Losing that Loving Feeling

As you probably surmised given the dismaying brevity of my shows-I-love list, this season isn't exactly bowling me over in most departments. In terms of news shows, never have I been so underwhelmed. Honestly, the only new network (heh, which I accidentally typed "newtwork"... must be Halloween hangover) shows that I kept (and that are still on the air) are Nikita, Blue Bloods, and Raising Hope. Technically, The Event made the cut, and lord knows NBC needs all the nuggets of encouragement it can get, but more accurately, it's been building up on my DVR and I just haven't been all the keen on getting caught up... Of those, only Nikita genuinely has me excited week-to-week. Blue Bloods is well-made and has a strong cast, but its cases-of-the-week aren't exactly breaking new ground here. Raising Hope is fun and enjoyable (and I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Garret Dillahunt the same way ever again--sorry Burn Notice, the menace is officially gone), but it isn't exactly appointment TV either.

That said, you'd think my older shows would be getting a lot more love, but no. They too have been fairly disappointing this year (with a couple of notable exceptions--namely Castle, The Vampire Diaries, and The Good Wife). My relationships with my long-term lovers has been strained of late... sometimes ending in flat-out divorce.

IN NEED OF COUPLES COUNSELING

CHUCK
Oh, Chuck. It's been a long, tumultuous road of near-constant worry about our future together. I don't think I've ever had a show that has been on the bubble so many years in a row. For a quick insight into how spectacularly screwed NBC is, ponder this. After years of having to beg for renewal and only barely scraping by, Chuck has suddenly become one of NBC's highest rated scripted shows. Sadly for NBC, this is not because Chuck's ratings have improved. On the contrary, it's really that the rest of NBC's programming has crashed and burned. Chuck was renewed at the end of last season with a tentative 13 episode initial order. I think NBC assumed that some of its huge slate of new pilots would catch on and they'd be able to axe Chuck sooner than later. Well, rather than axing the show, they've not only given it a full order, they've given it more than a full order. I believe their total episodes will be 24, which is two over usual. Ha! It's truly shocking how pathetic the network has gotten. It's been going downhill ever since Zucker got his hands on things, but this is just sad. Chuck regularly scores a 1.9 in the key demo. For any other network, that would absolutely be cancel-worthy (well, except for the CW, but that's a whole other story). But, on NBC, a consistent 1.9 is close to the best they could hope for and is among their highest rated shows. What does all this rambling have to do with our strained relationship, you ask? So here's the deal. Chuck has been picked-up for a super-sized season... and I don't really care.

In years past, this would have been cause for celebration, but now? I honestly would have been fine with the show wrapping things up. There are a lot of reasons why this show has lost most of its luster. First and foremost, the initial dynamics of the show, the dynamics that made it so fun and charming, have mostly been lost. I realize that after so many episodes that was inevitable, but that doesn't make it interesting. So far this season, I've been pretty damn bored. The show still has its moments, but on the whole, it's starting to feel like a chore to watch week-to-week. Chuck and Sarah getting together for real has been as boring as I suspected it would be. No, wait, strike that, it's been way more annoying than that. Seriously, that episode where Chuck spent the entire time bitching about his relationship was utterly cringe-worthy. What's that? You say can decide which episode I'm talking about because that sounds like a lot of them? My point exactly. Don't get me wrong, the will-they-or-won't-they antics needed to stop. But I think I'd greatly have preferred they stopped because one or both of them found someone else to be with. I'm sorry guys, I really don't like them together. It's boring and Chuck's whining has gotten untenable. I have never felt for even a second that Sarah would ever make a good match for Chuck and now it appears I was right. Is anyone really enjoying watching this relationship? I'm sure not.

On top of that, the Buy More has gotten ridiculous, and not in a good way. It's now a government base of operations but no one knows this but Morgan? O--kay. Third (I think), the whole story arc with Chuck's mom has been pretty lame so far. I was super-excited for it at the end of last season, but it just hasn't grabbed me the way I'd hoped it would. I genuinely don't care if she's good or bad or Russian or whatever. Fourth, the missions are dull. Seriously, the A-plots this year have barely kept me awake. Fifth, Casey's daughter? Really? Sixth, Ellie and Awesome are having a baby... because that's just what a show does after so many seasons, right? At least it gives them something to do? You know, like shopping... and stuff...

