I'm not at all surprised by SFC's decision to stop running DS; what's surprising is that it ran as long as it did, given their obvious ambivalence about it. I'm grateful that I was able to record the show and purchase the tapes so that I do have the complete run (minus a few episodes here and there). I don't think I've seen an episode of DS on SFC since it was in its second run. It doesn't come on at a time I can view it and on those rare occasions when I'm home on a weekday, I pretty much haven't remembered to turn on the TV. Those times I have remembered, the damn thing was cancelled that day anyhow, so it just hasn't been in the cards.
Regardless, just knowing that it was on a broadcast channel has been a kind of reassurance, a feeling that yes, it's still going after all this time. But I can plug in the tapes any time I feel like it. It's not like I'm going to be personally deprived in any way.
Still, it feels weird knowing that it won't be showing on a regular basis.
I'll confess that after DREAMS OF THE DARK, with the nightmarish logistics of having to coordinate business dealings with DCP and HarperCollins (neither of which seemed to communicate with each other), endless rewrites, compromises, and rude surprises, I suffered some burnout. After getting some of the spirit back, I wrote THE LABYRINTH OF SOULS, which was both a catharsis and a rejuvenating effort. But again, after that, having been so close to the subject for such a long time, I've put some distance between me and DS in general for a while.
Then the other day, out of the blue, I got a craving, and I pulled out the old Marilyn Ross novels, which I now own most of, and started reading.
Guess what I'm into now. Yep. The whole dang lot of 'em.
It's good to come back (even if it's not the "real" thing!), even as the show is winding down on SFC.