A Visit to the TV Graveyard

I watch a lot of television. More than my fair share, probably. When I become a fan of a show, I absorb everything I can about it. I check out the imdb pages of the players involved. I look at official and non-official websites. I flip through companion books at my local purveyor of all things bookery. It takes a lot for me to drop a show from my schedule. ER did it by losing character after character, until I realised that there was nobody I could give two wet shits about anymore. Usually, my interest will outlast a show's longevity. Here are some shows I miss:

• Arrested Development. The latest in a long line in FOX shows that are brilliant and mismanaged. I pray to God that Showtime will pick it up, and that somehow it will make its way north. The writers on this show created something so labyrinthene and involving, it's a shame it wasn't on CBS or ABC, which seem to let sitcoms with low ratings live forever (King of Queens, Yes Dear, According to Jim, etc.)
  
• Undeclared. Another FOX cancellation from the minds of the 40 Year Old Virgin. Just coming to DVD. Judd Apatow has proven to be a master of chatter.
  
• Dead Like Me. I didn't see this until Showcase (the Canadian Showtime) just finished playing both seasons back to back. Although the series had me asking way too many questions (so while they're talking to ghosts, can the living see them pointing and shouting at nobody? Why do the living have the assumption that "Millie" is pretty, when she looks like a cokehead?), I'll miss the obvious Vancouver backgrounds and the give 'n take between these people who were all just lumped together against their will, but forged an odd sort of comraderie.
• Clone High. Somewhere beyond the animation power housess at FOX and Disney, was a little show on MTV, about a high school populated by clones of historical figures. The writing was fantastic and smart, as you often had to look for hidden jokes.
• Sports Night. I have to confess, that I, like most of the world, had never seen this show during the original run. I've just watched the whole first season, though, and it had a lot going for it. Great cast (pre-Six Feet Peter Krause, and pre-Desperate Felicity Huffman), quick paced writing (pre-West Wing Aaron Sorkin) and characters that were engaging. Makes me wish I'd tuned in earlier.
• The Office, BBC Version. The UK has an odd way to do TV. Their shows go for 6 episodes a season, and then disappear for a year. I was surprised to find out that Fawlty Towers, with all its popularity, only produced 12 episodes. Over here, that's a failure. But although I love the NBC version, there was an extra note of uncomfortability in the Britcom that pushes it over.
• Futurama. It's not often that you get the feeling of a long-term, over-arching storyline that will play itself out over many years. The X-Files did, and although I missed that show at first, I felt they were able to finish the story. It's even less often that you get that feeling from a cartoon. In Matt Groening's second foray into animation (the first being so unsuccessful. Psych.), he brought Fry, the moronic modern everyman, into a world he never imagined. And sure, mostly, it was about him and his pals at Planet Express, but every now and then, there would be a piece added to the puzzle of how important it was that he was there. But before the whole tale was complete, FOX (once again) decided to end it. Dejected sigh. I have heard rumblings of a reunion, but I'm not holding my breath.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Tomorrow, I'll rundown the shows I'm enjoying now.

P.S. 24, why did you feel the need to kill Tony one episode after Edgar? I can only take so much heartache.