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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!hou3c!hocda!houxm!hogpc!pegasus!avi
From: avi@pegasus.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.tv
Subject: Why doesn't Hill Street Blues number their shows
Message-ID: <911@pegasus.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 6-Feb-84 14:07:37 EST
Article-I.D.: pegasus.911
Posted: Mon Feb  6 14:07:37 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 03:43:58 EST
References: <954@uw-june> <552@pyuxa.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft NJ
Lines: 16

pyuxa!wetcw raises the fact that Hill Street broadcast reruns during the
viewing season in January -- and that this may account for slumping audience
share statistics. This raises the general question of how the user can figure
out what is happening on a show that maintains a plot line continuously.

Many of the daytime soaps are just never broadcast a second time. This
effectively solves the problem. The nighttime soaps do have this problem.
Why can't they just number them and print the "serial number" (for example
year-3, episode-12) at the beginning of each show -- and also display it in
places like TV guide? Is this information already available, or is there no
way of sequencing these things? I seem to remember that many old TV shows
(even though their plots were limited to one episode) were shown along with
some serial number. I doubt that this would increase ratings, however.
-- 
-=> Avi E. Gross @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6241
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