Remembering New Year’s TV Marathons

You don’t want to move from the couch because it’s New Year’s Day. Don’t worry—if you’ve got cable, no fret—it’s time for a TV marathon. For those who remember, TV marathons were all the rage back in the day. I know, I know that streaming services and digital content have made marathon TV watching a common affair today, but who can remember those old times when a regular TV station would pre-empt regular programming and broadcast one show, episode after episode, all day long? Welcome to the memories of the New Year’s Day TV marathon.

WPIX, a New York-based television station, is often credited with popularizing “binge-watching” with its New Year’s Day tradition of airing a marathon of The Three Stooges shorts, which began in 1972. This annual marathon became an event many viewers would tune in, watching multiple back-to-back episodes. While WPIX didn’t invent binge-watching in the way we think of it today (thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix), it played a key role in making the practice of watching multiple episodes or films in one sitting part of popular culture, particularly on New Year’s Day.

Step aside college football; it’s Marathon rerun day!

Which one do you remember binge-watching?

Here are (were) some of the great New Year’s Eve/Day marathons:

Other TV Marathons Remembered Over the Years

• Twilight Zone Marathon- Science Fiction Channel
• The Honeymooners – WPIX NY Channel 11
• Hitchcock Movie Marathon (AMC)
• Three Stooges, 6 am New Year’s Eve through 5 am New Year’s Day (AMC)
• Law & Order: SVU marathon (6 a.m-6 a.m. Jan. 2, USA)
• Biggest Loser marathon (8 a.m.-8 p.m., Bravo)
• Cheaters marathon (9 a.m.-9 p.m./ET, 6 a.m.-6 p.m./PT, G4)
• One Tree Hill (2 p.m.-midnight Jan. 2, SoapNET)Mythbusters – Discovery Channel
• Cartoon Network once again kicks off the new year with a marathon of Looney Tunes from 8 am-7 pm.
• How about MTV’s The Jersey Shore w/ The Situation? (just kidding – we hope that’s not on!)

Personally, nothing beats SyFy’s The Twilight Zone Marathon

Vote for your favorite.

Let us know if we missed any that you remember.

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Originally Posted December 29, 2009

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