Sadly, I'm pretty sure I could keep going. I'm trying to love the show like I once did, but if a show is doing things right, I shouldn't have to try at all. Chuck is a show that generally gets cooking after a good ways into a season, so I'm hanging in there, but believe me, I find myself caring less and less with each passing episode. Sigh.

GLEE
Glee is an odd duck with which I have a love/hate kind of relationship. Last season, it was mostly love. There were rough patches (cough-"Funk"-cough), but overall, this show totally appealed to my love of musicals, my appreciation of good comedy, and above all, the pure satisfaction of seeing something that isn't crime procedural hitting it big. I've never been obsessive about the show and don't find myself eager for the next week. Don't get me wrong, I love the show a lot of the time. Seriously, if Joss Whedon could direct every episode, it would be all love all the time. But what Whedon's sensational episode "Dream On" had that the show is increasingly missing is a little thing called story. Throughout season 1, there were more than a few times when it didn't really make much sense to have a song at that particular moment, but I was happy to let it slide. Each episode had a small handful of songs that mostly related to whatever the theme of the episode is. Nowadays? They don't even pretend to have a story most of the time. This show has turned into a series of musical vignettes. It's essentially a variety show with very little variety. This is where the love/hate really kicks in. I love a good musical number, but I hate it when it's completely pointless to the overall story. Wait, no, that implies that there's a story at all... It's weird, because this show will have one episode that reminds me of why I love it ("Grilled Cheesus" and "Duets") but then have these ridiculous theme episodes that have entertaining musical numbers and all, but not the slightest semblance of coherent storytelling (the absurd and delusional Britney tribute, the unfortunately watered-down Rocky Horror send up... seriously, you're replacing "transsexual" with "sin-sational"? Really? Ugh.) It's wildly uneven and disappointingly hit or miss with the ratio getting more and more unsettling with each passing episode. Musicals work when the music and the story are so seamlessly and logically married that you don't think twice about it. Of course that person would break into song right now! With Glee? It's a bit of a mess most of the time... I have heard some good things about upcoming episodes so I'm hopeful they'll find a way to return to former glory, but I think the iTunes dollar signs are a little too distracting for them to really see the big picture these days. They seem so hell-bent on jam-packing every episode with as many songs as possible and not really caring what they have to sacrifice in the process. It's the kind of show I knew couldn't last, but I really hope it hangs in there longer than this... I'm loving this one more than Chuck these days, but they really need to base the show on story, not songs (songs which, increasingly, I've never even heard of--maybe I'm old or uncool, but seriously, half the songs they pick I either hate or have no knowledge of whatsoever... which is all code for: more Broadway!. (Quick note: Wondering where Puck has been? Rumor has it he is making a solo album and the producers of the show were pissed... apparently this is penance.)

HIGH TIME FOR A DIVORCE

BONES
Ugh. The only reason I kept this sucker for as long as I did was that it was in an uncrowded timeslot. Well, that's no longer the case, so it's time to make a clean break. Good god this show has gotten awful. It was never great, but back in the day it at least made for a nice rainy day distraction. Now? It's practically unwatchable. Oh dear lord, did you see their Jersey Shore themed episode?! Shudder... Awful. Simply awful. That was the moment I removed it from my DVR for good. Man alive, the will-they-or-won't-they keeps trucking along at a snail's pace, the constant rotation of interns keeps reminding me of the horrendous Gormogon storyline and Zach's confoundingly stupid dismissal from the show, the stories-of-the-week are lamer than ever (which for this show, is really saying something), and the interpersonal dynamics between the few characters that I actually like are as dull as dirt. Oh, and Bones' new hairdo is hideous and makes her looks like a frumpy housewife from the 50's. It's hard to look it, even on fast-forward... Strike 317. So long once-mediocre, now sucktastic show! You won't be missed. And I'm keeping the mass spectrometer!

HOUSE
Well, what can I say? I'm simply done with this one. I held on through last season, but just can't take it anymore. Seriously, I've always been a Huddy proponent, but them getting together came about two years too late. Had House and Cuddy hooked up a couple of seasons back, I think there would have been some definite sizzle, but now? Who the hell cares anymore? I was willing to give it a shot regardless, but actually seeing them together is unbearable. Oh god, see these two holding hands and taking about their relationship was so awkward. Yikes, yikes, yikes. I couldn't even make it through the premiere. Five minutes of watching them as a couple was more than I could handle. It all just seemed so forced and out of character for both of them. Add that to the fact that I've never really cared about the A-plot, the fact that the ducklings have been broken up and recast about 87 times (with diminishing returns each time) and you've got a show that just needs to stop. I didn't even intend on divorcing this one before the season began, but ten minutes in, I knew it wasn't meant to be. One more free space on my DVR. Now I just wish I had a quality new show to replace it...

