TVSquad

(S01E01/S01E02) To be honest, I was sold on this one long before we finally got a look at what the Drive team has been working on all this time. I count myself as a Tim Minear fan, so his involvement was enough to get me interested. Add in a cast including Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Melanie Lynskey (Two And A Half Men), Kevin Alejandro (Sleeper Cell), Kristin Lehman (Tilt), Dylan Baker (The Book Of Daniel), and Taryn Manning (Hustle & Flow), and you really have something.

Well, they say nothing lasts forever, and they were right. NBC's The Book of Daniel has been cancelled, effective immediately. The Friday 10 pm slot will be occupied this week by a rerun of a Law and Order episode. No word yet on what the network will do to permanently fill the slot.

I have mixed feelings on this situation. IMHO, the episodes were filled with way too many subplots and that the writers and producers were more interested in trying to get away with things rather than developing a story. However, I also thought the show could have evolved into something, given more time. Of course, ratings are everything, and this show didn't have them, plain and simple.

I wonder if The Book of Daniel will be "resurrected" on a cable network, a la HBO or Showtime. It might just find a home and a loyal, albeit smaller, audience if that happens.

A television station in Indiana is refusing to air the new NBC series, The Book of Daniel, which features an Episcopalian priest who regularly talks to Jesus. The general manager of WTWO in Terre Haute posted a statement about his decision on his station's website. It doesn't give an explanation about why he's opting out of programming, except to say, "If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission." In the statement, he also criticizes the cable industry for being "the worst offenders of indecency on television..." and calls for FCC oversight. Not sure if this guy has even seen the show or if he's just jumping on the bandwagon.

This, quite frankly, pisses me off. Who is this guy to decide what shows are right for the town of Terre Haute? Don't his viewers have the right not to watch? Can't they make that decision for themselves? If he wants to protect his town from crap, he should take Joey off the air.

Now that 2005 is behind us, we can look forward to new and returning favorite shows all this month on television. What will you be watching?

South Beach (Wednesdays, UPN) Two hot, New York City working-class bachelors leave the big city behind to follow one of their girlfriends to South Beach, FL, only to discover that she has a new boyfriend. They get mixed up with the rich and famous in the club scene. After viewing a sneak preview on UPN's website, it looks like a guilty pleasure like The O.C., except with more sex and no high school. Jennifer Lopez is the executive producer and it co-stars Vanessa Williams as a club owner and mother to one of the main characters. South Beach premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8 pm.