What I’d Like to See: E-mail Alerts for New Episodes of TV Shows I Follow
Along with being an online media cultist, I’m something of a TV nut. Just as I enjoy defending and promoting the greatness of the blogosphere and the Interwebs generally, one of my favorite soapbox topics is to argue that TV has the same relative mix of quality (mostly junk, some good, and a little astoundingly great) as any other medium. And great TV these days (The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, Rescue Me, Lost, The Office, etc.) is truly phenomenal.
My DVR helps immensely in keeping up with the shows I love. I often watch shows a day or two after they air. However, my cable company-provided DVR is imperfect: it sometimes doesn’t pick up on when shows switch nights, switch times, and will occasionally “forget” to record new episodes of a show that has been in repeat mode for several weeks.
This is my greatest TV-related fear. Is Heroes coming back this week? Lost is running new episodes through the end of the season, right? When is Drive coming back, if at all?
TV Squad, beyond doing great comprehensive coverage of the huge wide world of television, runs a “What’s on Tonight?” column which is helpful, but again is something I have to remind myself to look out for before consulting my DVR to ensure that my shows are locked in for recording. They also have a nice panel on the side nav of their new site design that displays little “new” labels for “Primetime Tonight.” Still, though, only the major broadcast networks are mentioned. Sometimes I need to get a little Real World on, you know?
MeeVee runs more comprehensive listings right on its front page, with little “N” labels to signify new episodes.
Here’s what I’d like to see though. If anyone knows of such a service, please let me know – I know that I and likely others would appreciate hearing about it!
I want a service where I plug in the shows that I follow. Prison Break, for example. I plug in Prison Break, and it sends me an e-mail alert the day before or the day of (I get to decide when) the night that a new episode is going to air. And then, for the rest of time, it will let me know what’s going on with Prison Break. It’s going into hiatus for several weeks? The alert lets me know. The premiere date is set for the fall – again it checks in. And then when the new season comes it’s right back with the alerts, so I’m ensured of following a show I like from hiatus to winter break through new seasons, and so on. If I stop digging Prison Break, I simply cancel my subscription to that show.
I think that this would be a valuable service, and would love to see someone do it.
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April 26th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I use google alerts to do just what you are saying.. I get a multitude of info and can decide if I want to access the site on the alert or not.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Hi Eric,
MeeVee offers a couple of options in this regard. You can have your favorites delivered daily to your cell phone via text message. You can also set up an RSS feed both in the traditional sense and in the form of a widget that can live on your MySpace/Friendster/Live Journal page.
You can sign up here:
http://www.meevee.com/guide/meeveeeverywhere.aspx
Thanks,
Marjorie
April 26th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I’ve missed the odd episode here and there because I sometimes forget when a show is coming off hiatus. Your email idea is a good one. RSS would be a good way to do those alerts, too.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Good idea, so simple, I’m surprised nobody has done it that I know of. Many shows seem to take a break mid season and show a few reruns, then start with new ones again.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I am glad you liked my suggestion…One piece of advice.. if you do not want to get an alert regarding every website in the entire universe than mentions Prison Break.. the TV show or real world prison breaks, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell etc.. then select news alerts instead of comprehensive : ) there are some really good news sites which give the whole synopsis of the most recent show.. others that give “spoilers” regarding upcoming episodes and still others that focus on all aspects of the show.
April 29th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
NANCYB, great idea! Though I wonder if wading through all kinds of related news and show information might be a lot of work in the long run. Would “news alerts” be enough to give loyal views information about upcoming new episodes of shows versus repeats?
April 29th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Eric F — Yes, RSS would work just as well as e-mail. I try to catch TV Squad’s “What’s On Tonight” column for just this purpose, but it gets lost in the shuffle of my many feeds at times.
April 29th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Thanks Webomatica! Yeah, I really like the trend of shows that roll their entire season out without a break. Hero’s recently four or five week hiatus almost made me forget about what is one of the best shows on television.
April 29th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Eric during the season.. news alerts will give you alot of tv review pages from newspapers and magazines versus fan sites.. sometimes the fan sites have alot of good info but mostly they just have videos of Wentworth Miller and Sarah Wayne Callies
Very often the news sites will say whether that weeks episode is current or a rerun or if there is a show on that week at all.. start and end dates of a season as well as when videos of that season will be available also show up on these sites.
April 29th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Thanks Marjorie — for some reason your comment got stuck in WP’s comment moderation folder. Probably what I’m looking for is a more simplified version of the RSS feed/interests area taht meevee currently offers.
NANCYB — sounds like it wouldn’t be all that difficult for someone to use that info to create a stand alone service that makes it easy for people to find out what’s on. Any takers?