With all due respect, who thought this was a good idea?

I hate to be one of those people who criticizes television programming decisions without knowing the intricacies of the factors that influence those decisions, but--aw, who am I kidding, I love to be one of those people. I yam what I yam.

Sitcoms Online posted a story the other day about the tank job "Friday Night Lights" did in the ratings on ABC Family. Even by the hopefully lower standards of that cable network, "FNL" apparently struck out (sorry to mix sports, but the MLB playoffs are on as I write this) to the extent that the critically acclaimed NBC drama, already a washout last month at 6:00 P.M, has been yanked from its less-prestigious 11:00 A.M. slot to...nothing. It's off the schedule. See ya!

Now, with as much due respect as I can muster for a network that airs "Melissa and Joey," who thought this was gonna be a hit? I loved the first season of "Friday Night Lights," bailed on the second season during the disastrous Tyra/Landry/DANGER storyline, but have been interested in catching up. So I respect the show.

But does it merit a daily rerun slot right now? I mean, it started like 5 years ago. More importantly, it has never been a big draw. Maybe ABC Family is armed with demographics data that indicates why it could consider a ratings-starved show that nobody has had time to miss a potential candidate for rediscovery. Maybe ABC Family, if given the chance, would overwhelm me with a full-court press (sorry, I did it again, but I just noticed an NBA season preview special is coming on this weekend) and convince me that it was worth a shot.

But right now, it looks simple: A show that didn't draw on network TV didn't draw on cable TV. I don't mean this as a knock on "FNL," believe me, but I'll bet if some public access channel picks it up next week, it won't draw there, either. My real beef is with the unimaginative programming choices made by cable networks who would rather put any rerun on from the last few years--no matter how limited its audience--than venture a little deeper into the vault or do something more creative.