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When Reruns Aren’t Reruns: A Creative Strike Alternative
By Jon Costantino: 2007-11-26 09:50:36
When is a repeat not a repeat? NBC has come up with a creative way to get around showing the same old dated episodes of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno by having a week of episodes that revolve around a common “theme.” Starting tonight, the late-night talker will highlight when some of the biggest actors on the planet made their first “headlining” appearance on the show. I think that this is not only a smart way to get people to tune in to reruns, but could be a way to inject some fun to what could be a dreary 2008 for television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC will show Tonight episodes which include interviews with Tom Hanks from 1992, Julia Roberts from 1993, and Johnny Depp from 1995. The fun of these will be not just seeing superstars on the brink of their worldwide fame, but also to see Jay Leno's first rocky years at the helm of the biggest franchise in late-night. This is the aspect of these vintage episodes I will find more interesting, and maybe will set a precedent for other ideas for alternative programming while the writers are on the picket line. If we’re going to have older shows on the air, here’s a few I’d like to see to fill some hours on TV: Debuts: I would love to see the 1st shows of some of the post 11:30 hosts. I vaguely remember the 1st Leno and Letterman-hosted shows, and it could be cool to see how far both of them have come. But what would really be fascinating would be to re-watch the first Late Night With Conan O’Brien. I remember watching the first Conan and thinking, “This could be the worst show ever.” Then, three years later, I was standing in a Rockerfeller Center standby line to get into the show for two hours. How did the show get better? I don’t remember, but I wouldn’t mind a refresher course. Pilots: NBC/Universal used to own a channel called Trio. Trio had a series called Brilliant But Cancelled, which highlighted pilots and shows that either never made it past the pilot stage, or just a few episodes. I would love to see one of the networks, once a week or in late-night, show some of the shows that never got a chance, but have achieved mythical status. One of them is Lookwell, which was created by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel, and starred Adam West as a washed-up actor who solves crimes because he thinks his former TV cop job makes him an expert. The show is so intentionally cheesy, it’s hilarious, and would be a good way to fill thirty minutes on Thursday when all the other NBC comedies are on a forced break. The Classics: Networks usually fill space with clips from shows to make those “100 Greatest” shows, whether it be moments, “icons,” or whatever. So why not just show them? You want a brilliant night of TV? Let CBS run the final episode of MASH for three hours one night. Why should something like that be regulated to TV Land? Or maybe run a few Johnny Carson Tonight Shows either as a special or maybe once a week. I just think it would be fun to dip into the archives instead of showing episodes from less than a month ago. I know it has to do with money and advertisers, but some of these one-time stunts could make some cash for the networks. So I think NBC does have the right idea by putting a little creative spin on rerun season. I know that this is no substitute for new episodes of Heroes or The Office, but if the only alternative is to reshow the same six episodes over and over, maybe a dose of yesteryear wouldn’t be so bad.
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