History Main / NoHoperRepeat

* On SuperBowl Sunday, the cable channel AnimalPlanet schedules a program called the "Series/PuppyBowl" -- basically, extended footage of puppies playing in an enclosure resembling a football stadium, along with "play-by-play" commentary (for many years provided by an actual football announcer, Harry Kalas). From the second Puppy Bowl onwards, they had a kitten halftime show. 2013 introduced hedgehog cheerleaders. Over the years, this has become popular enough to crawl out of No Hoper territory. Ratings have increased from 690K when it premiered in 2005 to 10 million in 2012. While not coming close to competing with the Super Bowl's viewership, it's repeatedly broken Animal Planet's network records. It's also gotten popular enough to have its own imitator: Hallmark Channel is now running a ''[[EverythingsCuterWithKittens Kitten]]'' [[FollowTheLeader Bowl]].

** One radio station in Green Bay, Wisconsin was so convinced no one would listen during a Packers Super Bowl appearance that they chose ''dead air.''

In response, the other networks may not even try to compete for ratings and instead look for the least expensive way to fill that airtime. Often, this means reruns of a popular show, a movie marathon, or something else with extremely low production costs. Affiliated networks may actively seek out their ''worst'' programming to avoid interfering with the dominant program's ratings, or even direct viewers to the other channel rather than competing at all.

* During the fifteenth series of ''TopGear'', the trio knew that one of their episodes was going to go out against TheWorldCup Final on both BBC and ITV. Figuring no-one would be watching, they didn't put much effort into the episode, which didn't even include a Power Lap, although it did contain two Star-in-a-Reasonably-Priced-Car records being broken: Rubens Barrichello on the F1 leaderboard, and [[Film/HarryPotter Rupert Grint]] in the Cee'd (and breaking the Liana and Lacetti records before it). The following week, Jeremy Clarkson admitted even he didn't watch that episode, as he was ''in Johannesburg at the final'' at the time. A similar thing happened again when they realized they were in a losing fight they were in a losing fight against ''BBC Sports Personality Of The Year''.

* For Election Day 2004, Cartoon Network played ONE EPISODE of ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw''. It was a [[RunningGag thematically relevant]] Quick Draw [=McGraw=] episode, where Phil Ken Sebben runs for President thanks to support from The Guitar Lobby, but it was all they aired. [[OverlyLongGag All. Day. Long.]]

*** Ironically, this is Fox Latin America's entire programming strategy, all day every day.

* When Johnny Carson aired his final episode as host of ''Series/TheTonightShow'', Creator/ComedyCentral aired a 90-minute live feed of a bottle of Tabasco sauce in an empty talk show set. McIlheney's Tabasco Sauce was the only advertiser crazy enough to sponsor the channel's Dadaist tribute to a legendary comedian.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' series 4 finale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]" was hyped weeks before it was aired, with the excitement level growing exponentially. It had an expected viewership of 10 million, so TheBBC's rival {{ITV}} showed ''Film/KindergartenCop'' against it.

** Ironically, ''Doctor Who'' was ''itself'' an example of this trope when it was broadcast against ITV's ''CoronationStreet'' from 1987--1989.

* The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 are a tragic example. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing non-stop updates, while other networks aired the most anodyne canned material they could find (partially out of respect and partially because they knew no one was watching...including them), and some just stopped broadcast altogether. Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week. Sites like the [[http://archive.org/details/911/day/20010912#/ Understanding 9/11]] repository from the Internet Archive show how much the different networks' coverage converged immediately after the attacks.

* Played with during the fifteenth series of ''TopGear''. The trio knew that one of their episodes was going to go out against TheWorldCup Final on both BBC and ITV, figuring "no-one's going to be watching" they put less effort into the episode and did not even show a proper Power Lap. ''But'' the episode does contain Star-in-a-Reasonably-Priced-Car records been broken ''twice'': Rubens Barrichello on the F1 leaderboard, and [[Film/HarryPotter Rupert Grint]] in the Cee'd (and breaking the Liana and Lacetti records before it). The following week, Jeremy Clarkson admitted even he didn't watch that episode, as he was ''in Johannesburg at the final'' at the time. A similar thing happened when they realied they were in a losing fight they were in a losing fight against ''BBC Sports Personality Of The Year''.

