So Long, Knights. Hope to see you again soon.

If you watch television, it's an axiom that you have been disappointed by television executives. Specifically, television executives who have chosen to cancel one of your favorite shows due to ratings, cost, personalities, or because their chi-latte-half-caff-mocachino was too hot. Today, it's my turn to be disappointed.

ABC has pulled the Knights of Prosperity from its schedule. (Actually, they pulled it last week. I've been busy. Sue me.)

I don't watch ABC a whole lot. I used to, when Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy and other "classic" ABC comedies were popular during the late seventies and I was 14 years old. I don't think I've watched much ABC since (except for Lost). But from early January, when Knights premiered, Carol, Rachel and I have looked forward to watching two ABC shows every week.

The Knights of Prosperity, produced by David Letterman's World Wide Pants production company, is the story of a group of blue-collar New Yorkers who want a better life. To get that life, they develop a plan: in their own words, echoed in every episode, "Let's rob Mick Jagger." Episodes revolved around the steps of the plan, for example, stealing the key to Mick's swanky New York apartment, getting the security code to Mick's apartment, and deleting a security recording made of them during an ill-fated impromptu robbery attempt.

What makes the show funny and enjoyable is the characters. Donal Logue plays the mastermind, Eugene Gurkin, an "everyman" janitor and leader of the group. I've been ambivalent about Logue until this show. Here, he nails it with a perfect combination of vulnerability and blossoming self-confidence, showing just enough intelligence to lead the group to barely succeed each episode. He's more or less Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl but instead of self-improvement by following Karma to do good deeds, he's improving himself by planning to rob Mick Jagger.

Kevin Michael Richardson plays Rockefeller Butts, a 300 pound black man who steals almost every scene he's in. Extremely lovable, his unexpected knowledge of pop culture and surprising gentleness make Rockefeller, aka Reginald von Hoogstratten (his fake identity as a Jagger security guard), one of my favorite TV characters ever. Richardson has done tons of voices for animated shows; hopefully this will get him some well-deserved visibility.

The rest of the "crew" are also very good, an interesting ethnic mix whose chemistry together makes the show work. Every character is endearing and funny. One of the best of the eight episodes aired was "Operation: Panic Room" where the Knights get locked in Mick Jagger's panic room. The story was pretty much just the six Knights interacting in a closed room for twenty minutes. It worked.

Due to low ratings, ABC has pulled the show from their schedule, leaving four episodes unaired. There are rumors that ABC Execs, who really like the show, might resurrect the show next season but nothing is solid. I really, really hope they do. I haven't felt this strongly about a short-lived, prematurely cancelled show since the cancellation of one of the best shows of all time, Andy Richter Controls the Universe.

The good news is that if you're interested, ABC.com has all the aired episodes available on-line.

Episodes of Knights of Prosperity