Several years ago, my husband and I enjoyed watching “Hill Street Blues” and “thirtysomething.” Any chance that we will see them again?
Both dramas have been released in their entirety on DVD, so you can binge-watch the entire series if you want. Amazon.com’s Instant Video service, Hulu, Xfinity online and iTunes have three “Hill Street” seasons (out of seven) and all four of “thirtysomething” available.
“Sons of Anarchy,” which just ended its run, was one of the most sexually explicit and violent TV series I have ever watched. Can you total up a “body count” of all the people who were eliminated over the entire series?
I don’t have enough fingers and toes. And even if I did, there’s a chance someone from SAMCRO would chop a few off. But I can tell you that there are more than 100 characters who die in a poster one “SOA” fan made of life and death on the show. (You can see and buy the poster. And that, the site warns, “is not a complete and exhaustive tally of every single person that died in the show. Only primary, secondary and some tertiary characters are represented. Anyone killed in bulk or in a way that didn’t significantly affect the story is not included.”
Please tell me that “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Royal Pains” will soon be returning.
The police drama starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander will be back Feb. 17. “Royal Pains” will be back, although I have not yet seen a return date. Last year, USA Network ordered two more eight-episode seasons of the medical series.
Why do “Major Crimes,” “Blue Bloods” and “Hawaii Five-O” have such a short span before they go to repeats? “Major Crimes” debuted in mid-November, and the finale was Jan. 13 and it won’t be back on until summer.
There are several different issues at work here. With shows including “Blue Bloods” and “Hawaii Five-O,” a full TV season consists of about 22 episodes. But a television season runs more than 40 weeks, so there will be times when shows will either be in rerun or pre-empted for other programming.
At the same time, “Major Crimes” had 19 episodes in the just-concluded season, but TNT ran a block of episodes, then took an extended break before running more. That has happened on cable for some time but also occurs on broadcast TV; “The Blacklist” has been on a break since early November and is due back in February. The assumption is that fans of the show will come back after these breaks, although they don’t always.
Then there are the shows that simply don’t make many episodes, whether for cable or broadcast. That may be to keep the storytelling tight, or because actors are available only for a limited time, or the people televising the show don’t think it’s economically feasible to run it for long. Then they try to convince you that the short run is a good thing by calling the program an “event.”
I have been hoping the series “Evening Shade” would be replayed some time. I thought it was the funniest. Is there any chance?
Reruns of the Burt Reynolds sitcom are available now on weekends on Antenna TV, a program service offering vintage programming via the secondary digital channels on some stations and on some cable systems. You can find out more at antennatv.tv.
