I was never that big a TV watcher.
When I was younger, if I liked a new show, it was something of a kiss of death.
The first one I remember was when I was 13 years old in 1963. It was a detective series with comedy undertones, starring British actress Glynis Johns. Back in those days, shows generally had 30 or so episodes a season, and if they flopped in the ratings, they went bye-bye after 13 episodes.
“Glynis” was on for 13 episodes.
There were other examples, but the one that really broke my heart was in 1983, when Steven Bochco followed his classic “Hill Street Blues” with “Bay City Blues,” a show about minor league baseball that had a fascinating cast including a prestardom Sharon Stone. I was covering minor-league baseball at the time, so I loved the idea.
The show lasted four episodes.
Eventually my luck changed and shows I enjoyed like “Cheers,” “LA Law” and “The West Wing” all did well, although in all three cases, I didn’t watch them till the end. I did come back and finish “West Wing” on DVD.
In fact, I can only think of one series in the last 15 years that I watched week by week from beginning till end, and that was the 120 episodes of “Madam Secretary.” It ran 5 1/2 seasons and was outstanding from beginning to end, with Tea Leoni carrying the show.
Part of the problem with other shows is that television has changed so much. Way too much of network television is so-called reality shows, which I will never forgive for making Donald Trump look like a sane and successful businessman. There have been wonderful shows like “Bosch” and “Reacher,” but nearly all of them are short seasons.
I liked Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” and watched it for four seasons, but between the strikes in Hollywood and other delays, the fifth season was so long in coming that I lost interest.
I have one show I never watched while it was on, but I have been bingeing the 62 episodes and am in the final season now. The strangest thing is the show is sort of crap — or as my British friends would say, shiite — but I still find it kind of compelling.
Imagine a flight from Jamaica to New York disappearing and then showing up 5 1/2 years later, although for the people on the flight it was just a regular flight that took off and landed the same day. That’s the premise behind “Manifest,” and if that sounds weird, it keeps getting weirder and weirder.
It’s crap, but I sort of enjoy it and I have only 14 episodes to go. One thing it has going for it is a number of really hateful villains.
So I’ll finish it, but I don’t think I’ll rewatch it down the line.
It’s not that compelling.