Entertainment

Why You Can't Complain About The SOTU

by Kayla Hawkins

The President's State of the Union Address will be airing live, Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT and that means several shows will be on temporary hiatus for the night. Since the State of the Union airs on every broadcast network — ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and even PBS, so pick your favorite — all of the network shows are taking the night off. But do us all a favor and don't complain about it.

Yes, this means no Agent Carter on ABC. And it also means that we'll be missing Marry Me and About a Boy on NBC (and getting only one half-hour of Parks & Recreation, at 8 pm). FOX is cutting their comedy block, New Girl and The Mindy Project, so both of their newly serialized stories will have to wait. And CBS is hanging on to their newest episode of CSI — yep, the original. But I can't really justify getting all bent out of shape about the SOTU preempting a few shows.

First things first: it's only for one night, and if we can't spend literally one day thinking about politics, this country is in serious trouble. Come on, y'all, let's get our crap together and actually listen to what our President has to say. We only have a few States of the Unions left from President Obama, and if his approval rating really is that high, let's support him by listening to what he has to say about the nation and his upcoming policies. Clearly, there are folks out there who can't see it that way:

But if, for some reason, you (like the folks above) need more convincing than that, there are a few different ways to justify missing out on a night of sitcoms in favor of a night of politics.

Obama Is Planning to Address Some Pretty Important Issues

Pool/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Obviously, whatever the President is planning to speak about is relevant to any American citizen, but die-hard TV fans will especially want to tune in. Obama's planned theme for the SOTU is reportedly continued economic recovery and ensuring that the improvements are felt by citizens, which is good news. How else will TV fans be able to afford cable?

Obama will also be looking to outline some of his new policies, like lifting sanctions on travel to Cuba (which would make for one hell of a season of Archer), paid leave for new parents (who could probably use the relaxation of binge-watching more than anyone), and cheaper, more readily available Internet (which should help streaming fans from coast to coast get quicker access to their parents' HBOGo profiles).

Nothing Much Was on Anyway

I don't want to be mean, but it's true. There aren't even any high stakes basketball games on Tuesday night — you're not missing much.

It's Almost Sweeps

A few shows, like New Girl, and The Mindy Project, are just taking the next two weeks off and returning for February, traditionally a big month for advertisers to make money off of their ads on popular shows, which have only aired sporadically since the end of November, the last "sweeps" month. So the State of the Union isn't to blame — advertisers are. And it's easy to blame advertisers. I love blaming advertisers.

There Are Plenty of Shows That Will Still Be On

I've already established that you need to just suck it up and watch the State of the Union while it's airing live. We can't let our generation be the one that kills the State of the Union in favor of Million Dollar Listing reruns. But if you're hoping to DVR whatever is airing live, basic cable isn't preempting their shows, and anything that airs before 9 pm is safe, so you'll be able to catch up on The Flash, Supernatural, Justified, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Parks & Rec. So chill out and watch your president for an hour, OK?

Images: Getty Images; Giphy; Jennifer Clasen/FOX; Ben Cohen/NBC