I first became aware of BYUtv around 2010 or 2011, right around the same time that BYU went independent. I distinctly remember thinking that the existence of BYUtv might make BYU's independence attempt successful, and that BYU football, in fact BYU sports in general, would be the station's mainstay. I was impressed at how I was apparently proven wrong in the years to come, as BYUtv came up with some creative and forward-looking programming.

I've just about come full circle, back to my original assessment. Studio C was BYUtv's biggest hit, and it had a few fun and creative seasons. But it took them a couple of seasons to hit their stride with the original crew, and the last two or three with that crew were underwhelming. I don't know how good the new players are, because my family quit watching it after about two new epidodes. BYUtv also had the knack of getting rid of good series for no discernible reason. Orson Scott Card wrote an SF series that, at first, was hard to watch because of its slow pace. But it finally picked up and started actually getting good. So BYUtv cancelled it. Same story with Granite Flats, which started as a sort of cute idea and evolved into something multilayered and interesting, sort of an X-Files for families. Right as it was getting very popular, they cancelled it.

At first, I figured it was all part of some great master uberplan being brilliantly but subtly executed. Why else would they deep-six promising shows? But I don't think so. I think it was just some bad decision-making. Admittedly, I do not watch much television, especially broadcast television, so I'm not an expert on BYUtv's current programming. But when I've looked over it in the last six months or year, I haven't found much to excite me. BYU sports broadcasts and related things, like for example AFR, are most of what I find interesting. Other than that, BYUtv holds no more interest for me than any other television channel, which is to say, very little interest.

Maybe those with more knowledge can fill me in on what my family and I are missing. I haven't watched Derek and the Dominoes Dragon or whatever it's called, and I haven't watched Studio C in probably a year or two. Am I missing out? What is worth making time to watch?