Death of another noble title?

It's week two without my Studio 60. Is it gone forever? Life is losing meaning...

First...just what the hell is The Black Donnely's? Why am I supposed to want to watch it? What in the world does it have in common with Studio 60?! Does NBC think they can cancel my favorite show (erm, put it on "indefinite hiatus") and pawn off a mediocre stinker like The Black Donnely's as a replacement? Apparently, they think they can.

You want to know why I liked Studio 60 so much? They carelessly made fun of media giants like NBC; nay, they ripped 'em a new one. That show irreverently laughed in the face of just about everything you can currently see on TV--the slathering dramatics, the relentless, weepy, feel-good, tissue box, audience-underestimating, tired, worn-out programming that gets regurgitated week after week by "Big Television". Now, if that statement comes as a shock to you, or you simply can't understand why in the world someone would say a thing like I just have, then please close you browser now; Oprah and Dr. Phil probably miss you.

Studio 60 was rebellious...edgy. I imagine that if there had been a show this week they'd have slipped in some jab at the whole Anna Nicole circus that's plagued the airwaves lately. That's totally conjecture, sure, but it could have happened. We're talking about the same show that featured the "Nazi" Santa Clause for crying out loud.

I loved how each show would open: Some flurry of dialog would ring out, and some obstacle--some peril or other--would threaten or stand in opposition to some of the cast members and ultimately "the show". Then, right as the weight of whatever problem it was fully sunk in, the Studio 60 title screen would flash on and the victorious melody of the show's theme music would play out. This is a show about beating the odds. That's what the notes of the guitar and brass sang out. No matter what the problem is, we're plowing right ahead and facing it.

I'll be the first to admit, it's a formulaic show. I love it all the same. As long as each episode was creative and inventive, I didn't care that I could see the formula. The show was about being outnumbered, being outgunned, being the underdog, and coming out ahead--even if it was just a small step ahead. Forgive the dramatization of this comparison, but I liken it to one of my favorite movies in recent years: Master and Commander. In the same way that the captain of the smaller, lighter, weaker ship used brilliant tactics to gain the upper hand and subdue the ship that could easily overpower him, so Matt and Danny brashly and creatively faced down the obstacles in their path, threats of cancellation, and won the right to air their show the next week.

It's a pity real life hasn't turned out the same way.

I'll miss more than just that. Studio 60 actually found a way to my heart without attempting to emotionally rape me as most other television shows would. I'll never forget Sting on his lute propounding "Fields of Gold" so delicately, so beautifully; I'll never forget The City of New Orleans on Christmas Eve playing "O Holy Night" and the near magical way it transported me back to a time in my life when things were simpler, when my heart could feel that Christmas had come.

Thank you, Studio 60. You were a breath of fresh air in a room full of sarin gas.