Lists were published today about what shows will be staying and leaving each major TV network. A few shows (including the ones I’ve been most worried about) are still in limbo, with their respective networks not reporting or not deciding yet about whether they’ll be renewed. Dollhouse is still on the fringe, but Fringe has already been renewed (which I managed to watch twenty minutes of and between being completely derivitive of X-Files and having characters I really wanted to stab with a fork, I had to turn it off).

 Of the shows I often write about, 24, Lost, Heroes, and Smallville have all been renewed, but this isn’t news. Although I actually can’t imagine 24 making a good eighth season with all the ping-ponging it’s done this year– sometimes it’s brilliant, and sometimes it’s nearly jumping the shark. Next season will sadly be Lost’s last, and after such an incredible season, I’m guessing fewer fans are expecting a downer finale as were previously.

 Still waiting to find out about Dollhouse, which a lot of fans and critics think is in real danger of getting cancelled, though I’m still keeping my fingers crossed. I hope it doesn’t wind up in the same pages of history as Firefly, Journeyman, and Jake 2.0. NBC hasn’t revealed its plans for Chuck yet, but considering the season ended on a cliffhanger and considering they’ve cancelled most of their OTHER prime-time shows, signs are looking up for it. Fox hasn’t officially mentioned Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, but things aren’t looking good there. And although I haven’t kept up with it this season, I hear it too ended on a cliffhanger, which will be a real bummer for fans of that series.

 A couple of interesting ones going off-air are ER, which has been on for 15 years, and Guiding Light, the soap I thought would never die, which has been on for 58.

Knight Rider didn’t make it, only lasting one season. Guess I’m probably just one of thousands who were just interested enough to almost set a tape but forgot. Probably a lot like what happened last year with Bionic Woman, except I actually watched a couple episodes of that one… and it was just bad.

Stargate finally ends its long TV-run with Atlantis finishing off at season 5. (It’s been subsequently brought to my attention that Stargate Universe, a brand new series, begins this fall on the Sci-Fi Channel!)

All-in-all, I’m pretty happy so far– I’ll still have plenty of material to watch and write about next season. Hope your favorite show didn’t get canned!

A Complete List of Cancelled Shows

A Complete List of Renewed Shows

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

As I hoped, last week’s flashback episode helped to inform the show so that the new events in the present, even some of the weirder ones, are easier to swallow.

Like I said last week, I somewhat resisted the idea of making up new backstory for season 1 and trying to integrate it with the events of this season, but I loved the stuff this week between Sylar and L. I really believe in Sylar’s “empathy” from these scenes. I didn’t think I could be made to believe L wanting to kill Sylar and bonding with him in the same episode, but it really did work. They’re both victims of the company (really two companies now, since they’re both pawns of Pinehurst now) and so neither is entirely responsible for the terrible things they’ve done.

I’m not sure I buy that Sylar can take people’s powers without killing them. His ability is seeing how things work, but he took L’s ability much like Peter can do. I don’t really understand that, nor do I get how the elder Patrelli was so sure he’d be able to do this.

I’m with Cromely, one of my fellow bloggers who commented on my blog from last week– I don’t like Claire’s direction this season either. Still not liking it this week. She really is becoming a killer, just like Peter said, and she’s ignorning all the signs and all of his warnings. I always liked her because she wasn’t a typical teenager, but she isn’t growing up fast enough for me. She’s in way over her head and getting involved in things she can’t handle, so it’s no surprise to me that she becomes evil in the future. But if you knew that was going to happen, you’d back off. I used to think she was sensible enough to to do that, but she’s not, and so she’s acting way out of character, much like Suresh. She’s also gone from being one of the most identifiable characters on the show to the least– she not only can’t die, she can’t feel pain, and no one can reallly identify with that. Now we also know that she’s the key to genetic mutation– but she was the big key in the first season too!  I just have a hard time buying that this girl is this important.

I’m glad the relevance of the solar eclipses are finally being addressed. I hope when it’s completely revealed, it makes sense and isn’t too contrived. We know that people most often discover their powers during these eclipses, which I always wondered about, and it looks like we’re finally going to know why.

Hiro has always been my favorite character, and in the first season, the one with the most interesting journey. But this year, the writers can’t decide what to do with him and he’s all over the place, which is a shame. Like Parkman, Nathan, and Suresh, Hiro’s journey has now led him down the path of silly– Peterelli Sr. stole his memories, and now he’s a ten-year old, having to be led around by Ando. Please, please don’t let this last. It’s silly, it’s pointless, and it isn’t moving forward. Hiro has been on a quest to become a genuine hero, rather than a fanboy with superpowers pretending to be a hero– his story shouldn’t go backwards. Though I did enjoy the scene in the comic shop where he’s complaining about Marvel destroying all their characters and stories (“Spider-Man gave up his secret identity? The Hulk is red???”)

It’s better this week, but I still find myself too often trying to remember who has what power, who lost or gained what power, who is who’s enemy, etc. I want more character-driven stories, and we got that this time with Sylar and L– now that just needs to be extended to all the subplots. If the show could be condenced into fewer plots and there could be something more substantial to tie everything together, that’d be even better.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan