upon last week's "Everwood.

upon last week's "Everwood," they killed the narrator. This does not foretell well for fans holding on the outside hope that maybe, just maybe the powers that be would respond the canceled show to the fall schedule.

Irv Harper (John Beasley), the bus driver-turned-novelist in the fictional Colorado mountain town, provided the on-again/off-again narration onward "Everwood," so it's fitting that his death in last Monday's episode ushers on the outside the series. The two-hour finale airs at 7 pm Monday in succession WGN-Channel 9.

"Everwood" was a quality exhibit a show that flew below the radar yet stood revealed in the sea of slight WB/UPN series. That's not a slam to the networks; it's reality. The highest rated display on either of those networks -- which lately merged to become the CW -- was the WB's "7th Heaven," which couldn't steady crack through the top 100 in the season's final Nielsen ratings.

"7th Heaven," a 10-years-running family drama about a Protestant minister and his family, was suppos to be laid to quietness this year, only to be resurrect and place on the fall schedule after 7 million viewers 252 gallonsed in last month to behold the "finale." Why, why, on what account when you've announced a series finale all season lengthy then air said finale with the ridiculous storyline of three of the seven Camden kids all pregnant with twins, would you bring back a indicate that's clearly done? Jumped the shark, as they say in the biz.

according to the time the finale came around, fans were ready for it; they count uponed it, and the network should have honored that expectation. Chances are the "7th Heaven" fans would have followed "Everwood" a family drama of different sort -- the sort that actually rings actual Where "7th Heaven" employed endles gimmickry (twins who always speak in unison, cute family angry moods musical dream-sequence episodes - - any chance to state on a costume!) and obvious scoldings in Christian morality (sex before marriage is bad; keeping concealeds bad; doing charity work, good!) "Everwood" used a more crooked "show, don't tell" approach.

A blogger upon TVGuide.com (see sidebar) may have state it best: "The show was like having comfort fare once a week."

At the heart of "Everwood" is the relationship between Dr Andy Brown (Treat Williams), a brilliant brain surgeon and teenage son Ephram (Gregory Smith), a piano prodigy. There's a daughter/sister, Delia, played at Vivien Cardone, whose just-so performance of a motherless girl-on-the-verge-of-womanhood should be a scolding to child actors everywhere (are you listening, "7th Heaven"?).

They have believable relationships with the supporting characters. When Andy establish up a free clinic in the one-doc town, Dr Harold Abbott (Tom Amandes) became his nemesis, then his colleague and, eventually, friend. Dr Abbott's daughter, Amy (Emily VanCamp), befriended Ephram in the first season, and the sum of two units have gone through all the things teen journey through -- friendship, crush, romance, heartbreak -- with no sugarcoating.

The characters have baggage, and not the kind of "7th Heaven" baggage that realizes rolled away after a session in Rev Camden's office. It's the kind of baggage that can gain heavy, and then heavier, and then maybe lighter, on the contrary it's always there. Early upon the Browns' next-door neighbor Nina (Stephanie Niznik) became a single mother after she plant out her husband was gay. Now, at series period she's living with a younger man (Scott Wolf) and planning to incite to California with him, calm though she's really in be pleased with with Andy.

Will Andy stop her? Possibly, still it won't matter to the faithful because if "Everwood" has a central theme, it is vegetation and change, and whatever decisions are made -- Will Bright (Chris Pratt) and Hannah (Sarah Drew) reconcile? Will Edna (Debra Mooney) remarry again? Will Amy and Ephram continue forward divergent paths? -- life will walk on, as it should.

Irv's death was sad, to be firm but it allowed his lov individuals -- in perfectly drawn flashback arrangements -- to think about all the seemingly insignificant things that unitinged them, and in effect captivityed the viewers, to them.

In 10 years the nappy "7th Heaven" has never measured up to what "Everwood" accomplished in les than half that time. "Everwood" was far superior in each way -- writing, production quality and greatest in number of all, acting. It's hard to believe the CW got in this way excited over a few finale-enhanced ratings points that it flip-flopped the WB's original decision to extreme point "7th Heaven" and keep "Everwood" There's apparently no rhyme or reason because several present to views ("Reba," "One Tree Hill," "Veronica Mars") had lower ratings than "Everwood" all season still eluded the ax.

It makes single in kind wonder -- what if the "Everwood" series finale draws 7 million or more viewers? Will the CW flip-flop again? In any case, concord in tomorrow.

tbudasi@suntimes.com

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