sad news for southland

Jay Leno strikes again. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that NBC just cancelled Southland before the second season's scheduled premiere on October 23rd.

Apparently, the network shut down production because the show is "too gritty" for the 9pm audience. But Law & Order: Rapes & Perverts is okay? How about regular Law & Order, which is on at 8:00? My two-year old niece is still awake for that.

NBC made their bed, and now they have to lie in it. This is probably the most visible interruption we've seen by The Jay Leno Show taking over the entire 10:00 timeslot.They just don't have the program space for quality dramas anymore. But they do have space to put out two new mediocre medical dramas (more Mercy and Trauma soon).

It's a shame because Southland is probably the returning show that people have been asking me about most often lately. It wasn't perfect, but I thought Regina King, Ben Mackenzie, and especially Michael Cudlitz as the closeted cop had great performances. (see my review from back in June)

NBC promoted that bad boy like crazy last spring, and they had a fairly strong audience (around 6 million). But it all comes down to ratings. Leno brings in much higher numbers.

NBC will be pushing up Dateline to fill the timeslot for now. So exciting. In the meantime, producer John Wells (who was responsible for such gems as ER and The West Wing) is said to be shopping Southland around to other networks. They have 6 new episodes already in the can. Personally, I could see the show doing really well on TNT, which has been cornering the market on gritty crime-related dramas lately.

Are you sad about Southland or content with what's already on the schedule this fall?