In case you’re just tuning in…

Welcome!

Premiering tonight is a new CBS drama called Person of Interest, which brings JJ Abrams back to nighttime TV once again. Immediately, I was struck with its premise sounding hauntingly familiar.

Lessee… A guy who has unique talents, fairly communicative, is being positioned in place and time to intercede on the behalf of victims, aided by another guy who has access to various tidbits of information that is not always 100% reliable due to circumstance or gaps.

Ah-ha! Quantum Leap!

Yes, it’s not just time/space travel anymore, and there’s that personal anonymity instead of body-switching, and yes, it’s definitely got that grittier feel that makes it more up-to-date than a show from the 1989-1993 (as opposed to merely a remake of Quantum Leap, ‘natch). But all of the essentials are apparently intact between the two shows. And like Quantum Leap, it’s one of those shows that, despite the extra twists and turns, there is both a familiarity and coziness to match the curious teases and fuzziness… This is what makes Person of Interest fun to watch. Let’s see how far this journey will take us.

A Flashback…

I’m sure several of you recall that statement I made in one of our impromptu Starbucks meetings a few months ago about the possible outcome of the impending digital TV signal switch-over.

While it seemed that many of you thought that it was a “done deal” (and indeed, it really doesn’t impact many people, for a variety of reasons!), there were a few that suspected that Congress would come through and allow the switcheroo to happen sometime much later. And, of course, I tossed out the third option:

I think… okay, this is going to sound weird, but you’re probably used to it by now, right? … Congress will vote to allow for a delay in the DTV switch, and it’ll be approved… but any stations that are going to switch over on February 17th will still get the chance to do it, as well as any stations that want to switch any time after that– up until the government-stated date.

So, let’s just say that the government decides that July 1st is the new deadline. If a bunch of DC stations weren’t quite ready to switch on February 17th, but they decided they were going to flip the switch on March 17th, then they’d be able to do it. Easy, right?

Fast Forward to Today…

So, guess what happened yesterday?

Yep. It’s been delayed. Until June 12, 2009.

Here’s what KVBC-TV says about their stance on the reversal of fortune.

But Wait! There’s More!

There’s an option available for stations who are threatening to go forward with the transition on the original February 17, 2009 date… CNBC reports that stations may opt to switch on February 17th with notification to the FCC. The rationale that a lot of stations have given is that the cost of maintaining the analog equipment is too expensive to delay past the original date.

So this will be certainly an interesting tangle of on-and-off TV signal service for folks who’ve had broadcast analog signals until now…