saturday night television

This summer, for the first time in I-don't-know-how-many years, I am watching all new network programming from 8 to 11 p.m. on Saturday nights. What a novelty!

How nice it is to see something on OTA TV on Saturday besides procedurals reruns and movies I've already seen!

Since June, I've been watching Kings on NBC at 8, Harper's Island at 9 on CBS and Pushing Daisies/Eli Stone/(and Dirty Sexy Money beginning July 1 at 10 on ABC. I watch the more quirky series, the ones that are inevitably short-lived. I don't watch procedurals or reality TV.

All of the above programs bombed at their original airtimes and got relegated to the dead zone on Saturday night, but it's been only in the past seven or eight years that Saturday night got turned into a dead zone. There used to be new series that night--it was that way for 50 years!

I have to wonder if the more quirky series would do better on Saturdays to begin with. Several reasons: One is that ANYTHING has to be better than what is being shown currently. Secondly, the odder, less mainstream shows wouldn't be up against their more popular competition--the drivel that is on the other six nights on the OTA networks. Also, since these shows are taped/recorded for later viewing so much more often than other types of shows, and because I suspect the persons taping them on watching them on Saturday night anyway, wouldn't it make sense for them to be there all the time? And, yes, viewers like myself who like these types of shows are often home on Saturday nights.*

As for the shows themselves, Kings was much more enjoyable than its first few episodes, and I didn't care for Pushing Daisies. I loved Eli and am glad the remaining episodes were shown, rather than leaving viewers hanging forever wondering what happened. Harper's Island was interesting, but way too violent.

*You're probably thinking that only geeks and losers who watch odder series are home alone because they have nothing better to do on Saturday night. Did it ever occur to you that we're out other nights of the week, and that maybe it's our choice to stay home sometimes?