Of All the Shows I Watched Last Year.

I'm glad they came along. I dedicate this post to all the shows I watched in the last year(that won't be back this season).

We lost an absurd number of celebrities in the last year, and they will be missed. I was thinking about the new television season and how I'm down to only 4 nights a week, with most of my shows colliding on Thursday evenings. There were some show casualties last season as well, and while some departed from natural causes, others left a little too soon. These are the shows in my rotation that we've said goodbye to:

Battlestar Galactica:
It had a good run, and I was definitely moved by the finale, though in perusing the internet I've found that opinions and interpretations may vary. I thought it was a solid series from beginning to end, with some of the best performances I've seen on any show.

Stargate: Atlantis:
Here was another great science fiction series, although it had lost some momentum in the last few seasons. There were epic victories against deadly enemies, after which nothing seemed as much of a threat to our heroes. In the fifth and final season they introduced a “new” race of aliens that might have made for interesting antagonists, but it didn't get much further beyond the reveal of who they really were. I will say that the last two episodes were the best of the season, and I especially liked the celebrity cameos and Johnny Cash music in the penultimate episode. For a spinoff, it turned out to be a pretty good show, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the next one lives up to the legacy.

Prison Break:
This was a great series, and one I never expected to last beyond the first season. It made sense that there would be a second one, but I wasn't sure how they could justify a third one. How many times can someone break out of a prison? Ultimately, I was wrong, and glad, because the show was so much larger than its title and initial concept. It was all about the characters, and the suspense, and seeing how smart people deal with unwinnable situations when the crap hits the fan. It was a sad ending, but a fitting one, and the only way things could have played out. Sacrifices were not made in vain.

Reaper:
This show really grew on me once the characters were fleshed out and they expanded beyond a “demon of the week” formula. Ray Wise was absolutely brilliant as the devil, so gleefully evil and self-assured. It may be the role of his career. The show was really getting good and ended on an interesting note, leaving us to forever wonder what plans the angels had for our protagonist to leave his soul in the hands of the devil. I get my epic angels vs. demons fix from Supernatural, but Reaper was so much lighter, comedy with hints of drama instead of drama with occasional comic relief. There really wasn't another show like it on television, but that's the way it is with unique shows...

Pushing Daisies:
Yes, there was a definite pattern with losing original and unique programming this year. Or maybe it has to do with names that are related to death. I'll miss the dry sarcasm of Chi McBride and the fairytale like narration of murder stories in oversaturated, Burtonesque settings. We got some closure thrown together in the final minutes with some editing and a voiceover, but this show deserved a proper ending and a minimum of a third season.

My Name is Earl:
This was a great show that never recovered from an awful third season. You can't put your main character in prison for half of a season, only to have him land in a coma in the second half and waste Alyssa Milano on comatose sitcom fantasies. Season four got the show back to its roots of a repentant man going down a list and righting all the wrongs he committed, but I guess it wasn't enough to get the ratings back up. I had no idea it was in trouble, and it ended on a HUGE cliffhanger. It's a shame, because this was one of the best seasons, and included the long-awaited origin of Darnell, with an AWESOME guest appearance by Danny Glover. It was seriously one of the best episodes in the show's history, and far better than the garbage taking its place on Thursday nights.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:
It was edgy and smart. It brilliantly spun a film franchise in a new direction, separating itself and making it unique. There was depth of emotion and philosophy, and it built upon the mythos at its foundation. It also had a hot girl robot. Teen angst, the search for God and meaning, and the eternal question of whether or not we can alter fate and destiny were all consigned to a Friday night time slot of doom, to sputter in the ratings, and leave us wanting more, with too much unanswered.

Well, at least I'll have more free time this year, but I wish the shows that were canceled without proper finales all had more episodes. What shows did you lose this year?