A SAD FAIRWELL TO INTELLIGENT TELEVISION

So, we have viewed the last episode of the much ballyhooed and anticipated Aaron Sorkin teledrama, Studio 60, Live on the Sunset Strip.

But it marked not only the end of a comedy / drama effort by an incredible cast and crew, it marked in large part, the end of an era. The end of intelligent television programming as we once knew it.

As we witnessed Sorkin closing up loose ends in its finale (the birth and adoption of Amanda Peets baby and the much anticipated reconciliation of Matthew Perry and the incredible Sarah Paulson), we were treated to promos from NBC's latest edition, "The Singing Bee," a show which seeks to put an endless parade of no talent contestants through the rigorous paces of trying to remember the lyrics of musical standards.

I will miss this show terribly. The crisp writing, the engaging banter amongst its many capable and engaging characters, and the humor, mixed into story lines which sought to start a public discourse on many social issues of the day. This show, a true rarity these days, sought to be more than the usual pablum designed as filler in between its commercials.

Truth be told, I never did watch this show at its original time slot, the pathetic Monday night at 10pm slot. I, like most of its faithful viewers Tivo's the show for viewing at a more suitable time. In fact, this show was the most Tivo'd show of the this, or any other television season.

There was, if not a public outcry, at least an Internet outcry to keep this show on for another season. Yes, it must have been expensive ( $2 1/2 million as opposed to $600,000 for crap like 1 in 100). You cannot assemble a cast such as this one and go cheap. Perry, Whitford, Stephen Weber, and Sarah Paulson among others.

In cancelling this show, NBC has succumb to the country's low expectations for television broadcasting. OK, so you make a lot of money with the game / reality, low budget, no writing staff, no actors, drivel it produces endlessly.

But by lowering the bar, by producing television geared to the unintelligent masses, you have successfully dumbed down the television public even lower than ever.

And for that, you have proved what FOX network has already proved.

YOU ARE INDEED, DUMBER THAN A FIFTH GRADER.

Shame on you, and the sponsors who are more geared towards making money than making something of their collective talents. Of refusing to elevate a once proud art form.

Of taking the low road in all that you do.

You screwed this show with your ridiculous hype prior to its airing, and the pathetic time slot you gave it. It is almost as if you wanted intelligent television to die off.

You got what you wanted. Congratulations.