I thought Friday night was ...
Question: I thought Friday night was supposed to be a TV dead zone. Now there are seven, count them,
seven scripted prime-time programs across the original three major networks competing for my attention at a time that would otherwise be dedicated to the Sci Fi Channel. This season, CBS replaced
Close to Home with the unproved
Moonlight, so I thought I'd finally give
Friday Night Lights a real-time shot when it started its second season. But I became disappointed with the direction
FNL was taking when the couple panicked and dumped the body, so when
Women's Murder Club debuted, I checked it out and stayed around for the enjoyable
Men in Trees, even forsaking, as a math major and crime buff, the satisfaction of
Numbers, which I'd watched in real time since its inception. But now it's all a jumble, because last Friday I switched networks every hour in prime time, having difficulty deciding which of the seven episodes in three hours to watch. And that's not uncharacteristic of other nights this season. At least I'll have lots of tapes of both old and new shows to watch when the writers strike hits.
Answer: Way to find a silver lining to that looming dark cloud in your final observation. But you're right about Fridays being unusually crowded with interesting shows, a few of which have been moved to Friday this season to protect them against the higher expectations they'd have to live up to if they aired on a night with higher viewing levels. Still, all of the competition has kept numbers low for some of my Friday faves (
Friday Night Lights in particular). For a night that many think of as a graveyeard, it is weirdly crowded. And maybe it will surprise you (it didn't shock me) to learn which Friday show has generated the most recent mail. Read on.
