The cancelation of Dirty Sexy Money however, is disappointing. Let's get this out there immediately: Dirty Sexy Money was not good. It was supposed to be a smart and wry mix of Arrested Development and Dynasty, but it ended up feeling like a slightly better Central Park West. Confusing plots, stuffed with lame melodramatic dialogue and shot on distractingly poor soundstages--no matter how many aerial shots you show of Manhattan, if you then cut to a soundstage in Hollywood, it won't feel right--Dirty Sexy Money was never dirty enough, funny enough or interesting enough to sustain our love. However! Where else could we sit and watch actors like Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, Blair Underwood and Billy Baldwin chew scenery with such gusto? While we have no doubt that Messrs. Krause, Sutherland and Underwood will land on their feet (doesn't Mr. Underwood have a lifetime contract with ABC?), we do feel quite bad for Mr. Baldwin. Forever in the shadow of the talented Alec, not a screw-up like Daniel, nor crazy like Stephen, Billy has always been the "other Baldwin". But on Dirty Sexy Money he possessed his own special brand of vulnerability. Put it this way: we'd never buy Alec Baldwin shacking up with a transsexual, but Billy made us believe and, more importantly, care. Here's hoping someone finds another show for him in the near future.

There wasn't only bad news filtering out of ABC; they also set up their winter schedule! Life on Mars, which had four more episodes ordered to push its first season total to seventeen, will move to Wednesdays at 10 p.m., following Lost. Private Practice, as had been previously rumored, will shift to Thursdays, post Grey's. And for those of you who still want to see Zach Braff on a weekly basis, Scrubs will premiere on Tuesday, January 6th at 9 p.m.

Tuesday: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of French Elle, who after suffering a massive stroke has to live with "locked in syndrome," a rare disorder that leaves him completely paralyzed except for his left eye, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is simultaneously heartbreaking and life affirming while being totally sans shmaltz. Matthieu Amalric is a big reason why. As Jean-Do, he has nothing to work with but his left eye and a striking voice-over, and yet he gives a performance that would make even the greatest actors jealous. [Starz!, 6 a.m.]

Wednesday: Dirty Sexy Money
The second season of Dirty Sexy Money promises to be dirtier and sexier than last year, which is certainly a step in the right direction. Did Dirty Sexy Money mean to be a surrealist comedy like Arrested Development or did it want to be a glossy trash-fest like Dynasty? In trying to be both, the show in its first season didn't succeed at being either. There should be a place in the market for show like Gossip Girl about adults. With better writing, that show could be Dirty Sexy Money. Maybe. [ABC, 10 p.m.]

Thursday: Miller's Crossing
If Alfred Hitchcock thought actors were cattle, then the Coen brothers think characters are. That's why we're too often left feeling cold at the end of even their most entertaining films. But Miller's Crossing is the exception. Their twisty Prohibition-era gangland menagerie is our favorite Coen bros movie, partially because it's anchored by Gabriel Byrne's totally human turn as a mob enforcer. Think Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men. Except here, Mr. Byrne stays alive the entire time. [IFC, 2:30 a.m.]

Friday: The Ex-List
On paper, The Ex-List sounds pretty endearing. A woman in her early 30s (Elizabeth Reaser) finds out from a psychic that she's already met and dated her future husband, only if she doesn't find him again within the next year, she's doomed to be alone forever. (Cue ominous thunderclaps!) We can buy into that concept, but there are some concerns. … Executive producer Diane Ruggiero already quit because CBS wanted her to take the show in a different direction. Eek! That doesn't sound promising. So catch The Ex-List now, because by the time November rolls around it could be a distant memory. [CBS, 9 p.m.]