TV is the New Reading

'Veronica Mars' a

sharp, smart series

She’s back, smarter and sharper and sweeter than ever.

No, not Kyra Sedgwick’s LAPD Priority Homicide Division Chief Brenda Johnson – not yet, not ’til June (and yes, my TiVo is already salivating in anticipation).

Rather, she’s California’s more homegrown crime-solving blonde, Kristen Bell’s “Veronica Mars,” the brilliant detective series that, sadly, no one’s watching.

Take the case that brought her back from hiatus, a Middle Eastern restaurant that between a vengeful brother and an unrelated truckload of middle-school hoodlums became quite the paint-magnet. Veronica sorted it out with her usual quirky aplomb.

And with a patriot/terrorist message that would’ve been easy to lay on with a palette knife, show creator Rob Thomas found delicious subtleties. No, everyone didn’t hug and kiss and make up at the end, but the punishments largely fit the crimes, and even the bad guy was drawn with a certain amount of sympathy.

Of course, Veronica and Logan trying to move on from each other (why, oh why did Logan have to sleep with Veronica’s arch-rival Madison?) added some depth to the story – not least of which, Logan finding Veronica kissing her new beau, Piz. Well, he and Parker should be happy together, but given this show’s track record, my guess is everyone’s heading for heartache all the same – especially with Veronica’s former hunkthrob Deputy Leo’s reappearance on the scene.

Adding to all this dramatic tension heading into the finale, her father – Keith Mars, now acting sheriff – stepped up his jobsite authority.

When a 19-year-old with a Crackerjack-variety fake I.D. got a snootful at a local bar and wandered into traffic, becoming a paraplegic, Sheriff Mars wanted to make sure his team was enforcing the age limits. Some shady asides with bartending guest star Jack McGee (“Rescue Me”) and some undercover work later, he confirmed a half-dozen deputies weren’t doing their jobs and he fired them.

If this is going where I think it is, it sets up for one incredible season – or series? – finale.

Make up your minds!

Yes, this will change soon, but as of this writing, the CW still hasn’t publicly confirmed whether the show is in its fall lineup or not.

Part of the problem could be that while “Veronica Mars” was among the top-rated shows on the UPN, that isn’t saying too terribly much for a network that measured viewership in dozens.

The show made the cut when UPN combined with the WB netlet, but the new numbers aren’t significantly better than they were.

Could it be the lead-in from – let’s just say it out loud – the relatively popular but also relatively braindead “Gilmore Girls”? I mean, cute as “Gilmore” well might be, the two shows are so very different, and I’m not convinced the audiences overlap perfectly.

Then throw in the competition from “House” and “Law&Order: Criminal Intent” and “The Unit,” and “Veronica” is basically struggling for toeholds at the bottom of a well.

But the show is so well-written and poised for such radical renovations that if it does get a fourth season, these are easy problems to solve.

Especially if in their infinite dimness CW execs fire Thomas and he takes a revitalized, re-imagined version of the project to a real network.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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