Hi Bob. Bye Bob. (Fox photo)

“Lone Star” became the first new series of the fall to be canceled Tuesday. Fox yanked it after just two episodes, and will air “Lie to Me” its place Monday nights starting next week.

It’s disappointing, but not much of a surprise; “Lone Star” got pretty miserable ratings both times it aired. It’s too bad though, because it was probably the best new drama of the fall. The most original, at least. The story of a Texas con man trying to balance double lives (and two wives) wasn’t a standard police procedural or family drama, and that was probably its downfall: Too quirky and too original for primetime.

It certainly didn’t help that it aired on the highly competitive Monday night slot, opposite “Monday Night Football” on the East Coast and NBC’s much-hyped “The Event.” From a viewer’s perspective, it’s disheartening to see a quality show yanked so soon, when something like the lame “The Good Guys” keeps plugging along on a less competitive night. It would have been nice if Fox could have switched nights and given “Lone Star” a better chance.

TVSquad.com blogger Maureen Ryan has a great analysis of what the cancellation says about the state of network TV.

“On the derivative shows that the broadcast networks came up with, the edges were worn down and most of the characters were blandified to the point of irrelevance. ‘Lone Star,’ which hewed to no particular formula, was the exception.

“Given that the one show that got through the broadcast network filtering process died a quick death, will next year’s crop of shows be even worse?”

Click here for her full column. It’s worth a read.

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