Rules are for a reason.

My rule to not watch a new show in its first season is a good one. I’ve been burned by the networks before. I watch. I like. I get hooked. They cancel. So I quit watching first seasons.

It wasn’t a perfect system, but it worked for us.

This year, I broke the rule.

I saw a few ads for A to Z. I remembered the male lead from Drop Dead Diva and liked him, so decided I’d try the premiere. It was good enough that I added it to my DVR’s To-Do list.

And of course, the network canceled it last week. After the filmed thirteen or so episodes, it’s over.

I’m sorry, A to Z, that I broke my rule. Your cancellation is likely my fault.

Was the show awesomely perfect? No. But neither was Frasier when it debuted. I remember being underwhelmed. But they found their footing and made it work.

A to Z is about Andrew and Zelda (A for Andrew, Z for Zelda, get it?) and their relationship from meeting to … we will never know. The opening narrator says Andrew and Zelda dated for eight months, five hours (I think), and eighteen minutes. And this television show is the chronicle of that relationship. She doesn’t say if they get married or break up at the end of that time. And now we’ll never know.

See? Rules are for a reason.

Do you have rules about new television shows? Do you give them one chance to grab you or will stick with them for a few weeks?