A funny thing happened on the way to the schedulers meeting...

Mid-summer means holiday times and also is a time for television to almost do the same, usually the case was repeat, repeat and repeat again was such the case. It was this fact the first two series of Only Fools and Horses was repeated in June 1983 to lead respectable viewing figures and for the BBC's Head of Comedy at the time John Howard Davies on the back of this to give Del, Rodney and Grandad a new series and a crack at being millionaires this time next year.

But with The X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing filling the slot between Mid-August and Christmas, it seems like summer is a trial for new shows. With John Bishop going around Britain by anecdotal stories, Ronnie Corbett going around Britain by anecdotal stories etc... To talk is cheap nowadays, big names guarantee people watching but is it everything...

And in a packed programme tonight...

There would be time when BBC1 could set up their Big Top at a seaside resort for fun, games and variety. With a Radio DJ on duty to bring the public and the viewers at home The Brotherhood of Man along with the cast of Are You Being Served? As live entertainment this went along the nature of the end of pier show, jolly and cheerful for the whole family. As times change so do people's taste, what may be seen as jolly to one generation as if naff to another. The challenge to find something to get bums on seats whilst the sun shines is a tough one, the big film is seemingly one way to do that and ITV has gone down that route with the showing of the Harry Potter series of movies each time to tie in with the release of a new film in the cinema. But also the BBC has used this tactic, such with the showing of Cars on the weekend of release of Cars 2. Family films seemingly sell to viewers, making it easy to show them...

'What do you mean its not PC now!'

But it seems that some of the most influential shows of their generation started at the time of the long days...

For one is Senfield, it received a pilot in May 1989 and went to a series almost a year later. But viewers were loyal enough to stick with it though the first series and to return the next series. Even after a run of four episodes, which seems for American shows just tiny indeed. The writing of Larry David had captured people's attention making them come back to the show time after time, so writing can be one thing but what about being forced to the summer?

With The Prisoner, the example was that Patrick McGoohan's own reluctance to film more then one series saw CBS shunt the series to June 1968 as a filler for The Jackie Gleason Show whist that was hiatus. It wasn't the biggest of hits for CBS, but is still loved by fans over forty years later...

When a show might be on trial, its easy to mock... But just think you might be just watching something special without realising...