Oh, 'Better Off Ted' and 'Party Down,' why did you have to be so good? You made most other comedies seem leaden and false by comparison.

Fans of 'Better Off Ted' had to put up with a lot during its two-season run, which ended in cancellation. The critically acclaimed show was mostly ignored by ABC, despite the fact that it developed into an increasingly hilarious workplace comedy.

You'd have thought the biggest indignity faced by Ted and the crew at Veridian Dynamics was ABC's cracked-out scheduling of the show (season 2 premiered in December, one of television's most fatal dead zones, and one episode aired on New Year's Day, which is almost the same as not airing at all).

But no, there were more indignities to come. ABC held on to the final two episodes of the show like a corporate executive clutching a bonus check. The network even teased us earlier in the summer by scheduling a tentative airdate for the episodes, which was of course rescinded.

Hey you. Yeah, you - guy wasting company time by watching last week's episode of Heroes on Hulu. Enjoying it? Well, get ready to cough up some cash to find out what happens next.

In a move that we've all long feared was probably inevitable anyway, Chase Carey, deputy chairman of News Corp. (one of Hulu's co-owners) annouced that Hulu would begin charging users. According to Broadcasting & Cable, Hulu's fees could start as early as 2010.

You may commence booing now.

The painful writers strike of several months ago could prove a boon to the development of a new web TV channel packed with original content.

The months long Writers Guild of America strike that began November 1 of 2007 touched off a storm from which Hollywood still hasn't recovered. It slowed not only the production of new TV shows but the purchase and development of fresh material. The jury is still out on whether the settlement agreement that ended it all accomplish much for writers -- or merely set-up another strike in 2011.

Reports say, during the work stoppage, a group of top-shelf TV creators decided to step out of the traditional production model and develop material just for the web.

When I'm not pumping out my latest TV rant for the ol' Squad here, I write pretty infrequently for another blog with some old college roomies called The Suite Spot. It's really nothing more than a bunch of disgruntled twentysomething males talking about whatever we want.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, my buddy Keith wrote something that astounded me: he's canceled his cable TV service. And not just cable - I mean everything. Basic service too. The man is TV-less.

Wha?!? Just how the heck can a red-blooded American male say no more to cable TV? Good-bye ESPN? So long crappy late night soft-core porn? Farewell Desperate Hou... wait, nevermind. That one sounds great, but you get my point.

Is Keith still watching TV? Sure, tons of it. But he's doing something that many of us only use as a supplement to our normal TV viewing. He's watching everything online.