As of Monday, April 11th, I officially became an ex-fan of How I Met Your Mother. I simply couldn’t take any more of this show.

Normally someone quitting their viewing habits of a show goes without mention, but considering this is a show I at one time loved, I almost felt an obligation to air my reasons.  What had started as a show with a cute concept has slowly morphed over six seasons into something akin to punching yourself in the face; yeah, you know you shouldn’t, but you keep doing it anyway.

The show began with the idea that Ted (Josh Radnor, but voiced by Bob Saget in the future scenes) was telling his two children in 2030 about how he met their mother.  What has followed is six seasons of the most long winded (and inappropriate) story ever told to children.  We have followed every detail of this man’s life without ever actually meeting the mother, and with the news that the series has been renewed through season 8, my hopes for this story ever reaching a satisfactory conclusion quickly dwindled.

The problem is that the creators painted themselves into a corner early on.  Once we meet the mother, would the audience really care what happened?  We obviously know the marriage is at least somewhat successful and produces two children, so they had to hide the mother from us.  We have been treated to an endless string of girlfriends that we know aren’t the mother because we’ve known since season 1 that a yellow umbrella is involved with her introduction, and we also know that Saget’s voiceovers keep telling us enough info to know we are watching another pointless relationship.

Add in the fact that Radnor is simply not a good actor, and you get a main character you just don’t care about.

I got to the point where I kept watching the series for Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, but it got to a point where I couldn’t bring myself to keep coming back just for those two.  The writing had turned so formulaic that even those two couldn’t elevate it any more.  That is no slam on either of them, they aren’t miracle workers, and they do the best job they can.

During the April 11th episode, I did something that I’m not sure I’ve ever done with a series, and that was to not even complete the episode.  It was that bad.  I turned it off with about 10 minutes left and decided I was done.  Come the 18th, there was a new episode, and instead of telling my TiVo to record it, I just sailed on by.

I wrote a similar post back in Sept. when this season started, but I decided to stick it out, thinking that surely the mother would show up this year.  There has been some talk of “hints” by the end of the season, but I’m sorry, after six seasons, hints just aren’t going to cut it any more.    Either you give some sort of pay off, or the continually weakening writing, and the insufferable acting of Radnor will finally drive people away as it has with me.

Remember folks, I’m not alone in some of my feelings.

Be sure to come back tomorrow when I discuss when I’ve quit The Apprentice, and on Thursday when I discuss what I think has gone horribly wrong with American television in general.

Apparently the Hoover Vacuum company is less than pleased with the decision to cancel All My Children and One Life to Live, going so far as to pull all advertising from the network.

Brian Kirkendall, the Vice President of Marketing for Hoover, issued a statement this evening that the company was pulling all of its advertising from ABC in protest to the cancellation of two soaps on the network that was announced last week.

I want you to know from me personally that we hear you loud and clear. My wife and mother are both passionate viewers of All My Children and One Life to Live, as are many of my colleagues here at Hoover. We were and are as disappointed with this news as you are.

In fact, we will discontinue our advertising with ABC this Friday, 4/22. We’re making every attempt to pull our spots from these programs sooner.

Because we feel that’s not enough, we also want to help get your voice heard with ABC. So, we’ve set up a special email address, SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, to help pull together the mass emotional outpouring of support for our beloved ABC soaps and get it to our contacts at ABC. Please, send your emails to us at SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, and we’ll get every, single last one of them to ABC.

We’re 150% committed to doing what matters most to you – so if there’s anything else we can do to help or you have any ideas, please email this address, and we will respond to you personally.

Thank you for standing up for what matters to you! We need more of that in this world.

Brian Kirkendall
Vice President of Marketing
Hoover

While certainly a bold move, it’s also worth mentioning that Hoover is probably getting more attention from this move than they would ever get from an advertisement. The company pretty much has guaranteed itself that 2.5 million people will consider Hoover first when they need a new vacuum.

While I highly doubt that Hoover will be able to get ABC to rethink its decision, kudos to the company at least seeing what it could to help.

ABC has announced that it is canceling the long running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live. All My Children will air its last episode in Sept. of this year while One Life to Live will end in Jan. 2012.

