10/24/2010 -- How can Fox air 'The Former Life Of Brian' (04/27/2008) tonight?

[Taylor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian

I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.

For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

[Taylor]

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

Hmm? My cable company's STB (set top box) says it's that episode (and
it's probably wrong), but Fox's website says it's "Welcome Back
Carter"'. Either way, in 10 minutes, they're airing last season's
season finale of The Simpsons "Judge Me Tender", so they're still
showing a stale episode.

[Seapig]

Post by Taylor

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

Hmm? My cable company's STB (set top box) says it's that episode (and
it's probably wrong), but Fox's website says it's "Welcome Back
Carter"'. Either way, in 10 minutes, they're airing last season's
season finale of  The Simpsons "Judge Me Tender", so they're still
showing a stale episode.

Tonight's lineup would have been preempted by baseball if the NLCS had
gone seven games. They probably figured they'd get more viewers for
an episode that aired a few months ago than for one that aired within
the last few weeks. They've only got, what, three fresh reruns to
choose from?

[syvyn11]

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

No such rule exists. In fact many shows will show last season
reruns up to the end of the calendar year.

[Rhino]

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

If you ask me, such a rule would be foolish if it existed. Surely the
objective is to entertain as many people as possible and if an older episode
of something will entertain more people than one that lies within this
"rule", then the older episode is probably the best move.

Back in the 1980s, a local station showed the pilot of the Beverly
Hillbillies, which was in black-and-white and dated from the very early
1960s. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen! In fact, I think it
would still stand up today as pretty hilarious. I was certainly more
entertained by it than by most current shows.

Now, I'm not saying that they should show ONLY very old programs as
"replacements" when the baseball season ends earlier than expected (or
whatever) but I think they should keep an open mind and not limit their
options unduly.

--
Rhino

[John Gregory]

Post by Rhino
Back in the 1980s, a local station showed the pilot of the Beverly
Hillbillies, which was in black-and-white and dated from the very early
1960s. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen!

Early episodes of Beverly Hillbillies and, believe it or not, Gilligan's
Island contain elements of social satire. While not Swiftian, it added
to the humor. Evidently the network suits got in and "fixed" this
aspect of the shows, rendering what came later a good deal more inane.

--
John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/ tilde ashbury
Thought for the moment:
The limiting factor on a Twinkie's shelf life is the life of the shelf.

[William George Ferguson]

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.

That's never been true as far as I know. Networks air repeats from
previous seasons all the time. The written rule is the number of repeat
episodes specificied in the original episode contract (typically three, but
it can vary). They can still air an episode after they've reached the
contracted number, but they have to pay for it again.

Post by Taylor
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

This is specific to the agreed on episode orders for specific shows.
Picking on Buffy for examples, In Buffy's first season, the license
contract specified each episode fee covering the original airing plus 4
repeats (an extra repeat because of the shortness of that season's episode
order). Following seasons specified each episode fee covering the original
airing plus 3 repeats. Until the WB had reached the maximum number of
airings, they could still air the episode with no additional cost, even in
succeeding seasons (and routinely did).

I didn't watch Seinfield regularly, but it seemed that every time I did
(still in its regular Thursday network time slot), it was the same episode
(The Contest) even years after its original airing, and long after
Seinfield was syndicated.

[Brian Thorn]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:45:26 -0700 (PDT), Taylor

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Former_Life_of_Brian
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in.

Nope. Christmas episodes from seasons past are often repeated in the
current season. Most recently, this happened with CBS's "The Big Bang
Theory".

Brian

[Don Del Grande]

Post by Taylor
I thought there was an unwritten (!!) rule that a network can only air
the current season they're in. Meaning, once an episode has aired in
snydication already (the following September), it's too stale to air
in primetime.
For example: This is the 2010/211 season (9) of FG. They can air
repeats of that season, including all Summer, until beginning of
September 2011. Then that season will air in local TV station
syndication (when locals can air for the first time, as Fox preps the
2011-2012 season).

I'm fairly certain that the actual "rule" is very definitely written:
once an episode starts airing in local syndication, Fox can no longer
air it without jumping through massive amounts of hoops. (This is
certainly the case with "The Simpsons", where it took so long to get
permission to air the Michael Jackson episode after he died that they
couldn't air it until the second Sunday after his death.)

However, they usually don't release all of the episodes into
syndication at the start of the fall season. Some premiere in
November, some in February, and some in May. Until it is actually in
syndication, Fox can keep airing it. (This is why, for example, Fox
can air last year's Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episode on November
7, just before this year's episode.)

-- Don