Day Break: the best show to be cancelled in my memory

I must start this by giving a respectful nod to the people that never gave Day Break a chance. Ok, so a CSI type Groundhog Day may be a laughable concept. But, had you ever watched the show, I have no doubt you would have been as hooked as I was. To give you some idea, a friend I work with, who has never seen an episode, lampoons my love of the show every time I mention it. He and I share a mutual affection for Lost and the new Battlestar Galactica. So my taste is clearly not out of the mainstream. But I must say, that until this past Wednesday when I read Day Break had been cancelled, after settling down to watch it at its normal time, it was the best show currently on television.

Its a paradox, but the show's only failing was its premise. The only thing that could have been viewed as not good about the show was the Groundhog Day type premise, where the main character wakes up every day in the same day, trying to get things "right". Other than that, the show was fantastic. And, if you would have given the show a chance, it wouldn't have bothered you, once you saw what a great device it is, for story-telling.

You see, Day Break doesn't overdose you on flashbacks like other shows, in an attempt to develop characters. Instead it takes the characters, as they are on one day, and then shows how the simple act of living a day differently can impact everyone a person comes in contact with. You get, I think, a much more interesting, effective, and deeper knowledge of the characters and their interactions, by showing how they react, based on their learned biases through their lives and experiences with the world and each other, to how a single character behaves differently one day to the next.

Clearly, I really enjoyed the show. I thought the acting was great, and the usually 2 dimensional cardboard cutout cop-show character really came alive, and really developed depth the way Day Break unfolded. It is the show I will most miss in my memory. And I will certainly by the whole series when it comes out on DVD.

Farewell Detective Hopper, I won't see you again, it seems, until you are available at my local DVD store.