A few years ago, I fantasized in print about a TV Critics Channel, where all the series I've ever loved and lost would still be airing.

The closest thing you can find to that outside of fantasy is the Trio cable channel's "Brilliant But Cancelled" series, which hooks up true believers with such gone-but-not-forgotten gems as "Now and Again," "Action" and "The Famous Teddy Z."

This morning, a few of us had breakfast with Kris Slava, who as vice president of acquisitions and program planning is the guy who gets to buy the series that didn't make it.

Naturally, we spent most of the meal lobbying for our favorites. A critic from Pittsburgh, for instance, wants to see all of Fox's "Pasadena," not just the few episodes the network aired of the 13 that were filmed. I wouldn't mind seeing more of "Pasadena" myself, but I was really pushing for Frank's Place," the 1987-88 dramedy in which Tim Reid starred as a Boston professor who unexpectedly inherits a New Orleans restaurant.

It's a little bit like this everywhere Slava goes these days, though, he admitted, TV critics probably have longer lists than most people. We do, after all, get our hearts broken just about every season.