I can't TOTALLY whine about television programming....

Alright, I don't just latch onto any TV show anymore. It's got to be REALLY cool for me to even consider watching it. Nowadays I catch most of my TV online after the show's already aired. We do watch TV here but it's sporadic on "appointment" TV.... So, when I made appointments to watch "Life" and "Knight Rider" and then both shows get cancelled, I'm not happy. "Studio 60", cancelled. "Committed", cancelled.

So, when I read that "Life" gets cancelled I lament, just like everyone else "Why do all the well-written shows get cancelled?"

Then, I remember that I've missed the ends of the last couple of "NUMB3RS" episodes and totally missed the season finale. Well, about 80 minutes later I'm caught up and realize...THIS is my favorite show! (not of all time, but it's getting there, that's another story.) Not only that, it hasn't been cancelled! It's a juggernaut, it always performs well and it's probably the kind of show that runs until the creator decides it's time to stop. (A situation people can live with.)

There's something oddly believable about this show. The way the characters are written, the way they're acted. You actually learn about the people they've created for this show and you care. It's more like reading a book, where there's time to learn about everyone and everything that's going on. I don't get it completely, but I love it.

The way they move people in and out of the team that the show is centered on is crazy. When I think about it, the team has changed alot since 2005, and not all at once. The young actors they bring in are people I've never heard of but can really act! It's almost like "The Magnificent Seven". All the guys in that movie were younger and relative unknowns when they came on the big screen.

Here you've got Rob Morrow, who most people have heard of before, David Krumholtz (who was the manager with the slicked-back hair in "Ray"), Peter MacNicol (who is pretty famous in his own right ("Sank you Lord!") and Alimi Ballard (the quizmaster from "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch". Do you know how long it took me to figure out that was him!?!?!)

Oh, and did I mention Judd Nelson? He's so very cool that I can't even describe how he makes the show for me. There's something about it that is just so cool you can't help yourself but love him. The best thing about Judd Nelson is that he's been in everything. He was the Executive Producer who lost it on national TV in the opening scenes of Studio 60 and he had his own show "Dear John." He's just great. If wasn't such a funny, laid-back dude he could have easily been the creepy character actor in "The Game." He's everywhere!

Combine all of that with the fact that Bill Nye the Science Guy works at the fictional college where Charlie Eppes teaches and you've got a really cool show.

I guess the best part of the show, in the end, is how the show is written around the relationships of the cast. The way everyone relates to each other makes every second of the show intriguing because you're always learning about the characters. Everything on this show moves on relationships. That's what's so cool. Can't everyone relate to having a crew, a family, somewhere where they fit in? And if they don't, isn't that what everyone wants? Jesus works for that too :o)

I suppose it's not all bad, TV that is. Not ALL of the well-written shows get cancelled and NUMB3RS is still on the air.