Tuned In

Donate Your Old Shirts Here

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We’re all about Web 2.0 here at Tuned In–you keep feeding us the ideas, we’ll keep billing the hours for them! This one comes from Keith in the Andy Richter comments:

What show doesn’t grow stale? I used to be a diehard fan of ER many many moons ago and everytime I see and ad, I think…is that still on? I read where Law & Order’s numbers have declined this year. I still find it a great show though. Kind of like a favorite old shirt.

Keith got me thinking about my own–to steal his coinage–Old Shirt shows: series I keep watching out of habit or comfortable familiarity. One of the ways that critics watch TV differently from civilians is that we’re much more focused on novelty (that’s where story ideas come from), so it’s a rare series that I give a Tivo season pass beyond a few seasons, and when I do, it’s because I think it’s still indisputably great, like The Sopranos or South Park.

But I do have my occasional Old Shirt. I’m not a fan of police procedurals, whether old and broken in or crisp and fresh out of the packaging, but I realize that I probably continue to watch Survivor for the same reason some people watch Law & Order. I know it can never really surprise me anymore, but I keep watching out of habit, for the few moments of suspense or hilarity and because it has a comforting rhythm (reward, immunity, fire-equals-life, “Survivors ready!” etc.) that I’ve gotten used to.

So there’s my Old Shirt. What’s in your closet?