Shed

I had to shake my head at the news that Fox had canceled it's new series Skin after just three episodes. It was easily the best-reviewed drama on the network and was heavily promoted during the summer and throughout this fall's baseball playoffs. I watched the pilot, and while I wasn't blown away, I was at least pleasantly surprised by the depth of the characters (particularly the scheming parents). Yet this is just another example of a long pattern of programming impatience by Fox. Every time the network gets a new, offbeat show that gets great reviews, it's prematurely yanked. Shows like Action, Family Guy, Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Undeclared (one of the five funniest shows I've ever seen) were all original, creative shows fallen prey to Fox execs who give these shows competetive time slots because they don't have a "mass appeal." Skin (which was up against Monday Night Football and Everybody Loves Raymond) was basically set up to fail, so you wonder why the network even bothered in the first place. I just hope that creative producers learn their lesson and just go to cable, where they'll at least stand a fighting chance.