I admit it. I'm the black widow of TV viewers. It seems that whatever TV show interests me the most at the beginning of the fall season is usually history by January. Freaks and Geeks, Firefly -- gone, all gone. In a previous post back in September I gave my picks for my two favorite shows of the year: Drew Carey's Green Screen Show and Cheap Seats. Well, it's December and Drew is long gone and it looks like the Sklar Brothers might be the next casualty. I got this letter the other day from Jason Z. Weber, one of the producers of Cheap Seats:
"We just read your blog, now that Drew's show is gone we here at Cheap Seats are awaiting word on the canceling of our show. Thanks for cursing us. Actually ESPN Classic has been threatening to tinker with the format which would mean less commentary on old games and more studio stuff (possibly with an audience). Like you, we enjoy the show in its current format. Finding glowing posts about Cheap Seats on blogs like yours will help give us ammo to blow away the suits and keep the show the way it is."
I'm simply amazed that a show this funny hasn't the backing of its network, because Cheap Seats is one of the most original and funniest programs on television today. I came across the program by accident a few months ago and have hardly missed an episode since. Everyone at Experiment House watches, too. Lamont and I grew up in the generation where the Wide World of Sports was mandatory viewing, so it's hilarious to hear the Sklar's commentary over the video footage of those long ago Sunday afternoons. (I personally dream of the day they get ahold of the video of Evel Knievel's Snake River Canyon fiasco.)
It's somewhat remarkable that my favorite program of the year airs on ESPN Classic, because in twenty years of having cable television I have never watched any programming on any ESPN network before, even for five minutes. That's not an exaggeration. In fact, the first time I watched Cheap Seats I had to consult my cable guide to see what channel 69 was! And I suspect that there are a lot of other viewers like me.
If you're a fan of the show you'd better drop the suits at ESPN a line before it's too late. If you've never seen Cheap Seats, check out their website, tune into ESPN Classic and then let the network know what you think!
Here's hoping that Cheap Seats will have a long life on cable TV and that it may even be released on DVD someday!
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1 comment:
I just think it's really cool that the producer read your blog and wrote back!
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