Thursday, May 17, 2007

Upfront about Upfronts

This is the week that the networks announced their fall seasons, and I've followed the reports for four days. For me, the big disappointments were the cancellations of The Class (an ensemble cast comedy that really grew on me; I came to care about these characters and their quirks just as did with Friends), Jericho (a drama that finally began moving forward in its final weeks, but the three-month hiatus caused it to hemmorhage viewers so badly that CBS didn't have any confidence in it), Gilmore Girls (in spite of my disillusionment with Graham's underperformance this season, I liked some of the other characters so much I'd still have liked for it to return), and Veronica Mars (an energetic and personable teenage drama/mystery series).

Wish I could say that there was anything on the schedule that really excited me. The Sarah Connors Chronicles (a teevee series that continues the Terminator story) intrigues me but I still have trepidations that it will stumble in the same way that so many SF series have. There's some "Satan's bounty hunter" thing that sounds like a pale remake of the superb Brimstone; then there's a vampire detective series that has me yawning already because it's been done so many times before, probably better. The only good news, I guess, is the return of Patrick Warburton's Rules of Engagement and Allyson Hannigan's How I Met Your Mother, both of which were iffy but made the cut.

The good news? I'll have more free time next season!...

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