This weekend we mourned the passing of Bea Arthur, one of the greatest comediennes ever to grace the small screen. She began her acting career as a stage actress, but became a household name in 1972 with the debut of her sitcom Maude on CBS. Her iconic roles as the outspoken liberal feminist Maude Findlay and the equally caustic Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls will be forever beloved, not only because of Arthur's flawless comic timing but also because both women were ahead of their time -- and in some ways, ahead of our time too.

The Party Down premiere (Friday, March 20 at 10PM on Starz) looks like it has a lot going for it: a good premise (aspiring actors and writers passing time in LA as cater-waiters), a very funny cast (with plenty of Judd Apatow heavies -- Jane Lynch and Martin Starr, anyone?), and veteran creators and writing staff. But it also has something else going for it, something that to a certain segment of the television-fan population will be like Bacardi 151 to a drunk: approximately half the cast and crew of Veronica Mars! That might be a slight exaggeration, but keep reading to discover just exactly how many intersections these two shows can boast.

All this talk about the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover event (which ends this week) has got us at TWoP thinking: true television crossovers are rare. They are not merely spin-offs (though they often involve characters from a spin-off), and they require more than just a mere mention of something from one show on another -- actual characters from both realities must interact. For ease in production, crossovers often happen between shows on the same network -- usually between shows from the same creator -- but occasionally they occur between shows that have seemingly nothing to do with each other. So what are the best examples of this elusive and mysterious breed of television event? Here are seven that we feel stand out from the annals of character-jumping television history.

We've finally posted our list of the Sci Fi and Supernatural shows that were cancelled in their prime. Why, oh why, did they have to nix Farscape? And you don't really even want to get us started on Firefly. But check out the list and let us know if you agree or disagree with our choices, or if we missed anything.

While you are at it, see the comedies and dramas that were shut down too quickly.

Yesterday we announced our favorite dramas that had been ripped from the airwaves in the prime. Today we look back and fondly remember the comedies and dramedies that made us laugh over the years, until they were unjustly taken away from us. Just thinking about how amazing Freaks & Geeks was makes us upset all over again. So look over the list, let us know if you think we missed anything, and then come back next week for the best sci-fi and supernatural shows that the networks decided to can.

So many quality shows get cut by the networks (for a various assortment of reasons) before they really hit their stride, which leaves us fans hanging and wondering what happened to our favorite characters and shows. There's not much worse in the TV universe than an unresolved cliffhanger. We look back at the dramas that really touched our hearts, or minds, before the networks saw fit to pull their plugs. Don't worry all you Dead Like Me and Freaks and Geeks fanatics, those dramedies will be featured along with comedies in our forthcoming gallery. And for all you sci-fi/supernatural junkies who are upset that Firefly isn't on the list, have patience, there were so many great series that fit the bill that they are getting their own separate list. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out our list of the dramas, and let us know your thoughts.

For two weeks back in the pre-DVR days of 2000, anyone flipping the channel to ABC during an ER commercial break might've been shocked by what they saw on a new show misleadingly entitled Wonderland: no cute doctors in love; no furrowed-browed surgeons trading jargon in an operating theater; no easy solutions to the medical emergency of the week. Instead, what they saw was one of the most uncompromising depictions of the brutal realities of the health-care system, specifically mental health, ever seen on broadcast television - not to mention powerful, nuanced performances from actors like Ted Levine, Michelle Forbes and Martin Donovan. In retrospect, it's less of a mystery why the show was yanked prematurely than it is how it made it on air in the first place.

Now audiences have a chance to see what they missed out on as all eight completed episodes of Wonderland air each Wednesday at 10PM ET on DirectTV's The 101 Network (with the big final episode premiering March 4). To mark the occasion, the show's creator, Peter Berg, chatted with us about the origins of the series, the real story about its abrupt end and more.

Judd Apatow wasn't really a dysfunctional household name until he hit it big with a string of successful big screen films like the 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. And although most of his die-hard fans and critics usually mourn the loss of Freaks and Geeks, it was his last foray on the small screen, Undeclared, that I've become re-obsessed with lately. Recently one of my colleagues offered to burn the first and only season of Undeclared for me onto DVD. I brought the three discs home and watched them all, and fell in love with them all over again.

Ahh, the demise of Arrested Development. A series cancellation so widely devastating I'm surprised comedy fans didn't set themselves on fire in protest. I have to say, I considered it, but like Frankenstein's monster, I fear flames. Besides, that's what blogs are for. Two and a half years after the end of the brilliant series, I don't know one person who doesn't still miss the Bluths terribly, and here are just 10 of the many reasons why (with video!).

Will legendary TV creator Norman Lear make a comeback on NBC? At an April 28 talk at New York's 92nd Street Y, Lear admitted that he has been talking with NBC Entertainment head Ben Silverman about returning to primetime with the Peacock network. No word yet on a timeline for his return, but possible ideas for the show include a fictional hedge fund. He seems to be impressed with the current state of television, repeatedly saying that he LOVES South Park and thinks it's the smartest show on television: "They have a message and they have something to say and they say it." He is also a huge fan of Family Guy, 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm and never goes to sleep during the week without watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He thinks it's a great show and also informs young people on politics.