In times of economic iffyness, we can usually count on film and television to keep on trucking no matter what other industries (booksellers, publishing, newspapers, magazines...) the bottom falls out of.

It appears such confidence may have been unfounded, however, with US networks engaging in a mass slaughter of TV shows across the board this past week or so.

Not a lot of it made news locally because so many of the shows don't air here, but peep the list (those that air, or have aired, here on digital or cable are bolded):

ABC
Better With You
Brothers & Sisters
Detroit 1-8-7
Mr. Sunshine
My Generation
No Ordinary Family
Off the Map
V

NBC
America's Next Great Restaurant
The Cape
Chase
The Event
Friday Night Lights
Law & Order: LA
Outsourced
The Paul Reiser Show
Perfect Couples
School Pride

FOX
Breaking In
The Chicago Code
Human Target
Lie to Me
Lone Star
Running Wilde
Traffic Light

CBS
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
The Defenders
Mad Love
Medium
$#*! My Dad Says

THE CW
Hellcats
Life Unexpected
Smallville

And then today, came this news from United States Of Tara creator Diablo Cody:



Naturally, thanks to the show's ties to Our Toni Collette, that particular canning made news locally.

Clearly plenty of those shows deserved to go down the televisual toilet faster than a lead turd (Shit My Dad Says in particular, no pun intended), but others - Tara, Human Target, Medium, what I've seen of No Ordinary Family - were a little more surprising.

It doesn't bear mentioning that our own TV industry is a lot smaller than America's (no der), but it made me wonder: given the good shows that regularly go through to the keeper and the ones that perplexingly stay on air for millions of years, TV cockroaches in an entertainment nuclear wasteland, which ones would I kill if I was the boss of all TV?

Here are some thoughts:

Neighbours
That may seem heretical, considering its enduring role as part of Australian TV culture. But Neighbours' stubborn refusal to move with the times, or even into the same ballpark as "the times", should see it put out of its/our misery. When even The Bold & The Beautiful is focusing on timely storylines and Erinsborough is still living in the '50s, surely it's time to pull the plug.

The Bolt Report
I don't think I need to explain this one.

Dancing With The Stars
It was mildly fascinating when the stars still had some, you know, starpower. But when you've got wives of formerly infamous "doctors", cricketers' girlfriends, and some person who was on TV once lining up to paso doble, it might be time for a branding rethink.

Video Hits
I know, given my propensity for moaning about the lack of music TV in this country, that this seems like an odd choice. But really, have you tried watching it lately? The "interviews" are awful, the format is puzzling, and I've never won a prize pack.

Now it's your turn - you wield the axe of TV power. Who's on the chopping block?