[rant]
This time of year always makes me sad. Not only because inevitably whatever football team I'm pulling for sucks (like the Redskins, again!), but also because networks start announcing what television shows will be axed. Sometimes it's a lot earlier in the year, like after the first couple of weeks. Other times it's later, like this year, and the stations hold off until they see how the shows will perform in sweeps.
I'm always a big fan of 30 minute sitcoms. A few years ago I really liked "The Book of Daniel," about a really screwed up family that happened to be headed by an Anglican, pill-popping priest, who talks to Jesus as he's tripping, whose wife is an alcoholic, whose daughter is a lesbian, and well, he had a son, but I don't remember what was wrong with him. I was also really sad when they cancelled "Teachers" the same season, it was funny too. And "Studio 60!" I'm on some kind of weird cancelled tv thing now.
What I can really never understand is how shows like this, with decent writing and a good plot, are cancelled every season, but reality tv shows never ever ever seem to go away. Seriously, enough with Survivor already!
[/rant]
This year's cancellation, that got me writing this, is "Hank," starring the always laughable Kelsey Grammer. This show, about a Wall Street exec who's fired, lasted longer than Kelsey's last show after Frasier ("Back to You"). It was in a great spot on ABC's Wednesday night line-up, which I think rivaled NBC's old Thursday night (Friends, Seinfeld, etc). ABC's comedy night was Hank, The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town. It was the perfect response to CBS's Monday night (How I Met Your Mother, etc) and NBC's new Thursday (30 Rock, etc). Apparently "Ugly Betty" may slip in at some point, but only after the cancel another show.
So this has me thinking about the best Comedy nights. And I'm going to try and do a poll:
Here.
