I finally jumped on the ...
Question: I finally jumped on the
Project Runway train for this current season, and I'm loving it. Great premise, and I hope I can catch up on the first two seasons. My comment is more about Bravo's scheduling. I'm all for cable networks broadcasting episodes several times a week, but do you think they go overboard with
Runway? My DVR shows
Runway coming on 32 times this week — don't you think that's overkill? Another question: I'm looking forward (of course) to the new season of
Battlestar Galactica and even
Nip/Tuck, now that enough time has passed since that ludicrous Season 3 finale. Do you think premiering these shows during the start of the broadcast season may hurt them?
Answer: Without a doubt, Bravo goes overboard with the
Project Runway replays — but at least you don't have to fret if you miss an episode. (I've become hooked on HGTV's
Design Star, and they don't replay that one often
enough — its original Sunday time slot is way overcrowded.) I'm not sure it's overkill, because I honestly don't know what would be a better use of Bravo's airtime. That channel has been a pioneer in how it exposes (or in this case, overexposes) its franchises with multiple airings and seemingly constant marathons. When MTV does it with endless replays of
Laguna Beach or something, I'm annoyed and I don't watch. When Bravo does it with
Project Runway, it doesn't bother me as much. But do I watch? No. Once is plenty, and I wouldn't miss it on Wednesdays anyway. As for your question about
Battlestar and
Nip/Tuck premiering against the first wave of the network fall onslaught, it didn't hurt
Nip/Tuck that much a year ago. The audience for that show is clearly looking for something that goes way beyond network fare. (That's certainly the case this season.) And on Fridays, Sci Fi has established a strong enough identity that
Battlestar should do fine as counterprogramming against the few network hits that occupy the night. It's probably the only show airing on Fridays that I'll be paying much attention to (which is no slam against
Numbers,
Law & Order or
Men in Trees, to name a representative show from each of the networks that still take Fridays seriously).
