I have a suggestion for all of you masochistic artists out there.

You know who you are, the ones that love to create brilliant works, but get even more joy out of seeing your creations destroyed. I know you're out there, and to feed your conflicting needs, I earnestly implore you to go start working in Television.

We all know that there's impressive artistic failures in every creative industry. The movie industry has Magnificent Ambersons, Music has its Chinese Democracy, and Books get to carry around the onus of If I Did It... But is there a landscape more littered with creative flame-outs and suit-induced scrap-panic than Television? I can't imagine it's so.

Just in the past few months, I've reconnected with Eerie, Indiana, Twin Peaks, The Tick, Dilbert, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Wonderfalls, The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show, and AC fave Arrested Development. And I'm really looking forward to catching other lost shows like Boomtown and Kidnapped...

But it's a sad pastime I have, because all of these great shows just...ended. There was a slight amount of wrap-up with Wonderfalls, and certainly, we knew the end was coming at some point for AD. Regardless, though, these shows were taken away without our consent. And we have all lost something much larger than the shows when we realize that in each of these cases, the artistic vision of the people behind the show will never truly be fulfilled. And taken together, the shows paint a brilliant picture of revolutionary and creative TV. But it's sad to see them all dead. It kinda makes me wish I could have just been a Law & Order fan...

I bring this all up because we recently found out that there are two more casualties to send to potter's field. Gilmore Girls is wrapping up for good, and apparently, last-minute efforts to save Scrubs have summarily failed. These are like, 9th inning, 11th hour announcements, which means that if we get any satisfying wrap-up to either of these shows, it's going to be a miracle.

The "Why" really isn't in question. Pundits will quickly point to the ratings: GG has fallen, Scrubs barely ever got off the ground. But if they've been such bad performers, how have we managed to get seven and six years (respectively) without talk of cancellation coming up before now?

It just seems so evil. Obviously, these decisions were made on a fiscal basis, with little regard for brand image, quality, or earnest care for the fans. I'm not just ranting (though, honestly, it is mostly ranting...), but it just seems sooo wrong that we got a year-long countdown for 90210, and even longer for Friends, but we are only given relative moments to say goodbye to funnier and classier parts of our extended family.

This is a wound that cuts too deep. Our household has been scaling back our broadcast TV viewership more and more every year. (When we got a Neilson book earlier last year, it didn't take too long to fill out...) We are busier these days, sure. But we've mostly just been turned off by being let down too many times by the networks. And moves like these cancellations will further remove us from the comforting addiction of settling into a routine with our favorite shows. That doesn't seem like too

I mean, Why get involved in the first place if we have no control over the relationship? When the Jack Donaghys of the world call the shots, I just don't think we can continue to open up new lines of trust every season.

This is a tangent, but this is the constant worry about watching Lost for us, as well. We've gotten beyond the trust about whether or not the minds behind the show know where it's going. We're just worried that they won't have a chance to get there. This is also a current concern with Drive.

I know nothing can be done to save these shows, and since I've seen so many shows get ripped from my grip, never to be seen again, I've hardened myself to the pain. But it's still a real bummer. I mean, I have an imagination. I can dream up a future for Rory and Lorelei, I can imagine that things won't change too much at Sacred Heart. But the joy in these shows was that in trusting these other voices to carry our favorite characters forward, they'd constantly think of things that I couldn't or wouldn't. The voices of the characters (not the voices I'd provide for them) spoke truer and more earnestly. And I was content to let them speak.

Now, those particular voices will be silent forever.

I'm just not okay with that.

All Assail.