Well, there you have it. I usually have to make tough choices about older shows so that I have room for new blood, but this year? I'm cutting old shows without a second thought and not picking up any new ones. Well, not anything on network TV anyway... God bless cable is all I can say. And god bless The Vampire Diaries. Speaking of which, here's a little something to soothe the disappointment with TV at the moment. It's Ian Somerhalder dressed up as Stefan Salvatore for Halloween.

Ha! Simply fabulous. :) Geez, he looks so different with the lighter hair! I wouldn't suggest he make it a permanent change or anything, but I'm pretty sure he could be rockin' Richard Simmons' unfortunate coif and make it work.

Here's hoping next season has something better to offer... At the very least, NBC is in different hands now so hopefully the creative direction will be better... not that there's any money left. Ouch.

Boner Candidate

There are really only so many sharks a show can jump before you really stop expecting anything of substance... For Bones, that was at least 27 sharks ago-- about a dozen of which were in last night's finale alone.

**SPOILER ALERT** (although I'm doubting there's anyone out there who really cares enough about this show to worry about me spoiling anything...)

Bones has never been a show that takes itself very seriously, but the past couple of seasons, it seems to be having a hard time even being competent. As you may recall from last year's assessment of this show, I've never been particularly invested in this one, but it made for a decent rainy day show, floating around my second and third tiers. Season three was irksome on dozens of levels, but went above and beyond its usual lack of decent writing when Zach was revealed as Gormogon's apprentice. I'm utterly incredulous that a show that's this successful could have such a half-assed, no-talent writing staff (until I saw The Mentalist, that is). Anyway, I bitched and moaned about season 3 last year, so I was going to try to keep this discussion specific to season 4, but so many of the problems begun by last season's incompetence spilled over into the current season and helped rot the the poorly-made barrell.

Taking Zach out of the equation was a terrible move. It would have been one thing if his character had been subtly and slowly built up over the course of the season as a possible candidate for Gormogon, but the authors were either too lazy or too talentless to handle such a basic task. As such, revealing him as the bad guy and taking him off the show wasn't so much powerful story telling as pathetic and annoying. The fans of the show were pissed and season 4 did nothing to ameliorate the situation. Rather than casting a new character to fill Zach's role, they instead opted to cycle through different potential replacements week-to-week, most of whom were more annoying than the last. The audience didn't have a chance to become fond of any of them, really, because they were gone the next week. Unlike when Cam was introduced (and completely loathed) and held in place long enough for her to become at least tolerable, no new Zach stuck around long enough to become enjoyable, thereby making Zach's absence even more disconcerting. It also served to remind the audience of why he wasn't there (you know, what with him being a criminal mastermind and whatnot), which brings the audience back to pissed off again. Oy.

Sadly that wasn't the only area of contention for this season. Now, I realize that this show has always had an easier-going, more fun-loving approach to procedural crime solving (which was one of its best assets, to be sure), but the past season, they don't seem to even have real jobs anymore. More and more, Booth and Bones simply threw themselves into some wacky situation where they ultimately solved a murder in their spare time. The wackiest episodes were enjoyable on a certain level, but the basis for the show got muddled and the supporting players became increasingly useless and their methods increasingly ridiculous (seriously, the phlebotinum used on Bones makes other shows look down-right plausible). The long-running dichotomy between the clinical science of lab and the brash humanism of the field became entirely obscured as everyone on the show started acting out of character more often than in character, and various Ret Cons threw the whole show out of balance. Yeah, turns out Zach wasn't actually a killer (you know, because that was a total mess and the writers decided they needed to at least kind of clean up such a stupid, implausible storyline). Cam has a long lost, adored daughter no one has ever heard of (in spite of her continual assertions that she has no desire or tolerance for children). Blah, blah, blah...

