"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

This summer, our good friend allaroundpsycho was completely gaaa over a TV show that aired on the FOX network for a very short amount of time. It starred Rachel Nichols as an FBI specialist and it was called "The Inside."


As TV executives often do, they decided that this show simply wasn't worth watching -- even though it had a good cult following -- and cancelled it almost immediately. After all, advertising revenue doesn't favor an intelligent show like "The Inside" when you have "Stacked" starring Pamela Anderson as a chick who runs a bookstore. (Get it? "Stacked!" As much as AAP pressed us Mindsayers to watch the show, it fell by the wayside.

Good news, though! Rachel Nichols would return a few months later on ABC's spy-drama "Alias" playing a CIA operative who just found out that the dvision for which she had been working was actually a rogue one! Kind of like Alias's Sydney Bristow who made that same observation a few seasons earlier. Except, of course, Jennifer Garner is pregnant this season. So Rachel Nichols plays Rachel Gibson who is a brainy hottie who can kick some ass in the same manner.

"Alias" has been one of those must-see shows for socKs and myself since it began. Truly an amazing show with an amazing premise. Great action. Great plotlines. Great guest stars (such as Quentin Tarantino and Roger Moore). At least for the first three seasons or so...

And then it started to "jump the shark." The plotlines became more outrageous. Last season's finale unveiled a mysterious item which had been teased for three years as ... a way to turn people into zombies. It just wasn't what we had expected for the show. And many were angry when they killed off Michael Vartan's character in this season's premiere.

So -- ABC announced on Wednesday afternoon that this will be the last season for "Alias."

Thank goodness. It can die with a shred of dignity this May.

So -- what's next for Rachel Nichols? Will she jump over to "ER" and kill off that show as well? It's a shame what's happened thus far with her. She doesn't appear to be over the top. And it's not her fault that they've given her every single cheesy bit of dialogue when talking to Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow...

Postscript: I honestly don't think "Alias" and "The Inside" simply have Rachel Nichols in common. Take a look at this graphic again for "The Inside..."


And this one for "Alias..."


Is it just me? It probably is.

Or perhaps "Prophet 5" is playing tricks on my brain...