Help! The 'Suits' are Ruining My Favorite Shows!

I am growing increasingly miffed by the broadcast network's (probably more specifically ABC's) handling of the whole “winter break” scenario when it comes to scripted series.
It is obvious that decisions are being made by the “suits” rather than the creative types, but isn't that always the case with the networks, and probably one of the primary reasons why their ratings have tumbled over the years.
(As an aside, nobody used the word “suits” better and with more venom than director Billy Walsh on “Entourage,” when filming the bomb “Medellin” that almost ruined Vince's career. In this one case the “suits” were probably right.)
I can understand taking a few weeks off from series so the networks can air “Frosty the Snowman” and “Carrie Underwood: An All Star Holiday Special.” And I do look forward to seeing “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” and Bing Crosby in both “Holliday Inn” and “White Christmas” for the umpteenth time every December.
But why can't my favorite series return in January? Supposedly the “suits” are afraid of competing with NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics, but do you know anyone who actually religiously watches the Winter Games on a nightly basis, other than relatives of competitors? OK, the Opening Ceremonies are interesting for about 45 minutes, but by the time the Finnish national team comes marching in, I am ready to change the channel out of boredom.
Yes, the figure skating usually draws decent ratings, but does it make sense for the “suits” at Fox and ABC to alter their programming to avoid competing with the luge or biathlon events? Moreover, the Olympics are only on for two weeks in February. Yet some shows are now on “winter break” until March! In fact “V” won't return until March 30!
I do agree that shows with serialized story lines like “Lost,” “24,” and “Prison Break” are best seen when aired in consecutive episodes without repeats or preemptions. But last week's announcement that “FlashForward” will now not return until March 4 makes absolutely no sense to at all. For me, one of the really exciting attributes of this show was its ties to the real world calendar.
One of the show's major plot lines focused on learning that FBI agent Demitri Noh is supposed to be murdered on March 10, and (as we discovered last week) the murderer is supposedly his partner Mark Benford (or at least the murder weapon is Benford's gun). It was going to be fascinating to see how developments over the coming weeks and months would (might?) lead to Demitri's demise.
But now the show is returning just a week before the predicted murder, so what's the point? And for everyone else, the “flash forward” vision that they saw was to occur (writer's note: it certainly is difficult to figure which tenses to use when writing about this show) on April 29, 2010. So when the show returns on March 4, are we supposed to wonder what has transpired over the past three months? Or have the “suits” dictated that they will just be picking up the action right after the last episode, aired on December 3? The whole tie-in with real time dates was much of the fascination of the show. Now that whole concept has been seriously compromised, if not ruined.
I recently read an interview with “FlashForward's” creator, David Goyer, who said that the show was originally scheduled to return in January, but the decision to push it back until March (by the “suits,” of course) was in fact because the network did not want to compete with the Winter Olympics.
Goyer further said that certain episodes have been “swapped out” and others are being rewritten. All I can say is that I am glad I am not a writer on the show. As far as I am concerned, the ABC “suits” are crippling the show and probably killing it, as NBC did a few years ago with the promising series “Jericho,” which also went on a three-month hiatus.
Of course I will certainly follow “Lost” to the end, but I think I will look long and hard at any broadcast network serialized show in the future before getting too caught up in the plot. I still fill burned by the cancellation of the ABC series “The Nines” two years ago, which just halted production in the middle of the season, without any plot resolution.
The same holds true for another ABC series “Invasion,” which was cancelled after one season just when things were getting interesting. It is one thing when a sitcom or a drama without a serialized story arc is cancelled, but it is quite another when viewers invest time and energy into following a serialized show that just ends abruptly.
So I think I will just stick to cable networks such as HBO and Showtime, which run such great series as “True Blood” and “Dexter” in consecutive weeks and aren't afraid to compete with “A Muppet's Christmas.”