Of the top of my head, here's a list of TV shows that have been canceled mid-season this year:

Runaways, Studio 60, Black Donnellys, Six Degrees, DayBreak, Justice, Vanished, Kidnapped, Andy Barker PI, The Wedding Belles, Standoff.

That's quite a few shows, and that's not even all the shows that were canceled. Just the ones I remember the names of.

So NBC canceled The Black Donnellys. That in itself wasn't really dumb. What is dumb is canceling it before new episodes of Heroes come on as a lead in. Instead, when Heroes returns, that show will be the lead in to The Real Wedding Crashers.

Heroes fans aren't the target audience of Wedding Crashers. Black Donnelly fans the audence from Heroes.

Stupid.

I ran like hell away from this episode.

I found this episode to be unwatchable. I lost interest minutes into it. CSI:Miami's repeat was more interesting.

I tuned in every once in while, though, and liked the bit about Jenny's dad with his dementia. Everything else, though.... didn't they do that last week?

I may give this show another chance. But while I doubt that it'll get canceled, hope for renewal is slim.

The Deathslot. That's what NBC should call its Monday at 10PM timeslot. That's when CBS airs CSI:Miami, the #1 or #2 show on tv (aside from American Idol or other non-regularly scheduled shows.)

It's a tough time. For some reason, Miami continues to dominate. And no matter what NBC does, it just can't win. Studio 60 suffered from the Deathslot. The Black Donnellys is suffering. It's not that these shows are all bad. They just can't win.

So maybe it shouldn't try.

Instead, I think NBC should put reruns in that slot. But not just any rerun. Battlestar Galactica reruns.

Black Donnellys: Complete Series at Amazon.com

After watching Mondays episodes, I've discovered a Truth.

1. NBC will do anything to make sure a series fails.

Did you know that there's another episode of this show on the internet? I believe it's called "God is a Comedian." This is important because Monday's episode was the fourth in the series, but the third one aired. And the one on the internet is part of the series (not like the Battlestar Galactica ones which were basically just ad-ons.

That means bits of plot or character development are missing. Unless you know the secret handshake. I'm not sure if NBC announced this fact during the airing of the show. But I'd wager to say that most people don't watch tv on their computer. So potentially millions of us are missing out on.... something.

BlackDonnellysForum.com

A forum discussing the new NBC show The Black Donnellys. (I'm registered there as silverwing.)

Two things about the new NBC show The Black Donnellys:

1. I can't stand the framing sequence with "Joey Icecream." It's not funny; it doesn't add anything to the plot; and he's basically just really, really annoying. If this show goes on for much longer (and I have my doubts that it will) there had better be a really good payoff with him.