** Parodied by TheOnion, which showed the [[http://www.theonion.com/issue/3734/ TV listings]] for the week after 9/11. And they were quite accurate.

** The No Hoper phenomenon was mentioned InUniverse in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', when Professor Farnsworth pays to have their commercial aired ''during'' the Superbowl...just not on the channel that's ''showing'' the Superbowl.
** Likewise, in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', the first episode with Luanne's Manger Babies puppets has her getting airtime on Channel 86...opposite the Super Bowl, which puts Hank (cast as God) in a tough spot.

* During the GrandFinale episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Creator/{{MTV}} interrupted programming whenever Creator/{{NBC}} went to commercial, and showed a clip from their upcoming AnimatedAnthology ''Cartoon Sushi''. The host claimed they were timing their broadcast by looking out the window of the studio, and watching the giant TV in Times Square.
** During that episode, TVLand ran a card encouraging its viewers to turn to ''Seinfeld''. The same was done for ''EverybodyLovesRaymond''...two extremely successful comedies that TVLand expected to syndicate the nostalgic dickens out of in future years.

* In Australia, immediately after an election is called, the leaders of the major parties are obliged to take part in a televised debate. Unfortunately, due to bad planning, the 2010 debate ran on the same night as the finale of ''[=MasterChef=]'', the most watched programme in Australian TV history. Eventually, everyone decided to hold the debate before the [=MasterChef=] finale so people could watch both.[[note]]Not that anyone watched the debate anyway, but it's the thought that counts.[[/note]]
* This was attempted in reverse by the UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush campaign during the 1988 US presidential election. Fearing a poor debate performance against Michael Dukakis, the Bush campaign agreed to two televised debates--one to be scheduled against the Olympics and the other against baseball's National League Championship Series. The broadcast networks foiled this plain by quickly accommodating the debates in their schedules. NBC suspended their Olympic programming for an hour and a half, while ABC scheduled a late start for the baseball game, which was being played at Dodgers Stadium on the West Coast.

* British soap operas ''Series/EastEnders'' and ''Series/CoronationStreet'' used to battle it out in the ratings, but now none of the soaps from the main three terrestrial channels run simultaneously. In fact, you can watch ''{{Hollyoaks}}'', ''Series/{{Emmerdale}}'', ''Coronation Street'', and then ''[=EastEnders=]'' one after another.

Any program (often a repeat) put in a time slot that it has no hope of winning, because whatever's on the other channel is too overwhelmingly popular to ever beat.

Occurs during Big Occasions, such as [[BigGame sport championships]], {{Award Show}}s, and other highly watched programs that are called "AppointmentTelevision" in the biz. A variant is scheduling something special during a break in the action; for the SuperBowl, that means a replacement Halftime Show, as no one wants to miss the ads. For some other major events, it means showing segments of your own programs during the other network's commercial breaks, and convincing people to flip back and forth.

