TVSquad

Hear that sound -- a nearly inaudible rumbling coming over the horizon? Everyday it is getting louder and louder. Soon, the stampede that is the return of scripted series back from the depths of the WGA strike will overrun our televisions and computer screens, bringing overwhelming joy to our lives.

Okay, that statement may be a little flowery, but the sentiment is still there. After a very long dry period a good many of our favorite comedies and dramas are returning to the television landscape. We've had a taste of it these last few weeks with the return of shows like The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dirt, The Riches and Smallville. That was just a preview of what is to come. Over the next few weeks we will see the return of The Office, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, all of the CSIs, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost, among others.

... Five canceled shows.

Isn't it really sad when a TV show is canceled? It's like a family pet has died. You're not going to see these characters anymore, you're not going to find out what happened to them, and now you have to learn to like a whole new show and a new set of characters. And if the show replaced your favorite canceled show, you probably won't even watch. I still remember when Walker, Texas Ranger replaced Raven on CBS in the early 90s. I never forgave Chuck Norris for doing that and couldn't even watch his show, even though both shows were about heroes who kicked people with their feet.

2007 brought many cancellations to fans. Many cancellations we saw coming, many we didn't care about at all, and some truly hurt us. After the jump are the top five cancellations of the year. The ones that hit us the most and we talked about the most. Air your cancellation grievance in the comments below and at your Festivus party.

Of course, I should say not all network execs because some of them, some place, somewhere, actually do love television and understand you have to give shows time to develop. This is for the other 93% of them.

The network upfronts this week are showing that network executives are the ultimate politicians, tossing around both praise and excuses and bullshit like they were running for Congress. Sure, the networks want to make money, and "spin" is a part of any business. But take a look at some of the comments we've heard this week:

Just in time for the May upfronts (that time of year when all of the networks - ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and The CW - unveil their lineups for the fall), The Futon Critic has a complete guide to what shows have been renewed and what shows have been canceled for the 2007-08 season.

Most of the news isn't that surprising. We already know that shows like The Black Donnellys and Six Degrees and King of Queens are ending, and that shows like Lost, Bones, and 30 Rock have been renewed. However, I wasn't aware that Men in Trees had already been renewed, and isn't it a little odd to put 60 Minutes in the "Fate To Be Determined" category? I would assume it's definitely renewed.

There's also a very handy guide to all of the pilots that are currently in development (at the top), so you can see what shows just might replace your favorites.

Here's a cool idea: TVSeriesFinale.com, a site devoted to the last episodes of TV shows.

They cover the series finale of all types of shows (sitcoms, dramas, reality shows, etc), whether they are canceled after several seasons on the air or pulled immediately by the networks (*cough* Day Break *cough*). It's not just breaking news (though there is plenty of that too), it's actualy in-depth summaries of final episodes, what happened to the characters and what they went on to do after the show went off the air.

I'm glad the site explains that episode of The Golden Girls I saw last year. It seemed to be a pilot for a spinoff series that never happened, but it included David Leisure as an annoying neighbor. They reworked the show and turned it into Empty Nest. Also, I had no idea that Nurses was a spinoff of Empty Nest.

[via TV Barn]

We'll be picking the winners of the Scrubs "Invent a TV Condition" contest this coming weekend, so get your entries in soon! We've got a lot of prizes to give away, with a grand prize $250 Best Buy gift card and ten Scrubs prize-packs for runners-up. We're helping get the word out about Scrubs coming to syndication on select networks, and what better way to help the cause than getting ten Scrubs hats and t-shirts out there on the streets?

Also, there's still time to enter the "Which show gets canceled first" contest, with an awesome BeyondTV HD PVR setup. But enter quickly, as the clock is ticking for some of these shows already!

I really can't give you a deadline on this contest, since we don't know when we'll hear of a new show's demise. So, you'd better get your guess in before it's too late!

Make sure you read the full rules at the original post and also post your guess in a comment to that post (not this one). You'll have to make sure you don't duplicate another person's guess, so choose carefully -- you only get one shot at it.

Good luck!

This is Upfronts week, when all the networks reveal their new fall schedules and tell us which new shows have made it and which old shows have been canceled. We'll have coverage every day this week (starting later today, with NBC's schedule.) Here's a handy guide to what's coming up:

• Today: NBC
• Tuesday: ABC
• Wednesday: CBS
• Thursday: FOX and The CW