Weren't You Canceled?

My brain is a funny thing. There are things I generally know, and things I'm vaguely aware of on my periphery somehow. With all the movies and television I watch, I can't keep track of everything. Yet while watching the increasingly charming Pushing Daisies, I noted commercials for October Road and Notes From the Underbelly, shows I'd never seen but thought had been canceled. I pondered this briefly before drifting back to thoughts of how magical life would be if I baked pies for a living, had two beautiful women interested in me, hung out with a sarcastic Chi McBride, and of course had my every adventure narrated. The way my life is now, the style of narration employed by Pushing Daisies seems unnecessary... “The facts were these: At precisely twenty-five minutes past five PM, one Michael J.W. Whorenelli sat in traffic. His eyes peeked over the steering wheel with trepidation, fearing the flickering glow of his fuel light. Had he left five minutes earlier in the morning, he might have had time to stop at a gas station and avoid such a predicament. Alas, this was not the case.”

As the WGA strike continues and networks run out of completed original shows, I suspect the void will not be filled completely with reality shows. Instead, mid-season replacements and other completed shows that might not otherwise have aired may surface. This doesn't mean canceled shows will return because even if old scripts are floating around, sets have been dismantled and actors have moved on to other projects. Sadly, there will be no resurrection of Firefly, The Inside, Drive, Tru Calling, Angel, Undeclared, Traveler, John Doe, Day Break, and countless other shows that deserved more seasons, in my humble opinion. The stars of many of these series have found success on the big screen or in other shows. So, what do we have to look forward to? I expect unaired episodes of many new shows, and apparently Cavemen hasn't been canceled yet.

Things are that bad. I'm worried that many shows won't return. Will the networks welcome any writers back? Are they obligated to keep people who refuse to work? Unions are a bit of a foreign concept to me. I've been in unfair situations before, but I knew there would be no job waiting for me if I didn't show up. Again, I guess it's different when no one shows up. Whatever happens, these shows definitely won't be the same as they would have been. With two episodes left, Heroes has adjusted to wrap up some storylines. I can't say the sudden increase in pace has been a bad thing, but episodes like the one that aired this week leave me craving more. At some point, even the online graphic novels might run out; someone has to write those.

Negotiations should resume after the long holiday weekend. Hopefully both sides will come to a resolution sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, there are a lot of old shows I can catch up with on DVD along with movies. And while new episodes of my favorite canceled shows won't be airing, at least Futurama is returning on DVD. The feature-length Bender's Big Score comes out next week, and will be the first of four all new movies. It looks like I'll survive without television, and there will be no dearth of stuff to watch. Besides, there are worse things going on in the world than shows going off the air for a bit. Seriously, Cavemen is still on??

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!