The Lost Wing

Posted on October 15, 2003 by Gene

When you can’t rely on television schedules, what can you rely on?
After all, it’s pretty much one of the only constants in life – the TV listing.
OK, so, as late as this afternoon, NBC was running promos for tonight’s “ALL NEW” episode of The West Wing. The listings had it scheduled. The NBC website had it.
That is, until 9pm rolled around and Law & Order appeared on the screen instead. (Incidentally – what is the deal with that show? Got an hour to fill? Stick another L&O on.) The NBC website suddenly changed to show the new line up, and a short message appeared at the top telling us that tonight’s West Wing will now air on the 29th. The Warner Bros. website still insists that there’s a new episode on NBC tonight.
What gives? How can they do this to us Wing Nuts?

[The word is that NBC yanked the episode fearing the competition from the baseball game over on Fox. Dammit. I don't watch anything at all on Fox since Futurama went off the air, and I feel somewhat smug about that. I don't even watch The Simpsons anymore - I think it's really run it's course, don't you? Besides, it'll be syndicated ad nauseum soon enough. Anyway.]

[Update 10/16: What in the world is going on with NBC? This is what I call seat-of-the-pants scheduling. Tonight's episode of Will & Grace - the one they've been promoting all week, with James Earl Jones? Didn't air. They showed a repeat instead. Who knew that you could run a major national television network the way I watch TV - just kinda shrug and look at what's on the shelf that you haven't already seen a million times; then throw it in the player. ]

[Update again, 10/17: Washington Post TV Columnist Lisa deMoraes writes about the schedule tinkering in todays column, and notes:

NBC believes that with the Cubs out of the World Series, by next week interest in baseball will have waned somewhat. So NBC has changed its plans to air reruns next Wednesday and Thursday and will run originals on both nights.

So listen up, all you "West Wing" fans: That episode that was supposed to air this week but didn't, and which NBC had been telling you on its Web site would instead air in two weeks, is now scheduled to air next week.
Wow - who knew that TV schedules were so important to us... until they change...]