After a recent announcement that ABC was canceling their series The Forgotten, starring Christian Slater, the comments on the post got me to thinking. On Real TV Addict alone, over forty outraged readers chimed in that ABC made a bad decision. Had they just given the show more time, it might have picked up in ratings.

So why are networks pushing shows overboard before they even have a chance to catch on? In the last ten years, few new series have actually been given the opportunity to resonate with viewers before networks yank the rug out from under them.

The Joss Whedon created series, Firefly, for example, barely survived a whole season before FOX Network pulled the plug. When the CBS series Jericho was canceled in 2007, rabid fans rallied and petitioned so hard, the network brought Jericho back, but the lack of new viewership caused CBS to cancel again in 2008.

The Showtime original series, Dead Like Me was canceled at the end of season two, and though they did go on to make a coinciding film, the potential for further seasons was abundant. Featuring a cast of “reapers” who take on the job of making sure the dead are collected in a timely manner, the series could have gone on for years, dealing with the living and their struggle when it comes to facing death.

As fans and viewers rally around a series in protest, it seems to have little, or no effect on the networks at all. Since it is the fans and viewers who subscribe to satellite and cable providers to watch their favorite shows, why don’t we have more say in what the networks put out?

Disgruntled viewers speak their minds online, and sometimes they even band together to form petitions, but how many of us actually contact the network when we’re unhappy? The Focus On Family website claims that every one letter received by a network is representative to 40,000 viewers nationwide. One letter? This means for every letter we don’t write personally, someone else out there is representing us, even if their opinions differ from ours.

The sad thing that many pointed out in their responses to The Forgotten’s cancellation is that the network will probably fall back on some new reality television series. With reality dominating nightly television, where is our opportunity as viewers to escape into a good drama after a hard day living in the real world? As a result of this dissatisfaction, more and more people are taking independent entertainment into their own hands, providing amateur series online to satisfy viewer wants and demands.

So, as the networks deny viewers the opportunity to sink into a show before they cancel it, more of us pull away from television and turn to the net for entertainment.

Our voices may be small, but allowing others to speak on our behalf isn’t going to save the shows we want to see. Even if the networks aren’t yet threatening to cancel your favorite show, take a moment to contact them and let them know you enjoy it. Most networks have online sites with a digital contact form, which means you don’t even have to leave the house to share your opinion. Your voice could mean the difference that gives networks pause before they do pull the plug.