A recent article by The Associated Press stated that TV viewership for the major four networks is down by nine percent year over year. Many blame the writers’ strike for this drop since it created a drought of new TV shows during the critical winter viewing months. On the other hand, maybe there’s another reason for this drop. Network TV sucks.

I’ve endured many unfortunate cancellations during the five years I’ve written this column — “Angel,” “Deadwood,” “Veronica Mars” and “Invasion,” to name a few. Unfortunately, I’m now facing one I won’t be able to get past — my own.

No word yet on whether the CW will renew “Reaper” for a second season, but I’m really hoping they do.

NBC’s lone weekly bright spot — its Thursday-night comedy lineup — is beginning to noticeably dim. “The Office” isn’t quite as sharp as it once was, and “Scrubs” will reportedly jump to ABC next fall for its final season.

The tagline for FOX’s “House” is “Everybody Lies.” But the two-word slogan would make a better fit with sister network FX’s “The Riches,” now in the middle of a ridiculously good second season that cements it as TV’s most underrated series.

So did you catch “The Return of Jezebel James,” the new series from “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino? Probably not … especially if you blinked. The FOX comedy lasted only eight days before the network viciously swung the cancellation axe.

The last time I wrote extensively about “American Idol” was in May 2005, when I lamented the lack of any real talent on the show. That was the season of Carrie Underwood and a bunch of others whose names you can’t possibly remember — and with good reason.

What is it with immortals that they all want to fight crime for a living? Usually, it’s those pesky vampire do-gooders who take to the streets at night to make them safer for the rest of us.

Without a doubt, the biggest TV surprise so far this year is just how good FOX’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” got by the end of its strike-shortened first season that wrapped up last week. I gave it a pretty favorable review following its first three episodes, but the series really blossomed during its last five hours, which featured some of the best science-fiction storytelling TV has to offer.

The people who make “Saturday Night Live” always get ticked off when some TV writer declares the show to be no longer relevant (let alone funny). What’s that old headline joke? Oh, yeah — “Saturday Night Dead.” This TV writer will not get caught in that trap because I’ve watched “SNL” long enough to know better. When times are bad and riotous sketches hard to come by, the show always finds a way to rise again, like some great comedy phoenix. “SNL” is cyclical in that way. So even though it has veered far off course the last few seasons, I won’t dare read any last rites.