I guess RTN is going to the dogs like everyone else

[radiotvnut]

It all started the other night when I tuned in at 9 PM to watch "Emergency" and was greeted with "Law and Order".

Than tonight, I tuned in at 6 PM to watch "Knight Rider" and was greeted with "Deal or no Deal"!

Hell, I can get the above crap on 80% of the other cable channels. I guess RTN is starting to do what TV Land did; and, you see what happened there.

I have been recording "Knight Rider" (1982 version, not the 2009 version that does nothing for me) onto VHS tape because I'm too cheap to buy or rent the series on DVD. I guess I'd better record the other old shows that I like before they yank them! It's going to get to the point where the only source we have for older decent programming is to buy/rent the DVD's or watch home recorded tapes (like I do) of the old stuff.

[Jeffhs]

I don't even get RTN where I live. The nearest television station in Ohio that has this network on one of its subchannels is in Toledo, over 100 miles away (I'm near Cleveland). I have a subscription to Netflix and a few of my own DVDs, so I do have ways of getting my favorite old shows from the 1970s without cable. I may well eventually downgrade my cable eventually to bare-bones basic (local channels only) and use my DVD player and VCR for other programming.

I don't know why RTN is doing what you say it is, unless it's doing the same thing (or something similar to it) as TV Land the last couple of years. Television networks do this all the time; witness how the commercial broadcast networks copy one another in technology, stories covered, etc. RTN seems to be copying TV Land's way of doing things (without the movies and original programming, for the time being anyhow), but that's how it goes in the television industry these days. No originality anymore, just every network doing what everyone else is doing. I watch very little broadcast TV these days for just that reason; the programming outside the news on every network is just as unimaginative, IMHO.

The cable system here hasn't carried Emergency! in years; the last time I saw it in reruns was last year, when I rented the DVDs of a couple of its seasons from Netflix. I remember Emergency! when the series was new on NBC in the '70s (almost all of my favorite shows are from that decade, as that was when I was growing up).

The television landscape is changing, and the TV networks know it. They put shows on that draw decent ratings; I guess in RTN's case, Emergency! wasn't drawing quite the ratings the network had expected, so the program was canceled. Many of today's TV viewers are far too young to have remembered Emergency's first run on NBC, and wouldn't understand the program today--another reason RTN canceled it. People acted, spoke, and thought differently 30+ years ago; this all but baffles today's young people because that kind of lifestyle is foreign to them. The TV networks and Hollywood realize this all too well, which is why their shows must keep up with the times in which we are currently living.

Remakes of 20-30-year-old series such as Knight Rider fail for the same reasons. I saw a couple of episodes of the new KR when the series began its ill-fated run on NBC and was disappointed. It was nothing like the original Knight Rider, which was science fiction but still drew decent ratings in prime time. The ill-fated new Knight Rider, which ran on NBC for only one season, IIRC, obviously wasn't drawing the same ratings for NBC Universal (the original Knight Rider was on the old RCA-owned and operated NBC television network) as the original did, so.....after one season, poof. The show was canceled and probably will never be seen again on broadcast television, although it may be available on DVD eventually; that seems to be how a lot of prime-time shows are going these days, even programs that are still running on their networks.

I'm not sure, but I think Emergency! may be available on the Internet through Hulu, veoh and other online video services. I haven't looked at Hulu lately and veoh won't run on my nine-year-old Windows 98SE computer, so I don't really know what's on these services today. I'll take a look after I finish this post; I might be surprised and could wind up eating my words.

[Sandy G]

"Lawn Order" is the most bestest show on TV ever-unless you wanna talk about "CSI"- Why would you wanna watch some dangfool junk about a poppinjay & a 1982 Firebird ?!?


I hope you can detect the sarcasm-I cannot abide "Lawn Order" in any of its 13K iterations, either.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

"Lawn Order" is the most bestest show on TV ever-unless you wanna talk about "CSI"- Why would you wanna watch some dangfool junk about a poppinjay & a 1982 Firebird ?!?


I hope you can detect the sarcasm-I cannot abide "Lawn Order" in any of its 13K iterations, either.

I hear they are coming out with a new "yard rolling division" of "law and order".

