Shows that shouldn't have been cancelled...

My friend and I have become somewhat "Armchair Television Anthropologists" and we've made a hobby out of seeing which shows make it, and why. Conversely, we are also interested in those shows that were cancelled, and why. We've gone back to many old shows and watched them, trying to figure out what makes shows successful or not. (We're unemployed right now, so there's not much else to do)

So.... what shows do YOU lament the premature cancellation of? I'll use your responses for ideas of shows to go back and analyze.

Not a day goes by that I don't feel sad about losing that show after just one season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Middleman_%28TV_series%29

He's an all-around good guy. My wife knows him through "Lost" fangirl circles; Javi was one of the lead writers in seasons 1 and 2. He actually created quite a bit of the "mythology" that Lindeloff and Cuse later ignored.

I was hooked forever.

Among others. I'v about given up on TV

:hi:

It's been that way for some time. That seems to be an awful lot of money wasted, to toss a show aside.

In the journey to capture lightning in a bottle, so to speak, everyone these days seems content to copycat a successful show rather than try something new.

They make about 4 episodes throw them on 4 different nights and cancel the show wondering why it didn't gain a loyal following. WTF?

If a show actually makes it then it must immediately go on hiatus while the call the actors back in to make some new episodes. Pathetic.

They took a bit of time to build an audience, but once they did, look out! Sadly, today the networks don't give a show a chance to build an audience. If they don't get killer ratings from the start, they're gone. Kind of like today's job market: if you don't come out with your guns blazing, excelling at every aspect of the job from day one, you're gone!

The networks gave them a chance and some time and the rest is history.

Firefly
Survivors (BBC - the new one)

Town Drunk: "As far as my Philosophy on the subject matter goes, I dare say I'm totally inept to explain the consequences of such a review."

Only lasted a couple of months. It was pretty gritty, but well done.

I would even watch it in re-runs.

Eliminate the negative!

I'm still pissed that they canceled it.

I personally never watched it (only so many hours in the day, ya know) but I heard good things.

A buddy of mine always called it numb-THREE-ers....

It's being re-run at odd times on USA and the later seasons are just not as good as the early ones. Plus they ended up with a lot of soap opera type stuff going on.

Babylon 5.

mentions 'Firefly', and 'Freaks and Geeks'

I guess I'll have to watch me some Firefly - see what it's all about!

It's still pretty good, but doesn't really live up to the hype and internet fandom left in its wake.

But I believe it was worth continuing past where it was canceled.

Of course, Freaks and Geeks would have run its course by now, but Firefly could still be going strong.

it was scheduled to run a 5 year arc. when it was done. it was done. having it move to tnt kind of... sucked, but at least they got to finish the story....

and thus no way to watch it. So it might as well have been canceled.

Plus, if star trek can go for umpteen years in umpteen sequel series, B5 deserves more than 5.

1. My So Called Life.
2. Freaks And Geeks.
3. Pushing Daisies.

I loved that show, and Clare Danes set off a love for redheads that I have to this day.

Nearly every article I've read mentions 'Freaks and Geeks'. In fact, some magazine had rated it the #13 show of the last 25 years.

Briscoe County, Jr," and MTV's first series, "Austin Stories."

Funny thing about Austin Stories, it was very successful. One rumor was that MTV cancelled it because they anticipated the cast asking for big raises, and didn't want to give them the chance.

That show was so much fun. It reminded me of the campy seasons of Wild, Wild West!

How about Jack of All Trades - another Bruce Campbell fun fest? That was a show that should have had a full hour instead of only a half hour. I think the worst problem with it is that the writers and the cast had more fun than the audience.

So many anachronisms and so much irony in that show. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!

...not too bad for its time, IMHO.

Is the most recent show I can think of which should have been given a longer chance. Good actors, good writing and a bit more time could of found its voice.

Homicide was the finest police drama on teevee. Why it was always relegated to Friday nights at 10:00 escapes me. While it was airing it was always one of the few must see shows for me. I still miss it!

Going way back a show called Profit had potential and was abruptly canceled. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115323/

the beginnings of Richard Belzer as John Munch, and the Baltimore he always talked about.

I really didn't think USA or TNT actually cancelled those shows, they just kind of float back in and out of the schedule from time to time.

The best part of its end, if there is a best part, is that the writers were keenly aware they would be canceled and wrote self-referential plotlines into the third season.

That show rewards multiple viewings.

I'm watching the whole series again on Netflix streaming.

long festival at my house. I really enjoyed it.

The bad part about its end is that it was a little disjointed because they felt like they had to wrap a lot of stuff up at the end.

I still can't believe that show got canceled. Although in some ways I'm glad it didn't go into 8 seasons and get really lame. American shows never know when to end properly. British shows always know to end while it's still really good.

