The last few days have not been kind to entertaining dramedies. First basic-cable network TNT canceled its sophomore original series Men of a Certain Age on July 15, and then NBC did the same to rookie series Love Bites on July 19.

The usual culprit in both cases was underwhelming ratings, of course. In fact, not even a prestigious Peabody Award and yet another Emmy nomination for star Andre Braugher could sway TNT to keep Men of a Certain Age around for another season, apparently. What a shame, too, because the series was all about quality, intelligent, fun, and realistic storytelling, as was Love Bites.

Although Men of a Certain Age‘s second and last season wrapped up on July 6, viewers can catch the final episode of Love Bites‘ lone season tomorrow, July 21, at 10pm ET. I will miss both shows.

Geesh, the eight episodes in the tenth and final season of USA Network crime procedural Law & Order: Criminal Intent went by fast, and now it’s time for fans of the best L&O ever to say goodbye during the June 26 series finale “To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap.”

The last case on the roster for New York detectives Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe) and Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) revolves around two murdered people who worked at an Internet business embroiled in a major legal dispute. Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek guest stars.

Although the series finale is a low point of the summer season, at least fans can interact with stars Erbe and D’Onofrio on Twitter during the premiere of “To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap” to give them a fitting goodbye. Just log into your Twitter account and head over to @USA_LawOrderCI to tweet with Erbe at 9pm ET and D’Onofrio at 12am ET (which is 9pm in Pacific time, when the episode debuts on the West Coast). I will definitely miss them both.

Well, it had to happen eventually and TNT made it official on Tuesday, November 16. Two-season-old undercover-cop procedural Dark Blue is no more.

The basic-cable network has decided not to renew the Dylan McDermott original series for a third season, despite the addition of Battlestar Galactica fan favorite Tricia Helfer as a regular character during the sophomore season.

I can’t say I’m surprised since it wasn’t a given that the show would even make it to a second season. If it makes fans feel better, they can blame the axing on the usual culprit, meaning poor ratings. Dark Blue was TNT’s lowest-rated series over the summer, managing to attract an average of only slightly more than 2 million viewers for each of the second season’s 10 episodes.

So long. At least Dark Blue was gritty while it lasted.

Once-promising summer series Huge is no more at ABC Family after the network decided not to pick up ten additional episodes of the show following the ten that aired during its rookie run earlier this year.

The dramedy focused on a group of overweight teenagers at a weight-loss camp and the numerous issues they faced, both related and unrelated to the scale. Members of the ensemble cast included Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky and relative newcomer Hayley Hasselhoff.

Although the series started off strong ratings-wise when it premiered in June, the number of viewers slowly but steadily decreased as more episodes aired. As a result, the show’s ratings dropped from about 2.53 million total viewers for the June 28 debut to about 1.45 million total viewers for the August 30 finale.

This is a perfect example of “when bad things happen to good shows.” It’s sad to see another quality series that filled a clear need — providing a more diverse, realistic, and ultimately positive representation of young people — get the boot.

Thankfully, the show from My So-Called Life creator Winnie Holzman will not just fade away into oblivion without some noise from fans. Women-oriented website Jezebel has reported on an online petition to help save the series, and you can join the movement and show your support by taking a few seconds to sign it. Doing so would be time very well spent, regardless of the eventual outcome.

Well, I totally saw this coming after watching the awe-non-inspiring series premiere: ABC canceled its young-adult drama My Generation on October 1, the day after the network aired the second of just two paltry episodes. The reason? Terrible ratings, of course.

The ensemble series starred a slew of 20-ish talent — including Mehcad Brooks (True Blood, Desperate Housewives) and Jaime King (Gary Unmarried, Kitchen Confidential) — as a group of former high school classmates. Presented pseudo-documentary style, the show’s intended hook was that viewers got to compare and contrast the high school versions of the characters with their adult counterparts ten years after graduation, complete with all of the twists and turns that life created for them.

That premise could have actually been sort of interesting if the writing and acting had been better. Instead, lackluster execution resulted in an embarrassing 3.82 million total viewers for the second outing, which was only slightly better than the 3.23 million viewers that rookie Fox drama Lone Star, the first canceled series of the season, managed to attract to its second episode.