Speaking of acting completely out of character and developing a sudden desire for children, the show decided to delve into one of the worst possible shark jumps with Bones spontaneously deciding to procreate. They did a fair job hanging a lantern on the situation to mask the irrational, spur of the moment change of heart, but for someone as completely rational as Bones to make such a sudden and unexamined decision, it fell flat. She (and every other woman on the planet) would have put in much more than 38 seconds worth of consideration into such a decision, but rational beyond rational Bones just decides to go with it, basically undermining three seasons of evidence to the contrary. Aside from the lazy story writing (by a writing team which simply has to be comprised largely of men), it makes for an incredibly painful and embarrassing story path that viewers only have to hope won't pan out. Seriously, when rumors started swirling about that Bones had suddenly decided her "clock was ticking" as showrunner Hart Hanson put it, the response was overwhelmingly negative. Children hinder just about any show in my estimation, but particularly for a show like this? It's going to make a bad show even worse. I can just see the writers' room patting themselves on the back for this idea though. "Won't it be wacky to watch Bones with a baby!? You know, the baby she never wanted until ten minutes ago? It'll be like Booth in the UK! A real fish-out-of-water spectacular! Don't worry about it going completely against her character profile, all women want babies, right! I don't actually know any women, or any scientists for that matter, but that's just how it is, right!?"

Ugh. Bad. Grr... (You see what you've done, show? Reduced me to caveman criticisms... Beer bad.)

All these wacky and completely unsupported elements came together with a heavy dollop of soap opera-ishness in the closing episodes of the season. Along with an alarming number of characters on other shows, Booth began hallucinating in wacky ways and was later diagnosed with... wait for it... a brain tumor! Which brings us to the season finale...

Yeah, so unlike other shows that did the whole alt verse reveal in awesome and often shocking ways (see: House season finale, Fringe season finale, Newhart, if you want to go old school), Bones' alt verse shenanigans were so obvious that it wasn't fun or surprising. The best "things aren't really what they seemed" episodes (or entire story arcs) have the audience unsure of what's going on at first, and only slightly suspecting that something isn't right. The most successful and exhilarating reveals happen in such a way that with one sudden reveal, all the pieces fall into place and the alternate reality is exposed. With Bones? It's apparent from the very first moments that we're in an alternate reality and that it's more than likely as a result of Booth's tumor. To the show's credit, they at least made it ambiguous as to whether or not the events of the finale were happening in Bones' novel or in Booth's head (or both), but ultimately, who really cares? The events of the alt verse were not pertinent or pivotal to anything in the real world, so the entire storyline is dismissed as just another wacky outing for the Bones crew.

There are those that might argue that the ways in which the regular characters were transformed in the dream/novel/who the hell cares illuminate Bones' and Booths' perceptions and desires, but I just can't bring myself to think long and hard enough about such fluff to make it meaningful. As far as I'm concerned, the writers just wanted a means of getting Bones and Booth in bed together without actually having them hook up (again). (Not that I'm saying they should hook-up, but all the teasing gets real old real fast.) Don't get me wrong, in and of itself, the episode was kind a fun little lark, but it ultimately doesn't carry much weight and didn't have the audience guessing throughout.

When it's revealed that Bones had been writing the story, the first thought went through my head was, "Lame." If I'm forced to give the writers more credit than they deserve, I'd say that the events of the finale were of Bones writing as a coping mechanism, and allowing her sudden desire to have a child to come to fruition in a more romanticized, theatrical way (rather than artificial insemination, or whatever her current plan is). This would explain why she deleted it upon Booth's waking up--i.e., she no longer needs to cope. That would help explain why she used everyone's real names, rather than in a real novel, where she would have made up new ones. It's intentionally unclear if Booth had the same kind of dream experience or if parts of the narrative were Bones' writing and parts were Booth's dream, but again, ultimately, I don't really care. It just felt like a throw away storyline.

Certain elements of the finale were charming in their own right, and it's on that level that I was able appreciate any of it. It was fun to see some old characters return, and Dr. Sweets saying that some people think he's Gormogon, but he isn't, was a particularly nice touch. I also found myself liking the temporary ducklings a hell of a lot more in alt verse than I do on the regular show, so I don't know what that says about them as regular characters... It was light and fanciful and all that jazz, but it mostly felt self-indulgent, and for a finale, I really would have preferred something with a lot more impact...

Oh, wait, the impact comes at the very end. A real cliffhanger, this one! Tapping into The Young and the Restless once again... Booth has amnesia! There's the impact you've been waiting for! Huzahh! Nothing is what it seems! Or whatever...

