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30 Rock failed to catch my interest the first night. I haven't returned. This means I've not bothered with 20 Good Years, either.

The entire Thursday lineup leaves me fuming. Once again, the quest to beat long-standing slot winners by the network execs means a LOT of losses all the way around. Grey's Anatomy, Earl, Betty, CSI...they each lose a good share of the audience they deserve. With other nights lacking in view-worthy shows, do we really need to cram everything together on one night? Why not spread the joy around?

Sigh.

DK, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you and I should be in charge of programming.

I think you've made some tough viewing decisions. For some reason this season has been rough for me as well. I so wanted to like 30 Rock and now I've barely given it a chance catching just one episode. Studio 60, same thing. I really liked the pilot but since then I've seen one episode that was pretty good but I couldn't even tell you what night it's on.

I'd encourage you to stick it out with Lost though, it's by far the best show on tv.

I'm with you Joan - let's take over the networks, shall we? Though Thursdays are a little better for me since I don't like CSI and the Canadian network shows Grey's Anatomy at a different time from the American one, so there's two times to catch it. Poor old Earl, though. The explanation I've heard for Thursdays being jammed is that it's the money night for advertising, since that's when people decide what to do on the weekend, so there's lots of movie studio ads, etc. to be had that night. Whatever. Just let me watch the shows, thats all I care.

Kyle, I intend to stick with Lost, it's just been a challenge to rent the DVDs in order, plus it sadly loses something when you already know some of the plot twists. It's hard to stay unspoiled when the entertainment news is full of cast comings and goings and stuff.

Veronica Mars is way way above the rest. Give the season a try!

As someone from the UK in the business (so to speak) - I downloaded all the pilots from binaries and spent the best part of the weekend watching.....The only two shows which I continue to download are Studio 60 and Ugly Betty - but I'm getting bored already. I'm surprised at the recent ratings for Studio as I absolutely love it - having worked in a gallery as a director before I would have to say they've got the dialog and atmosphere absolutely spot on! I predict this will be a great succdess in the UK when it gets over here. FTR the only US Shows I ever PVR over here are : Shield, Sopranos, Deadwood, Office, Curb, The Wire, Earl and Entourage.

gotta go with "the Wire" as one of the best bits EVEr seen on the small screen of TV...just edges out Deadwood for me, especially since Deadwood appeard...well...dead, the possiblility of HBO movies being it's only continuance since the producer was yanked away to work on some surf show

add to it the most excellent "Battlestar Galactica" and that's about all the TV i feel i "must see" besides my usual intake of news

your mileage may vary

Excelsior?

Sometimes I'm glad I don't get those premium channels or the US SciFi channel ... the decisions would be harder. I'm catching up on BSG on DVD too, and Deadwood and The Wire are in my rental queue. At least with DVD I can set my own pace.

It would be so much easier if I didn't feel the need to be a productive member of society, too - the hard decisions aren't so much because of scheduling, but how much time I can spend watching TV.

Diane..Deadwood and the Wire are going to spoil you for the bullshit that passes for programming on the networks...

you are Warned

that being said, they are some of the finest examples of contemporary entertainment to have ever been found on the little screen and i envy your upcoming Discovery and Enjoyment...

Excelsior?

Yeah, Diane, those serializations are risky. I remember how last year, Surface and Invasion and the other one all failed. The second the viewers get the sense that an arc-driven show won't last, they bail out.

I don't remember anything like Kidnapped though. It was like one of those stock-footage NASA failures from the 1960's that blows up on the launch pad. There was no negative buzz that I recall, and the cast was Oscar-quality, but they didn't get one single viewer. Kinda funny, really.

You mentioned watching shows during reruns. It used to be that you could discover a couple of new shows late in the season. But with arc shows falling so hard and disappearing, there's no chance to discover something. I guess it's a cyclical thing. A few years back all the one hour dramas were L&O-types, and now they're Losts.

Yeah, that's what happened to Kidnapped for me (love the NASA analogy!) I heard great things, had 3 episodes recorded before I'd even had a chance to watch, heard the show was getting shunted to Saturdays and allowed to finish its 13 episode run, and then it's likely history. There's too much else going on for me to invest in a show I hadn't yet watched that was DOA. I don't mind taking a risk on a serialized show, but when it's gone from risk to crash-and-burn ... forget it.

For the other serialized ones, it wasn't so much about knowing or fearing they'd disappear before they'd finished their arcs, it was more realizing that if I'd let three episodes of a show accumulate before watching any of it, it was time to let go. Kind of like the closet cleaning rule - if you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it, honey.

Thank god for DVD and the off-season.

Hmmmm I wrote a similar article which should be published soon. I can already similarities, specially for Studio 60

Congratulations, Diane! This article is an Editor's Pick!

No, your article isn't an exclamation point. It's an Editor's Pick

Actually, it's the pick of two different Editors!

My big heartbreak this season has been NBC's quick exile of Kidnapped to Saturday Siberia. It's not the greatest series of all time, no, but it's really well done [I would say about 4 billion times better than the dumb-dumb Heroes]. Same thing happened to me last season with Invasion, which lasted to season's end but never reached a resolution. I thought it was very underrated.

The only three series I have stuck with besides Kidnapped are Brothers and Sisters, Studio 60 and Jericho, and Jericho is on the verge of being droppable. I think 30 Rock is just dreadful, and I speak as a big fan of Tina's movie Mean Girls.