Goodbye good tv

Let me start by saying, I watch a lot of tv. And it's looking like the best shows will be slowly disappearing from the airwaves while this writer's strike continues. I'm no expert on the ins and outs of this whole thing, so this is in no way a breaking-news blog. But from what I've read about the negotiations, it sounds to me like the writers have totally legitimate complaints and I support their right to strike -- I'm just really gonna miss their work.

Firstly, there has been no "Daily Show," for five weeks now so if I want to know what's going on in the real world, I have to watch the actual news or look stuff up online.

Monday was the fall finale of "Heroes," which will now, it appears, be gone until further notice. I do know the intended fill-in show, "Heroes: Origins," has been put on the back burner. Too bad -- I thought getting to see some new characters would be fun. Plus, writer/director Kevin Smith was supposed to do an episode, which would have been awesome! They are making a bunch of online content and putting out a "Heroes" book, but (call me old-fashioned) I like my tv on tv, I guess.

Another show I'm worried about is "Scrubs." This was supposed to be its final season, so will the strike mean fewer episodes? Or will the season run later than usual after everything is resolved? Anyway, I'm really hoping both sides will be able to figure this thing out before too much longer because I don't want to get cheated out of the last episodes of one of my favorite sitcoms!

Then there will be some shows returning in January like "Lost," "Psych," and "The Tudors," all of which I'm really looking forward to. Also returning in January is the final season of "The Wire," which is really must see tv. Season four just came out on dvd and for anyone who's interested in a truly great crime show set right here in Baltimore it's really worth catching up on those back seasons. It's intense and complicated, but really pays off.

Also, there's always reality tv, which is another can of worms entirely. I'm really glad "Project Runway" is back for one. And I suppose we'll be seeing more and more reality shows in the weeks to come. Like "Farmer Wants a Wife." (I'm not kidding -- that's a real show)