Are You In2TV?

Is the state of television getting to be so poor (please see recent lineup of new reality shows and the cancellation of "Arrested Development") that we need to revert back to the days of Lynda Carter’s "Wonder Woman"? Well, it looks like it as AOL and Warner Brothers announced yesterday a partnership to bring 100 “vintage” shows to the Internet for all your viewing pleasure. Your favorites, like "Growing Pains", "Sisters", and the ever-popular "Welcome Back Kotter", will be airing exclusively on AOL for the price tag of zero dollars. Of course, to get this program, coined In2TV, which will total 300 episodes each month, you will be subjected to four 15-second commercials per show (puh-lease tell us they are “vintage” commercials…those Barbie commercials from ’86 are sweet!) and there will be no videotaping allowed of your favorite Kirk Cameron moment. Don’t expect to be seeing any popular syndicated programs like “Friends” online. Warner Brothers makes too much cash through syndication than to give it away for free. There will be trivia and games though to accompany each episode though.

The two corporations are hoping that In2TV will rival Viacom’s Nick At Night lineup, but skeptics are questioning whether people will actually want to watch TV on a computer, especially those young Internet-savvy users who didn’t grow up with these shows in the first place. Bostonist has started watching DVDs on our laptop, but it does leave something to be desired when compared to the flat screen TV in the living room.

This new free “vintage” TV offer will kick off this January and we’ll be interested to see how many viewers will actually use it. CBS and NBC just signed up to show their primetime shows online for 99 cents, while Yahoo and Tivo also partnered up, offering Yahoo web services for Tivo users. Apple has joined with Walt Disney to bring shows to iPods with video-capability for $1.99 a pop.

Bostonist must ask, what’s wrong with watching TV on a TV?