Hello. I am a Canadian. For those of you who don't know, this means I reside in the vast blob of land directly above (or, in the case of Alaska, to the East of) the US. Some of us, with satalite dishes, or even cable, get American channels, too!

Unfortunately, to all those network execs, because of my nationality, I don't exist. Neither do my friends in the rest of Canada, Europe, or Australia. My American friends who use a DVR/VCR to record programs and watch later don't exist either, nor do the ones who actually watch a show when it's on, because none of them have a Neilson box.

Just because we don't exist, however, does not mean we don't watch your advertisments or buy your DVDs. It definately does not make us content to sit about while you fill your channels with more and more brainless reality shows, while zaping the life of worthwhile television programming. Because you see, unlike ditzy sluts, run-of-the-mill singers, and people arguing amongst themselves merely because they're on tv, television writers make us care.

I cried when Buffy/Angel's Angel, Cordelia, Fred, and Wesley died; when Burke left Christina; when Rory left to accomplish her journalism goals. I was filled with pride when my Degrassi TNG favorites graduated. I was utterly horrified to see what Veronica's Beaver had become, and saddened by the crap that the Dicks put him through growing up. When Spooks' Danny died, I was so upset I wouldn't even watch it for several months.

As I said, television writers make us care. Not just about the characters, but about the series as a whole. Regardless of our nationality, viewing preferences, and Neilson box access, we care when the shows we love are snatched away from us.

Let us take a moment to remember the shows that weren't even given a chance:

Firefly (FOX - eventually made into a movie. I bet they're kicking themselves now!); Wonderfalls (FOX), Justice (FOX), Runaway (The CW), Conviction (NBC), Drive (FOX), and others.

...And the shows that didn't receive the send-off they deserved:

Gilmore Girls (The CW), Veronica Mars (The CW), Tru Calling (FOX), Beautiful People (ABC Family), and others.

...And lastly, the shows that the majority of Neilson box owners seemed too unintelligent to appriciate:

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC), the first list in its entirety, and others.

Would someone please explain to me how exactly it's fair that someone I've never met, in another country, whose tastes are likely entirely different from mine, gets to determine what I'm able to watch on the television set I purchased, with the satellite access I (well, alright, my parents, but still) pay for monthly. I don't want more reality shows. Hell, I don't even need new dramas, comedies, and what have you. Just stop cancelling shows that are more worthwhile than what you've got between your ears.

It's annoying, unfair, and idiotic.