What is up with American TV?

So I don't watch a lot of TV, but like to get my favourite shows as soon as possible, because if I wait for it to be aired on Australian TV, it could take weeks or months.

So the two particular shows I enjoy are Bones and Big bang theory, I can usually find them on a Friday afternoon but every now and then the shows won't be aired for a week or two, it's been 2 weeks since either have been aired and I'm starting to get withdrawals!

So what is up with that?

Does my head in.

Its the subliminal messaging imbeded within the programs you crave for....

reply to post by bjsmi2


Actually it's the witticism of Big bang theory and the chemistry of Bones that makes me have withdrawals.

reply to post by Chadwickus


I'm not sure about Big Bang, but I think Bones has just been airing repeats the last few weeks.

Ok. I'm kind of wrong. Last nights was a rerun, but last week and the week before were new.
Latest episode I have is S06E16. I get it on my TV, but I usually download it to watch on my computer for better quality.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Is this a normal thing to do with TV shows over there?

I just can't understand it.

reply to post by Chadwickus

Yeah, pretty much normal, but maybe not normal for it to be this time of the year. 52 weeks in a year, and I think the average season is only around 20-26 episodes.

Down at the bottom of this page is Seasons/series. en.wikipedia.org...
I don't completely understand it myself. There isn't really a set way of "It has to be this many episodes in a season."

Season 6 of Bones is apparently only 22 episodes from September 23, 2010 to May 19, 2011.
About halfway down on this link, it gives the number of episodes for each season.

Being on FOX, causes some shows to not always follow a particular pattern. Basically because FOX shows different sporting events. Major League Baseball World Series, for example. The seasons are usually not just straight through from beginning to end. lol sorry, it's kind of hard to explain because I don't completely understand all of it myself.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


Thanks for trying to explain it.

Our shows here just air every week for the duration of it's season.

The biggest change is that the networks don't order nearly enough episodes of a show anymore, until they find a good audience share. Even then, they aren't ordering as many, forcing them to put other shows or repeats in the normal time slot...vs. more new episodes.

As usual, it's all about the money, and they simply aren't placing as much faith in shows, or giving them time to find fans. Just think of all the shows recently cancelled after just a couple of episodes.... This NEVER would have happened in the past. Even crap shows typically made it for half of a season (and this was when seasons were more episodes)....