Won six emmys and a golden globe. Cancelled because.... Fox are assholes?

I was glad to see it go. I'm waiting for "The Office" to go as well. I don't understand the appeal of Steve Carell. He's not funny at all.

Posted in wrong place, but second to AD.

A scientist uses logic to solve mysteries. I think it might have made it but for two problems - the casting (Parker Stevenson as a scientist?), and it made the viewers use their minds. It only ran seven episodes.

An odd sitcom called Best of the West. Great ensemble of characters and fantastic casting, wonderful writing. At least it got a full twenty two episode season, but that was it. I would imagine most people that watch regular TV did not get a lot of the humor.

It was a time travel show, which is a genre I like. I really liked the show, but the network didn't give it much time. I think the show was on in 2007.

You really had to pay attention to the details and know some recent history. I don't think they did as good a job as Quantum Leap did on giving the viewers the background while engaging them in the action.

Quantum Leap was a good show, and it lasted longer than many scifi shows on network television.

Or was that religion.

While there are times I just want something mindless on the tube, I do like television that is more than that most of the time. And television shows, like most stuff is 90% crap. So we just have to be grateful for those few things that are worth watching.

Quantum Leap was one of those. I was always impressed with the writing, the direction and the acting. And I was glad that it ran as many seasons as it did. It is the only TV series we own on DVD.

:grr:

When it's canceled it shouldn't have been, because it shouldn't have existed in the first place...

That show was chock full of the sort of things I like, and was beautifully produced and well-acted too, and was only 2 seasons out of a projected 6 season run, which left tons of things hanging.

Not hard to see why it was axed though. It was hugely expensive, and the viewership dropped of quite a bit into the second season (and even more so than most HBO shows, if you missed a few episodes, you were gonna be totally lost)

"Tru Calling" and "Dollhouse" were two very solid shows that got the axe way too soon from FOX.

I really thought it would be picked up for another season...

Sounds interesting. Maybe people got it confused with "The Mentalist"

FOX has a problem with greenlighting very high concept television that costs mucho money with special effects, then putting it on Friday nights where it is certain to die a quick ratings death because every other night is reality crap and cheap cartoons.

They decided to show movies from 9-11 on Sunday nights, so they sacrificed this well-rated show by moving it all over the map until viewers could no longer find it... :(

Especially liked the "ship"

Great show...too good for network TV, apparently.

probably helped kill it, too.

I hate, hate, hate the way African-Americans are portrayed on television. Slapstick comedies, juvenile and definitely not funny; just insulting. I'd love to watch a program about a typical African-American family; not just one made up of clowns and criminals.

:hide:

I hated that show, too. Imagine constantly telling your children that you don't have a right to live in your own home, that it isn't your home, it's his? What kind of sick dialogue is that?

"The reason why we have five children, is that we did not want SIX. And those we have, we want to get out of the house, before we DIE."

And apparently he didn't mean it anyway, because they all came back - he even took on two other girls in the last couple of seasons...

The Donna Reed Show; in fact it was Father Knows Best. The Cosby Clan were Yuppie jackasses.

Still remember the one F'sP episode when Frank was looking forward to joining an exclusive A-A club. His employees tell him he probably won't pass the Bag Test.

...and before everybody starts raining rotten cabbage on me, the last season was chock-full of social commentary, even if the writing was sometimes uneven and the acting, well, uneven. But if you managed to look past that, there was a ton of subtext that was, IMHO, totally relevant to the times.

They totally borked the series finale, I'll give you that, but only because they were rushed in trying to wrap things up.

ON EDIT: I was just getting into Defying Gravity when they pulled that one off the air. It was grossly mis-advertised, which is why I didn't pay any attention to it (Gray's Anatomy in space, my ass!) - by the time I finally watched one episode, it had already been canceled. :grr: I've since seen the whole series twice on Space, and I really want to know how it ends.

Forgive my all-caps burst.

I found that show really really interesting. The writing was smart, and it had enough surprises to keep it interesting.

Action - another Fox offering starring Jay Mohr about an asshole Hollywood producer. It was a little too edgy for most everyone.

Carnivale

Deadwood

And, another series by the creator of Deadwood that was really out there, but was really getting good when it got the axe, John From Cincinnati. It also had some of the best acting by Ed O'Neill I've ever seen.

Said plane proceeds to almost crash into the World Trade Center in New York City. Not that anyone could have imagined *that*. :sarcasm: :eyes:

two young boys who lived in a strange little town that included Elvis on the paper route.
It was show for tweeners, but we loved watching it with our kids.
Knowing the knife was coming, the last show was a show about a show being cancelled.

