Let’s Not Let ‘Murder One’ Disappear

As I instantly became an enthusiastic fan of “Murder One,” I crossed my fingers that the usual curse wouldn’t apply: Often shows I like are doomed to a quick death (“ ‘Murder’ Failing to Sway Jury,” Calendar, Oct. 21). This one seemed safe: the script too literate, the acting too excellent and the topic too timely and important to meet such a fate. Now I read that the program’s future is in jeopardy and once more I feel responsible, but this time I can’t come up with any sort of explanation.

How can something this good fail--or be allowed to fail as an act of homage to “ER”? It’s particularly chilling that it’s being faulted for a complicated plot line that takes time to unfold. The viewing public’s attention span has been steadily shrinking through the years as the children that were trained by “Sesame Street” to jump from idea to idea became MTV-addicted teens. Now, as adults, they apparently prefer the comfortable familiarity of a program like “ER,” where a fast new story emerges out of every ambulance. Let’s hope that [ABC programming executive] Alan Sternfeld is able to stand by his commitment to “Murder One” and that the wasteland won’t become a little vaster in the wake of its cancellation.

SUZANNE MASTROIANNI

Hemet