I Bring Terrible News.

So, this is the time of year when all the big American TV networks decide whether or not to bring back their shows for next year. As a result, this is a tense time for people who like our televisions, as at any moment, news may break that a show we love have been cancelled. That a show we enjoyed will not continue. That the show is dead. That is why this is a tense time. Because every year, we get bad news. Sad news.

This year is no different. Some shows have already fallen. Some are safe. Others still hang in the balance. I’ll give you the headlines. Chuck has survived for another year, despite things not looking good for a while. But that is it for good news. Seriously. Every other show I liked has been hit by a terrible fate. Here is the bad news: Better off Ted had died. Scrubs has been sent to the farm. Heroes has been turned into glue. Legend of the Seeker has gone to meet its maker. FlashForward is no more. Dollhouse is finished. What with 24 and Lost already coming to an end this month, that is a pretty huge cull from my TV life. There’s only one piece of solice to take from this, which is some of those shows had been slowly dying for months now. But as a whole, this is some terribly saddening news to hit all at once.

Those were some great shows. Man, a couple of those deserve to get their own Best Show You’re Not Watching at some stage. But it is hard to say that individually they come as a surprise. Better Off Ted was a lucky renewal last year. Despite having an amazing script, and a cult following, it has had mediocre ratings, and looked like it was coming to an end. The scripts in the second season felt tired, you could feel that the jokes flow not as fast as before. But it was still a delight, and to know it will not be coming back hurts. But at least it doesn't leave mysteries unsolved. FlashForward arrived heralded as "the new Lost", with a detailed four-year plan, a complex mystery and complex characters. Instead we got an formulaic show where literally nothing happened for weeks, with a central mystery that didn't make sense, and which never developed. When it restarted after Christmas, I never got the energy to start watching again. And now knowing that it will never get the time to answer the questions is decided to build up, it feels like a huge let down.

We already knew that 24 and Lost were coming to an end, and those two great shows have been winding down in the last few months, which has been great fun. Heroes on the other hand, has been such a huge crapfest for such a long time now, it is hard to believe it has survived this long. It is only because that first season was one of the best things I have ever watched on television, that I still kept watching. Even tho' it has been kicking me in the nuts for years now. This is the one bit of news that actually comes as a bit of a relief, as I am now free.

Now, Scrubs has been going for longer than I thought it would. I thought it was finished two years ago, but then it moved network to ABC. Then last year they finished it off, JD left, and it looked again like it had finished. But it came back this year with a new setting and a new cast, and y'know what, it was funny. Not perfect, I concede, not perfect like before, but still funny. And now it has finished. Dollhouse also finished, but it never deserved a second season. It is only because it has the godlike Joss Whedon name attached that it got a second chance, and I never did catch up, tho' I still intend to at some stage. Oh, and the wonderfully formulaic Seeker has also not been renewed, much to my dissapointment.

So there we have it. In the last few days, this terrible news broke. Terrible, sad news. Hate to break it to you, but these were some wonderful shows. And they are no more.