Oh - and "Ellery Queen." with Timothy Hutton I think. I understand that this sort of morphed into "Murder, She Wrote".

I'd forgotten all about it!

Now I'm going to have to look for the DVD!

I'm with you on "Ellery Queen" too, we must be close to the same age!

Biker's Old Lady

Oh - I am sure amazon has it. I don't do online much.

Ended after the second season, just as the big battle between Joan (who may or may not talk directly to God in several manifestations) and an evil character who might or might not be Satan incarnate was brewing up.

They could have run Briscoe County for about, oh, 20 more years, too.

Starring Bruce Greenwood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_Man_%28TV_series%29

The second season, however, seemed to abandon the psychological thriller aspects of the first season and became a shoot-em-up action/adventure show. That's what I recall, anyway.

NM only had 1 season of 25 episodes - Aug 1995 until May 1996.

As it struggled for ratings, I seem to recall the show abandoning the psychological stuff that I found intriguing and began focusing on Veil getting violent revenge on those who put him in his situation. I lost interest in it at that point.

That type of show rarely lasts long on commercial TV.

well, at least Sarah Jessica landed on her feet -- or should I say her Manolos?

Once David E. Kelley got bored and moved on to other stuff, it lost the magic.

Ended way too soon. The ending was too rushed, but I understand they had to rush it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge_(TV_series)

and I hate they cancelled Numbers without wrapping it up. I liked the premise, though. I think they could've used some fresh writers/ideas, though.

Produced by Ron Howard and Eddie Murphy on FOX.

The Claymation adventures of the Super (maintenance guy) in the Projects, Thurgood Orenthal Stubbs, his wife Muriel, resident crackhead Smokey, assorted kids and other characters.

It was like the best of the Simpsons -- you had to watch and listen closely to catch everything. And the people were not goody goodies like on The Cosby Show.

It probably got canceled because it showed things like a black crackhead (wearing a button that said 'Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How') :rofl: and the reluctance of black people in the projects to call the cops -- because they knew they wouldn't come.

I knew that "Thurgood" referred to Thurgood Marshall, "Orenthal" to O.J. Simpson, but it took me a while to figure out that "Stubbs" was Levi Stubbs, lead singer for The Four Tops.

In one episode, Thurgood, or Goody, would make exclamations with the names of famous black people in them. The ones I remember were "Whitney Houston, we have a problem" and "Holy Moses Malone".

:rofl:

Great show. Wish it was still on. Guess it wasn't PC enough.

I never got to watch it before now.

but does anything really get "canceled" on PBS?

It's like they kind of spawn from the ether and eventually reabsorb.

Good show, but they bounced it around too much, and there were some casting issues, and they showed it out of order.

It lives on on Hulu though. :D

now onto the G's :) Just kidding.

I'll mention B5 I think this was brought to an end 1 season earlier than planned and it certainly felt rushed.

Enterprise maybe should have been canceled because it didn't live up to its potential but it really could've been a wonderful show and at times you got a glimpse of what it could have been.

it was just hitting a damn fine stride before it got canned.

...Justice League Unlimited, X-Men Evolution, FlashForward, Enterprise (at least the Season 4 version of the show)...

Just to name a few.

I saw the first three or four episodes, but then it was like their scheduling got wonky. I couldn't reconnect and next thing you know, it's done.

But they had some good ideas, and the inserted scenes/dream sequences thing worked great.

and I can't believe FlashForward got the axe but the new V didn't.

most like Sex & the City.

The American remake of the British series starred Jeffrey Donovan (of Burn Notice). It's an offbeat, X-Files-ish show with really good acting.

But it was uncancelled. So I guess it was not? Gigity.

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...and listen to the HUNDREDS of Gunsmoke radio shows they have on file.
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If you liked the TV show, you should LOVE the radio series.
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I loved that show, it was like a really fucked-up version of Home Improvement.

One of my favorite shows was Brimstone and it shouldn't have been canceled. Also, the remake of Dark Shadows.

both of which were created by Victor Fresco. Funny, quirky stuff doesn't last, but we get eight seasons of dreck like According to Jim? Bleh.

I wish it had stayed on the air.

Kick-ass female protagonist, great dialogue, echoes of film noir. A bazillion times more intelligent than the dreck shows that continue on for years and years and years.

Loved that show.

Another awesomely weird show...

Imagine if it had lasted as long as say... The Next Generation...

I was addicted to that show, bad!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(TV_Series)
"Legend was a science fiction Western television show that ran on UPN from April 18, 1995 until August 22, 1995, with one final re-airing of the pilot on July 3, 1996. It was Richard Dean Anderson's first major role after the successful MacGyver series, and also starred John de Lancie, best known for his role as "Q" in Star Trek: The Next Generation."