* On SuperBowl Sunday, the cable channel AnimalPlanet schedules a program called the "Series/PuppyBowl" -- basically, extended footage of puppies playing in an enclosure resembling a football stadium, along with "play-by-play" commentary (for many years provided by an actual football announcer, Harry Kalas). From the second Puppy Bowl onwards, they had a kitten halftime show. 2013 introduced hedgehog cheerleaders.
** This has become exceedingly (and quite unexpectedly) popular over the years. Ratings have jumped from 690K when it premiered in '05 to 10 million in '12. While not coming close to competing with the Super Bowl's viewership, it's repeatedly broken Animal Planet's own ratings records.
** Popular enough that the Hallmark Channel is now running a ''[[EverythingsCuterWithKittens Kitten]]'' [[FollowTheLeader Bowl in the same vein]].
* The other American networks used to attempt to compete with the Super Bowl, but now that they broadcast the NFL in some way or another, they don't even try. Fox sacrificed new episodes of ''TilDeath'' on Super Bowl night 2010 for instance, knowing that nobody would miss a show which was only airing because the producers wanted to get it into syndication.
* When the famous ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' "Who Shot J.R.?" episode was first broadcast, NBC officials joked that opposite it they would run only a card reading, "We're watching it too."
* When Johnny Carson aired his final episode as host of ''Series/TheTonightShow'', Creator/ComedyCentral countered by airing a 90-minute live feed of a bottle of Tabasco sauce.
* During the GrandFinale episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Creator/{{MTV}} interrupted programming whenever Creator/{{NBC}} went to commercial, and showed a clip from the then upcoming AnimatedAnthology ''Cartoon Sushi''. The host claimed they were timing their broadcast by looking out the window of the studio, and watching the giant TV in Times Square.
** During that episode, TVLand ran a card encouraging its viewers to turn to ''Seinfeld''. The same was done for ''EverybodyLovesRaymond''.
** In Australia, ''Seinfeld'' was run on two channels--one new episodes, one reruns--at about the same time. When the finale was shown here, the other channel showed only a black screen.
* In many local markets it was assumed that either ''[[TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]]'' or ''JudgeJudy'' will win the 4pm timeslot, so the other stations either showed local news, sitcoms, or a talk show they know won't win but will hopefully keep their viewer momentum going.
* The US version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' [[TropesAreNotBad actually benefited from low expectations]]. Creator/{{ABC}} aired it Thursdays at 8:00 (7:00 Central), opposite ''{{Friends}}'' on NBC and ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' on CBS. ABC knew ''Whose Line'' was cheap to produce and had a dedicated fanbase, and ''Whose Line'' survived much longer than if it had been expected to attract high {{ratings}}.
* The last few years of the MTV Video Music Awards, every MTV network (including VH1 and digital channels such as MTV Hits and VH1 Classic) have gone to black screen directing viewers to MTV. Before then they aired their lousiest programming (for VH1 for instance, the run-into-the-ground TV movie ''The Jacksons: An American Dream'') to drive viewers to the VMA's.
** One year, MTV2 showed a split-screen simulcast, with the MTV feed in one corner and three other "behind-the-scenes" cameras in the other boxes.
* The ''[[BeautyContest Miss Venezuela]]'' gala is the Venezuelan equivalent of the SuperBowl, and attracts a wide share; the other channels know this, and either keep their usual programmation or play movies of the national and/or controversial variety. One year, the members of a popular late show decided that the best way to compete would be [[DrinkingGame organizing a party]] to [[{{MST}} watch and mock]] the beauty contest, and broadcast it simultaneously. In some moments, the special got higher ratings than the contest they were watching.
* The soccer final in Mexico, as well as some derby matches such as Chivas vs. América, are often accompanied by old Mexican movies on the other channels.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' series 4 finale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]" was hyped weeks before it was aired, with the level growing exponentially. The finale was expected to be watched by ten million people, so TheBBC's rival {{ITV}} showed ''Film/KindergartenCop'' against it.
