I’m not sure why there’s so much denial and speculation about the death of Rex Van de Camp on Desperate Housewives. (Yeah, I’m being meta about a TV show. Like I don’t prattle on about Law & Order all the time.)

He’s dead. It’s disappointing, but what’s so wrong about killing off a main character?

There are so many avenues to take the plot with Rex dead. And with Andrew turning out to be gay demon spawn and George being all psycho-stalker, keeping Rex alive would have painted Bree’s storyline into a duller corner. That’s assuming the writers do their job next season and really mess things up.

I would prefer that Zach not be Mike’s son, and I have a feeling Tom will turn out to be a better parent than Lynette, while Lynette manages to alienate everyone trying to prove she can get back in the workforce game.

And since I do prattle about Law & Order alot — I can’t say I’m terribly disappointed by the cancellation of Trial By Jury. I watched each episode religiously, like a bitch for L&O would. But I just didn’t feel it. The pace of the show dragged, and Crime & Punishment already did the exclusive focus on the courts better with real cases.

At the same time, the cancellation seems a bit premature. With another few episodes, I’m sure the writers would have found the right mix of suspense that makes Special Victims Unit the best of the bunch. I think Trial By Jury was aiming to do something along the lines of what the Homicide/Oz creative team did with The Jury last year.

By the way, here’s a first-person account from Jamey Sheridan about the Bell’s palsy that made him wear an eyepatch for the last few episodes of Criminal Intent.