TV Cancellations and New Shows

The season finale of the ABC sitcom "Better With You" seemed too final. Casey and Mia had their baby, a boy they named Charlie (despite originally agreeing on "Spencer" for a boy), they got married in the maternity ward just before little Charlie was born, and Mia's big sister Maddie told her boyfriend Ben that she too would like to become a mother someday. And Mia and Maddie's parents Joel and Vicky suddenly realized how much they loved each other. The finale tied up so many loose ends, it felt as if it was the very last episode of the series.

It was. "Better With You" was just canceled. So what? I only watched it because it filled the space between "The Middle" and Modern Family," two much better sitcoms. "Better With You" was a utility series with canned one-liners and a laugh track that was only mildly funny at best. I'm sorry Jennifer Finnigan is out of a job and Joanna Garcia Swisher will be spending more time at Yankee games watching her husband play ball than she planned to this summer, but I'm really not going to miss it.

But I appreciated Edward Hermann's guest appearance in the final episode as the judge that marries Mia and Casey. He can give a great performance reading from the phone book. The male leads in "Better With You," well . . ..

Staying with ABC for a moment . . . Matthew Perry's "Mr. Sunshine" has set, also having gotten canceled. I didn't see that coming. I thought it needed work, but I thought it had a good premise, and I thought there was plenty of opportunity for it to improve. I have since been led to understand that Perry is back in rehab. Also gone is "Detroit 1-8-7." Right, a crime show set in a devastated city. You can see stories like that on the evening news.

Also, "Off The Map" is off the air. Once again, ABC has proven to be as unable to have a successful series in the 10 PM Eastern hour on Wednesdays as Fox has been unwilling to program anything in the 10 PM Eastern hour on any day.

New ABC shows debuting in the fall include a "Charlie's Angels" remake and a fairy-tale themed show, "Once Upon a Time" starring "Big Love'"s Ginnifer Goodwin and "House"'s Jennifer Morrison, who's currently guest-appearing on CBS's "How I Met Your Mother." See, I told you Zoey wasn't Ted Mosby's future wife.

At NBC, the drama "The Event" proved to be a non-event, and it got axed. New this fall are "Prime Suspect," an adaptation of the British series starring Helen Mirren (the American version will star Maria Bello) and "Up All Night," yet another Christina Applegate sitcom. (Yawn.) The Peacock Network renewed "Parenthood," that's all you need to know. :-)

Five Fox shows, including the Jennifer Beals vehicle "Chicago Code," were canceled (pity, I like Jennifer Beals), which was considered a bloodbath because Fox broadcasts fewer shows overall than the other three networks. No Fox programming at 10 PM Eastern - I still don't get that.

CBS's plans are yet to be divulged. But this much I can report. First, the bad news: "Two And a Half Men" is not being canceled. Now, the worse news - noted non-actor Ashton Kutcher is replacing Charlie Sheen.

The good news? He's not replacing Sheen as Charlie Harper; he's going to play a new character. Sorry, that's the best I can say.