The May sweeps rating period, which starts Thursday, is chock full of the usual gimmicks - miniseries, specials and whatnot - but let's face it, this time the big news isn't what's going to be on. It's what's going off.
That would be (big flashing letters, monstrous hype) Friends, as well as (regular letters, considerably less hype) Frasier, Angel and The Practice, all of which sign off for good in May. With the exception of the sadly overlooked Angel, that's a boatload of Emmys sailing off into the TV horizon, so it's understandable that the exits would overshadow everything else.
Unlike Frasier and The Practice, Angel won't get a chance to overstay its welcome. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff has always, like its vampire protagonist, existed in the shadows. Last season, the WB network's dawdling over whether to renew the show led to the producers retooling it, having Angel and his pals take over the evil company they once fought (that's the short version), which gave the show a creative boost. And unlike Frasier and The Practice, it wasn't in dire need of one. It made a good show even better.
But low ratings drove a stake through Angel's heart; it bows out May 19. Despite a rabid fan base's efforts to resurrect it, there's almost no chance it'll show up on another network (though movies on WB are a possibility).
As outraged as its fans are, maybe it's best to let Angel go out at the top of its game. It wouldn't have hurt the other three shows to. We haven't been able to miss them because they wouldn't go away.
Now they are. Let the missing begin.
Courtesy of The Arizona Republic
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