It was announced today via press release that ABC would be replacing two of its longest running soap operas with new reality based shows towards the end of this year, and the beginning of the next.  The Chew will focus on food from every angle imaginable — as a source of joy, health, friendship, breaking news, dating, fitness and weight loss, travel adventure and life’s moments. The one-hour live show will be co-hosted by celebrity chef Mario Batali, Clint Kelly of TLC’s What Not to Wear fame, Carla Hall from Bravo’s Top Chef, Michael Symon from Food Network’s Iron Chef America and nutrition expert Daphne Oz.

The second new series has the working title of The Revolution and will be a daily show about health and lifestyle transformations, hosted by a team of experts and rotating guest contributors led by fashion expert Tim Gunn of Project Runway, celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak and American Idol alum Kimberly Locke.

“While we are excited about our new shows and the shift in our business, I can’t help but recognize how bittersweet the change is,” said Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney ABC/Television Group. “We are taking this bold step to expand our business because viewers are looking for different types of programming these days. They are telling us there is room for informative, authentic and fun shows that are relatable, offer a wide variety of opinions and focus on ‘real life’ takeaways. A perfect example of this is The View, and that factored into our decision. The Chew and The Revolution are in the same vein and will be great additions to the lineup, with The View serving as an ideal foundation from which to launch these programs. They will also provide enormous opportunity for the creation of ancillary businesses and growth.”

“All My Children and One Life to Live are iconic pieces of television that have made an indelible mark on our culture’s history,” reflected Frons. “Each of the shows has touched millions and millions of viewers and informed the social consciousness. It has been a privilege to work with the extraordinary teams who brought the residents of Pine Valley and Llanview to life each day, and we thank the cast, crew, producers and most especially the fans for their commitment to the shows through their history.”

With the cancellation of these two soaps, that leaves a total of four still on the air (General Hospital on ABC, Days of Our Lives, Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless on CBS), and there is no saying the numbers won’t drop even more.  Compared to the glory days of soaps in the 1970s and 80s, when it seemed you couldn’t turn on a TV without seeing a soap, the love affair has just waned more and more.  Is it changing tastes?  Yes, partially, but it is also a real lack of engaging story lines.

I watched All My Children (AMC) for years, but in Aug. 2009 I called it quits.  I just couldn’t take the sub-par writing any more.  (I like soaps, so sue me)  I still watch Young and the Restless, and oddly enough, former AMC actors keep showing up over there when they leave the show.  Perhaps it’s a subtle comment on moving up the big leagues?  Who knows, but I sure don’t mind.

What my stopping watching the show says, however, is when someone who has followed characters for years, no matter how contrived the plots are, finally says, “ENOUGH!”, there is obviously something horribly wrong with the show.  I left characters behind I have loved for years because it had just become insufferable.  This had nothing to do with changing tastes, it had to do with scripts that erased history, characters coming and going without explanation and a complete disrespect for the audience that felt we would just keep watching whatever garbage they threw on the screen.  But, nope, its the changing tastes of the audience.

I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that The Chew and The Revolution will be considerably cheaper to produce also.  I mean, certainly that wouldn’t factor in … would it?

In short, the era of the soap opera is certainly coming to an end.  There was a time when there were 19 of them on in the United States, and now we’re down to four.  Somehow I don’t think they are much longer for this world.

Matt Smith is ready to don the bow tie for the sixth season of Doctor Who launching in April.

The new season of Doctor Who will see the return of Matt Smith (the Doctor) as well as his companions, Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams).  When we last saw the characters, the Doctor had saved the universe from the crack in time, Amy and Rory had gotten married, but we were still left the question of who or what The Silence is in the happenings of season 5.  Despite the holiday special, which was a totally standalone story, we haven’t seen what exactly we’re in for with a married couple in the TARDIS, and the Doctor off to face an enemy that seems to have been able to impact all of time at once.

Unlike previous seasons, the episodes this time will air in the United States on BBC America the same day as they premiere in the UK.  Considering the number of viewers they probably lost to piracy in past seasons, this makes a lot of sense.  Check out the trailer below, and yay to yet another return of Alex Kingston (River Song), especially since it seems like we’ll finally get some answers about who/what she is to the Doctor.  I am totally ready for this season, bring it on.

