midseason

Last week it was announced that The CW had passed on Aquaman, but now it looks like, officially, it's not dead yet. It is still in contention as a mid-season replacement. The superhero show is from the Smallville people, and many thought the show was a shoo-in to make the fall schedule.

And for those of you who were ticked that Reba had been canceled, it too might come back mid-season. So I guess all you Reba/Aquaman fans (can't wait for that crossover episode) will have just pray that one of the new shows does really badly.

Surely, you've seen the ads for NBC's big new midseason dramedy, The Book of Daniel? The one where the Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest talks to a bum-hippie Jesus about his drug dealing daughter and his gay son and the fact that his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law? You know, the one that looks like a piece of overcooked, self-conciously "quirky" Ally McBealist crap? As Adam pointed out yesterday morning, the American Family Association is even more excited about Daniel than I am, although for entirely different reasons; in fact, they're calling for NBC to cancel the show before it even airs. In a statement sent to their members, AFA said, "It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." They're asking their members to bombard the network with letters until they get their way. Meanwhile, NBC has fought back with a statement of their own, predictably insisting that if we try it, we might like it. "We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family," the network says. 

Hmmmm... an absurdly reactionary organization is trying to get an apparently crap show canceled before it debuts. That's just silly. Then again, it is, by all appearances, a crap show. What side to take?