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Why Can't There Be Any Reruns of "American Dreams" on Cable TV?

posted 9 years ago by clevesq-1
7 replies | jump to latest

I know that "American Dreams" ran for three seasons with only 61 episodes, but other shows have been seen in reruns on cable with less episodes than that in recent years. Here are some examples:

"Sports Night" (1998-2000, ABC) only had 45 episodes in two seasons and was recently seen on FXX.

"Freaks and Geeks" (1999-2000, NBC) only ran for one season with 18 episodes and was also seen on FXX in recent years.

"Smart Guy" (1997-99, The WB Network) only ran for 51 episodes in three seasons and had been seen on MTV2 and UP TV.

The original "Arrested Development" series (2003-06, FOX) only ran for 53 episodes in three seasons and had been seen in recent years on FXX, too.

So, why can't any cable TV network, such as FXX, MTV2, VH1 Classic, UP TV, ABC Family, or even TV Land add reruns of "American Dreams" to its lineup?

By the way, TV Land did consider it to be a Future TV Classic in 2003 during the show's first season at that year's TV Land Awards.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ediduncan 9 years ago

I only wonder if due to the amount of music used there us too much work for the rights? I dunno, but it would be great just to stream or have all the dvds.

[–] sarah-103 8 years ago

When music rights are granted for a TV show, the ability to use the song in reruns was standard when the series came out. Music rights are not preventing the show from being rerun. DVD rights were a new thing, which is why only the first season is on DVD. It would too be expensive to get the music rights for the other two seasons.

"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele

[–] Hazeleyes84 9 years ago

I found season 3 episodes on YouTube. Hurry and watch them before they get taken down.

[–] norway-jm 7 years ago

I've always wondered this too. At least put it on Hulu or Netflix. I don't understand why this show has literally been swept under the rug, and hasn't been seen since its first run.

[–] activista 7 years ago

I liked this show and used to watch for at least the first year it was on. I also liked the fact that then-up-and-coming real life artists were used to play equally real-life musical stars on the show. I know it lasted at least three seasons---didn't know that it went on for a third, since I stopped watching it halfway during the second. A good,well-made show,though---I also thought the actor playing the dad was hot, in an old-school way. Years later I'm watching How To Get Away With Murder and wondered why the actor playing Annelise's ill-fated husband seemed so familiar---then I realized it was that same actor--older, but still kind of hot--that was a nice surprise,lol.

[–] sarah-103 7 years ago

I agree. It's a little bit more recent than what they normally show, but this would be great on Cozi TV or Antenna TV. It can't be an issue of music rights, because reruns were part of standard operating procedure and would have been included (unlike DVD and streaming which were not part of standard licensing when the series started).

"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele