In a much-publicized move earlier this week, ABC canceled incessantly-promoted Heather Graham vehicle "Emily's Reasons Why Not" after only one episode. There was a bit of buzz about the cancellation, but it was by no means a first. Fox regularly cancels shows two or three episodes into their runs, and that's probably a better fate than shuttling them from night to night ensuring that nobody will ever see them.

The shocking thing isn't that ABC spent so much money promoting a show for which they never saw a script. The more shocking thing is that this sort of thing happens all the time. And it becomes a vicious cycle. Why should I as a viewer tune in to the first few weeks of a show? If the show gets cancelled, I've wasted time watching it. If it sticks around for awhile and catches on, I'll be able to rent the DVD or watch reruns to catch up.

Even Seinfeld didn't hit its stride until season 4, imagine if NBC had pulled the trigger after one episode and replaced it with some lame retread reality show or horrendous game show hosted by the World's Ugliest Soul Patch. I'm not saying that Heather Graham's show deserved a second chance (truth be told I didn't watch it, although I probably saw a half-hour's worth of commercials for it), but if Family Guy has taught us anything (besides "shamelessly ripping off the Simpsons can be profitable") its that TV execs have no clue what they're doing. Just put your less-profitable shows on iTunes so all the tight-jeans-wearing indie kids can watch them while listening to The Killers and you will make money even if the show isn't mainstream enough for prime time (Arrested Development, although it certainly took a turn for the bizarre, I'm looking in your direction).