It would seem that being a woman beater is not harming Chris Browns career in any way, shape or form. Must be nice.

Following an appearance last week on Good Morning America where he was so enraged by an interview that he broke a window, Chris Brown was back on ABC tonight to appear on Dancing With the Stars.  Despite the fact that host Tom Bergeron and professional dancer Cheryl Burke both voiced opposition to his coming on the show, come on he did.

In case you’ve forgotten why this matters, while Brown has had some success as a singer, he became most well-known for beating his now ex-girlfriend Rihanna back in early 2009.  He got noticed again when American Idol singer Adam Lambert got pulled from some TV bookings due to kissing another man on sage at the American Music Awards.  Brown took over Lambert’s bookings, sending a signal that beating women was still better than being gay.  Good to know.

So, here we are with Brown still acting up, existing show personalities expressing their dismay at his coming on the program, and ABC just ignores it all.  Does he have incriminating photos on someone high up at the network?  Somehow he keeps getting on this channel even after he has thrown a hissy fit on another of their shows.  Does this make sense to anyone?  Was a guy who is simply out promoting a new really that necessary to appear on your show at the risk of alienating viewers and cast members?

Apparently so.  Apparently woman beating is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the Disney-owned network.  Getting destructive after another interview on the same network?  Perfectly ok.

So glad to see ABC has a sense of moral direction

According to Jason Bateman, the Arrested Development movie has a plot, and completion by the end of the year is definitely looking possible.

Just last month series creator Mitch Hurwitz said that the Arrested Development movie was moving ahead at full speed and that he hoped to film it before the end of the year.  After so many false starts it was hard not to say it was just another false start and that you didn’t want to get your hopes up.  Luckily it appears that there truly is movement this time.

Speaking with MTV News to promote the upcoming alien comedy Paul, Jason Bateman spoke to the current status of the film.  He said that he had a meeting with Mr. Hurwitz, and while the script isn’t yet completed, he was able to lay out the entire plot of the film for the actor. It’s incredible. It’s everything you would want it to be and more,” Mr. Bateman told MTV News. ” I really hope he finishes it soon so we can have a shot of doing it before the end of the year.”

“For the very first time, he sat me down last week to talk abut what he’s got and where he’s going and what do I think,” Bateman said. “As a fan of the show, I was vibrating with excitement that he was pulling me behind the curtain. So I can confirm what his update was, which was that he is very deep into the work on it and the odds of him getting it done before the end of the year, as he says he wants to, are good.”

We can only hope this really is finally coming together.  My only fear is that the series was such a slow build with some jokes being telegraphed half a season before they happened (Buster and his hand), that the idea of trying to cram all of the adventures of the characters into the confines of a movie may be tough, but I’m definitely along for the ride.

NBC has announced the dates for its slate of season finales.

Almost as important as learning when shows will return in the fall is finding out when the finales will air.  Before heading into the summer, it’s always nice to know when those characters you love will finally grace your screens.  Thus far only NBC has announced it’s end dates for this season, and with good reason since the earliest date clocks in on April 4th for Harry’s Law.

Now comes the fun of waiting for the fall announcements.

• 30 Rock, Thursday May 5th (10-10:30 p.m.)
• America’s Next Great Restaurant, Sunday May 1st (8-9 p.m.)
• Chuck, Monday May 16th (8-9 p.m.)
• Community, Thursday May 12th (hour-long episode from 8-9 p.m.)
• Harry’s Law, Monday April 4th (10-11 p.m.)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Wednesday May 18th (10-11 p.m.)
• Outsourced, Thursday May 12th (10:30-11 p.m.)
• Parenthood, Tuesday April 19th (10-11 p.m.)
• Parks and Recreation, Thursday May 19th (hour-long finale from 10-11 p.m.)
• Perfect Couples, Thursday May 5th (8:30-9 p.m.)
• Saturday Night Live, Saturday May 21st (11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.)
• The Biggest Loser, Tuesday May 24th (9-11 p.m.)
• The Celebrity Apprentice, Sunday May 22nd (9-11 p.m.)
• The Event, Monday May 23rd(9-10 p.m.)
• The Office, Thursday May 19th (one-hour finale from 9-10 p.m.)
• Who Do You Think You Are?, Friday April 8th (8-9 p.m.)

