Fall TV Endurance Champs

 I used to extensively preview the Fall TV schedule with separate blog posts for every day of the week.

Those days are gone.

TV is way too diffuse now. With streaming services and new shows being introduced year-round, it's hard to organize a real preview.

So, this year, I want to note which broadcast TV shows are endurance winners - those TV shows that have been on the air for the most seasons.

Breaking down by category:

SPORTS

1) Monday Night Football            36 Seasons

Reality Competitions

1) Survivor                                       49 Seasons

2) The Amazing Race                      38 Seasons

3) Dancing With the Stars              34 Seasons

Many of the shows are helped by presenting more than one season per year. Our household favorite has been The Amazing Race. Over the years, Alison and I have gone from "maybe we should enter" to "well, we couldn't do that challenge" to "maybe we could just go along and help host Phil with the craft table."

News/True Crime

  1) 60 Minutes                            58 Seasons

  2) 20/20                                      49 Seasons

  3) 48 Hours                               39 Seasons

This category includes true crime, because these shows USED to be investigative journalism, but they are instead focusing more and more on lurid true crime stories. The last holdout was 60 Minutes, which recently had to bow to the Fascist-In-Chief and their MAGA-friendly corporate overlords. Investigative journalism is a fundamental part of true democracy and freedom, and it is hard to see it disappearing.

Animated

1) The Simpsons                         37 Seasons

2) Family Guy                            23 Seasons

3) Bob's Burgers                        16 Seasons

Animated programs can show a lot of endurance, as the "actors" don't age, nor demand phat new contracts.

It may be the harbinger of things to come, as we may soon see "AI actors."

Scripted

1) Law & Order: SVU                           27 Seasons

2) Law & Order                                     25 Seasons

3) NCIS                                                   23 Seasons

4) Grey's Anatomy                                 22 Seasons

5) Chicago Fire                                       14 Seasons

It's interesting that Law& Order: SVU has more seasons than the mothership that spawned it, Law & Order. That's in part because it was returned in what is one of the most popular ways to preserve scripted television - the theme night. A whole evening centered around related shows. The Chicago Wednesday night and the Law & Order Thursday are current prime examples. There have also been nights centered around NCIS, FBI, and 9-1-1. The truly unique shows are getting smaller and smaller space.

The structure of these shows allows them to survive cast changes, as the shows are centered on themes rather than personalities. Special shoutout to Mariska Hargitay for being in all 580 episodes of Law & Order: SVU.

I don't watch any of these shows. We did watch the original CSI program set in Las Vegas, but it, alas, is now gone.

We do watch Ghosts (Season 5), Matlock (Season 2), and Elsbeth (Season 3). We watch some of the reality competitions.

The CW is omitted because they have fallen into obscurity and has not reported much yet. It's possible that Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusions may soon start their 12th seasons. My understanding is that Masters of Illusion was or is hosted by Dean Cain, the reich-wing actor known for The Adventures of Lois & Clark in the 90s, but who is currently closer to Ultraman and Bizarro Superman.

The CW, in general, is completely off my radar since they stopped the Arrowverse/DC superhero shows.

In general, the decline of scripted shows on broadcast TV continues. Only 46% of primetime hours are now scripted (including animated shows). That msy not mean a whole lot to most of you, but as part of Generation Late Boomer (now called Generation Jones), I miss those wobderful plethoa of primetime scripted shows, everything from the absurdity of My Mother the Car, to the wonders of Star Trek: from the sharp social comedies like All in the Family, to the weirdnesangelss of The Addams Family; from the jiggling detectives Charlie's Angels, to the place with the highest murder rate in the world, Cabot Cove of Murder She Wrote.

Oh, well. I'll look forward to the next episode of Peacemaker on HBO Max (or whatever it's called now).

Shutdown Wednesday!

 

Well, here I am! First post on my new desktop! My old one was so old that I couldn't update it to Windows 11. Who knows what I'll be able to do, which apps and features will carry over, and which won't?

Will I have Grammarly? Can I post this to my other apps? It's exciting that my keyboard is new, and some of the letter key identifiers have not worn out yet. But the keyboard is smaller, and will I get used to that, or will Captain Typo Fingers create more fumble-fingered errors?

Only time will tell!

MEANWHILE

How many government shutdowns did we have during Trump's first term? 2

How many government shutdowns did we have in Biden's term? ZERO

Now we have Trump's tragic return, and we already have our first one...AND THERE'S OVER THREE YEARS TO GO?

Art of the Deal, my sweet patootie! He may be the worst negotiator we've ever had in the White House!

No, shutdowns are horrible. My son, Benjamin's, job is at risk, as are those of tens of thousands of other federal employees. Essential government services, including those that support individuals who depend on regular social security payments and Medicare/Medicaid, will be jeopardized. 

The Trumpelthinskin is giddy over the harm this shutdown will impose. He's sneering at how this may be an opportunity to fire more people and cut more services. He delights in the suffering of others.

Before we jump all over the Democrats, please understand what they're fighting for - YOUR HEALTH CARE. The Republicans want to let federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act expire. Between that and the cuts to Medicaid, an increasing number of Americans will be unable to afford coverage.

To my contingent of friends who believe nothing matters unless it affects them, you need to think more carefully. First, those left out will still receive emergency care - it will just cost the system more as their conditions worsen, requiring more dire situations and more expensive care. Second, YOUR premiums are going to rise as a result...DRAMATICALLY. For those fortunate enough to have health insurance through their employer, the portion they take from their paycheck is going to rise, and they will take home less money. Need a raise? Forgetabbout it! That money is now needed to cover the employer portion of the health insurance.

And no, Democrats are not fighting to get undocumented workers covered by government plans, including the ACA. Right or wrong, that is already illegal, and there is no proposal by anyone to cover them. And for those in the Magat club. I don't even want to talk about your disgusting hatred of trans people. Your unvarnished bigotry makes me sick.

As Jimmy Kimmel and Disney found out, at some point, you have to stand up to the bully, or he will wind up running you over and taking everything you have. So, as unpleasant as this is, it's time to take a stand; it's time to show the Orange Grifter that there is a limit to how much we are willing to be bullied and intimidated.

As an Independent Progressive and admirer of AOC, I wish we could reclaim much of what the Republicans have taken away. Realistically, I would be happy for the renewal of the ACA credits.

The rest may have to wait for other challenges. The big hope is the midterm, but we can't wait that long. We need fighters who are willing to combat the Narcissist-in-Chief at every turn.

This doesn't even cover the dangerously repulsive rally held by Hegseth and Trump to our military leaders. That was way over the top and about as Unameican as you can get. I may post about it later, or I might let those with military experience speak on my behalf. It's wrong to challenge the Geneva Convention. It's wrong to unleash the military on American citizens, as Trump insists. Everything was just plain wrong.

Anyway, let me see what I can correct and clean up, and then post it to my blog. I'm slowly getting used to the keyboard, but this may take some time. Hang in there with me!

Sincerely,

T. M. Strait

AOC'28!