So word has it this morning that Fox has already cancelled their new series "The American Embassy." That show was on for what, three weeks? (Not to mention the fact that they're already lacking in decent programming so they have to rerun all of their shows three times every week...) Meanwhile, "Watching Ellie" was canned by NBC after only a few weeks' run and Fox has already killed four of my favorite shows ("Futurama," "Undeclared," "The Tick" -- which only aired for a month -- and "Family Guy"), making this year's TV season the deadliest that I can remember.

Whatever happened to the patience in building an audience? Whatever happened to giving a show at least a season or two's chance in order to gather a following? Word of mouth is still an incredible force out there, and I'm more likely to watch a show if a friend recommends it to me. But the problem is that if the show's not on long enough for my friend to see it, then chances are I'm not going to hear about it so I'm not going to watch it either.

I'd like to know what the ratings were for current hit shows when they first started. I seriously doubt that shows like "Will & Grace" and "Frasier" and "Friends" instantly started off with the hugest audiences on TV and maintained their ratings throughout their entire run. But now it's like the television network executives are so eager to push the "kill" button that if a show isn't an instant smash or if the ratings go down even a little bit from the premiere, the show's gone.