though, is content. That March 29 episode included a plot line in which Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) began to reconcile his estranged relationship with his son.
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Yet last week, ABC repeated episode 7, which set up the estrangement between the two. At least some fans of the show-this one included-found the juxtaposition jarring at best.
A Bochco Productions spokeswoman explained that the network simply is airing all “NYPD Blue” repeats in order, regardless of content. Tuesday, it will repeat episode 8 and so on.
Small consolation.