Yep, I mostly don't care. This show has devolved (from already mediocre beginnings) into lame parlor tricks and hackneyed storylines that don't even make sense most of the time. Oy.

I'm honestly not sure why I keep watching... I think The Mentalist has lowered the bar just enough that I can withstand just about anything these days...

In related news, the craptacularity that is Bones has been renewed for the next two seasons. At the rate we're going, Bones and Booth will be revealed as long lost siblings in no time.

(God I hope none of the writers of the show read this blog, because they'll surely think I've struck a gold mine for next season! "Come on, guys! It worked for Star Wars, right? It'll work for us!)

Ugh.

'07-'08 TV Season Year-in-Review: BONES

So, I was going to review Grey’s Anatomy next, you know, going by genre, I could get all my medical shows taken care of first, but then I ran across the following article about Bones and decided that’s where I needed to go next.

• Bones creator Hart Hanson also looks at negative comments as a sign of fan passion, something his show, sitting somewhere "between a cult hit and a real hit," needs to survive. He faced a virtual firing squad after the controversial season finale, when he dared turn naïve "squint" Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) into a serial killer's apprentice, sending him into a mental hospital and out of the regular ensemble. It was a storyline Hanson admits was too compressed, but not one he regrets overall.
  
  "Oh boy, when you mess with an ensemble," Hanson began before trailing off. "To be honest, it was great." Not only was that one of the highest rated episodes, but the number of hits to the show's website doubled. "The network doesn't care if comments are good or bad. They count the hits."
  
  "Do we listen to the fans? Oh, no," Hanson said adamantly during the audience Q&A portion of his Master Class. Besides, given the outcry over the finale, "Right now, if we listened to them, I'd have to quit."
  
  He even tells his actors not to look at message boards. "They're really mean about every one of our actors. The ones who have an axe to grind will write and the ones who love them won't. Our Internet presence is fairly negative. But we don't care about that, because they're all watching."
  
  Hanson says "we don't know who they are" because the demographics of the show are so broad, though actor David Boreanaz (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and novelist Kathy Reichs clearly add their own fandoms to the mysterious but loyal mix.
  
  "No, we don't listen to them," Hanson reiterated. "And they're really vociferous and passionate and we are very, very glad they're there.”
  
  --Interview excerpts courtesy of Diane Kristine and posted on blogcritics.org.

Hart Hanson may not care what the audience thinks of his work, but he probably should. The show is mediocre at best, and pretty damn bad at worst. This kind of record doesn't exactly lend itself to the lofty pedestal on which he seems to think his show resides. Oy.

Now, in general, I have no problem with the writers of a show ignoring outside influences and applaud shows that have the courage to do so. In general, I completely agree that if the fans are upset with a plot twist, that doesn’t mean it's a bad move, but in this particular case, it wasn’t only a bad move, it was horribly executed, completely unfounded, and came across as nothing more than a ratings ploy. A ratings ploy which, I might add, will likely harm the show in the long run (and let’s face it, this show isn’t good enough to endure much of an enervation…).

Before I get into the real discussion, a side note: I realize probably very few of the people who read my blog watch this show, but I just have to put this out there. I have never been much of a fan of this show. In fact, I only started watching it this last year (and have caught earlier episodes here and there) and have been pretty underwhelmed by the whole affair. Indeed, the only reason I even gave it a chance was that I had an opening in my TV schedule and this was the only option available. In short, the show isn’t very good. I find the two leads to be the least interesting part of the show. Temperance Brennan is an uneven, inconsistent character who is only moderately likable most of the time. Seely Booth (Angel) is even worse. I find the character one-dimensional and pompous. Anyway, for me, and the few other people I know who watch the show, the “squints” are the best part of the show. Indeed, for most people I know, they are the real heart of the ensemble and the primary reason to keep up with the show. No matter how much the writers and producers want to believe that Brennan and Booth are at the center of the show’s moderate success, it’s the supporting characters that make the whole thing work (as well as it ever does, that is).

This season, admittedly the only one I’ve seen start to finish, made me really hope that there’s a different show competing for the same timeslot next season so that I can officially throw in the towel on Bones. At this point, it wouldn’t even need to be a very good show and it could likely win my affections. Oh, this season. Wow. What a waste.

