Sweeps Come to a Close - Salon.com offers a recap of season ending cliffhangers for shows returning next season. With the advent of TiVo, isn't the tradition notion of a TV season running from September to May antiquated? As people are time-shifting programming anyway, watching it at their own convenience, can't viewers expect some new programming during the summer too?

One person who clearly doesn't feel this way is Karal Ann Marling, a professor at the University of Minnesota who writes about mean TV in the NY Times. She sings the praises of network drama while decrying talk shows and reality shows and in the process, I think, really undermines her own premise, because each of these shows is geared toward a different audience. The competition between channels means that each show is aimed at a particular type of viewer. There are more than the 3 network choices of yesteryear, and those choices allow viewers to tune out of poorly conceived, badly executed dramas in favor of syndicated or cable programming. That being said, network programming is seen by a much larger audience than anything on cable, including such high profile shows as The Osbournes or Sex and The City. The number one show on the air for the 2001-2002 season was NBC's Friends, so I'd love to see some of Professor Marling's research about student preferences for I Love Lucy over Friends.