FOX being FOX

Through the night last night FOX brought the ax down on five currently running series. Human Target, Breaking In, Traffic Lights, Lie to Me, and The Chicago Code were all canceled. Again FOX has canceled some great scripted TV to make room for more of the same.

Obviously some of the public favorite were renewed by FOX. Bones, House, Fringe and Raising Hope are among them. What gets me is the networks inconsistency in making these decisions. Shows like Human Target and Lie to Me were given time to catch on while shows like The Chicago Code and most famously Firefly are sent to pasture before a season has even run it's course. Even more curiously a show like Fringe hangs on despite inconsistent numbers.

At first I thought it might be name recognition, since Fringe is produced my JJ Abrams (the current crown prince of the geeks) and FOX has decided to pick up yet another Abrams show in Alcatraz. But The Chicago Code was executive produced by Shawn Ryan. For those of you who may not know, he was responsible for The Unit and The Shield. Both were long running shows, one for a FOX network,

going three and four seasons respectively. Fox then gave him the green light on three shows Lie to Me, The Chicago Code and Terriers. Obviously FOX had confidence in him at that time. In the what have you done for us lately style of FOX however the luster of The Shield wore off and all three were canceled this year. That seems odd. But really it's just FOX being FOX.

If you haven't been watching The Chicago Code or Lie to Me please do yourself a favor and watch them. You can fin them on Hulu. That’s where I will be watching. I don't think I can even bring myself to turn the TV to FOX anymore.