On the bubble

This is the time of the year I hate- when the networks cause all this anxiety and worry about what shows are going to get canceled or renewed. For me personally, this is the worst year I've experienced. Three of my favorite shows -- How I Met Your Mother, Veronica Mars, and Scrubs-- are all "on the bubble" as they say, and I can get little hope that they're coming back.

At this point, Veronica Mars seems to be the most likely to be canceled. Despite being an absolutely awesome show, it's always gotten mediocre ratings. Most people just don't understand what good television is, if you ask me. Even if it does get renewed, it won't come back in its current form. The creator is currently pitching an idea to the network that would fast forward Veronica five years into the future and show her as an FBI agent. Who knows if they'll go for it.

I don't care too much whether Scrubs comes back or not. I've always loved the show, but this season has been the worst by far. I'm somewhat concerned that another season would just sink the show further down the drain, but at the same time I'm not ready to say goodbye to the gang at Sacred Heart.

But I am extremely invested in How I Met Your Mother. I didn't discover it until the end of the first season, but I have been hooked ever since. The show is not just funny, it's creative and quirky and subtle. A lot of people compare it to Friends, but it is so much better. In case you're not aware of the premise, it's basically this narrator, Ted, telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. The story is a flashback to when he was a twenty-something single guy in New York, living with his best friend Marshall, who is engaged to his girlfriend of eight years, Lily. Add to that the comic relief of their friend Barney (played hilariously by Neil Patrick Harris) and Ted's love interest, Robin, and you have one very funny show. The gimmick is that we haven't met the mother yet, so we have no idea who she is. Thus far the story has been about Ted growing in his relationship with Robin, which we can only assume will help lead him to the one he's meant to be with. I am so hooked on this show! So if it gets canceled, we'll never know who the mother is and the story will have no closure. And we all know how I feel about closure.

So anyway, I am anxiously waiting for the news to come in. I guess the only bright spot is that I already know Ugly Betty is coming back for a second season, and that's about the only other show on television I care about. It's sad, really. I remember when my friend Carisa and I had every night of our week planned around the television shows we were going to watch. What happened to the good old days?