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Watchathon begins Monday

5 min read

Spring has sprung

The grass has riz

I wonder where

My clicker is?

Xfinity’s annual Watchathon begins today. And despite warnings from health experts against binge-watching shows on Xfinity, Netflix, Hulu or other cable services, millions of people will be popping popcorn and plopping into their easy chairs for hours-on-end viewing of new or favorite series over the next few weeks. (Many network shows will be in rerun mode until the May ratings sweeps.)

Xfinity says it will offer 215 series, including premium shows from HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, Encore and HBO Latino – even to those who don’t subscribe to those channels. There’s a method to the marathons, of course; in the past two years, there has been a significant uptick in live viewing of participating series, which is no doubt why freshmen network shows such as “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Madame Secretary” are in the mix.

What’s really staggering is the sheer numbers associated with these binge opportunities. Xfinity said its customers spent about 50 million hours watching during the 2014 seven-day event. Guess cutting the grass will have to wait.

• Western Pennsylvania has a reputation for going its own way, whether it is with music, clothing styles or house design. That applies to TV viewing as well. Nationally, the most delayed-viewed shows over the past nine months were “Empire,” “Game of Thrones,” “ASH Freak Show,” “True Detective,” “Power,” “How To Get Away With Murder,” “Gotham” and “Walking Dead.” In this area, though, the top eight were “AHS Freak Show,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Empire,” “True Detective,” Walking Dead,” “How To Get Away With Murder” and “Resurrection.” Yes, “Resurrection.”

•Anyone else notice how the buzz for “How To Get Away With Murder” has all but disappeared? There’s also little buzz about the once-hot “Blacklist,” but at least that can be attributed to a change in day and time. At this point, I’d speculate that neither will make it to the coveted five-year mark. Ditto for “Person of Interest,” which CBS may determine to be the most expendable of its dramas.

• TV’s most popular shows increasingly are avoided by advertiser-friendly 18-49-year-olds. In the most recent ratings, the top overall shows were “NCIS,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “60 Minutes,” “The Voice (M),” “Madam Secretary,” “The Voice (T),” “Criminal Minds,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Good Wife” and “Scorpion.” While all have been or are likely to be renewed, “The Good Wife” has been a candidate for cancellation every year, while “Dancing with the Stars” survives mainly because it is inexpensive to produce. “Madam Secretary” was considered a longshot for renewal, although CBS finally gave its nod to another season. The top-ranked 18-49 shows, however, are all locks for renewal, even with significantly smaller audiences. That would include ABC’s two-hour Wednesday comedy block and many of Fox’s sitcoms.

•It’s curious that ABC’s Wednesday sitcoms – with the notable exception of “Modern Family” – are throwbacks to ’70s and ’80s comedies such as “Family Ties,” Cosby,” etc., but seniors seem to be reluctant to sample them. Could be the off-kilter “Modern Family” scared them off.

• The limited series return of “The X Files,” “Heroes” and “Coach” was big news last week, but be careful what you wish for – a limited return of “My Mother the Car” could be next. That’s just a slight exaggeration of what may occur if the three shows click. If you can convince stars of “Dukes of Hazzard” to reunite for a commercial, or key players from “The Mary Tyler Moore” show to gather for a guest shot on “Hot in Cleveland,” it wouldn’t be difficult to get actors from dozens of old shows to agree to work together for a 13-episode encore season. But with few exceptions – “Seinfeld” no doubt being one of them – do we really want to revisit those series?

• What might work – and bring back many disgruntled viewers – is a short return of some limited appeal, continuous plot series such as “American Dreams,” “Invasion” and “Jericho,” if only to wrap the story lines. Were they to air in December, March or April (non-essential ratings months) they would provide fresh programming without the pressure of having to attract massive numbers of viewers.

• When will they ever learn? CBS has released its season finale schedule, which includes no less than four “expanded presentations,” which generally translates into scripts that have been watered-down to fill up an extra 30 or 60 minutes. Among the shows getting the big season sendoffs are “The Odd Couple” (60 minutes) and “CSI; Cyber,” “Survivor” and “Hawaii 5-0” (120 minutes). If I were a fan of “Hawaii 5-0,” I might be a bit wary. It’s possible the season finale could also be the end of the series.

• You may add these to 100+ series returning in the fall: “New Girl,” “Bloodline,” “House of Cards,” “The Americans” and “Untold Stories of the ER.”

•”Stalker” returns to the CBS schedule May 4, but it will be a short stay. It’s all but officially canceled.

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