Missing them already

As a writer and editor, naturally I don’t have any time for TV. In fact, I don’t even own a TV. Well, I own one, but it stays in the closet. Actually, it’s in a cabinet. But the cabinet is locked.

All right, I confess. The TV is planted right in front of the couch and Jenn and I watch it a lot. But all of a sudden, most of the shows we enjoy seem to be going away: Lost is wrapping up on Sunday, and 24 is drawing to a close (though Jack Bauer has gone so far off the deep end that watching him is more traumatic than enjoyable).

FlashForward has been absorbing, though not as ingenious as Lost. It’s been canceled, though for some reason V continues. Better Off Ted is the funniest show I’ve seen in years, but it’s been canceled too.

Strangest of all (at least to me, who pays no attention to ratings), the original Law & Order is going off the air after twenty years, while Law & Order: SVU and other spinoffs soldier on.

Why? I’ve tried the spinoffs, but they never seemed to measure up: the writing was slacker and the acting hammier. The original had a winning formula that allowed it to survive years of cast turnover. And the ripped-from-the-headlines format meant that you were never in danger of running out of quirky and original material. How long can you watch a show like SVU that’s only about sex offenders?

At least there’s House, though the nasty details of medical crises—and of House’s personal life—are sometimes hard to take. Jenn likes Stargate Universe, but I find it a little glum and claustrophobic.

Ah well. The harsh Darwinian selection of TV economics is making room for new shows, and maybe I’ll like some of them. In the meantime there’s Netflix.