** ITV did actually put some effort into competing against ''Doctor Who'' in the show's first relaunched season in 2005. ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' aired against the first four episodes of the revival, and while it didn't beat ''Doctor Who'', it still performed pretty well in the ratings, all things considered. ITV's next effort, ''Celebrity Wrestling'' got utterly ripped to shreds in the ratings though, and became a national joke within days. ITV subsequently realised that shows like ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' were best saved for when the BBC themselves were broadcasting No Hoper Repeats, and since then have mostly aired old films and clip shows against ''Doctor Who''.
** Ironically, Doctor Who was ''itself'' an example of this trope when it was broadcast against ITV's ''CoronationStreet'' from 1987--1989.
* During the 2008 Olympics, Fox8 (an Australian cable TV channel) aired almost non-stop ''{{Simpsons}}, WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy, WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill, WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episodes. It almost worked, until they ran out of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episodes so they had repeats of the NoHoperRepeat during the extended NoHoperRepeat.
** And Animal Planet created an Olympic-themed variant of the Puppy Bowl just for the Olympics (the Puppy Games) to run opposite the opening and closing ceremonies.
** During the 2004 (or perhaps 2000?) Olympics, they just showed ''{{Simpsons}}'' episodes during the day. That's right, at least ''six hours'' of ''Simpsons'' episodes a ''day''.
*** Fox Latin America does that every single day during prime time. And at every other hour.
** This phenomenon was itself mentioned in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', when Professor Farnsworth mentions he paid to have their commercial aired during the Superbowl. Not on that channel of course.
** Likewise, in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', the first episode with Luanne's Manger Babies puppets has her getting airtime on Channel 86...opposite the Super Bowl, which puts Hank (cast to play God by Luanne) on a tough spot.
* The terrorist attacks which occurred on September 11, 2001 are a tragic example. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing the events non-stop, while other networks aired anything they could think of that didn't have to do with the attacks, partially out of respect, and partially because they knew no one was watching (including them). Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week. Sites like the [[http://archive.org/details/911/day/20010912#/ Understanding 9/11]] repository from the Internet Archive show how much the coverage between different stations was similar at the time.
** {{MTV}} and its sister station [=VH1=], on the day of the attacks, simulcasted coverage from NewYorkCity's [[Creator/{{CBS}} WCBS-TV]] nationally, as they were the only major English-language station in the city not completely knocked off the air that day (they had a backup tower on the Empire State Building, unlike the other stations). In the week following the attacks, MTV aired a nonstop loop of No Hoper Music Videos, consisting entirely of Music/DestinysChild's "Emotion", Music/NellyFurtado's "I'm Like a Bird", and {{U2}}'s "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of".
** Like MTV, {{BET}} simulcast coverage from CBS, then switched to blocks of music videos interspersed with periodic updates from BET's own news division.
** DiscoveryChannel aired many No Hoper Documentaries.
** One of the few bits of original programming that did air in the week following the tragedy was, of all things, ProfessionalWrestling: in a move that was criticized by many people, Wrestling/{{WWE}} held a special live edition of ''[=SmackDown!=]'' just two days after 9/11 that featured matches put on just to entertain the fans (no storylines were advanced). {{Vince McMahon}} came out at the top of the show to beam with pride that it was the first such large gathering since the attacks, and painted it as a defiant showing to the terrorists that "We are not afraid!" Incidentally, the reason it was a "special live edition" was that the show was originally scheduled to tape on Tuesday... September 11. That event, naturally, got cancelled.
** HGTV and Food Network left the air completely with still screens for two days, knowing that nobody was in the mood to be instructed on anything.
** Some PBS stations went to kids' programming for most of their broadcast days the next two weeks to give children '''anything''' to watch besides news on the regular networks.
** For the first several hours after the attacks {{ESPN}} ran coverage from ABC News. After much soul-searching in Bristol, it was decided to air a ''SportsCenter'' informing viewers of the sports events that were cancelled or otherwise affected by that grim day. ''SportsCenter'' almost didn't air that day; it would have been the only day in the network's history when it didn't run at least once.
** The Latin Grammys were to take place that evening on CBS from Los Angeles. The ceremony never took place and the awards were given out at a news conference over a month and a half later.
** In Canada, almost every major basic cable station in Canada ran news reports about the tragedy - except for youth programming channels which continued airing repeats of their early morning shows (i.e. stuff for the little ones rather than the {{KidCom}}s and {{Teen Drama}}s normally seen later in the day) and public access stations (almost all of which went to a static image saying that programming was suspended).

