Credit Where It's Due
My local CW (CW being the network consolidated from the old WB and UPN netlets; not country-western) station carries the old seasons of Smallville syndicated late Saturday and Sunday night, just before the remastered Star Trek. It was only last Fall that I first heard the closing theme music for Smallville, a powerful, evocative orchestral piece. This is nothing against Remy Zero's "Save Me," which certainly carries the energy and style appropriate for the show. It would just be nice if the audience could hear both.
Of course, we can't- the Powers That Be at the CW realize that we need to be told that in their ceaseless efforts to pass themselves off as a real network that they, like all the others, carry the usual assortment of pointless, unfunny sitcoms. That is why (on virtually all shows and networks) the credits are smushed down to show us scenes for some crap show we wouldn't watch if they paid us to.
I can see where the new shows would need a boost, to attract some audience, but once a show has been on for a few years then the fans already know it's on, and what day and time (except for first-run syndicated shows). Ironically, most promos are for shows already ratings powerhouses, or shows that have been on so long that the shark they jumped has long since died of old age. Generally the networks don't move shows around too often (except when Family Guy was first on Fox), though the programmers to tend to feel the need to justify their existence by making random scheduling changes now and then.
Of course the networks want to hype their own shows (not everyone can buy the most ad space in Entertainment Weekly). The thing is, they get paid by the sponsors to air commercials during a commercial break. If they air a promo for one of their shows, all they get is a warm, fuzzy feeling and the good wishes of the show's producers.
Therein lies the dilemma for the networks- they don't get money for their in-house promos... but then, they don't get money unless we watch their shows, and so they feel the need to tell us about them. They evidently don't feel any comparable need to let the audience hear the ending theme music.
Of course, we can't- the Powers That Be at the CW realize that we need to be told that in their ceaseless efforts to pass themselves off as a real network that they, like all the others, carry the usual assortment of pointless, unfunny sitcoms. That is why (on virtually all shows and networks) the credits are smushed down to show us scenes for some crap show we wouldn't watch if they paid us to.
I can see where the new shows would need a boost, to attract some audience, but once a show has been on for a few years then the fans already know it's on, and what day and time (except for first-run syndicated shows). Ironically, most promos are for shows already ratings powerhouses, or shows that have been on so long that the shark they jumped has long since died of old age. Generally the networks don't move shows around too often (except when Family Guy was first on Fox), though the programmers to tend to feel the need to justify their existence by making random scheduling changes now and then.
Of course the networks want to hype their own shows (not everyone can buy the most ad space in Entertainment Weekly). The thing is, they get paid by the sponsors to air commercials during a commercial break. If they air a promo for one of their shows, all they get is a warm, fuzzy feeling and the good wishes of the show's producers.
Therein lies the dilemma for the networks- they don't get money for their in-house promos... but then, they don't get money unless we watch their shows, and so they feel the need to tell us about them. They evidently don't feel any comparable need to let the audience hear the ending theme music.
