TV: Syndication

A big advantage of the United States way of approaching television (a decentralized multitude of competing local stations that can run programs ad hoc) is the practice of syndication. Local affiliates can buy up a grab-bag of shows that have typically run their course, making for interesting bedfellows. There's nothing quite like watching an episode of "Seinfeld" immediately followed by "The Simpsons."

Syndication has especially benefitted hour-long science fiction and fantasy shows. For example, nowadays on SpikeTV you can catch four full hours of Star Trek (2 of "Next Generation," 2 of "Voyager") in the afternoons. Obviously, no one's going to watch that much TV all the time, but, speaking from personal experience, it's nice to have it on in the background as white noise while you do your homework. These types of programming blocks must be fun for latchkey schoolchildren who never got a chance to see Brent Spiner dressed up as an android dressed up as Sherlock Holmes.

There is a dark side to syndication, however. People are hungry for new programs (even if they're just new shows that are also reruns), so even mediocre fare like "Step by Step" or "Relic Hunter" can get on TV again. Some shows (especially anything with a talking vehicle not named KITT) should just never be resurrected.