** SaturdayNightLive's first episode after the attack opened with [[BigDamnHeroes New York Firemen]] on stage with mayor Rudolph Giuliani saying it was OK to laugh.
** Subverted by ''TheFundayPawpetShow'', which usually runs on Sunday nights. The cast of the interactive show quickly gathered together that Tuesday night and did a live broadcast discussing the incident and calming people down. Both out of respect and the fact that it wasn't a 'show' per se, it was not recorded by the creators, the only known recording being one a viewer made.

* Played with during the fifteenth series of ''TopGear''. The trio knew that one of their episodes was going to go out against TheWorldCup Final on both BBC and ITV, so they figured "no-one's going to be watching" so they put less effort into the episode -- not even showing a proper Power Lap -- ''but'' contains Star-in-a-Reasonably-Priced-Car records been broken ''twice'': Rubens Barrichello on the F1 leaderboard, and [[Film/HarryPotter Rupert Grint]] in the Cee'd (and breaking the Liana and Lacetti records before it).
** The following week, Jeremy Clarkson admitted even he didn't watch it, as he was in Johannesburg at the final at the time.
** They also knew they were in a fight they were probably going to lose against BBC Sports Personality Of The Year.

* This was attempted in reverse by the UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush campaign during the 1988 US presidential election. Fearing a poor debate performance against Michael Dukakis, the Bush campaign agreed to two televised debates--one to be scheduled against the Olympics and the other against baseball's National League Championship Series. However, the broadcast networks quickly accommodated the debates. NBC suspended their Olympic programming for an hour and a half, while ABC scheduled a late start for the baseball game, which was being played at Dodger Stadium on the West Coast.
* Similarly, when it became apparent that BarackObama's first State of the Union address would conflict with ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s sixth season premiere, ''the president'' rescheduled. He did so again in September 2011 to first calm the GOP when he wanted to schedule a speech to Congress the night of their latest presidential debate, and then again to an earlier time the next day to get out of the way of the Saints/Packers season kickoff game. Needless to say in Wisconsin and Louisiana? You didn't see that speech on NBC at all.
* TV networks often do this to avoid competing with themselves. During important shows, other channels belonging to the same ownership group will air reruns or bottom-tier programs.

* During the presidential election day of 2004 Cartoon Network played THE SAME EPISODE of ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw''. All. Day. Long.
** To be fair, it was a thematically relevant episode they used - the Quick Draw [=McGraw=] episode, where Phil Ken Sebben runs for President thanks to support from The Guitar Lobby. So it was more of a RunningGag.

* Over the last few years every time [[TheBeautifulGame Football]] matches are being broadcast, German network ''Pro7'' puts on a marathon of one of their comedy shows (''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', etc. depending on the current day of the week).
* Creator/TheBBC used to play this with a TakeThat, going up against the ''BigBrother'' finale with an episode of ''JudgeJohnDeed'' that utterly annihilates reality TV.

** Subverted by ''TheFundayPawpetShow'', which usually runs on Sunday nights. The cast of the interactive show quickly gathered together that Tuesday night and did a live broadcast discussing the incident and calming people down. Both out of respect and the fact that it wasn't a 'show' perse, it was not recorded by the creators, the only known recording being one a viewer made.

* This was attempted in reverse by the George HW Bush campaign during the 1988 US presidential election. Fearing a poor debate performance against Michael Dukakis, the Bush campaign agreed to two televised debates--one to be scheduled against the Olympics and the other against baseball's National League Championship Series. However, the broadcast networks quickly accommodated the debates. NBC suspended their Olympic programming for an hour and a half, while ABC scheduled a late start for the baseball game, which was being played at Dodger Stadium on the West Coast.

* When the famous ''{{Dallas}}'' "Who Shot J.R.?" episode was first broadcast, NBC officials joked that opposite it they would run only a card reading, "We're watching it too."
* When Johnny Carson aired his final episode as host of ''TheTonightShow'', ComedyCentral countered by airing a 90-minute live feed of a bottle of Tabasco sauce.
* During the GrandFinale episode of ''{{Seinfeld}}'', {{MTV}} interrupted programming whenever Creator/{{NBC}} went to commercial, and showed a clip from the then upcoming AnimatedAnthology ''Cartoon Sushi''. The host claimed they were timing their broadcast by looking out the window of the studio, and watching the giant TV in Times Square.