Two down so far, how many more to go? We’ll see.

Well, folks, we finally have the first cancellation of the new fall television season. Yesterday, September 28, Fox removed rookie Monday-night drama Lone Star from the network’s schedule after just two airings. The show’s lousy ratings inspired the decision.

The Texas-based series followed the exploits of conman Bob aka Robert Allen (James Wolk), who was married to a wealthy woman (Adrianne Palicki, Friday Night Lights) in one part of Texas and about to marry another woman (Eloise Mumford, Crash) in another area of the state. David Keith (The Class) and Jon Voight (24) also starred.

The second episode of Lone Star attracted a measly 3.23 million total viewers during its September 27 premiere, sealing the drama’s doomed fate immediately.

I caught the first episode — on Hulu, no less — and found it okay but nothing special. What I couldn’t figure out while watching is why anyone, such as the show’s creators and producers, would think Lone Star would interest a large number of viewers. The subject matter isn’t especially riveting.

For the people who did love the series, however, maybe you’ll get lucky and Fox will post the remaining produced episodes on Hulu or elsewhere online, like ABC did with Happy Town last season. One can always hope.

If you’re a fan of TBS sitcom My Boys, I sure hope you enjoyed the last four seasons as much as I did because the end has officially arrived. This week, the network announced its decision to ax the Chicago-set comedy after four good-natured seasons, the fourth of which just closed last Sunday, September 12. Bummer.

What’s even worse at this point, if you were hoping to catch series regulars Jordana Spiro and Kyle Howard in the upcoming NBC series Love Bites (Spiro) and Perfect Couples (Howard), stop hoping now. Both shows let the actors go due to their obligations on now-defunct My Boys. *sigh* Sometimes TV Land just isn’t fair.

Well, at least fans can catch Reid Scott on the hit rookie Showtime comedy The Big C. He plays the character Dr. Todd Miller on the Monday-night series, which has become an instant hit. No doubt his former colleagues will turn up in new projects soon, too.

I know ABC midseason thriller Happy Town is already canceled, but things just continue to get worse for the series. Now comes word that ABC has yanked the drama from the network’s schedule yet again after its brief return from a brief hiatus and with only two of eight episodes left to air. Geesh!

The (somewhat) good news is that The Futon Critic reports the show’s last two installments may eventually reach viewers on the tube during Saturday-night broadcasts at some currently unspecified time later this summer. Fans can only hope.

Although it took me a whole season to finally get into the gritty and unique TNT crime drama Saving Grace, count me among the many fans who are sad to see the show leaving after its June 21 series finale.

However, at least TNT is closing the curtain on the program with a beefy two-hourlong, double-episode finale, which includes “I Need You to Call Earl” at 9pm ET and “I’m Gonna Need a Big Night Light” at 10pm. I just hope the last new installments ever manage to give viewers and lead character Grace Hanadarko (Holly Hunter) proper closure. We deserve it.

As the series winds all the way down, Grace finds it extremely difficult to cope with the repercussions of a tragic incident, Neely battles to stay off drugs, and Butch heads toward a bad situation thanks to an old acquaintance.

Sneak a peek at “I Need You to Call Earl,” the first hour of the grand finale, below.

I’m so glad that ABC is delivering on its previous decision to bring canceled rookie drama Happy Town back for a late-season burn-off. Although there will never be another season of the show, at least fans can watch the remaining five episodes in the eight-episode first and only season starting tonight, June 2, at 10pm ET.

The first new episode following the series’ sudden three-week hiatus is “Slight of Hand.” Now that Rachel Conroy has mysteriously disappeared in full view of the entire town, Haplin experiences a darkening mood as residents begin to fear the return of the dreaded Magic Man. I personally can’t wait until he finally arrives.

ABC doesn’t have a traditional sneak peek for the latest installment, but there is a podcast video featuring executive producer Andrew Nemec revealing a bit about an important scene in “Slight of Hand.” Check the clip out below.