Don't I Wish My Girlfriend Was Just Like Them? Uh, Not So Much

I've long ago accepted the fact that my favorite TV shows can't run 52 weeks a year. (Though if I ruled the universe, they damn sure would).

But if a network is going to pull a show for a period of time to introduce something new, at least make it something worthwhile. That's all I ask.

ABC yanks "Lost" for nearly three months, and all it gives us is "Daybreak," which bombed and actually hurt "Lost's" ratings when it returned.

"Veronica Mars" is already 50-50 to return for a fourth season next year, but what is the CW giving us in its place? Season 2 of "The Pussycat Dolls," (CW, 9 p.m.) Sadly, I've no doubt that a bunch of hot, scantily clad, no-talent group of young women will probably do better for the network than "VM" did in the ratings.

It's not that I don't like hot, scantily clad women. I like them as much as the next guy. But prime-time real estate is a valuable commodity (even on the CW) and some shows can't afford to be yanked, particularly a complexly plotted show like "VM." Meanwhile, the networks continue to dumb down the TV landscape with shows like "Pussycat Dolls" and "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader," which earned Fox better numbers last week than any show not named "American Idol."

What's frustrating is that the networks have been edging toward smarter TV (in spite of themselves) thanks to the strong programming on cable. But for every two steps forward, they seem to leap one back.

NOT SO PROSPEROUS: ABC has yanked freshman sitcom "Knights of Prosperity," thanks to low ratings. Whoever programs for ABC on Wednesday nights ought to be dragged out and shot, because this is just the latest foul-up for the network on that night. "Knights," a show that had a lot of buzz (though I thought it inferior to the similarly themed "My Name Is Earl") never had a chance as ABC put it on against "American Idol."

LOST-HEROES CONNECTIONS: This pretty clever article from the Boston Globe was e-mailed to me courtesy of my brother.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/03/04/its_all_connected/?p1=email_to_a_friend

TUESDAY'S BEST BETS: Rock star Dave Matthews guest stars as an autistic piano prodigy on "House" (Fox, 9 p.m.), one of the few original episodes of any series airing tonight. It follows the male finalists squaring off on "American Idol."

ABC, CBS and NBC are all reruns with their dramatic series tonight. Before inflicting the "Pussycat Dolls" upon us, the CW gives us a new "Gilmore Girls" at 8 p.m.