* British soap operas ''EastEnders'' and ''CoronationStreet'' used to battle it out in the ratings, but now none of the soaps from the main three terrestrial channels run simultaneously. In fact, you can watch ''{{Hollyoaks}}'', ''{{Emmerdale}}'', ''Coronation Street'', and then ''EastEnders'' one after another.
* Over the last few years every time [[TheBeautifulGame Football]] matches are being broadcast, German network ''Pro7'' puts on a marathon of one of their comedy shows (''TheSimpsons'', ''TwoAndAHalfMen'', ''HowIMetYourMother'', ''TheBigBangTheory'', etc. depending on the current day of the week).
* The BBC used to play this with a TakeThat, going up against the ''BigBrother'' finale with an episode of ''JudgeJohnDeed'' that utterly annihilates reality TV.

** This has become exceedingly (and quite unexpectedly) popular over the years. Ratings have jumped from 690K when it premired in '05 to 10 million in '12. While not coming close to competing with the Super Bowl's viewership, it's repeatedly broken Animal Planet's own ratings records.

* A tragic example - on 2001-09-11, a worldwide event occured. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing the events non-stop, while networks like {{MTV}} (No Hoper Music Videos, mainly consisting of Music/DestinysChild's "Emotions", Music/NellyFurtado's "I'm Like a Bird", and {{U2}}'s "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" as part of an endless loop) and DiscoveryChannel (No Hoper Documentaries) aired anything they could think of that didn't have to do with it... partially out of respect, and partially because they knew no one was watching (including them). Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week.

** HGTV and Food Network left the air completely with still screens for two days, knowing nobody was in the mood to be instructed on anything.

** Of note, [=VH1=] simulcasted NewYorkCity's WCBS-TV nationally, as they were the only major English-language station in the city not completely knocked off the air that day (they had a backup tower on the Empire State Building, unlike the other stations. Also, [=VH1=] and Creator/{{CBS}}, of which WCBS was its flagship station, were co-owned at the time, allowing for the simulcast to take place).

** Subverted by ''TheFundayPawpetShow'', which usually runs on Sunday nights. The cast of the interactive show quickly gathered together that Tuesday night and did a live broadcast discussing the incident and calming people down. Both out of respect and the fact that it wasn't a 'show' perse, it was not recorded by the creators, the only known recording being a viewer made one.

* The ''[[BeautyPageant Miss Venezuela]]'' gala is the Venezuelan equivalent of the SuperBowl, and attracts a wide share; the other channels know this, and either keep their usual programmation or play movies of the national and/or controversial variety. One year, the members of a popular late show decided that the best way to compete would be [[DrinkingGame organizing a party]] to [[{{MST}} watch and mock]] the beauty contest, and broadcast it simultaneously. In some moments, the special got higher ratings than the contest they were watching.

* A tragic example - on 2001-09-11, a worldwide event occured. Any channel with even a tangential relationship to news reporting was airing the events non-stop, while networks like {{MTV}} (No Hoper Music Videos, mainly consisting of Music/DestinysChild's "Emotions" and {{U2}}'s "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" as part of an endless loop) and DiscoveryChannel (No Hoper Documentaries) aired anything they could think of that didn't have to do with it... partially out of respect, and partially because they knew no one was watching (including them). Thankfully, such programming provided an opportunity to escape from the HeroicBSOD for a few minutes, if needed. Very little original programming aired on any network for at least a week.
** One of the few bits of original programming that did air in the week following the tragedy was, of all things, ProfessionalWrestling: in a move that was criticized by many people, Wrestling/{{WWE}} (then the WWF) held a special live edition of ''[=SmackDown!=]'' just two days after 9/11 that featured matches put on just to entertain the fans (no storylines were advanced). {{Vince McMahon}} came out at the top of the show to beam with pride that it was the first such large gathering since the attacks, and painted it as a defiant showing to the terrorists that "We are not afraid!" Incidentally, the reason it was a "special live edition" was that the show was originally scheduled to tape on Tuesday... September 11. That event, naturally, got cancelled.

** In Canada, almost every major basic cable station in Canada ran news reports about the tragedy - except for youth programming channels (which continued airing repeats of their early morning shows) and public access stations (almost all of which went to a static image saying that programming was suspended).