I love the special encore presentations when I see them on television. Not because I love yet another lame re-run but because I enjoy seeing television executives trying to make their lame re-runs seem like a special event.

Inflated language is everywhere, and this is one of the better examples because it fools no one. Re-runs have been the bane of the television fan for decades, which is why many networks are shifting to 12-month schedules of  new programming. Now that most of us have simple ways of recording a program that we’re not available to watch (It’s hard to imagine there being any activity more important than watching TV, but apparently, it happens!) that the need for watching a show in a re-run is limited.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to make re-runs sound like special treat, such as saying it’s a special encore presentation. This is such a hand-picked episode (out of the many worthy candidates) that the benevolent television executives decided to give you a second chance to see. And how many times do we get a second chance in life? We should be grateful.

–Paul