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Originally Posted by Frazz
Are these dates not when they air in the US and we are behind with most of them
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Quote:
Originally Posted by General Maximus
the majority of the series are US produced series and thus the air dates provided are the US network air dates. This list serves to bring exciting tv to your attention and if you wish to watch them on terrestrial tv/sky/virgin etc further queries will need to be made for the air dates.
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It's amazing what you learn if you bother to read. Terrestrial tv is rubbish and I have made many a comment before that even in British produced mags (e.g. SFX) they are very good at bringing you the latest info on series and they'll say "US air date: day/month, UK air date: TBC". Unless it is a hit show like GoT we are absolutely rubbish over here at getting series on time. Agents of Shield is a perfect example, it is a Marvel tv series so you think it would be worth it's weight in gold purely for the brand yet the most recent season didn't start on tv over here (last month) until 2 weeks after the entire season had finished in the US. Some series run about 6 months behind and when they start in September/October in the US they won't be available over here until March the following year.
Because most of the series are US series the information for air dates is more readily available and easier for me to link to for information if anyone is interested and wants to keep an eye out for a new series (e.g. the upcoming I-Land). US series and networks and also very regimented and regular in their scheduling. There is no way I am ever going to try and find out what series is airing when on Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and whatever else over here. I pulled my hair out trying to do it a few years ago for a friend who loved The Vampire Diaries. It aired on ITV2, I think a year had elapse since the previous season had aired in the US and there was still no info on when it was returning to ITV2, it is an absolute joke. I try to list the most popular series forum users will be interested in along with the US dates so at least you know whether it is coming soon or not till after xmas (e.g. Westword and Star Trek Picard) and then it is up to you to keep an eye or google for when it is available over here.
Years ago back in 1996 before I had Sky my tv viewing revolved entirely around Star Trek TNG and Buffy on BBC 2, Wednesdays at 6 o'clock. I would go absolutely schizo when the darts was on, some flipping flower show or whatever else because out of all the programs the BBC would remove from the schedule to show those events, it would be Star Trek and Buffy and not the shit which came before or after. One of my friends at school had Sky and I don't know how far behind the US he was (obviously pre-internet days) but he was way ahead of where the BBC was with DS9, a whole year I think. Way of the Warrior had just aired on Sky and he was so hyped telling me all about it. He recorded it for me (good old VHS) and I watched it out of sync with where I was. I enjoyed it but obviously didn't have a clue what was happening in the context of the story. I think I was only half way through season 2 on tv and knew nothing about the Dominion and by the time I caught up months and months later I was like "ahhhhhhhhh, it all makes sense now" and enjoyed watching it again. The BBC were so rubbish that you could even rent more recent episodes from Blockbuster on tape before they were on tv and did that with Voyager religiously. I got quite chummy with the branch manager who was also a geek and he rang me every time a new video came out and I would be straight down there for it.
As much as we love to moan about streaming services and all these subscriptions and channels, at least it keeps competition going and makes broadcasters think twice about being lazy with customers. If paying for the BBC were optional they would be out of business because nobody would pay their tv license, it is an absolute rip off when you think of the quality and wealth or material available on Netflix for the same price or soon to be Disney+ for half the price.