Perhaps it's because I'm getting old, but I'm not giving TV series the same chances to get established on my weekly playlist as I once might have.

I was about 5 minutes into watching "The Fades" on BBC America on Saturday -- a series that in theory should be right up my alley -- and I turned it off, wiping it from my DVR. It just wasn't working for me in a dramatic sense, so I tanked it.

I barely made it through the entire debut of "Lost Girl," (SyFy, 10 p.m.) last week. Perhaps my patience is just wearing thin, or perhaps the standard for such fantasy shows has been set too high for them to clear the bar.

Both series hark back to the likes of "Buffy," "Angel," "Supernatural" and others, and even though it's an unfair comparison to make, neither showed me anything in their pilots that led me to believe that either series would come to equal any of the series of similar ilk that I liked in the past.

BBC America, in particular, has been something of a disappointment in that regard of late. "The Fades" isn't the first fantasy series that's fallen short of expectations for me. "Hex," "Demons" and "Outcasts" were all series that I had some high hopes for that ended up being dashed.

Meanwhile, BBC America isn't showing the final season of "Ashes To Ashes," the clever spinoff of the even cleverer "Life on Mars." It's particularly annoying since Season 2 ended with a cliffhanger and that there are only eight episodes left to air.

As for SyFy, it's original programming has devolved mostly into reality shows and third-rate series. I don't understand the point of the US version of "Being Human" (SyFy, 9 p.m.), which is nothing but a pale echo of the far superior UK version. (And, to anticipate any backlash that I prefer UK shows to US shows, please find me one review anywhere that states the US version is better in "Being Human's" case).

Sci-fi/fantasy program should, in theory, be the most imaginative stuff on the air, because you can create any universe you like, but lately, all we've gotten is stuff that's derivative at best.

MONDAY'S BEST BETS: It's always sort of interesting when a big-time movie director steps behind the small screen, which is the case tonight with "Gossip Girl" as Amy Heckerling helms this week's episode (CW, 8 p.m.), followed by a new "Hart of Dixie."

"House" (Fox, 8 p.m.) returns after a long layoff and moves into a new timeslot ahead of "Alcatraz" at 9 p.m.

ABC continues with "The Bachelor," followed by a new "Castle."