Zombie Television

Okay, so I guess since they usually don't come back looking to steal our brains, the better term for TV shows being brought back from the dead might be Phoenix Television or something. But zombies is way more fun to say.

First, there was the much-heralded resurrection of "Family Guy" following strong DVD sales and cable ratings. Ever since, the die-hard fans of nearly every canceled TV show tried to make their case to bring their favorite back from the dead. It didn't work for "Everwood," it didn't work for "Arrested Development," and so far it's not working for "Veronica Mars." But somehow persistent, periodic mass harassment to network execs worked for "Jericho."

Maybe the networks are finally learning that Nielsen ratings need to be taken with the world's largest grain of salt. Maybe it's all a publicity stunt to get more attention on CBS's new fall lineup (though Kid Nation seems poised to provide controversy enough for the whole lot of them at this point). Or maybe CBS is finally caving to that democratized, Web 2.0, user-fueled media that's all the rage these days.

But really, by letting the viewers decide what's good TV and what's not without a company like Nielsen acting setting standards and acting as the middleman, what will the world come to? Execs giving second chances to rejected pilots simply because of their popularity as determined by YouTube viewers? Oh, somebody tried that and it didn't exactly work? Well then, maybe programmers will just skip the decision-making process altogether and let the masses decide which pitches or scripts get to be made into pilots in the first place. Oh, wait. That's already been done, too? Too bad this and this are about all the evidence that's left of such an endeavor.