Funny thing about television networks is that they’re often run by idiots. Network execs rarely have the patience to allow a show to properly develop, constantly swapping time slots and trying to capitalize on the next hot thing. I have no delusions that TV isn’t just business, like manufacturing diapers or running a theme park, but we as viewers can’t help becoming emotionally invested in a show we love.

Some shows receive poor ratings because their time slot is shuffled around without warning, or the series is shown out of order for some incomprehensible reason… and eventually they get canned. It’s a sad day when a show you love bites the dust, especially when it seemed to be getting better and better.

What I hate most about the way TV programming seems to work is the copycat effect that happens every season. Ever notice how you get a very popular show like Survivor, and the following season every network has its own Survivor clone. Now I’m not saying that shows like Survivor shouldn’t exist (I actually watched the first two and a half seasons) what I’m saying is that networks need to stop jumping on bandwagons and start trying to win viewers with a variety of truly engaging and well made programs!

All is not lost however, as the recent phenomenon of TV on DVD has become the new OMG. TV shows cancelled before their time can now prove their popularity through DVD sales and triumphantly return to prime time! Let’s take a look at a couple shows that made it back (and one that didn’t) to try and understand why Fox is so stupid… yeah I said it!

Family Guy (1999 – 2002, 2005 – Present)

Created by Seth Macfarlane in a haze of Marijuana smoke and right wing leaflets, Family Guy entered the Fox line up as a new and “improved” version of The Simpsons. Family Guy was recognizable in many ways: fat guy with a pretty wife, two and a half kids in a small town filled with quirky characters. Despite its derivative origins, the show quickly developed a feel all its own, thanks in no small part to the hugely popular and very bizarre character of Stewie Griffin.

Family Guy was ramping in popularity during the early 21st century despite having to fight the Simpsons and other random crap for a decent spot in the Fox Sunday line up. The nail in the coffin came in the form the deadly 8pm Thursday slot which put Family Guy up against Survivor and Friends. Prior to offering Family Guy up to die at the hands of Shwimmer and Probst, Fox gave essentially no indication of when the show was airing; fans were left tuning in at the wrong time further dropping ratings and sealing Family Guys doom.

To squeeze more cash out of their now defunct show Fox released the first three seasons on DVD; and the rest is history. Macfarlane and Fox were raking in the dough and after the release of the Family Guy Movie on DVD the show made a triumphant return to television.

I loved Family Guy when it first aired and I was very happy with the first couple seasons after its return, but in my opinion it’s gone downhill and fast. Nothing seems original about it anymore and the spin offs (American Dad and The Cleveland Show) just make me sad. This just goes to show that Fox (and

Macfarlane’s now ridiculously huge ego) can ruin just about anything. I know, I know, nothing makes me happy… but just watch a newer episode of Family Guy and tell me how many times you laugh.

Futurama (1999 – 2003, 2010 – Present)

All hail Matt Groening! If Family Guy is a derivative of the Simpsons, Futurama takes what The Simpsons started to the next level. Futurama received a good deal of fanfare before its release (I remember promos on Fox where Groening demonstrated how to draw a wicked Bender) and was given the coveted 8:30 Sunday time slot after The Simpsons.

Futurama stumbled a bit in the ratings department due to its sci-fi underpinnings, While Family Guy was familiar (as bizarre as it could be) Futurama was something all together different. Fox executives were also not very fond of the show; I guess they didn’t like the insensitive portrayal of lobster people.

In the same lame cycle they always follow Fox began to mess around with Futurama’s schedule, shifting the show to Tuesdays, then 7pm on Sundays and of course never letting anyone know about the changes! Futurama was constantly bumped by NFL games or other nonsense, a bunch of episodes didn’t air even though they were completed… in other words the whole thing was a mess.

Despite what was going on at the network, Futurama continued to increase in quality and depth, leaving fans wanting more. David X. Cohen (the show’s co-creator) and Groening lined up a series of 4 Futurama movies to be released in 2007 – 2009. Comedy central was running Futurama in syndication at the time and was able to chop the new movies up into 4 episodes each and air them on the network. Based on the success of the movies and Comedy Central being way better than Fox, Groening/Cohen were able to reach a deal to get the show back on the air!

Futurama’s return was a resounding success in my opinion, the quality of the episodes is top notch and the new Comedy Central season has some of the funniest moments in the show’s history. 12 episodes have aired so far and a 13th is on the way November 21st 2010. Comedy Central has ordered 13 more episodes likely to air during the summer of 2011… all is right with the universe once again!

Firefly (09/2002 – 12/2002)

Firefly sucked, and then it was gone. Amen.

Fine, fine, don’t cry all you Joss Whedon fans out there! I never watched Firefly myself, and I’ll admit that even though I didn’t like Serenity (the movie made to appease upset fans) Fox screwed the show over in so many ways.

Fox executives didn’t like the original pilot and demanded that a new one be created to launch the show, this resulted in a confusing and rather cobbled together introduction to the characters and a lack of direction for the plot overall. To add further insult to injury the network decided to air episodes out of order, further confusing the audience and alienating any new viewers that just couldn’t get a hold on what was going on in the story. As is customary for Fox, the show was also frequently bumped for sports programming and a few of the episodes were not aired at all.

Firefly’s impending doom spurred the online community to unite and send postcards pleading for the continuation of the show. All the pleas and cries for clemency fell on deaf ears, and Firefly was executed by catapult on December 20th, 2002.

Despite the bitter resentment he must have felt after the whole ordeal Joss Whedon didn’t abandon his baby; in 2005 Serenity was released as a movie conclusion to the Firefly series… I didn’t like it, but then again I don’t like a lot of things.

I recently watched three very interesting horror movies that really got me thinking about the variety of scares and chills available to us these days.  Unlike senor Milo, I’m not really a horror movie buff; I’d rather watch a good sci-fi or historic fiction than a blood and guts type splatter fest, but I had a good time with each of these movies.

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