The Summer of Me: Perry is safe, but schedule is underused

Well, MeTV’s summer information is in, and I must say, for drama fans who were hoping for something new on the schedule, this is probably the dullest Summer of Me they’ve had. They’re getting rid of a couple of their dramas to make way for some more comedies. The only real changes on the schedule are that Star Trek is leaving the weekday schedule to make way for a double dose of Emergency!, CHiPs is being booted in order for Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes to move up on the schedule, and the evening comedy block is changing every weeknight. Most of the shows in the evening block are changing; most are comedies being switched out for other comedies, with the exception of The Twilight Zone, which they’re taking away again. 

Those are literally the only schedule changes I can see. Thankfully, nothing affects either showing of Perry. And interestingly, the Mystery Movie is staying. I wonder if they’ll possibly add some other detectives to the line-up, though.

I also wonder why they keep messing with The Twilight Zone. Not only is it a consistently popular series in general, but it’s made it to the final rounds of their Me Madness twice in a row now. Obviously people want it. So why on Earth not let them have it?

It would seem that MeTV doesn’t want to listen to their fanbase. It took them a year to get Star Trek on more than once a week, even though it won last year’s Me Madness. Now they’re already sending it packing to once a week again. Not to mention, they can’t even add one drama but instead have to let one of their existing shows get a two-hour block? And The Twilight Zone has bounced on and off their schedule so much in the last couple of years it’s dizzying.

The only other explanation I can think of for at least part of what they’re doing is that their Me Madness is not an accurate representation of the entire fanbase, which is what I’ve felt for a long time. If so, why even do it? Just as a gimmick, I suppose. I had thought maybe they were using it to figure out what the fans liked best. While they keep some of that in mind, it doesn’t seem like they keep all of it in mind.

I’m glad both Perry showings are staying right where they are. But I’m really disappointed that they’re not adding anything other than more comedies. Usually they try to have a mixture of genres represented. I look forward to their seasonal changes each time, hoping for returning favorites or new favorites. Usually there’s something I’m excited about. But I can’t find myself too chuffed about Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, and even more of The Brady Bunch than they already show. Also, they’re doing their evening comedy block as a two-hour thing. That’s four episodes of one single show every weeknight. I thought at least they’d do two episodes of one and two of another.

Overall, this seems like a very uncreative and wasteful way to run a summer schedule.

This isn’t the 300^th blog post I expected to write, either. But we can certainly celebrate Perry’s continuing presence on MeTV. That’s an exciting and pleasing thing.