Hey, why all the reruns?

It's happened to you. You get into comfortable clothes, kick back in your favorite chair and flip to your favorite station only to be smacked with a nasty surprise. The TV show you expected to watch is a rerun. Or worse, it's some celebrity wedding special.

I'd always wondered why my favorite shows had to air reruns during the regular season instead of just giving us a new episode each week. For instance, The O.C. leaves the airwaves for an entire month at least once each season. Other hits like Desperate Housewives do the same. The only shows I can think of that don't go off the air for questionable amounts of time at random points during the TV season are American Idol and 24.

I recently found out why.

Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse tells EW.com, "We wish we could run the show in one continuous block. Unfortunately, we can't physically produce more than the 24 hours of the show we produce each season. Those 24 episodes have to spead across the entire 35-week TV season. The network needs originals at key times, like premiere week and during the three sweeps periods."

He also added that in the case of Lost, it is "too valuable to the overall ratings picture of the network to run it out in one block. Therefore, massive repeats."

And as for why American Idol and 24 don't go fall into this category, it's because they start their seasons in January. Since they start so late in the TV season, they can crank out their episodes week after week.

So next time you're greeted with a rerun (or that dreaded celebrity wedding special), know that the producers behind your favorite show are as peeved with the situation as you are. They want to bring you new episodes as often as possible, but alas, ratings and marketing strategies are king.