TV: Shows dropping like flies

So Marissa not only died, but she killed "The O.C." And I'm convinced she's the reason TV shows are dropping like flies.

Rumors have started this week that TRL will be cancelled after 10 years on the air due to low ratings and a lack of fan interest. [Let's shed a silent tear for Vanessa Minnillo. She'll now have to depend on Nick Lachey's dwindiling income.]

Even NBC is going so far as axing one of their soap opears, "Passions." Granted, it's a ridiculous melodrama, but it's not as if people watch soap operas for the culture. To replace it, they're just going to add another hour to the "Today" show. Seriously? Who wakes up that early to watch television?

Kristen Bell is taking no chances on “Veronica Mars” being picked up on the CW Fall 2007 lineup. She’s laying down groundwork. She just finished voicing a character for an animated film called Flatland: "When a young girl named "Hex" decides to "think outside the box" (in a world where such thought is forbidden), her life becomes in danger and it is up to her grandfather to save her life." And in the flesh, she just filmed Fanboy, a movie that proves the force hasn’t died off just yet. "Four guys from the Midwest [who] drive across the country to honor the wish of their dying friend: to watch ‘Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace’ at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch before the movie's worldwide release.” Bell's costars are Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen of Superman Returns), Chris Marquette (the little brother in Just Friends), Dan Fogler, and Jay Baruchel (“Just Legal”). Hopefully the CW won't get trigger happy.