Seriously, I can get that show on just about any cable channel at any time of the day I choose. I think RTN could have been more original and added something different. But, like has already been said, there is no originality anymore. I wish they would air "Quincy" and "Trapper John". The local fox affiliate (back when DTV was just a whisper) aired those shows every afternoon for 2 or 3 years and I tuned in quite often. Then, one afternoon, I turned on the boob tube just to see the same talk show and courtroom TV crap that everyone else has in the afternoon. I also remember rushing home from school, back around '83 or '84, to watch "Scooby Doo" and "He Man". I think somewhere around '86, Oprah came on the scene and it wasn't long before talk shows took over afternoon TV.

It's really strange that I'm 32 and like the old shows. My Mother is 53 and likes more of the new crap. She will watch "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza" when there's nothing else on. You'd think that the rolls would be reversed.

[radiotvnut]

Someone on another forum just brought it to my attention that this may not be RTN's doing and, the more I think of it, he could be correct. In my area, RTN and FOX share the same subchannel. Normally, the FOX programming starts at 7 PM and ends at 9 PM. It could very well be possible that the FOX programming is now taking over at 6 PM and ending at 10 PM. It really would be nice if FOX and RTN was on a different channel, as there are many programs that I'm missing out on since FOX programming is the number one priority.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I don't even get RTN where I live. The nearest television station in Ohio that has this network on one of its subchannels is in Toledo, over 100 miles away (I'm near Cleveland). I have a subscription to Netflix and a few of my own DVDs, so I do have ways of getting my favorite old shows from the 1970s without cable. I may well eventually downgrade my cable eventually to bare-bones basic (local channels only) and use my DVD player and VCR for other programming.

I don't know why RTN is doing what you say it is, unless it's doing the same thing (or something similar to it) as TV Land the last couple of years. Television networks do this all the time; witness how the commercial broadcast networks copy one another in technology, stories covered, etc. RTN seems to be copying TV Land's way of doing things (without the movies and original programming, for the time being anyhow), but that's how it goes in the television industry these days. No originality anymore, just every network doing what everyone else is doing. I watch very little broadcast TV these days for just that reason; the programming outside the news on every network is just as unimaginative, IMHO.

The cable system here hasn't carried Emergency! in years; the last time I saw it in reruns was last year, when I rented the DVDs of a couple of its seasons from Netflix. I remember Emergency! when the series was new on NBC in the '70s (almost all of my favorite shows are from that decade, as that was when I was growing up).

The television landscape is changing, and the TV networks know it. They put shows on that draw decent ratings; I guess in RTN's case, Emergency! wasn't drawing quite the ratings the network had expected, so the program was canceled. Many of today's TV viewers are far too young to have remembered Emergency's first run on NBC, and wouldn't understand the program today--another reason RTN canceled it. People acted, spoke, and thought differently 30+ years ago; this all but baffles today's young people because that kind of lifestyle is foreign to them. The TV networks and Hollywood realize this all too well, which is why their shows must keep up with the times in which we are currently living.

Remakes of 20-30-year-old series such as Knight Rider fail for the same reasons. I saw a couple of episodes of the new KR when the series began its ill-fated run on NBC and was disappointed. It was nothing like the original Knight Rider, which was science fiction but still drew decent ratings in prime time. The ill-fated new Knight Rider, which ran on NBC for only one season, IIRC, obviously wasn't drawing the same ratings for NBC Universal (the original Knight Rider was on the old RCA-owned and operated NBC television network) as the original did, so.....after one season, poof. The show was canceled and probably will never be seen again on broadcast television, although it may be available on DVD eventually; that seems to be how a lot of prime-time shows are going these days, even programs that are still running on their networks.

I'm not sure, but I think Emergency! may be available on the Internet through Hulu, veoh and other online video services. I haven't looked at Hulu lately and veoh won't run on my nine-year-old Windows 98SE computer, so I don't really know what's on these services today. I'll take a look after I finish this post; I might be surprised and could wind up eating my words.

We still get Emergency here in Pittsburgh so maybe there are some leeway on what the local areas put on their RTN affiliates. I also like the old GeorgE Peppard show, Banacek, where he is a freelance insurance investigator or private detective. He was on a tennis court in one scene and a waiter was looking for him with a telephone since Banacek had a call. He found his chaffeur and plugged the phone in. Had it been filmed now, Banacek would simply have a cellphone. You're right, things are so different now than 30 or even 20 years ago. BTW, I watched Emergency when it was on prime time and I'll be 43 in July.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I hear they are coming out with a new "yard rolling division" of "law and order".

