Ever since I reported that CBS plans to change their Friday night line up and give Moonlight a holiday, I have received tons of messages of protest. I'm not the only one. I bet that the CBS mailbox is overflowing with protests from loyal Moonlight fans! TV Guide's Matt Roush answered a question about this touchy subject in his Ask Matt column. It is great to see that even he hopes for Moonlight's renewal :)
Question :
Do you have any idea what is going on with the CBS series Moonlight? I have just read a rather distressing article saying that it's going on hiatus in February to be replaced by The Price Is Right. Many of us Moonlight fans are obsessing over whether it is indeed going to return after the strike is resolved. And why would CBS not continue to air repeats in lieu of a game show? Many of us were looking forward to reruns, we are so addicted to this show. As a loyal TV Guide subscriber for many years, any information or light you can shed on this topic would be greatly appreciated.— Valerie
Matt Roush :
Stop obsessing. During this topsy-turvy strike season, almost nothing means anything where scheduling is concerned. The current dilemma for network schedulers is how to keep as much of the lineup as fresh as possible, and now is not the time to get all snarky about the relative freshness of The Price Is Right, which is clearly meant only to be a place-holder on what's already a ratings-starved night. The other network challenge is to decide which shows will stay in repeat mode and which will be rested until there are new episodes. CBS is unusually fortunate in having a lot of shows (the CSI/NCIS-style procedural) that repeat well. But Moonlight, being a serialized supernatural romance thriller, is probably not one of them. The argument here is whether it does more harm than good to keep repeating the same few episodes over and over again. The most rabid fans no doubt will disagree with CBS' call, but I get the reasoning behind it. And I see no reason yet to doubt CBS' intent to bring the show back later in the season, whether in repeats or (let's hope) originals.
Question :
Do you have any idea what is going on with the CBS series Moonlight? I have just read a rather distressing article saying that it's going on hiatus in February to be replaced by The Price Is Right. Many of us Moonlight fans are obsessing over whether it is indeed going to return after the strike is resolved. And why would CBS not continue to air repeats in lieu of a game show? Many of us were looking forward to reruns, we are so addicted to this show. As a loyal TV Guide subscriber for many years, any information or light you can shed on this topic would be greatly appreciated.— Valerie
Matt Roush :
Stop obsessing. During this topsy-turvy strike season, almost nothing means anything where scheduling is concerned. The current dilemma for network schedulers is how to keep as much of the lineup as fresh as possible, and now is not the time to get all snarky about the relative freshness of The Price Is Right, which is clearly meant only to be a place-holder on what's already a ratings-starved night. The other network challenge is to decide which shows will stay in repeat mode and which will be rested until there are new episodes. CBS is unusually fortunate in having a lot of shows (the CSI/NCIS-style procedural) that repeat well. But Moonlight, being a serialized supernatural romance thriller, is probably not one of them. The argument here is whether it does more harm than good to keep repeating the same few episodes over and over again. The most rabid fans no doubt will disagree with CBS' call, but I get the reasoning behind it. And I see no reason yet to doubt CBS' intent to bring the show back later in the season, whether in repeats or (let's hope) originals.
