Another One Bites the Dust

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

I knew I shouldn't have. I promised myself after the last one that I wouldn't. But it was so hard not to! I mean, they were there – right there – asking you to check them out. And they looked so good! And then they would put the hook into you and you would fall in love all over again.

And you'd have your heart ripped out. Again.

I'm talking about the latest decision by CBS to cancel one of their television shows that I've grown quite fond of. The show's name is “Moonlight” and, like countless other TV shows that have bit the dust too early, I'm gonna miss it. A lot. If you are one of the show's fans, I don't have to explain the attraction.

The show's basic premise, like a lot of other shows, is a love story. But the hook on this one is the protagonist, Mick St. John, is a vampire and his love interest is a mortal girl, Beth Turner. He is pushing 90-years-old but, since he was turned into a vampire by his bride on his wedding day in his 30's, that's how old he stays. He works as a private investigator, has a vampire friend who's over 400 years old but looks 25 who's a rich business mogul, gets his blood from a blood bank from another vamp and has fallen in love with a mortal girl who's a reporter for an Internet tabloid – Buzzwire. Lots of interesting plots develop as Beth finds out he's a vamp and likes him anyhow – then falls in love with him. From what I've read, women all love the show. Plus, apparently, a few of us guy vampire aficionados.

But CBS, in their corporate wisdom, has decided that they would not renew the show. As TVGuide.com states: “Though the vampire-detective drama boasted a fantastically passionate and wonderfully generous (they held a blood drive, people!) fan base, the buzz is that the Eye simply was not happy with Moonlight's retention of its Ghost Whisperer lead-in. At last tally, Mick & Co. were letting slip some 13 percent of Melinda's audience.”

It all becomes a numbers game.

So another wonderful show is gone. And, worse than that, a wonderful show that I wanted to continue.

Rats!

Might I be so bold as to mention some others that were gone long before they should have been?

• Jericho. I was literally sick when this one was axed. Worse, when it was brought back for four more episodes, they butchered it trying to tell years and years of stories in 4 hours. So damn sad.

• Twin Peaks. Wonderful, strange David Lynch weirdness.

• Millenium. Great pre-apocalyptic story in the years approaching 2000.

• X-Files. Ran a long time, but not nearly long enough for the fans. But when Mulder/Scully left... Please, please don't mention Dogget and Reyes!

• Surface. Very engrossing marine monster tale. Wanted a lot more.

• Dresden Files. A wizard private eye. Cool idea from some great books. More please?

• Alien Nation. Great show about overcoming prejudice – alien style.

• American Dreams. The 60's Philadelphia show where the daughter of the family dances on “American Bandstand”. My generation. My conflicts. Vietnam. Race. Politics – Kennedy assassination. I identified with all the actors and all the stories. Sadly missed...

And how about some of HBO's great lineups that ended much, much too soon:

• Carnivale. How great was this Great Depression show! How unique and very, very human.

• Deadwood. Possibly the best Western ever! Adult Western, that is.

• Rome. Another wonderful HBO offering. Could have gone on as long as the Sopranos.

I'm sure if you made a list, your list would have different shows, but I'm also sure you would be as passionate as I am about their biting the dust too soon also.

So I'll bind my wounds, again, and gripe about the unfairness of life. I'll make more promises about not becoming so attached to a dumb television show in the future. I'll moan about how all the crap shows seem to go on and on forever, but the good 'uns die way, way too young.

But when the new season arrives I'll be the first to draw a circle around the listings of the shows that seem to show promise. Maybe this year the good ones will be renewed. Maybe this year the television executives will renew shows because they are good, not because the bean-counters say they're profitable. Maybe this year pigs will fly.

I must be a glutton for punishment.