TV Marathons Are Ruining My Favorite Shows

Reruns have been a mainstay of television for decades, but they truly came into their own with the advent of cable TV. Before cable there were only the primary broadcast networks, but then there were suddenly hundreds of channels with full schedules to fill. It's only been in the last ten to fifteen years that cable networks have really started producing their own programming in any sizable quantity. Prior to that cable was a land of movies and reruns. Mixed into all of that was the occasional marathon. Even though there is more original programming on cable than ever before there are still plenty of reruns, and marathons have transformed from the occasional event into a nearly daily occurrence. Shows will be run anywhere from four hours to all day, for no discernible reason other than it's a way to fill the schedule.

It used to be only older shows that were the marathoned in this fashion. And while it's true that long canceled shows like "The Golden Girls" are still subject to marathons they're hardly the only game in town anymore. Now even currently airing shows are being marathoned on sometimes multiple networks. "House" is frequently marathoned on USA, Bravo and Sleuth networks. "Family Guy" airs new episodes on Fox, reruns on Cartoon Network and marathons on TBS. "Law & Order" was recently canceled, but you wouldn't know it if you tune into TNT every single afternoon for about four hours worth of episodes. "Top Gear" marathons on it's own network, BBC America, at regular intervals. First BBC America only marathoned the show between seasons now they do it even as a new season is being broadcast.

The thing is this wouldn't be such a big deal except these marathons are happening all the time. There was a time when the appeal of a marathon was that it only happened a few times a year, usually only once. That made it something of a special event, one that you could gather fellow fans for so you could all relive your favorite shows together. Now it seems like more of a chore to AVOID a marathon. Even those that aren't marathoned for four or more episodes in a row are still usually airing two episodes back to back on any given weeknight, especially with sitcoms. It seems like a half hour is no longer an acceptable block of time, the same show must take up at least an hour.

There had been a time when I would have gladly purchased a season set of "House" or "Family Guy" or "Law & Order." Now it feels like a pointless exercise since I can turn on one of any number of television channels and find the same shows airing almost constantly. The incentive to actually buy the shows on DVD or Blu-Ray has all but disappeared. I fear that even if and when these shows stop being marathon staples I still won't want to go out and buy them for myself because I'll already have seen nearly every episode three times over.

When I first took notice of these marathons it was a pleasant discovery. It gave me a show that I know I like that I could simply default to if nothing else was on. However over time it has become grating, to the point that I'm losing interests in the show. I've been a fan of "House" for years yet I find that the new episodes sit on my DVR for up to a week before I'll actually watch them. One of the other issues with marathoning shows like this is that it makes it all the more obvious when a show starts to recycle ideas, and my waning enjoyment of "House" is taking a hit due to this very phenomenon. I'm all for keep good old shows alive, and even for syndicating current hits. However these marathons are starting to spoil the shows that they should be keeping up enthusiasm for.