'Tis Lousy to Have Loved and Lost... : 2006-2007's TV Casualties Part 2

DAY BREAK

Synopsis: Taye Diggs ("Rent") plays as renowned Los Angeles cop who is framed for the death of an assistant district attorney. Catch is: he is reliving the same day over-and-over, "Groundhog Day" style, until he can uncover the conspiracy and figure out why he is being given this repeated chance to clear his name.

What Worked: Pretty damn near everything. This was a show for the ages, a taut, imaginative thriller with a supernatural twist that greatly rewarded attentive viewers with small details that grew into a whole lot of fun. Never taking itself too seriously, this loopy premise worked wonders by keeping it set strictly in a real world (no "Quantum Leap" madness) that didn't give the Diggs character, or the audience, any chance to breath. It was a fast-paced, violent, intelligent and entertaining mindfuck of the highest order, helped along by the fact that it was designed to begin and end its entire story within a 13-episode miniseries.

The show dealt with the constant struggle to not only prove his innocence, but also save the lives of many of those around him, including girlfriend Moon Bloodgood ("Pathfinder"), his ex-partner Adam Baldwin ("Firefly"), his sister's family and his informant. There were multiple plot strands threatening to collapse at any moment, but the show was savvy enough to juggle them effortlessly.

Not only was it a blast to see Diggs have to continually learn new tricks in order to survive and take information he gathered the day before and use them to his advantage the next day, but also deal with the bizarre fact that, unlike in Bill Murray's situation, injuries he garnered one day would continue onto the next, therefore making death in any day an endgame.

What Didn't Work: Absolutely nothing, save for the fact that this 13-episode miniseries, designed to cover up the "Lost" hiatus on ABC, was canceled after the sixth episode, making this a major blue balls network decision. Why it couldn't play out is beyond me. The remaining episodes are available on ABC.com, but I'll wait for the DVD set to devour with my mother.

Why Not Enough People Watched: We come back to the whole "serialized series are risky" explanation, especially when it comes to a midseason replacement. At this point, viewers were already juggling "Heroes," "Lost" and even recent casualty "Jericho," so a new series, one with such a batshit crazy premise, was lost on the casual viewer. It was too smart and too sly for its own good.

Taye Diggs has also not proven to be a draw, either on the big or small screen. His last show, "Kevin Hill," didn't make it past its first season, and it's hard to carry a show when nobody really cares. He is a charismatic actor and I wish the best for him, but network TV may not be the answer. Try HBO.

Overall Series: 9.5 (out of 10)

Final 2006-2007 Neilsen Rating: #85 (6.6 million viewers)

Fun Fact: Adam Baldwin is another show killer, having been in the cult classic series flop "Firefly" (which, of course, spun-off to the mini-flop of a film "Serenity") as well as the summer burnoff show from 2005 "The Inside." "The Visitor" and "The Cape," both from the mid-to-late 90s, also lasted only one season, and the fact that I hadn't heard of either is definitely a bad sign.