TIP A 40 FOR 'ACCORDING TO JIM': In this, the third of our dwindling series of roundtables, or roundish end tables, about the historic 2008-09 television season, we consider shows (or other things) that are leaving us and that we'll miss. Frankly, this seemed like a better topic before the networks renewed literally everything I ever watched. And I suspect one of us is saving something -- something really frakking awesome, not that I would know -- for a later post this week. So we convene, the ALOTT5MA Committee on Things That Will Be Missed, to bury and praise the following:
Matt: It's a hard year to talk about what we'll miss, because so many "bubble shows" got surprise renewals--Chuck, FNL, Dollhouse--and because many of the cancelled shows clearly got a fair shake from the network but failed to find an audience--Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money. Then there are those that said goodbye after a long and healthy run--sometimes too long, like ER. But the shows that really hurt are those which never really had a chance. To me, this year, two shows lead that list. The first is ABC's "The Unusuals."
While you can't deny that ABC promoted the hell out of the show, even giving it the primo Dancing With The Stars leadout, it had such a short run that it makes my list. I enjoyed a cop show that wasn't in the mold of the supercop Bruckheimer shows where the cases always neatly resolve themselves, and that reveled in the characters as much as the crimes. Indeed, it reminded me, in some ways, of "Hill Street Blues," though admittedly, a "Hill Street Blues" as a latter-day David E. Kelley might have written for. The second is the CW's "Privileged." Blessed by a network that should have found it solidly in its wheelhouse--teen girls--perhaps this was just too smart for its own good. Given a lead-in of the ridiculously stupid and horrific (though much-improved by the end of the season) 90212.0, it was out of place on the successor to a network that made a legit hit out of "Gilmore Girls." Had they had a little more patience and learned to promote it right, the show would assuredly have been a hit. The good news is that series star JoAnna Garcia is apparently much in demand for new shows, and I hope and expect she'll be a star.
Adam: Neither is technically gone yet -- one has a few more episodes to burn off, and the other hasn't officially announced his retirement yet -- but it feels like King of the Hill and SNL's Darrell Hammond have moved on. I think of both as comedic comfort food -- certainly familiar at this stage, but always giving me a warm feeling when they're sampled again. About Hammond, we've said enough already. But it's easy to forget how different King of the Hill was from the pack when it started in 1997 (and still is today) -- an animated series that emphasized character over cheap gags, observational humor and empathy for all Arlen's diverse inhabitants rather than knocking middle America for its doodly-ness. When virtually every show on tv still seems to be set in a city on one of the coasts, King of the Hill remained resolutely home with the residents of a small town in Texas. I can't say I watched the show regularly in its later years, but it always made me happy when I did.
Isaac: I was going to say "hysterical news reports about swine flu," mainly because I am crazy sick for hysterical news reports about disease but also to needle the Cosmos for getting haz-mat quarantined for their kid's exceedingly mild flu. Then I dumped the cheap joke because I both will sincerely miss Flight of the Conchords and also think two years for it were about right. The "beautiful corpse" theory belongs to Sepinwall, but I'll apply it here. I loved Carol Brown. I loved Inner City Pressure. I loved Most Beautiful Girl in the Room. I loved, of course, Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros. I loved the camera phone, the long riffs on masculinity and anti-New Zealand racism, the bizarre take on daily life. But every new episode seemed increasingly tortured out of a pair who didn't want to make a TV show, and it was just getting to the point where that was about to overtake the entertainment value.
Bob: I will miss The Shield. [Editor's note: now is your chance to shoot The Arrows at Bob.]
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