Why is the TV syndication order different from production order?

[Pug Lover]

This topic refers to how all episodes of each TMS season always aired in a very different order from their actual production.

Here is an example of what I mean.

Season 5 episode production order:
Gene Kelly
Loretta Swit
Joan Baez
Shirley Bassey
James Coburn
Brooke Shields
Glenda Jackson
Senor Wences
Deborah Harry
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Paul Simon
Melissa Manchester
Tony Randall
Mac Davis
Carol Burnett
Gladys Knight
Hal Linden
Marty Feldman
Chris Langham
Wally Boag
Johnny Cash
Buddy Rich
Linda Ronstadt
Roger Moore

Order in which episodes were first aired(and remain in reruns).
Carol Burnett
Roger Moore
Shirley Bassey
James Coburn
Brooke Shields
Tony Randall
Linda Ronstadt
Glenda Jackson
Loretta Swit
Mac Davis
Chris Langham
Melissa Manchester
Senor Wences
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Johnny Cash
Paul Simon
Joan Baez
Hal Linden
Deborah Harry
Gladys Knight
Gene Kelly
Wally Boag
Buddy Rich
Marty Feldman

 

[muppet baby]

i had noticed that to i mean when i watch TMS in syndecation hmmmmmmmmmmmm i would love to know to really i have no idea where to get that answer . Hopefully some one on the fourm will now .

 

[Wiseman]

Not sure

Interesting, since I don't have cable, I haven't seen any of the old Henson Productions since they were taken off the air, except for those that I have on DVD, so I didn't know that they weren't being rerun in their original order. As you know, TMS was a variety show, not a sitcom or a soap opera type drama (now there's an idea, the Muppets in a soap opera), as such the shows did not connect to each other, so really it doesn't matter what order the shows are rerun in. I don't know why they aren't rerunning them in their original order though, wonder if anyone else knows, it would be interesting to find out.

 

[David French]

Well for a start, your "production order" is not that at all - the Gene Kelly episode was the last to be recorded, not the first. What you've listed instead is the production code order, something entirely different.

As to the main point of your question - I don't really know myself but I think a lot of it comes down to what episodes are "in the can" and ready to air. Usually in television it's not unusual for some episodes to still be in production when the series first airs.

 

[frogboy4]

I always felt since the Muppet Show was syndicated that local markets arbitrarily aired the episodes in the order they felt most reflected their audience.

 

[anathema]

Yup; different markets air in different orders. The closest there is to a 'definitive' or 'official' order would probably be the order in which the shows aired on ATV (the TV company that produced them):

Roger Moore
Loretta Swit
James Coburn
Linda Ronstadt
Tony Randall
Brooke Shields
Melissa Manchester
Senor Wences
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Gladys Knight
Joan Baez
Marty Feldman
Glenda Jackson
Gene Kelly
Hal Linden
Wally Boag
Debbie Harry
Johnny Cash
Carol Burnett
Buddy Rich
Paul Simon
Chris Langham
Mac Davis
Shirley Bassey

 

[Drtooth]

Production order and air date order are usually different things entirely. That's why on the DVD collections of Rescue Rangers and Ducktales the 5 part "pilot" movies don't even show up until the second collection. It all depends on what shows get finished when, who's available, and in the case of animated shows, what overseas studios finish first (or what arrives first). Sometimes the show runs at a different order under the discretion of the creators, producers, or whoever is in charge of the show, and sometimes it goes by the discretion of the network heads.