Seriously, I can get that show on just about any cable channel at any time of the day I choose. I think RTN could have been more original and added something different. But, like has already been said, there is no originality anymore. I wish they would air "Quincy" and "Trapper John". The local fox affiliate (back when DTV was just a whisper) aired those shows every afternoon for 2 or 3 years and I tuned in quite often. Then, one afternoon, I turned on the boob tube just to see the same talk show and courtroom TV crap that everyone else has in the afternoon. I also remember rushing home from school, back around '83 or '84, to watch "Scooby Doo" and "He Man". I think somewhere around '86, Oprah came on the scene and it wasn't long before talk shows took over afternoon TV.

It's really strange that I'm 32 and like the old shows. My Mother is 53 and likes more of the new crap. She will watch "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza" when there's nothing else on. You'd think that the rolls would be reversed.

Well, again, here in Pittsburgh, we have "Quincy" on RTN so I think there is some local control of programming although I think there is a master list where they can choose from. Yuck, don't get me started on Oprah, you're right, she destroyed afternoon TV. I wish Fox still ran cartoons in the afternoons, Mom and I always enjoyed "Big Guy and Rusty." :P

I remember in the 1980's, Mom liked the Gobots and I went for the Transformers. Mom will be 71 this year and I'll be 43.

[NowhereMan 1966]

One more thing, this was from the mid 1990's but I miss "The Tick" cartoon.

[70salesguy]

I watched that show "Law and Order SUV" and the whole time they were driving a Crown Vic! What gives?

[radiotvnut]

I've figured out that the trouble is happening because FOX and RTN share the same channel and FOX programming is top priority. In the past, FOX programming started at 7 PM and ended at 9 PM. The other night, I tuned in at 6 PM just to see what would happen. The opening theme to "Knight Rider" came on, I hit the record button on the VCR, then paused the VCR while I waited on the commercials to end, and then "Deal or No Deal" pops on in front of me. I got so irritated that I almost threw the VCR remote across the room. The least they could do is have everything in sync so I won't think I'm watching something just to have some crappy show that I couldn't care less about pop up in my face. So, I guess FOX programming is from 6-10 at present. We probably wouldn't have these problems if RTN and FOX were on different channels.

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

The opening theme to "Knight Rider" came on, I hit the record button on the VCR, then paused the VCR while I waited on the commercials to end, and then "Deal or No Deal" pops on in front of me. I got so irritated that I almost threw the VCR remote across the room. The least they could do is have everything in sync so I won't think I'm watching something just to have some crappy show that I couldn't care less about pop up in my face.

Sloppiness like this is not uncommon now since so many television and radio stations have become automated - a computer, rather than a live board-op, is the one manning the controls. From what I remember, there used to be an FCC law about stations being manned by a live human while broadcasting; if that still holds true I'm sure the station management is paying someone $6 an hour to hang around and "put another coat of polish on the floor while you're at it."

[bgadow]

I've wondered about that old rule; there is a radio station near here, an AM daytimer, that plays pretty much just recorded religious programming. Their office/studios/transmitter are right on the highway. Most of the time when I ride by there is no car up there.

Another station was running a syndicated show on Saturday night. Something wasn't set up right because every commercial break was screwed up, with local ads running overtop of the "network" ads, and then overlapping the program when it came back on. It did this the same way, week in and week out, for several years. I wrote the station manager about it once but never got a reply. Nobody cared? I guess with budget cuts they got rid of the show.

[zenithfan1]

The cable station that is in the school I work at is a real cable station, not just for the school like some are. It is two channels actually. They have mac computers running everything too. At night windows pop up warning of different things and no one is there to click them off. If I'm in there at the time I'll do it. Just drives me nuts to leave it. Sometimes the stations are run like this during the day too. Sloppy work indeed.

[zenith2134]

I sort of wish TV stations would sign off at night like they used to. End the day with the National Anthem and go to snow or colorbars. Kind of a nice sentiment.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

I sort of wish TV stations would sign off at night like they used to. End the day with the National Anthem and go to snow or colorbars. Kind of a nice sentiment.

Me too. I used to stay up as a kid and watch it.