I really don’t want to be one of those people that becomes a fanatic about every TV show I like on the brink of cancellation, but the news I just read is painful. Supposedly, Chuck — a show that’s done nothing but improve in its two year tenure — and Medium — a show that seems so poorly done that I wonder if there are any genuine fans — are battling it out in the offices of NBC, and only one will be given a new season.

I hate Medium. I hated it before I’d ever seen it, but watching an episode solidified and justified my prejudice. I have no idea why the ratings for that show are even marginally better than Chuck. I would be more upset by Medium getting a renewal and Chuck getting cancelled than both shows getting cancelled. So, NBC: please please please please choose Chuck. Or at the very least, don’t choose Medium. But seriously, choose Chuck.

Just before Kings was cancelled, the fifth episode aired and I found the initial love affair I had with the show dwindling; the characters weren’t as fully developed as I’d have liked, the stories often resolved themselves too easily, and overall the show didn’t seem as good as it once did.

I think that, should I go back and watch the series anew at a later date, I’d find that the quality had not dissipated but rather the realization that the show is “almost brilliant” had simply been delayed.

In robotics there is a term for that eerie feeling we all get when we see a robot that almost duplicates a perfect human being but has very slight flaws and discrepancies. It’s called the Uncanny Valley. These slight discontinuities jar the mind and make us feel at unease. We don’t feel that unease when looking at a robot like C3PO or R2-D2 or WALL-E because they are not human and the differences are notable and numerous. They become a sort of living cartoon, something we accept as a human analog because we can cobble together empathy based on the few anthropomorphic cues available.

I believe that there is similar valley that exists in the world of television. Most television exists before this valley; the characters are entertaining and endearing, but not wholly real. Then there are the special few shows that exist beyond the valley; those shows have such a well-defined universe, such believable characters, that we are enveloped by the show, taking it in as more than mere entertainment. Kings, unfortunately, existed in the abyss betwixt.

Kings was a show that was too good but not good enough. The early comparisons I made to Carnivàle were a sign that the show was attempting to achieve the greatness that lies beyond the valley; where a show will be talked about and analysed for years after. But it didn’t make it there. Maybe Michael Green didn’t have the writing chops to match Daniel Knauf, or maybe the show would have achieved that greatness over the course of the series. Either way, in my mind, Kings sits somewhere in that valley, reaching for more, and not getting the chance it deserves.

It was only a few days ago that I published my first review of Kings which was more critical than praising and already the show has been made even deader. NBC has removed Kings from their schedule entirely now, opting to burn off the remaining episodes in the summer.

I’m not too sore about this, to be honest. Not only is most of my outrage over Kings’ poor ratings died away as it’s become clear that nobody was watching, but this week’s episode made me worry about the show’s direction. Michael Green, who was a writer on Heroes previously, has been heading up Kings and doing an admirable job of it, but as a former writer for Heroes I wonder if he’s picked up some of their bad habits.

Heroes focuses far too heavily on plot, to the detriment of its characters; in fact, at this point they’re all vapid caricatures imbued with so little substance it’s hard to care at all about how the story continues. I’m not saying that’s what’s happening on Kings, merely that it’s a distinct possibility and this week’s episode did seem more focused on plot progression than character development. I sincerely hope that my feelings about this week’s episode don’t carry forward and that the show concludes in a satisfying way. I’m just aware that the show could let me down. At least I have a couple months to cushion the blow.

On Thursday, news broke that Dollhouse was cancelled and, given the earlier news that Kings was ostensibly cancelled, I decided to abandon my regular posts about Dollhouse and Kings. Even with the update that the rumours of the show’s cancellation had been greatly exaggerated, I still refused to fall into the trap of false hope. Well, tonight’s episode of Dollhouse was so fucking good, I reversed my previous position. The show might be at death’s door, but it’s still outrageously awesome. My full write-up will probably be posted in the next couple days.

It’s only been a few weeks for me as a regular recapper of television shows, and in that brief amount of time both of the shows I cared about enough to discuss on a weekly basis have been cancelled. Not officially cancelled, of course; Dollhouse’s 13th episode, originally planned as the finale for the season, will not be aired, and Kings has been moved to Saturdays. But they’ve been cancelled nonetheless. So I’m done with all that. The more I write about shows, the sooner they seem to be cancelled. Besides, I could continue writing about each new episode — detailing the many ways I love each scene, each characterization, each twist — but everything would end with “if only the show wasn’t cancelled.” I don’t think I want to subject myself to that. So I’m finished. For now, anyways.

UPDATE: Supposedly, the non-airing of the 13th episode was expected. So the show isn’t necessarily cancelled. That said, I’m not buying it. I’ve given up hope. It’s over. Even if the non-airing of this final episode was done in good faith, the damage is done. To the dedicated fans, the ones who were willing to go back to Fox, despite the abuse they suffered with Firefly and Arrested Development, because they were assured that things would be different, this was what we knew was inevitable but silently ignored as the evidence mounted around us. The show is dead. At least this time, people won’t be able to blame shifting schedules on the show’s failure. The sad truth is, the vocal fans of Joss Whedon do little but talk. Because none of them came to watch.

Kings has been taken off of NBC’s Sunday schedule, and Variety is Johnny on the Spot with the monarchy puns.

After yet another trouncing by entirely inferior television, it’s being move to the less high-profile Saturday night 8pm time slot. The worst part of this is its being replaced by longer episodes of Dateline. I’ve never understood this response from networks. The show is complete and ready to air in its entirety. There is nothing better to put in that time slot. And yet the networks invariably opt to air repeats or unnecessarily long versions of slightly more popular shows. I understand that ratings are important, but at the same time, giving a show a chance to build a connection with the audience, even if that happens to take a while, seems advantageous to me.

It’s obvious to anybody now that Kings is going to get cancelled. It’s a sad day. Not an outrageous day, and that makes it all the more sadder.