Why? It seems as though NBC and many networks which air syndicated content seem to air the same exact episodes over and over again.
Now, I didn't have a chance to see any of the shows which aired last night besides the 10 p.m. episode of the Office, since I was obsessively playing Green Day Rock Band at a friend's house while we waited for the midnight showing of Toy Story 3 (which, while not a TV show, is fantastic). So, I may have missed some of the better and less common reruns of the shows. However, I think I will lose my mind if I see NBC airing the lackluster "Scott's Tots" episode of the Office again. Thursday's encore made for the third rerun of this episode in less than 9 months (unless I missed one, which I may have), and it just strikes me as weird that the network would keep airing one episode over and over again.
Fan reception of that episode was fairly weak. For those unfamiliar with the episode: 10 years ago, Michael Scott promised to pay for the college educations of a group of third graders. Ten years later, Michael Scott is in debt, and must show up to the school to make the awkward announcement that he could not pay for their education. The consensus of fans and critics seemed to be: while the show thrives upon awkward and cringeworthy humor, this episode involved a premise that was too outlandish, even for Michael's standards, and that the conflict caused in the episode was so sad, it didn't offer comedic relief. Yet, what seems like every time I turn on my TV to watch the show, it's there!
The same thing happened last year with the "Baby Shower" episode (notable for Creed Bratton's famous comment that the afterbirth of a baby floating in a bathtub is "like the tide at Omaha Beach"). It was overplayed so much in the summer of 2009, I've become completely turned off to the episode.
NBC is not alone in this problem. I feel like I've seen "A Benihana Christmas" a million times on the Fox affiliates near me, as well as TBS. It's not just the Office, either. I remember back in the days when TeenNick (then known as the N) aired Daria episodes, they would always show the same 20 or so episodes over and over again. So much so, that my dad, who would usually watch them with me, due to our vampire-esque sleep schedules and Daria being the only thing on TV at 4 a.m., memorized some of the dialogue lines. I remember having this issue with Power Rangers back in the '90s, it's also why I stopped watching the show. Yes, television has been causing me strife since I was about 7 years old.
It's just a pet peeve of mine, and it's why I don't usually watch re-runs of episodes or syndicated versions of shows. At least with the advent of DVDs, if I want to see an episode again, I can choose which episode to watch and how often to do so. It's not that I dislike reruns, it's that I like variety in the reruns.
I guess it could be worse ... they could show Date Mike again.
Are there some episodes of shows that you just cannot watch anymore for the same reason?
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