Why is ABC Ruining "Revenge"?

"Revenge" might be the only network show that I have stuck with for the entire season. I've seen every episode and I enjoy it. So why is ABC trying to fuck me over?

We've discussed many times how impossible it is to create a hit show. It's about as likely as me winning the Mega Millions and finally living the life of naked supermodels I so clearly have earned.

These networks sink millions of dollars into TV shows in the hopes that one of them becomes a hit. Almost all of them do not. But "Revenge" has defied the odds. So you'd think the network would do whatever it could to nurture that hit, and make sure nothing would happen to screw it up.

ABC isn't doing this.

"Revenge" is a soap opera. It isn't CSI: Hamptons. The episodes link to one another, they do not stand on their own. When you watch one, you want to see what happens in the next. There are cliffhangers. This isn't House, where a new sick person gets cured every week. It has ongoing story lines.

Because of that, you need some reliability week to week. The show needs to be on the air when it's supposed to be on the air. Otherwise, we'll get lost. We'll forget where things left off. We'll lose interest.

And for some reason, ABC is trying to lose us. Here's what just happened:

The show took a (understandable) break during the holidays, then came back in January. For several weeks, there were new episodes. Then, the show took a week off. Then it came back for one episode, and now it's gone until April - a month and a half off.

I thought "Lost" had taught these people how to do this. You air shows like this in a row with no breaks. That's the best way to keep the momentum going and viewership up. It's incredible that they're willing to risk it. And for what?

Ashley Judd's "Missing".

Look, I love Ashley Judd's new face as much as anybody (but not as much as her first face), and no one loves the movie "Taken" and attempts to rip it off more than me. But why not show every episode of "Revenge" and then show every episode of "Missing"? That must be too logical.

So thanks a lot, ABC. If you keep it off the air any longer, Madeleine Stowe might start aging.