TV Notes

1. NBC showed the series finale of Will & Grace on Thursday night. The same episode that aired one week earlier. How pathetic is that? I realize that NBC was ranked last this year in ratings overall and last in most (if not all) demographic groups. I realize that this is an indication that NBC does not have much to choose from. I also realize that most of the stuff that comes on TV for the next few months will be reruns of some sort. But c’mon! Surely they could find something to show instead of showing the exact same show in the exact same time slot two weeks in a row. I may be a bit biased since I’m not a big fan of the show, but I don’t think the finale was worth watching once, much less twice. If this is the type of thinking at NBC, it is no wonder they are doing so poorly and there is no reason to think it will get better any time soon.

2. I was reading an article on Thursday about the season finale of American Idol when I saw that Ryan Seacrest was boasting that 63 million people voted, more votes than any president has received. I was all set to rant about what a sorry commentary this was on society and how bad it is that people are more willing to vote for a pop singer than for the leader of our nation. But after I thought about that number some more, my cooler head prevailed. First, 63 million votes does not come close to the number of people that voted in the 2004 presidential election. (Results here.) It’s probably been a long time since that few people voted in a presidential election. Second, the chick probably got a fair number of the votes, which means neither of them came close to President Bush’s total in 2004. Finally, as some bloggers have pointed out, many of those votes may have come from outside America. So while voter turnout could stand to be higher, there is no reason for cultural alarm over Ryan Seacrest’s claims about American Idol voters.

3. There was small snippet in the sports section this week that said Kirk Herbstreit will be calling ABC’s Saturday night college football games this fall. What the article did not say is whether this means Kirk is leaving College Gameday. It is possible that ESPN will be sending Gameday to the site of the ABC game. But I’m not sure about this possibility because it would mean that Gameday won’t be going to any more SEC games, which are carried on CBS. If Kirk does leave Gameday, the best sports pregame show will be ruined. There is no better way to kick of a fall Saturday than by waking up and watching Gameday. Herbstreit is probably one of the best, if not THE best, college football analysts. He is fair in his reporting and does not come across as biased. (Although, his Ohio State roots have shown a little more the last couple of years, but it was no where near as bad as Trev Albert’s Nebraska/Big 12 homerism.) If he leaves Gameday, I will be greatly disappointed, but the Saturday night ABC games are going to be great with him doing color.