I actually know what number the Hallmark Channel is.
That was the realization I had to come to terms with this week, when I kept flipping back to 191 to watch The Love Letter, a 1998 Hallmark original starring Campbell Scott as a modern-day engaged man who buys an antique desk and starts corresponding with its Civil War-era owner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) through a secret compartment in it. I haven’t broken down yet and watched Walker, Texas Ranger (pictured) — which always seems to be on — but I know myself, and that day is coming.
So, PopWatchers, if I share my late-night channel-surfing ritual, will you? I usually start with a solid run through channels 37 through 45: that’s TNT, USA, TBS, FX, Spike TV, WE, AMC, Bravo, and Lifetime. If I don’t stumble onto something like Can’t Hardly Wait, Legally Blonde, Die Hard, Rocky IV, First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, Jaws, The American President, or that TV movie that starred Sharon Lawrence as a woman who sleeps with her best friend’s son (Brian Austin Green), it’s onto the Sci Fi Channel and ABC Family, which typically disappoint me because Mansquito isn’t on but the 700 Club is. I then do a quick scan (meaning I just read the titles on the screen but don’t actually pause long enough for the picture to load) of Comedy Central, E!, VH1, and MTV. If it’s during the NASCAR season, I’ll stop at Speed on 72, to see if anyone’s talking smack. If not, it’s a clear leap to CMT at 187, where I brake if it’s that reality show about making the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad, and floor it if it’s stand-up. The ride usually ends at Hallmark on 191, but if I’m desperate, I have been known to turn to Versus at 408, in the vain hope that they’re replaying a Professional Bull Riders event.
Your turn.
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I remember “the love letter” when it was first shown on cbs! sappy as heck, but definately the perfect movie for a girls’ night in.
One Word: CHEATERS!
But I can’t find that- I bounce around between TNT, TBS, MTV, VH1, E!, MTV2, LifeTime, Bravo…and whoever it is who constantly shows Stepmom? Please stop. It sucks me in…every…time! I don’t know why- I can’t explain it, but no matter what part I tun in the middle of…I have to watch it to the end.
i love late night TV
With a 5-month-old, I’ve discovered a new appreciation for late-night channel-surfing. I first check to see if The Daily Show is new – if it is, I watch that. Then over to Jay Leno (but usually just Monday night for Headlines). I check Spike to see if there’s a CSI rerun, and then Turner Classic Movies (definitely Sunday nights for the Sunday Silent). And if all else fails, there’s The Tube and VH1 Classic.
If I can’t find “The Tyra Banks Show” anywhere, I go over to TLC in hopes that “What not to Wear” is on (which is actually a pretty safe bet). If not, I’ll hop over to HGTV and see if they’re showing “House Hunters” (which is often, sadly not the case). Eventually, I end up back at Sportscenter watching highlights I’ve already seen earlier in the night.
Late night means Lifetime reruns of Will and Grace and Frasier or CSI on Spike
I am a sucker for the Time Life Music or any other music info-mercials – you know the ones – the greatest hits of the 70′ – 80’s. The one I love now is the Soft Sounds – hosted by the two lead guys from Air Supply.
If I can’t find those – I look for Tyra
There’s an odd cluster of Channels on my cable box that includes BBC America, History International, SoapNet and Fine Living. I always find myself flipping through there – watching snatches of Y&R or GH, then a bit of a history doc and then some airy travel show. Then, I chase it down with one of the endless reruns of “Cash in the Attic”.
i watch oxygen. mainly for the janice dickenson modeling agency. but also for the bad girls club. and (eek!) oprah after the show.
i also watch (crindges to admit it) cheesy gay movies on logo.
When does everyone sleep? After the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, the tv goes off.
I have to say I always watch the Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns whenever they are on. I also enjoy POP UP VIDEO on VH1 classic althouhg am thinking of prtest because all of them I have seen bazillions of times.
Cartoon Network/Adult Swim…I actually leave this on all night long.
The Love Letter sounds an awful lot like the Keanu Reeves movie The Lake House.
