Are there not going to be 13 eps this season???

Last year, ABC pulled the plug on Pushing Daisies after 10 episodes. It then aired the final 3 episodes during the summer. I imagine the final 2 episodes of Ted will air this summer.

Everyone railing against network executives for dropping high quality shows like Daisies and Ted should keep in mind that their motives are driven by the bottom line, not anything more noble or artistic. If such shows don't attract enough viewers -- and shows of this ilk typically do not appeal to a broad enough audience -- they will be short lived.

It's no mystery that the best programming these days can be found away from the networks, on cable stations, be it HBO and Showtime or smaller ones like FX and AMC. And I believe that will be the model going forward. High quality programming, of interest to a relatively small viewing audience, will be available to those willing to pay for it. Network TV will continue to beat to death successful franchises, creating clone after clone, or will produce inexpensive reality shows. It sounds condescending to characterize this as pandering to the masses, but really, that's what it is.

Shows like Daisies and Ted are simply too good for network television. From the start, you knew that both shows were going to have trouble surviving. They were simply not going to do well in the ratings, the only scorecard that matters to the networks.