Bring Out Your Dead for 2010

I've once again set out to prove what little I know by entering the Ted Marshall Open, the Interweb's greatest TV dead pool. Ten shows, 20 points per show that gets canceled with bonus points based on how you rank your choices. My picks for the year:

1 - Smallville - widely announced as being in its final season, so easy points. I could have had even more easy points if I'd remembered that As the World Turns was packing it in this season. In my defense, this is the first year that non-prime time programming is eligible, and I thought that whatever long-running soap was ending had already done so.

Still, left points on the table, which is galling.

2 - Outlaw - I don't think it gets any worse than Friday at 10 on NBC for a time slot. Throw in a show with an odd premise (roguish Supreme Court justice steps down to take cases for ordinary folk) and it seems like a goner. Makes me wonder just who Jimmy Smits pissed off.

3 - Hellcats - a pre-law student needs money for school, so she parlays her gymnastics experience to get a scholarship as a cheerleader. It looks like it's trying to meld Glee with the Bring it On franchise, but as it's on the CW it will fail at both. It's also in the post-America's Next Top Model slot, which you think would help but never does.

4 - Raising Hope - Most of what I've read about this show is not positive.

5 - Defenders - I know two wrongs don't make a right, but with my luck Belushi and O'Connell will combine to win a Peabody.

6 - Chase - this story of a US Marshal and the criminals she tracks down just feels generic. It's also about 10 years too late to benefit from The Fugitive.

7 - Better With You - speaking of generic, here's the latest attempt at a multi-generational family romantic sitcom. I swear there's like a dozen scripts in a cave somewhere and the networks just change the names around every time they try this. My only fear with this show is that, nestled in ABC's Wednesday comedy block, it will be inoffensive enough to survive.

8 - Bob's Burgers - I'm hoping that this will be the season's Goode Family, existing only to provide faintly humorous content in a space that needs temporary filling. I can't see it cracking Fox's existing Sunday of animation.

9 - Running Wilde - this show scares the hell out of me, as it seems so ridiculous on its face that it should be a lock for cancellation. But you throw in Will Arnett and you think anything is possible.

10 - Shedding for the Wedding - some random NBC mid-season reality show that I assume is about brides trying to lose weight to get into their wedding dress. I suppose I'm way out of the target demographic for this, so I may be misjudging how it'll do. Or it'll be so bad that it won't air at all, either way.

Of course, there are some shows that made the top ten shows picked by all contestants that I didn't choose. They are:

Outsourced - the potential for this to fail is pretty high, and if it veers to far into lame ethnic stereotyping it's not going to last. But NBC was pretty tolerant with its sitcoms last year (thank you for renewing Community, BTW), so I left this off. It's the second most popular consensus pick, which usually means cancellation but not always (both Gary Unmarried and The Ghost Whisperer got a second season after landing in this spot; maybe you just need to be a CBS show to survive?).

Detroit 1-8-7 - thought of it, had some mixed reviews, but then I thought it might be a nice dose of action against The Good Wife and Parenthood. So I left it off, even if I do think it's the dumbest name for a new show this season. It's the consensus third-place show.

My Generation - I really should have put this in, as this is the sort of show I hate, with its fake nostalgia and forced surprise that the future you dream of as a teen rarely, if ever, comes to pass. I'm kind of pissed at myself now for not picking it. It's the fourth place pick, which just confirms that I should have trusted my instinct.

The Event - the latest attempt at forging drama out of government conspiracy. I'm not sure about it, but I'm hoping the current political climate makes it more appealing. Maybe Glenn Beck or one of his crowd will start referencing it like it's a documentary. That might help.

The Good Guys - there could be worse things than an old cop-new cop show. Like Bradley Whitford's sunglasses and mustache. Not crazy about the Friday time slot, but given the competition it could win regularly.

No Ordinary Family - I can see why this is on here, as it's really high concept and follows the collapse of Heroes a little too closely. Still, I think making this about a family rather than strangers is a nice direction, and I can't complain if I get to see Julie Benz on my TV every week. But I can see where this could go wrong quickly.

So there it is. Look for my complaining throughout the season.