Ask Matt

Matt Roush: The bottom line here is that no one's forcing anyone (except folks like me, for whom it's a job) to watch any TV show, and I can't take it personally when someone ditches a show they feel has somehow violated their trust or let them down to the point they feel they've wasted their precious time. (Honestly, I don't always take these gripes terribly seriously, believing that a fan of a fun show like Top Chef is more likely than not to return out of curiosity once the initial anger passes. But that could be my addictive personality talking.) Still, to prejudge a show for a reported twist that has yet to manifest itself (like with Housewives) does seem short-sighted to me. And if you read me regularly, you know I'm a big fan in giving producers the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. Which accounts for me trying to keep an open mind about situations like this whole Brothers & Sisters mess, because I like nearly everything else that show is doing.

Matt Roush: For the answer, I turn it over to Big Bang executive producer Bill Prady, who says: "Neither of the show's creators have degrees in science. In fact, both Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady are self-admitted college dropouts (Bill from Wayne State in Detroi,t and Chuck from SUNY Potsdam where he recalls his major to have been either poly sci or Jimi Hendrix). They, along with fellow executive producer Lee Aronsohn, are, however, big geeky science fans. They base Leonard and Sheldon's interests on current trends in physics and suggestions from the show's science consultant, UCLA professor of astrophysics David Saltzberg, Ph.D. Saltzberg is also responsible for the accuracy of the information on the characters' white boards. During the filming of a recent episode, Saltzberg turned the tables on the veteran comedy writing staff by successfully 'pitching' a joke for Sheldon. In response, Lorre, Prady and Aronsohn are going to use the upcoming production hiatus to solve the problem of cold fusion."

 Now do you see why I love this show?

Matt Roush: I'm not sure how far I'd go in trumpeting the show's value system as something that's actually good for you or even pro-social, but I would say that (spoiler alert for those who haven't watched) the domestic fallout of Eric's coming out and Jenny's comeuppance leading to a tearful reunion with her saintly dad were unexpectedly touching moments in an otherwise rollicking, viciously entertaining episode. Gossip Girl is so deliciously decadant, from the unrepentant scheming of Georgina to the banter of the prep-school bee-yotches to the clothes and the hair, it's clear to me now that this show is the successor to Melrose Place that so many of us have been waiting for. It delivers high melodrama while often being seriously funny and campy. Completely addictive if you've got a taste for such things. It may deal with issues here and there, but more importantly, it has issues. And attitude as rich as its characters' trust funds.

Matt Roush: I haven't seen the final episodes, but I'll still tell you that you have nothing to worry about. Serena is the hero of this story, don't you know, but we knew from the start she had at least one monster skeleton in her walk-in closet. So she confessed she killed someone, which isn't the same as premeditated murder. The fact that sex and drugs were probably involved is a mitigating factor as well, no? Something tells me when we get the full story, we'll still be looking at this golden girl as the closest thing to a redemptive role model we're likely to find on this show.

Matt Roush: I agree that a redefining of family is par for the course for this show and for the Walker clan in general, which was the whole point of building Sunday's terrific season finale around Kevin and Scotty's non-wedding wedding. As Nora said in Sunday's episode, as the family was forced to confront the  Rebecca problem: "There's more to family than just DNA." What's unclear is how the family, as accepting as they obviously are of Rebecca, will react if and when Rebecca and Justin openly reveal their romantic inclinations. Rebecca now belives that all of this family drama — the Holly-William affair; the paternity question — was just a roundabout way for her to find her soulmate Justin. How (um) romantic? Again, quite the polarizing storyline. But let's not bury the lead here. Ryan Walker? Could you die? And who's going to fall for this lost half-brother? Sarah? Saul? Let's hope not.

For another take on Brothers & Sisters' latest twist, read Cheers & Jeers.