I like to flip through MTV Hits, MTV2, MTV Tres, MTV Jams, VH1 Classic, and VH1 Soul. They are all in a row! An hour of flipping between those 6 and I’m ready to fall back asleep.
I have recently re-discovered the joy and heartache of “Golden Girls” reruns on Lifetime. After that it is a crap shoot. I must watch “Futurama” and then if I am still up I head for A&E to try and catch “Intervention”. Then I go to ESPN Classic and see if “Cheap Seats” is on. I usually end up back at the Cartoon Network, TCM, or AMC.
I start at Channel 16.1 (ABC), then 19.1 (CBS), followed by 27.1 (Fox), 27.2 (Local equivalent of Nick at Nite, but nowhere near that good), 29.1 (NBC), 29.3 (CW), 41.1 (PBS Richmond), 51.1 (PBS Harrisonburg), and then I am out of stations (no cable or satellite, just whatever the rabbit ears can pick up). This is why I don’t usually watch tv late at night.
I turn the sleep timer on my tv set when I flip to CSI and CSI: Miami, which are aired back to back on the Canadian cable channel Showcase starting at 11.
GSN used to be great with an hour of Street Smarts followed by an hour of Match Game from 12-2 a.m, then some old school What’s My Line. Now it rotates with quiznation and card games shows and blows.
Let’s see… I check out what is on TCM, AMC and Fox Movie Channel. If nothing, then off to the Showtime set of channels (which usually turns up nada). I will see what is on SCI FI and SPIKE, and also check the Biography Channel for Murder, She Wrote (shut up). If all that fails, it is Cartoon Network and their Adult Swim lineup.
I first start with the E Channel, then I do local networks for the news. If nothings on tv then I refer to my t.v shows on DVD: Sex and the City (I’m having a hankering for season 4 right now) then I’ll watch Nip/Tuck.
My nightly shows – The Office, Heroes, 24, etc. followed by Daily Show, Colbert Report and then off to sleep to dream about tv. (Last night it was HRG trying to make me miss my flight to Phoenix.)
When I had cable, on weekends? Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Sci-Fi, followed by USA, FX, TNT, TBS, et al. Though actually – and maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, since it’s competition – I was less of a channel flipper, and more of a ‘let’s watch the names go by on TV Guide channel’ guy.
Let’s see, I always start with VH1 Classic. Then I hit ESPN/ESPN News. Then I hit the various musical stations on Music Choice to see/hear if a good song is playing. Then VH1, which used to be first but is now way down on the list as they usually are palying some worthless reality show.
I work nights and my sleep cycle gets all goofed up so thank goodness for CSI reruns on Spike and here in Canada Bravo shows Without a Trace at 1am followed by Law and Order at 2.
I’ve recently discovered “The N” a canadian channel. I usually flip there at midnight and watch whatever cheesy teen/young adult show is on: Degrassi, South of Nowhere, Instant Star, etc.
Late night for me is always the same. WGN’s lineup of Sex & The City followed by Everybody Loves Raymond followed by Will & Grace and then Friends. I’m usually asleep by the end of Will & Grace though.
14 (Encore); 21 (WGN, they sometimes show Scrubs); 25 (Discovery); 37 (FX); 41 (A&E); 45 (ABC Family); 49 (Animal Planet); 54 (Comedy Central); 62 (USA); 67 (SciFi); 69 (History Channel).
I completely panicked when it seemed that Lifetime was replacing “Will & Grace” with “Desperate Housewives.” Thankfully, all is back as it should be, and I can soothe myself to sleep with Jack. Before that, it was Sex in the City, but now it’s on earlier. Before that, old Law & Order reruns. I swear, my husband and I have seen every episode. Without benefit of a DVD set.
10:30 – Family Guy on Cartoon Network…11:00 – Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network 11:15 – Remaining Sex and the City ep on local affiliate 11:30 – Conan on NBC (flipping to Late Late show on CBS)…
I love watching Roseanne on Nick at Nite, certain days they run a block of the shows.
No surfing – Adult Swim on Cartoon Network all night long!