The return of
GRRR AAAAAARGH!
As my last rant mentioned, I sent an e-mail to the BBC complaining about the scheduling of Buffy opposite Angel. I have had a reply from the BBC; you should check the original e-mail and then read the reply before continuing.
Staggering, isn’t it? There is no sign that she has read my complaint at all. I replied, of course, restating briefly my original complaint. To make sure she didn’t assume I had mentioned that as an extra point to a complaint about The Simpsons, I pointed out that it was news to me that The Simpsons was being shown in England.
I received a further reply, which said the following:
…Our programme planners feel that the decision to keep Buffy on Fridays at 6.45pm is the correct one. This particular programme has had several transmission slots and the planners do not feel that it would benefit the audience if it was to be changed yet again. There is of course, as I am sure you are aware, the unedited version of Buffy which transmits at 11.50pm where there is no overlap with Angel…
I am not sure on what grounds keeping Buffy on Fridays might be the correct decision, but it certainly seems odd to justify it by citing the schedulers’ previous treatment of the series as a ping-pong ball.
I did send a further message asking if the final sentence amounted to a guarantee that there would always be a late night Buffy repeat, pointing out that there was no such repeat on Friday 15th. I have received no reply to that.
On the other hand, it seems Channel 4 are doing their best to avoid a scheduling conflict through the most bizarre means. I was out last night and have not checked the VCR, but I did get info from people who watched it.
It seems that C4 dropped the presenters, and started Angel just about on time. The running time, excluding ads, was cut to 35 minutes — that’s a huge cut, and makes me wonder if I actually do want to check the video. According to one friend, there was a comfortable margin before Buffy!
So a programme which is scheduled to run, with up to six minutes of ads, from 6 to 7 finished before 6:45; clearly those who said that the first two episodes were the most tame of the entire series and wondered what that meant for the later episodes have their answer. Angel is being put through a shredder.
It has to be clear by now to Channel 4 that Angel is totally unsuitable for the kiddy slot it has been given. Perhaps this will spur C4 into actually watching the programmes they buy before scheduling them. It certainly should make someone realise that Angel has to be shown at a more suitable time. I am sceptical because, I know I’ve said this before, C4 has no respect for this section of their audience.
I do have the nagging worry that C4 will realise that they’ve got it wrong — and screen Angel in the Crusade slot, sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning. After all, geeks don’t sleep, do they?
An Angel fan has set up an online petition to Channel Four. If you are at all interested in seeing the programme as Joss Whedon intended, add your name to it and make your voice heard. At the time this article was first written there were 1537 signatures.
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