Matt Roush: You have every right to be annoyed — I am, too — but I think when fall comes and you start seeing the promos for the final season of The Shield, you may not be able to resist coming back on board. I know I'll be there, eager to devour Vic's final chapter. Which isn't to deny that FX has erred by keeping the show off the air for so long, strike or no strike, summer Olympics or no summer Olympics. To go all summer without a major FX series beyond 30 Days is ridiculous. But still, even if absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder, that's probably because we're in out-of-sight, out-of-mind mode. I admit I'm not giving a lot of thought to Vic, Shane, Dutch, Claudette and the rest of the Barn gang these days. (Although I have been sharing the Shield love recently with a colleague who just caught up with all five seasons in a marathon viewing.) But once it's back, I bet many longtime fans of the show will find themselves succumbing to its dark pull. If ratings are down upon its return, the long hiatus will be blamed — but so will the fact that it's going head-on against fall network premieres.

Matt Roush: Not just the CBS connection, but it also aired on Fridays, back before the night was considered a graveyard. Do I remember Beauty and the Beast? Do I ever. I reported at length about that show during its prime, including the fan campaigns and its post-Catherine cancellation. To answer your question: Ron Koslow was involved with the development of Moonlight, but like many other well-known names attached to the show during its turbulent first season (including Buffy/Angel vet David Greenwald), he no longer has anything to do with the running of the show. There's no question, though, that Moonlight appeals to that same Gothic romantic streak.

Matt Roush: Confusing, isn't it? A handful of freshman shows cut short by the strike and MIA this spring will be back in the fall, including Life and Pushing Daisies. (Among the other currently absent returnees are Chuck and Dirty Sexy Money.) But Bionic Woman was on its way out before the strike even kicked in. It's dead. On a similar note, Linda asks whether she should bother watching her recorded episodes of such "chick shows" — her words — as Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle and Canterbury's Law. Of these three, only NBC's Lipstick Jungle is expected back in the new season. You're welcome for my having saved you a bushel of time.

Matt Roush: This is one of those "How would I know?" questions. This season has taken Battlestar Galactica into even deeper, darker waters than before. It's true the episodes in the immediate wake of Cally's murder by Tori were driven more by psychology than action, and it wouldn't surprise me that episode to episode, some viewers will be impatient if certain characters go underexplored (Lee for one) while we spend more time probing the psyches of wackjobs like the messianic Baltar, the obsessed Starbuck and the beyond-conflicted secret Cylon crew members. I find it all so provocative, fascinating and disturbing that at this midway point of the first half of the final season, I'm confident we'll be left both satisfied and unfulfilled when the show wraps this part of its run, undoubtedly too soon.

Matt Roush: In a word: Yes. Not that you don't have every right to be annoyed. But what network hasn't been the villain in this sort of scenario? Think NBC and Freaks and Geeks, American Dreams, etc. CBS and Jericho, Now and Again and Frank's Place, to name a few. Fox and Firefly, John Doe — the list goes on. Every network regularly cancels shows that have some sort of devoted following. It's the price of business. But ABC is an especially ripe target because this network often takes the risk of developing shows with heart and soul that aren't necessarily mass-appeal phenoms. (Most recently, Eli Stone.) Heck, I'm still mad at ABC for how it treated Homefront, and that was 15 years (!) and who knows how many regimes ago. Sports Night was a heartbreaker, for sure, and I argued at the time it was the right show on the wrong network (if it had aired on the NBC of that period, it might have had a better shot). Once and Again and especially Alias enjoyed multiple seasons before they were terminated, and Alias even got to run out of creative gas and provide some semblance of closure. I tend to think that ABC of all the networks is in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't paradox. Almost every season, ABC comes up with my favorite new show — I would be dismayed it if didn't — and they tend to be shows that I end up fighting for (Invasion, The Nine — well, at least the pilot of that one) and often losing. The fact that something as fabulously offbeat as Pushing Daisies is returning to the schedule in the fall is reason enough for me not to give up on ABC, regardless of the shameful mishandling of Men in Trees, which will go down as one of their more indefensible lapses in judgement.