BBC America, once a bastion of British programming, seems to have completely lost track of its original intended purpose.

Last year I complained when it was announced that BBC America was going to start showing Star Trek: The Next Generation.  While I could somewhat grasp the concept as Patrick Stewart is a well respected British actor, but could someone explain to me why they are now also showing The X-Files in the afternoons?  Is there some British connection there that I’m unaware of?  (answer: “No.”)

Then lets take a look at some of the movies they’ve been airing as of late.  Apparently so long as a movie has a British (or Scottish) actor in it, it qualifies for airing on the channel.  The Untouchables?  The story of Elliot Ness that just happens to have Sean Connery in it?  The Hunt for Red October?  Same connection.  It’s getting a bit silly at this point when you consider how many British productions exist that they’ve never aired and yet we’re saddled with American productions you can see just about anywhere on a channel they aren’t made for.

This has become a problem not just limited to BBC America, however.  Could someone explain to me why the SyFy Channel now has a cooking show, Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen?  Don’t forget they also have WWE Smackdown on Friday nights.

I understand that channels may find their original formulas don’t work quite as well as they first thought they might, and then they need to retool, but to go this far afield of their intended purposes just seems wrong.  SyFy is a bit more forgivable than BBC America’s programming choices, but neither of them make a whole lot of sense to me.

And in case you are curious, yes, I have actually e-mailed BBC America to voice my displeasure instead of just venting here.  This used to be my favorite cable channel, but now I find myself turning to it  a lot less as I have no burning desire to watch American shows on a channel dedicated to British television.

The cast has been announced for the spring 2011 season of Dancing With the Stars.  And, again … how many times can you scrape the bottom of the barrel?

While a couple of people this year were once big names, they have definitely lost their shine.  It’s kind of sad when the biggest current name is probably Kendra Wilkinson.  I’ve come to the conclusion over the past couple seasons as the “stars” have gotten more and more comical that no one watches this show for someone they actually follow, they are simply tuning in for the pros, and I can’t say as I blame them.

Sadly, as always, I will endure the pain … and then question my own sanity when it’s over.  (and possibly cry quietly in the corner after each episode)

(Professionals added!)

And here’s a little something about each:

• Chelsea Kane – Well, it’s been a while since we had a Disney actress, guess it was time again.
• Chris Jericho – Oh goody, a wrestler.  I predict he’ll be out within three weeks.
• Hines Ward – And here’s are required sports star.  I’m so tired of this formula.
• Kendra Wilkinson – The former Playboy Playmate/Hugh Hefner girlfriend … apparently multiple other reality shows wasn’t good enough for her.
• Kirstie Alley – Former actress, and a Scientologist … one guess who I’ll be rooting against.
• Mike Catherwood – A radio host I am unfamiliar with.
• Petra Nemcova – She was the model trapped in a tree during the famous 2004 Indian ocean earthquake where her fiancée was killed.
• Ralph Macchio – Yes … The Karate Kid.
• Romeo – Yet another rapper.  And actually the son of Master P who was on several seasons ago after his son injured himself.
• Sugar Ray Leonard – Former boxing champ.
• Wendy Williams – Talk show host … oh yeah, that should be entertaining.

TV Guide has released a scorecard for which TV shows are renewed, likely to return and on the bubble for the Fall 2011 season.

Overall there aren’t a whole lot of surprises on here, but there are some head scratchers also.  For instance, don’t take the Two and a Half Men renewal too seriously as it has been reported the show will be axed should Charlie Sheen fail to return from his current stint in rehab.  Or CSI:NY for instance.   My gut feeling is even though it isn’t looking healthy, if CBS wants to keep the other two, they have to take the third in a packaged deal.

I will say this, as it stands now, it does not look like a whole lot will be changing for next year, so those currently prepping pilots for 2011, I wouldn’t get your hopes too high.

Here’s the complete list with each show’s current status.

