Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

For the longest time, I was a show killer. Do you love a particular TV show? Well, for years, if I loved it, too, it was doomed because, as soon as I started watching it, as soon as I fell in love with the show, its had maybe a year to live before it got canceled.

I’m serious. It got so bad that I would purposefully avoid a promising new show for an entire year, just to give it a chance to catch on. But even with this strategy, if I started watching in Season Two and loved it, it still had a higher risk for cancellation.

About a decade ago (when we got our first DVR) this pattern changed. Shows I liked started lasting longer. As a result, I became seriously invested in several shows. Unfortunately, what I thought was a change was just a postponement, as this year my entire Sunday and Monday night has turned to dust.

It’s not untimely cancellations, this time (mostly). It’s just shows that are wrapping things up and retiring. Downton Abbey, The Good Wife, Mr. Selfridge, Wallander, and of course, the most recent casualty, Castle. Other shows from other nights have been canceled, also, and a few shows have gone seriously off the rails (cough cough Blacklist cough cough), but Sunday/Monday have taken the brunt of it.

I haven’t brought myself to watch the Castle finale, yet. Once again, network stupidity reigns. Fillion and Katic were a modern-day Nick & Nora Charles, and cutting half of the duo loose for “budgetary reasons” is idiotic. Much as I love Fillion in the title role, Castle without Beckett is ludicrous. Best that this show was put down than allowed to live on life support.

I am not searching for shows to fill the void. All of these shows had excellent writing, good acting, and brought something unique to their viewers. I won’t replace these top-notch shows with mediocre fare.

Instead, I’m looking at the pile of To Be Read books that’s been accumulating in my office. Sunday and Monday nights may be a lot quieter.

k