‘Once and Again’

I was extremely disappointed to learn that ABC canceled “Once and Again” (Morning Report, March 29). I have been an avid viewer of the show since it first aired in the fall of 1999. I weathered the myriad time-slot changes, one hiatus after another, and I am still watching it. The show does what so few shows do on TV: It lifts your heart, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, and it deals with real issues.

With the cancellation, I no longer have any reason to tune in to ABC. While I am saddened with the loss of this great show, I will definitely smirk with delight each Wednesday when I read the weekly Nielsen ratings and witness the continued demise of the ABC network.

CHARLES K. MARKLINE JR.

West Hollywood

*

Let’s hope secret back-room negotiations are taking place somewhere with TV producers Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz trying to find a new home for their exceptional but newly canceled drama, “Once and Again.”

Unlike many other of the show’s fans, evidently, I’m not crying bloody murder at ABC for cutting it loose. Clearly, it’s a show that’s too good for ABC--in fact, for network television in general. Business is business, after all, and if “Once and Again” wasn’t pulling in numbers sufficient to carry its weight, well, I know there’s little else to be done--especially considering ABC’s current jaw-dropping bottom-line difficulties.

Still, it’s a pretty sorry entertainment world where a conduit can’t be found to carry television programming of such outstanding quality, even if that quality admittedly appeals to a smaller audience. There are those of us viewers who, after all, are interested in something other than today’s lowest-common-denominator fare, and we spend money just like the next guy--whether on TV-advertised products or cable subscription fees.

So how about it, Lifetime or HBO: Either of you care to step up to the plate? Or, hey, how about Showtime, who not all that long ago brought us wonderful new episodes of yet another “failed” drama too good for the broadcast networks, this one originally from CBS: a little thing called “The Paper Chase.”

JEFF PORTEOUS

La Mirada