TV Shows You Can't Believe Are Still Around

[ReadyToRetire]

I don't understand how Prison Break is still on either.......I got bored after season one.

It's not. It's been cancelled and the storyline wrapped up.

60 Minutes has been on the air how long now? <checking IMDB...>
...since 1968! Wow.

Gunsmoke also ran for about 20 years I believe.

[fireheart]

Yeah 60 minutes over here I don't get either.

There's a famous quote in Australia "Get that s*** off the air!" spoken by Kerry Packer God-knows-how-long-ago. It came from a show called Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos. Yeah. I kid you not. It wasn't full-on porno type stuff, just rather kids reaching for animal parts etc. Kerry Packer saw it at home, rang up the network and said the above. The show got pulled partway through their first episode. But I'm surprised it even made it to air without Packer's knowledge. (He's since died, so they did show the full episode as a special)

The other show I don't get: Big Brother. How the heck did that thing last for EIGHT seasons?! And it's still coming back for a ninth season next year! I mean Friday Night Live was alright for some laughs, but honestly what the heck?! (Friday Night Live pitted the housemates against one another in a series of games and challenges with the winner receiving certain prizes. The weeks were themed and one of the years let you win stuff from the show with the phrase "I really need an <item> here because..." my personal favourite was the shrunken head one which was "because it's illegal to own a real one!"

The show itself also caused some controversies, ranging through the following...two contestants sexually assaulting a third contestant (whether or not she was 100% offended remains to be seen as the video showed her giggling, but the next day the two contestants were ejected), some promos were rigged, certain token contestants (there were two homosexual people in the house eventually), some rather explicit uncut footage and it just went on and on.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Law and Order: SVU.

Look, I like Eliot's characterization as well as anybody, but there are only so many ways you can pitch a rape-murder in NYC before it gets old. I'm surprised it lived through one season without people getting bored of the repetition, let alone the many that have come out.

Personally, I like the original formula where they didn't get too deep into the characters' lives better. But yeah, it's coming back and moving to Wednesday, if I recall correctly.

[Shards]

The thing is, with L&O/CSI type shows, there's no way to keep them interesting other than focusing on the characters, but even so, the original L&O could be about just about any crime until the spin offs started up, and even then it covered a broad range, CI covers any larger-than-beat-cop-and-not-immediately-sexual case, so it can stay fresh, but freaking SVU? They literally specialize in ONE KIND OF CASE. How many different generically attractive 19-30 women and cute below-the-age-of-consent boys and girls are going to be pronged by force and then left/left to die/stabbed on TV before people start going "Oh, hey, I bet SVU will be just like last week... Why do I still watch this show?"

[aqutalion]

Operation Repo, on CourtTV/TruTV. I honestly don't understand why it was even green-lit in the first place. What is the appeal of watching a bunch of eye-bleedingly-ugly assholes intentionally kick people when they're down, especially in an economic climate where any of the viewers could easily be in their victims' situation? (I'm not ragging on repo people in general, just the ones that intentionally embarrass or ridicule the people whose cars they're taking, like these guys seem to be doing). Although after seeing the ad they ran today, where they snatch a guy's car just as he's getting in it with his new wife, I'm not convinced they're not staged.
I miss CourtTV... Alas, I think it's going the way of MTV...

[blas]

I don't even know what half of the shows on MTV are these days......?

[edible_hat]

Not really a show, but a network -- MTV. What the hell does the "M" stand for anyway?

Moron? Masturbatory? Mutated?

[Hobbs]

Operation Repo, on CourtTV/TruTV. I honestly don't understand why it was even green-lit in the first place. What is the appeal of watching a bunch of eye-bleedingly-ugly assholes intentionally kick people when they're down, especially in an economic climate where any of the viewers could easily be in their victims' situation? (I'm not ragging on repo people in general, just the ones that intentionally embarrass or ridicule the people whose cars they're taking, like these guys seem to be doing). Although after seeing the ad they ran today, where they snatch a guy's car just as he's getting in it with his new wife, I'm not convinced they're not staged.
I miss CourtTV... Alas, I think it's going the way of MTV...

They're doing their job.


Also, as a point of order to the OP, Cops was cancelled like, 2 years ago.

[ditchdj]

Better yet, how about old logos that never die??? The ESPN logo, with that futuristic 80's touch, has been around for nearly a quarter of a century. The MTV logo is still intact ever since its 1981 birth. And the ABC logo as well as the "Circle 7" logo from the 1960's is still used on some ABC channel 7 stations nationwide (shown below)....

[Geek King]

Dollhouse and Chuck. Don't get me wrong! I love the shows, but I'm surprised they got picked up again since they are the sort of shows that network types seem to just not "get."

[artifical sweetner]

i just have to say watching Cops never gets old for me!

im surprised the price is right is dangling on post Bob Barker though. Drew Carey is OK as host but its not the same

[Hobbs]

i just have to say watching Cops never gets old for me!

im surprised the price is right is dangling on post Bob Barker though. Drew Carey is OK as host but its not the same

Does he do the PSA at the end? If not, it's not really The Price is Right.

[BethB]

hey now!! I love America's Funniest Home Videos. It's the only show the boy and I watch together. I don't watch alot of tv. mostly play on computer(such a dork) or knit.

I can't figure out why Monk is still on. tony shaloub(sp?) is a good actor for this role but it's irritating. Same with Psych. when are they gonna realize it's a con. ugh. A while back I watched Ugly Betty with the sister and asked if Betty works in a fashion environment(I have no idea what she does for a living) why does she dress so hideously. Sis' answer..."she's got her own sense of style" Yeah, if she were trying to create a line of clothing to induce a migraine.
"Reality" tv needs to DIE!!! I hate it all. I live in reality, I don't need to watch their scripted versions of it. Also, shows about family life...no. Kids need full time parents. not full time attention whores for parents(guess we can figure out who I'm talking about). the shows where some fool is looking for love. The Bachelor, bachelorette, ect. and they never stay together. Some people will do anything for some tv time. It all seems like alot of work to ask for a date because there is never any commitment.

[blas]

I love The Price Is Right, but I'm also amazed it's lasted so long without Bob Barker. I noticed nowadays at least the models stay a little longer. Bob Barker had a reputation for being a real creepo and a skeeze to his models.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm kinda surprised WIfeswap is evidently still on the air, although I do not pay much attention to that kind of thing.

Especially after that whole fiasco with the woman from San Francisco and her insufferable prick of a Brit husband.