Lamenting the end of holiday reruns

Remember the episode of Seinfeld where George Steinbrenner told George Costanza's parents that their son was dead? (Frank's response: "Why did you trade Jay Buhner!?") When Jerry told George that his parents think he's dead, the bald one's response was classic: "They could use the break!"

That's how I felt about the spate of reruns we got between the second week of December and now. This past fall season was so intense, with returning shows pretty much airing without a break, and new shows coming on board pretty much the entire fall period, that it seemed like there was a ton of good stuff to watch every single week. Having to blog about three shows (HIMYM, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy) probably enhanced that intensity, but that's why I get paid the "big bucks" around here. So, having a few weeks off was a nice little break.

The problem is, I'm not quite ready yet for new episodes to return.

It's the opposite reaction I had from last year, when I couldn't wait for the holiday dreck to end and new episodes of my favorite shows returned. I'm not sure why my attitude is different this time around, but I have my theories:

• It felt like there were less reruns this fall. Maybe it was the competition, or the fact that networks are finally realizing that reruns are killers, but there really didn't seem to be a break from mid-September to mid-December. You'd usually expect to see a repeat or two of returning shows in the October time frame, but they weren't there for the most part. Heck, there were new episodes of shows on Thanksgiving.
• The shows that are on demand attention. Serialized shows from the mega-hit Lost to the failed Kidnapped and The Nine all demanded more attention than I tend to give most TV shows. And other shows, like Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty, are so jam-packed with storylines and detail, that it's hard to watch them while flipping through a magazine or checking my e-mail, like I might have done in the past. Even Studio 60 demanded attention, if only to figure out what parts of it should send you into a complaint-typing tizzy. Comedies are just as demanding; you probably have to watch an episode of The Office at least twice to get all the jokes, references, and background humor.
• The Internet scrutiny of shows is intense. It's so intense that, if you want to join in the discussion about a show either here or on one of the other hundreds of blogs and message boards out there, you had better damn well know what you're talking about. As we've seen here, if you miss details, you will be crucified. So you have to pay more attention than you would have, say, ten years ago. Which leads me to my next point...
• There are just more watercooler shows than there used to be. Twenty years ago, I can remember there was only one "talk about it the next day" show around: Moonlighting (well, at least in my high school there was, anyway). Ten years ago? Seinfeld, Friends, The Simpsons, and maybe ER, Melrose Place, and 90210. Today? There's too many to count. And the fact that they're spoken about the next day at work or online means that, TiVo or no TiVo, you'll want to watch the show the same day it airs so no one spoils it for you.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining that I "have" to watch TV; it's just been hard for me to get back in the swing of things in 2007. I'm hoping that once the new episodes of "my shows" begin to air, I'll get into a better TV-watching groove. Also, since half of most shows' seasons have aired already, I don't expect the run of new episodes to be as constant -- at least not in January, March, and April -- as it was in the fall.

Are you folks feeling the same way? Let me know in the comments.