modern-family-finger

ABC has picked up three of its Wednesday night comedies for a full first season: “Modern Family,” “The Middle,” and “Cougar Town.” Noticeably absent: the fourth corner of ABC’s Comedy Wednesdays lineup, the fecal puddle known as “Hank.” Delightful. I’m now placing the over/under on the number episodes until “Hank gets canceled. I’m placing the line at a conservative 5.5 (two episodes have already aired). Then maybe “Better Off Ted” can finally get a real time slot and develop an audience.

On the other side of the coin, NBC has surprisingly canceled “Southland,” even though it has already produced six episodes of a second season. The L.A. cop drama debuted last season to solid reviews but disappointing numbers. I enjoyed it — it was a solid take on the traditional police drama, with a large cast that shared the spotlight. And while Jay Leno hogging the 10 o’clock block is partly to blame, I read over the summer that the large cast was “too broad” and that the network was demanding that the show scale back its vision.

So how much do you want to bet executives demanded that a change be made, and then when it was made they didn’t like it and canceled the show? It’s pure conjecture, of course — I just like betting on the chance that the people in charge are bumbling deaf handless retards.