Franklin Avenue

A pox on ABC and Fox. Start and stop times for shows--particularly reality series, which are hugely flexible--has gotten out of hand. Last night's "The Bachelor" episode on ABC lasted until 10:05 p.m. And Fox's "American Idol" results show also went long. The networks do it to feed viewers into the next hour's show. But if you TiVo these shows for later viewing, the recorder shuts off at the top of the hour. In this case, both shows cut off before we had a chance to see which weepy women got voted off or which lousy singer got the boot. We figured it out later on the Internet ("Bachelor" said goodbye to Amy, Elizabeth, Rachel and Shannon-- yet surprisingly not to the drunk girl, while "American Idol" cut loose Rickey Smith)... but still. Like everything else in TV, this has gotten out of hand.