It started out promisingly enough for such a mediocre show, but soon lost its focus and ultimately fizzled. The season arc with the cannibalistic Gormogon (sp?) was pretty cheese-tastic to begin with and shouldn’t have garnered a season-long arc unless the writers were really going to run with it. In the beginning, it looked like that would be the case, but as the season progressed, the storyline was often mishandled, forgotten, and clunky.

Now, I realize the writers’ strike took a toll, but no show fared worse than Bones it seems. All of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere, and only in the finale episode do we finally find out the whole Gormogon story. What’s worse, the only foundation that was laid for who Gormogon’s apprentice was, oh wait, there was no foundation… Yes folks, it was season-long arc and the writers decided they would draw a name out of a hat for the big reveal. “And Gormogon’s apprentice is…[hand swirling in baseball cap full of character names] Zack!” Mr. Hanson may think that the audience is in a tizzy because he “messed with an ensemble,” but that’s hardly the case. That they eliminated one of the few good characters of the show was a display in idiocy to be sure, but it would have been fine if they had set up the show, laid a foundation, and revealed Zack as the apprentice after a satisfying build-up. Without that, the audience is left with nothing but “WTF?!” to dwell upon over the summer.

Like I said, if they had come up with a rational reason that it was Zack, started including subtle nuances that he could be capable of this back toward the beginning of the season, and led the audience on an adventure of discovery that Zack could be the bad guy, then it would have been absolutely acceptable to write Zack off the show (even if he is the main reason so many people watch). It’s not that the audience is being whiny that the show is losing one of its best characters, it’s that the writers’ have lost the audience’s faith in them to guide the show. If the audience can’t count on a show to offer well-thought-out, well-planned, and well-executed storylines, then what the hell is the point in watching?

To prove my point, I offer a comparison to a far superior show, the inimitable Veronica Mars. Season 1 set up a web of delicious, exciting, tantalizing mysteries that built up to the ultimate climax, revealing the killer of Lilly Kane. The writers for Veronica Mars, having actually planned out the season prior to the final 3 episodes, built up enough foundation for their characters that the audience believed it could have been anyone, and no matter who it was, it could be justified. Case in point, it could have been Logan, a fan favorite, and that would have been complete awesomeness because it was so well established that he could be the one. Even if you never dreamed that Logan could have done it, if it had been him, you would have instantly started replaying the entire season in your head and come up with 15 fantastic, subtle, compelling, edge-of-your-seat, shocking and satisfying reasons it was him. And even if it did mean that one of the most popular members of the ensemble were written off the show, it still would have been an incredible ending that the audience would appreciate. With a show like VM, the foundations that led to the climactic ending are being established as early as the first episode. It’s not that you messed with the ensemble in and of itself, Mr. Hanson, it’s that you did it so poorly. That Zack was the apprentice could have been completely awesome. It could have been a rather compelling and engaging twist in an otherwise mediocre show. If the writers’ strike is to blame, and I can’t believe it’s entirely to blame, then the Gormogon storyline should have been continued into the next season where it could have been done with more grace and logic.

However, when such a revelation is just tossed in at the last minute, providing a climax for an already cheesy and lackluster arc (that had been largely ignored in the episodes leading up to the finale), it is disconcerting, illogical, and lame. It’s ridiculousness like this that makes a mediocre show so very mediocre. When shocking revelations are played solely as a stunt to gain a few extra viewers, it cheapens the show and insults the core audience. Hart Hanson may not care what the audience has to say about the show, even going so far as to imply that the finale gained more viewers and therefore it doesn’t matter how it was received, but when the people running the show are so short-sighted, I think taking others’ opinions into account would behoove your story-writing in the long-run.

I have yet to decide if I’m done with the show or not. Essentially, I no longer have what little confidence I had in the story-writing and have just lost one of the few redeeming characters on the show. Also, that the actor who portrays Zack (Eric Milligan) was basically unceremoniously fired from the show doesn’t cast a flattering light on the powers-that-be. I heard that they basically called Eric up out the blue and told him they needed to talk not long before the finale. Classy guys, really classy. Eric handled the situation with far more grace and composure than I would have. He was shocked by the decision, but never came across as bitter. I heard that several of his castmates, however, were certainly not okay with this development and expressed as much. Good for them.

Alas, only moderately okay show, we may be done. I guess time will tell (by which I mean we’ll have to see if there is anything, and I mean anything else at all that I can watch during that timeslot). Lord knows I wouldn’t do something productive or read a book or something to pass the time.

Season Grade: C+
Finale Grade: D