TVSquad

Quick, what do the following TV shows have in common: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, M*A*S*H, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson?

Answer: they're not on Empire Magazine's list of the 50 best greatest TV shows of all-time. Let the arguments begin!

First it was Deadwood, then it was John From Cincinnati. Now, it seems, David Milch has decided to get back to his cop roots with Last of the Ninth.

Last of the Ninth is a cop drama that focuses on the rampant corruption of the NYPD in the 1970's

It's that festive time of year when children put tinsel on the television antennas and hang mistletoe over their favorite DVDs. Where celebrities check into rehab to spend the holidays with all their celebrity friends. And where the rest of America is invited to corporate non-specific, non-religious, non-alcoholic generic winter holiday luncheons where they can mingle with their co-workers and say things like "Remember when this company used to have real Christmas parties?"

But while political correctness may have ruined most holiday functions, nothing can ruin Festivus! That magical season in which TV Squadders hope and pray for televisions dreams come true. And I know just what I want...

HBO hasn't been able to replicate the success of its biggest hit to date, The Sopranos, but that doesn't seem to bother its subscribers. According to Reuters, even experts such as senior analyst Deana Myers, who's been tracking premium cable viewing patterns for the past decade, are surprised. While she says "it did seem like it was going to go down," those numbers in fact increased slightly. Apparently the viewers weren't hanging onto HBO just to see how the saga of mobster Tony Soprano turned out after all.

Deadwood fans have been treated like yo-yos for the past several months. Some days we hear that the movies are a go and some days we hear that the movies are a no.

Take this as one of the "no" days.

And it comes from a pretty good source, Ian McShane himself. He's interviewed by Ryan Stewart over at our sister blog Cinematical, where he reveals that a good friend of his called him last week and told him that the movies weren't going to happen and that the production company is tearing down the sets. He also says that even if the movies were going to be made in the next year, he wouldn't be able to do them because he's too busy with his film schedule.

OK, it seems to be "David Milch Day" here at TV Squad, with petitions and spoofs and all that. Now comes word about the new show that Milch is doing with HBO (they certainly aren't wasting any time, eh?).

The new Milch show isn't Deadwood (sorry fans), it's a cop show, centering on a Vietnam veteran who returns to the United States and joins the New York City police force in the 1970s. This is actually a show that Milch and HBO have been working on even before Deadwood or John From Cincinnati, but now they have the time to work on it.

No word yet on whether this cop will levitate or not, but considering it's Milch and gritty 70's cops and HBO, expect a lot of swearing.

And now, the other side of the debate.

As we previously mentioned, HBO decided not to renew the surf-noir drama John from Cincinnati on Monday, which happened to be the day after the series finale aired. On Tuesday, the day after it was canceled, an Internet petition was created to save the show. The description of the petition doesn't say much, other than HBO should stop being a s*it heel by giving viewers innovative television that they take away to soon. Oh, it also says that the premium-cable network should stop being stupid and finish Deadwood. All their words, folks, not mine.

At the time I write this there are 110 signatures. If you want to add your name to the list then click right here.

[Thanks to Eban for this information]

I don't think anyone will be too surprised by the following news. One day after the finale of John from Cincinnati aired on HBO the pay-cable network decided to pull the plug on the quirky surfer drama co-created by David Milch.

Unlike Milch's other creation for HBO, the critical and fan favorite Deadwood, John never clicked with viewers, despite a strong cast that featured Bruce Greenwood and Rebecca De Mornay. If you doubt me take a look at some of the comments made by your fellow TV Squad readers on the show. While many of them were fascinated by the concept, and gave Milch the benefit of the doubt, they also expressed confusion and boredom about the show.