As with so many things, there’s both good and bad in the typical television approach of handling the holiday season and it’s accompanying programming. And what is that typical approach?, you might ask. Mostly, it’s avoidance.
Fear of low ratings prevents a great many network shows from airing new episodes during the height of holiday season, and as a forever-fan of the medium, I have to say I’m not in love with the mentality. I get it; you have to compete with holiday programming, some of it truly classic. You have to compete with holiday activities in the real world, that simply keep people away from the living room TV. And you have to compete with viewers’ sheer exhaustion, that makes people stay away from anything that requires too much effort. (And let’s face it, sometimes keeping up with some of these ongoing storylines takes a lot of work.)
But, it’s also a time when some people might actually have some extra time to watch television, and maybe they’d like to spend some of their holiday break watching favorite television programs without having to wait days or even weeks to pull it off the DVR. But a lot of times, that isn’t an option, as the networks either show reruns throughout the season, or pull a show off the air for their own holiday programming. I really get tired of reruns this time of year.
But the good side of that equation? Well, all that classic holiday programming I mentioned earlier. And even some of the new holiday programming that comes out each year (maybe we’ll get a good Hallmark movie out of the deal this year). And, of course, the whole point—when I’m super-duper busy with shopping and planning and finals, I don’t have to try to squeeze in quite as many hours of television viewing . . . though I’d gladly do it!
And, this year, I’ll also have some vacation preparation to add into the mix, plus tons of stuff that needs to come off my DVR, so I certainly have plenty to keep my busy. But I still get awfully tired of reruns this time of year.
