Burn-off definition
Up through the 1990s, contractual obligations often meant the airing of television pilot, pilots for shows that were not going to be picked up, such as ''The Art of Being Nick'', ''Poochinski'', ''Heart and Soul'', and ''Barney Miller'', usually during the summer months to provide some form of 'new' programming in the technical sense of the word. In a few cases, the pilot may prove popular enough that a series is eventually commissioned; such was the case with ''Barney Miller'' and ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'', the latter of which led to the long-running sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Anthology series such as ''Love, American Style'' were devoted to many such failed pilots, most famously Garry Marshall's failed pilot, "New Family in Town", which was rebranded "Love and the Television Set" when aired as an episode of ''Love American Style''; ABC ultimately changed its mind after all and picked up the series as ''Happy Days'', itself leading to a number of pilots and spin-offs which had varying levels of success, including ''Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Joanie Loves Chachi''. The term can also apply to programming agreements or network affiliations where the ratings strength and programming quality of a network or broadcast syndication, syndicated program declines to a point where its existence can harm a station or cable channel's further existence. For instance, MyNetworkTV, which launched in 2006 with the intention of being a broadcast network with the same programming strength of its most direct competitor The CW, has declined to a programming service merely carrying syndicated crime dramas which themselves are already widely aired otherwise on other cable networks and streaming services. Because of this, many stations have pushed its programming to the graveyard slot due to its lack of viability, or even another digital subchannel. Thus, the service is being 'burned off' in a timeslot where it cannot cause further harm to the station's schedule. Burning off of shows was more common on the main broadcast networks before the reality of reality television. While new episodes of cancelled shows would often earn decent ratings (by summer standards) compared to repeats of established shows, CBS's results in the summer of 2000 with a successful reality show in ''Big Brother (franchise), Big Brother'' and a massive blockbuster in ''Survivor (franchise), Survivor'' led to a turn towards other less-expensive new reality-TV episodes during the summer and away from bothering to air burn-off products at all. The arc of the last 20 years (since around 2002) has been for cancelled shows to have unaired episode air in one of three locations: an affiliated cable network (the final episodes of ''Freaks and Geeks'' were shown this way), a DVD release of the show (which was not that common for most of these unsuccessful shows but did happen sometimes), and as part of a streaming deal. Outside series with universal negative reception or other outside issues, the phenomenon has effectively become rare as of the late 2010s, with networks and services more apt to air the entire run of a series through another venue to assure the entire season will air.Examples
Individual entertainers who had signed to expensive contracts with a network but experienced diminishing returns early on in the contract would often have their contracts burnt off by having them appear in guest spots on variety shows and other low-priority projects. Milton Berle was tied into a contract with NBC that ostensibly tied him to the network until 1981, but by 1960, his star power had faded so dramatically that he had been reduced to hosting a ten-pin bowling, bowling show to burn off the contract. This, too, failed, and Berle was released from his contract in 1961. Paul Lynde had signed a similar, shorter-term agreement with American Broadcasting Company, ABC, but after the failures of ''The Paul Lynde Show'' and ABC's efforts to shoehorn him into ''Temperatures Rising'', Lynde was reduced to occasional specials (such as ''The Paul Lynde Halloween Special'') and guest spots on other shows such as ''Donny & Marie (1976 TV series), Donny & Marie''; although Lynde found some success with the specials, his uncooperative behavior led to him being fired in 1978. After Jackie Gleason''See also
* Ashcan copy – comic books created to secure trademarks to titles rather than for popular distribution * Filler (media) – material of lower cost or quality that is used to fill a certain television time slot or physical medium, such as a musical albumReferences
{{reflist Television terminology