RENEWED
30 Rock (NBC)
American Dad (Fox)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Castle (ABC)
The Cleveland Show (Fox)
Cougar Town (ABC)
Family Guy (Fox)
Glee (Fox)
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
The Middle (ABC)
Modern Family (ABC)
NCIS (CBS)
Private Practice (ABC)
Raising Hope (Fox)
The Simpsons (Fox)
Two and a Half Men (CBS)

LOOKING GOOD
90210 (CW)
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Idol (Fox)
America’s Next Top Model (CW)
The Bachelor (ABC)
The Biggest Loser (NBC)
Blue Bloods (CBS)
Bones (Fox)
Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
Community (NBC)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
CSI (CBS)
CSI: Miami (CBS)
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Fringe (Fox)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Gossip Girl (CW)
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)
Hellcats (CW)
House (Fox)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
The Mentalist (CBS)
Mike & Molly (CBS)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
Parenthood (NBC)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Supernatural (CW)
Survivor (CBS)
Undercover Boss (CBS)
The Vampire Diaries (CW)

LOOKING NOT SO GOOD
$#*! My Dad Says (CBS)
Better With You (ABC)
Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
The Cape (NBC)
Chase (NBC)
Chuck (NBC)
CSI: NY (CBS)
The Defenders (CBS)
Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC)
The Event (NBC)
Human Target (Fox)
Lie to Me (Fox)
Nikita (CW)
No Ordinary Family (ABC)
Off the Map (ABC)
One Tree Hill (CW)
Outsourced (NBC)
Perfect Couples (NBC)
Rules of Engagement (CBS)
V (ABC)

CANCELED/ENDING
Friday Night Lights (NBC)
The Good Guys (Fox)
Medium (CBS)
Life Unexpected (CW)
Live to Dance (CBS)
Running Wilde (Fox)
Smallville (CW)

MIDSEASON SHOWS/TOO SOON TO TELL
America’s Next Great Restaurant (NBC)
Body of Proof (ABC)
Breaking In (Fox)
Chaos (CBS)
The Chicago Code (Fox)
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (CBS)
Happy Endings (ABC)
Harry’s Law (NBC)
Mad Love (CBS)
Mr. Sunshine (ABC)
Perfect Couples (NBC)
Shedding for the Wedding (CW)
Traffic Light (Fox)

Michael Rosenbaum is returning for the series finale of Smallville.

Smallville is one of those series that is excruciatingly painful to watch, and no matter how many times you try to pull yourself away from it, you end up coming back to see if the train is still plowing into the car on the tracks.  I gave up watching it regularly around season five or so, but I still drop in from time to time when I hear of them doing something promising, and always walk away disappointed.

That being said, one of the only save graces to the series was Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex Luthor for the first seven seasons of the series.  He left at the end of his contract, never to be seen again except in a few unexceptional movies.  Apparently he has taken up writing and not spending much time on his acting.

The series is coming to and end this year, its tenth season, and there had been talk of bringing Lex back for the finale to wrap up the storyline of him coming into the role of being Superman’s arch-nemesis.  There had been rumors that Mr. Rosenbaum wasn’t interested in returning, but it was announced yesterday that he was indeed going to appear in the final episode in May.

In a statement released on the matter, Rosenbaum said:

I’m delighted to return for the series finale. I’m simply doing it for all of the fans out there who made Smallville the great success it is. I appreciate all of their passion, their relentlessness, and even their threats. Ha ha.

While I’m sure it will still be horribly written, at least there’ll be a reason to tune in come May 13^th … and then celebrate that fear where those horrible writers will end up landing.

Are you curious about Doctor Who, but never wanted to ask someone for fear of ridicule? There’s an infographic for that!

Infographics are a common tool in the tech industry as a way to quickly share a large amount of info in a quick, easily accessible manner. They’re usually full of colorful, friendly graphics, and look like something that could easily hang in a classroom. While I use these on a daily basis in my tech blogging lifestyle, there rarely are ones that cross over into my private life, but there seems to even be more of those showing up as of late.

While most people are only familiar with the latest version of Doctor Who, there were eight incarnations of the character before the current ones. Want to catch up quickly? Here you go! (yes, there is one typo on the Third Doctor entry, but I didn’t make this, so don’t blame me!)  Thanks to my good friend Steven for pointing this out to me.

Due to size, it’s below the jump.

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