Forget network TV: repeats, reality shows and movies still entertaining

By: Nathan Mattise

Posted: 2/5/08

I'm sick of all this negative strike coverage. It's unbearable to constantly hear about the unfair wages, the messed up residuals' system, the folks who can't watch their weekly episode of "Ugly Betty" and the soon-to-be television, radio and film grads that may be out of job before they even have one. The whole thing is more depressing than your friend who is constantly leaving Postal Service lyrics in his away message from now until Valentine's Day.

But life is all about perception, right? A glass can be half empty or half full (and if you think that's the last optimism cliché in this article, you're sadly mistaken). It may be hard to see, but there is a silver lining in all this writers' strike mess. It surfaces when you stop talking about all the TV we're not watching and focus on the TV we are. The writers' strike has provided a rare window for the dedicated TV viewer to ignore their obligation to watch critically acclaimed programming and simply indulge in what they've been passing up.

And what types of television are worth a second look because of the uncrossed picket lines? Allow me to break it down for you:

The "If-you-haven't-seen-it,-it's-new-to-you" Show

There's so much buzz-worthy programming on TV these days it's hard to keep up with it all. The writers' strike is the closest thing you have to a viewers' mulligan. If networks are going to run "it" shows from the last 10 years in constant syndication, why not take advantage? I still won't watch "Futurama," but there's some solid TV in my daily viewing routine now I missed the first time around.

I'd suggest taking the time to discover why your friends are in love with Elliot from "Scrubs" by catching one of the 10-plus episodes on every day. Take a tip from your parents and begin to appreciate the subtle nuances of Tim Allen's humor over on TBS.

Even flip to SOAPnet and spend an afternoon deciphering the plot lines of "The O.C." (Side note: I now see what girls saw in Seth Cohen. The boy is absolutely adorkable. I'm trying to defend this to some folks, and I'm getting crushed for it, but trust me.) Whatever show you're itching to try, chances are it's on at least twice a day - usually in back-to-back format to boot.

The "People-stop-being-polite-and-start-getting-real" Show

Reality television is one of the biggest TV innovations of our lifetimes, and it's become the networks' bread and butter with the strike. Virtually every program on MTV after 8 p.m. falls into the genre and everyone, from CMT to Food Network, now offers up their own version of reality.

If you haven't gotten into the whole "academic cable" idea yet (i.e. Discovery, History Channel, TLC and Food Network), now is the time. They have reality television for people who can't stomach another crushed relationship courtesy of "Parental Control," "Cheaters" or "The X Effect." Instead, you can watch two dudes get crushed in various combat on "Fight Quest," amateur chefs get crushed by Morimoto and the gang on "Iron Chef America" or…I don't really have a way to incorporate "crush" into it, but Bear Grylls will eat anything on "Man vs. Wild."

The "Sunday-night-movie" Film

Finally, the writers' strike means it's OK to shamelessly watch the C-list movies on TBS, ABC Family or any other cable outlet not named HBO, Showtime or Cinemax. My personal favorites are the showings of every Adam Sandler movie ever made and "What Women Want" on TNT. But there's plenty of variety to choose from in this area.

If you were paying attention last weekend, you could've studied up on Mr. Miyagi's tribulations when Versus ran the entire Karate Kid franchise. There's also been a steady diet of afterlife between VH1 going "Ghostbusters" crazy and Bravo playing "Beetlejuice" (if Christina Ricci was anywhere of age when that was filmed, she should've been Lydia, period).

I even picked up my new favorite poorly scripted date movie just in time for V-Day when Lifetime ran "A Lot Like Love." If a writers' strike is what it takes to finally open the country's eyes to the romantic chemistry of Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher, I think we've found the pot at the end of the rainbow with this whole thing.

So the next time someone complains about the writers' strike, just tell them to calm down and grab the remote. Entertainment is still out there somewhere, you just have to look.

Nathan Mattise is a pop-culture columnist for The Daily Orange where his columns run every Tuesday. The rumor that he cried during last week's O.C. episode when Ryan leaves the Cohen's is a complete lie. He can be reached at nzmattis@syr.edu.