I always look forward to upfronts week where the networks reveal there fall schedules. It’s when you find out, with certainty, if your favorite shows will survive to live another year.

It had been announced a couple of weeks ago that any hopes of Gilmore Girls coming back for an abbreviated 8th and final season were not going to come true. So, I knew that last night was not just the end of the season but the general end as well.

However, in addition to the loss of Gilmore Girls, three more of the shows that I enjoyed got the axe yesterday: What About Brian, The Class, and Jericho. On top of that there is still no Rock Star on the horizon. It seems all but dead at this point.

My thoughts on the demise of each of these shows:

Gilmore Girls: As far as series-enders go this was a fitting conclusion, ending the same way it began 7 years ago with Lorelai and Rory enjoying breakfast at Luke’s. As bummed as I am that it won’t be back I can’t imagine a better way for it to fade out. If it had came back it would have dragged out story lines that met a fitting conclusion last night.
For all of my complaining about the shape that the Palladino’s left the show in at the conclusion of last year, Dan Rosenthal did an admirable job in righting the ship and bringing the show to a rightful end. He never could get the rapid dialogue and the obscure pop culture references that are Amy Sherman-Palladino’s trademark. But who could?
From the greatness that is Richard and Emily Gilmore to the baffling pervasity of Kirk’s jobs, from Taylor’s legalistic manipulation of town codes to Paris’ manic aggressiveness Gilmore was a show that was truly one of a kind.
It was a show that I got hoping that Tracy and I could find a mutual TV interest. I wasn’t holding out high hopes that it would be of interest to me but I was quickly proven wrong. Any assumption that this was a chick show was quickly put to rest. Instead of a weepie, maudlin hour of twee programming it was, instead, almost a-emotional. The characters talked around issues by talking fast and funny. It was sharp, witty and rambunctious.
Although it was set in a world hermetically sealed from all that occurred outside of the confines of Stars Hollow it was a great case study in relationships, of mothers and daughters, and hope.
Lauren Graham is one of the best actresses on TV and has never been nominated for an Emmy. Let’s hope that she is finally recognized for giving us one of the most enduring characters in TV history.
Good night Stars Hollow, you will be missed.

What About Brian: I really can’t fault ABC for this. They did bring it back for a second season when there was no major reason to do so. It was a mid-season show that never gained an audience. But it did get a second season and I always considered it to be the best show on television that nobody was watching. Intriguing story lines and likable characters made for an entertaining hour. And it introduced me to my favorite song of 2006, Gabe Dixon’s “All Will Be Well”

The Class: This show was much hyped going into the season but never could gain any traction in the ratings. The sad part of this story is that as the season progressed they continually made tweaks and modifications that indicated this was going to become a strong show. If a little bit of patience had been exhibited it might have taken off in season 2. But we will never know.

Jericho: This is the most bothersome one for me. It’s a case study in a studio killing a show: Introduce a serialized freshman show, get people hooked into it, yank it off the air for a three month winter hiatus, then put it back on the air opposite American Idol. Brilliant. We will never know what happened between New Bern and Jericho. And that’s unfortunate.

I’ll be looking tomorrow at the new shows coming up this fall. Any thoughts on the shows hitting the road?