'Tis Lousy to Have Loved and Lost... : 2006-2007's TV Casualties Part 6

SIX DEGREES

Synopsis: The lives of six strangers in New York City come together through coincidences and interlocking story fragments.

What Worked: Yeah, sounds like a boring show, huh? Not necessarily. While this particular J.J. Abrams concoction didn't have superspies or nanobot black clouds, it had a few very good things going for it. Firstly, I have to commend Abrams for once again finding a perfect laid-back tone that was warm and inviting, an attitude he also brought to personal favorites "Felicity" and "What About Brian?" (more on the latter in a few days). He never shows all his cards and allows these shows to evolve naturally, changing direction at a moment's notice. This may sound like a haphazard way to guide a show, and in a way it is, but to me it keeps everything fresh and involved.

Second on that list is the A-level ensemble, which included Hope Davis ("American Splendor") as a grieving widow of a war correspondent, Campbell Scott ("Singles") as a divorced alcoholic photographer, and the likes of Jay Hernandez ("Hostel"), Erika Christensen ("Traffic"), Bridget Moynahan ("The Recruit") and Dorian Missick ("Lucky Number Slevin"). While the intersecting stories sometimes tried to hard to mimick "Crash" (not the awesome Cronenberg movie, but that lame Haggis one that just happened to win an Oscar for best picture), it never steered into melodrama, and credit has to be given to the cast for trusting in their instincts and playing it as true as possible.

This was a show about second chances, about having faith in those around you, about never saying "die." Unfortunately, ABC didn't follow any of the themes and dropped it after only showing six of the 14 episodes.

What Didn't Work: Well, not much really happened on the show. Everything was set up in the pilot, and the six characters quickly connecting in a fun little "Magnolia" way very quickly, but after that where is there to go? The show found more and more ways to create new combinations of these characters, but sometimes forgot to get into the souls of the people. It was mildly frustrating, but not even remotely bad.

Why Not Enough People Watched: It's all laid out pretty well above. Not enough happened quickly enough, and after about two episodes the audience just went away. Unable to capitalize on the post-"Grey's Anatomy" spot, it withered away into nothingness, based on its quality that some would consider lackadaisical.

In a lot of ways, ABC was smart in canceling this. Save for HBO shows, one of the "CSI" craptaculars, "Rescue Me" and the one "Law & Order" version that's not struggling for ratings (that would be the one about pedophiles and rapists going head-to-head with that scary fucker from "Oz" and the daughter of Jayne Mansfield), it is a very bad idea to film in New York. It is always too expensive, it always yields shows Middle America doesn't care about, and it always gets canceled. First chance they got, the suits let this go.

Overall Series: 6.5 (out of 10)

Final 2006-2007 Neilsen Rating: #68 (8.3 million viewers)

Fun Fact: This was San Francisco Chronicle TV writer Tim Goodman's favorite pilot of the season. Also, it was designed originally for WB, where I think it may have lasted a full season, but nothing more.

'Tis Lousy to Have Loved and Lost... : 2006-2007's TV Casualties Part 3

HELP ME HELP YOU

Synopsis: Ted Danson plays a group therapist to a bunch of crazy whackos while dealing with his own difficult life, including an estranged wife (Jane Kaczmarek from "Malcolm in the Middle") who has just left him for Tom Wilson, a.k.a. Biff from "Back to the Future."

What Worked: This laugh track-free, improv-based comedy had a remarkably high quirk factor that ultimately led to its downfall. Surrounding himself with some of the best names in improvised comedy, this show worked its way into my better graces, despite some terrible sitcom-my subplots, by relying on the small idiosyncracies of the characters and not wacky madness at every turn. Each week we would learn more about Danson's core therapy group and why they are, in fact, all insane. The stand-out was the spunky Suzy Nakamura ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") who was an agoraphobe with little luck in love. The best episode focused on her home life, when upon meeting with her internet blind date and finding out it was a teenage boy (the son from "Sons & Daughters," to drop another improvised TV sitcom into the mix), she chooses to embrace him and his friends and bond over videogames and junk food.

The rest of the main group were interesting to watch, but what really made the show a haven for comedy nerds were the constant appearances by quasi-famous improv actors of whom you would have to have a working knowledge in order to realize why their mere appearance is enough to garner a few chuckles. This would include Jane Lynch and Judd Apatow (respectively a supporting character and the writer/director of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), Jonathan Katz ("Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist") and Toby Huss (while an accomplished comedian and voice-over artist in such shows as "Reno 911" and "King of the Hill," is probably best known to my readers as Stumpy on "Carnivale").

The show also gave me one of the biggest laughs of the year, when in the pilot Danson tries to get revenge on car salesman Tom Wilson by attempting to break his car windows with a golf club, only to find that the car's windows are too strong for his swing, resulting in him commenting something akin to "That's really a nice car."

What Didn't Work: I hate to say this, but Jane Kaczmarek. It's no secret that "Malcolm in the Middle" is one of my favorite comedies of all time, but she was completely wasted on this particular show. To go from Lois, uber-TV mother, to this shrill cipher was insulting to her talents.

Another member of the ensemble, Jere Burns ("Max Headroom"), was saddled with a completely terrible and unlikable character, a hot shot big wig with anger issues who would go so far as to fire an employee for beating his high score on a cell phone game. The character was a misstep, even during his scenes with a fellow group member with whom he was having an affair.

A couple times, the show lost some of its energy and a couple episodes seem like placeholders as a result. It bounced back, but I might have been the only one who noticed.

And, in retrospect, the show wasn't as funny as I thought it was when it was on.

Why Not Enough People Watched: Too quirky. Seriously. The general public like their Ted Danson in lame "Becker" reruns, not as a smart but complicated therapist, and to group him with a bunch of great improv actors just wasn't going to bring in the big numbers. It did gain a bit of ratings when put in the after-"Dancing-With-the-Stars" spot, but that never lasts more than a couple weeks in most instances. (Don't tell that to "Til Death," which only survived because it paired up with "AI" results a few times. Oh, and it was the only new Fox show of the 2006-2007 season that hadn't been canceled already.)

Overall Series: 7 (out of 10)

Final 2006-2007 Neilsen Rating: #65 (8.4 million viewers)

Fun Fact: Tom Wilson is now a semi-popular comedian, and his MySpace can be found here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=95021732