Viewer Discretion Advised

It's happened again. It seems to be a ritual with me. I have fallen for a television show. Hard. So buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I have a love/hate relationship with television. Once I discover a show I love, the networks seem to show it nothing but hate, and I wind up depressed and without a shred of hope that anything witty, smart, or simply entertaining will ever appear on my TV screen again. My family often muses that I am a pox upon any series - once I love it, it's cancelled. Period. Eli Stone anyone? Sports Night? (I'm still not over that one! Forever will I mourn the loss of Dan and Casey.) Need I say more?

It seems this uncomfortable phenomenon works retroactively as well. After viewing (and viewing and viewing.....) the film Serenity, I recently became obsessed with it and its television predecessor Firefly. The story! The wit! The snark! Nathan Fillion! It was perfect. It was ingenious. And it was cancelled after eleven episodes aired - sporadically and out of order, I might add.

We interrupt this blog entry to bring you a momentary rant....

Seriously - Fox couldn't make a go out of something that was so good it seems a crime to call it a television series?!?!?! Really?!?!?! Another inane reality show knocking on the door with the promise of appealing to the lowest common cultural denomonator? Heaven forbid we should miss out on someone marrying a stranger for money, or yet another night of American Idol!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled musings.....

Even knowing the fate of a series beforehand, I could not help but become enamored. It appears as though I am a browncoat to the core. Who knew! Incidentally, if you haven't seen Serenity or Firefly, you must do so. Now. Type in the address of your favorite purveyor of DVDs into your browser immediately and buy them. I'll wait.......

And so, once more into the breach I go. Falling in love with a series that has no chance of survival now that I am firmly ensconced in its fan base. What series could entice me into the inevitable emotional freefall, you might ask? It's a little show called Castle. And like the others that have gone before, it is witty, smart, and more fun than one has any right to expect from a television series any more. Oh yes, and did I mention it stars the incomporable (and adorable) Nathan Fillion, our beloved Captain Mal Reynolds from the aforementioned and utterly beloved Firefly/Serenity?

So strap in boys and girls and enjoy it while you can. With me on board, the ride is sure to end in unceremonious cancellation. But what a ride it will be!