Going, going...GONE!

The broadcast TV networks are revealing their new fall schedules this week. And two of my weekly go-to’s are missing from the line-up. CBS didn’t renew Jericho, the post-nuclear drama, for a second season. That’s a shame. The show’s storyline started off very strong when it debuted, then sagged a bit mid-season before a pretty strong finish. But my biggest regret is that the CW has cancelled the terrific Veronica Mars after three years. Mars was one of the smartest, well-written, and well-acted shows on TV, and I’ll miss it tremendously. I guess I should be thankful that the producers weren’t given the green light to “retool” the series and reimagine the teenaged private investigator as an FBI agent, which they'd proposed to the network. I’d have hated to see dear Veronica work for the goddamn feds.

But there’s good news from NBC this week. Heroes, which may be the most compelling TV series of the last few years, has been renewed — no big surprise. But in addition, its occasional vacation periods during next season will be filled with Heroes: Origins, which I understand consists of standalone stories introducing new heroes, all set in the Heroes “universe.” This means that next year, we’ll have a total of 30 episodes (rather than 23) and fewer reruns of this great show.