What's the deal with network executives, anyway? Can they simply not handle awesome television? Why must they tease us with one or two seasons of quality programming, then cancel good shows in favor of idiotic reality replacements? Is that really the way the world works now?
We sure hope not. But with fall premieres rapidly approaching, we're always wary of getting too attached, for fear of grave disappointment. And so we'd like to take a moment to reflect on our favorite TV short-timers. Because if it can happen to these gems (and Popular and Life on Mars and Dirty Sexy Money and Dark Angel and... ), it can happen to any of them.
Read 'em and weep.
10. Aliens in America
(CW, 1 season, 18 episodes, ended in 2008)This high school sitcom had all the makings of a hit -- Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls, Christopher B. Duncan from Veronica Mars, and two mega-talented kid actors, Lindsey Shaw and Dan Byrd. Shaw and Byrd were hilarious, and now they're showing major promise on 10 Things I Hate About You and Cougar Town, respectively. But maybe the show's deceptive title sealed its own fate. Or maybe it was the geeky look of the main characters -- the CW is notoriously a "pretty people" kind of network. We'll never know.
9. Firefly
(FOX, 1 season, 15 episodes, ended in 2002)This multi-genre show never really got to spread its wings, even with a writer like Joss Whedon behind it. He assembled one hell of a cast -- including Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Nathan Fillion, and Sean Maher -- but it wasn't enough to keep the Serenity flying through space.
8. Sports Night
(ABC, 2 seasons, 45 episodes, ended in 2000)and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
(NBC, 1 season, 22 episodes, ended in 2007)Aaron Sorkin found much success with The West Wing, but his two other pet projects barely got off the ground. Both shows cast talented actors (Felicity Huffman and Josh Charles on Sports Night; Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet on Studio 60), but neither had a real chance to show them off. Did viewers mistake Sports Night for an an ESPN rip-off? Did Tina Fey's 30 Rock steal Studio 60's spotlight? Sigh.
7. Jericho
(CBS, 2 seasons, 29 episodes, ended in 2008)Jericho probably has the saddest story of all the shows on this list -- not even a fan campaign and subsequent revival could save it. After the first full season ended in cancellation, fans protested in outrage, earning a second-season run. But CBS pulled the plug on this post-nuclear attack drama after a feeble seven episodes in Season 2.
6. Wonderfalls
(FOX, 1 season, 13 episodes, ended in 2004)and Dead Like Me
(SHO, 2 seasons, 30 episodes, ended in 2004)and Pushing Daisies
(ABC, 2 seasons, 22 episodes, ended in 2009)Poor Bryan Fuller. He just can't catch a break. Waterfalls, his first collaboration with Lee Pace, didn't even air all its episodes. Dead Like Me embraced the undead just a few years before vampires became popular -- but it didn't live on for very long. And Pushing Daisies? Who wouldn't want to watch Lee Pace ... and pie?
5. Roswell
(WB, 3 seasons, 61 episodes, ended in 2002)This WB classic mixed aliens and humans long before District 9 was around -- and the aliens were a lot cuter, too. Katherine Heigl, Shiri Appleby, and Colin Hanks all got their big breaks on Roswell, but the honeymoon lasted only three seasons.
4. Veronica Mars
(CW, 3 seasons, 64 episodes, ended in 2007)
Despite winning Satellite Awards, Saturn Awards, and Teen Choice Awards, this adolescent-angled Law and Order never earned very high ratings -- and Kristen Bell hasn't really caught a break since. Maybe that Gossip Girl voiceover gig will pan out into a real character someday?
3. My So-Called Life
(ABC, 1 season, 19 episodes, ended in 1995)
The cancellation of this angst-y teen show was especially bitter, because the first and only season ended on a cliffhanger. We'll never know whether Angela (Claire Danes) and Rayanne (A.J. Langer) became friends, or if Angela stayed with Jordan (Jared Leto) -- and that's just plain cruel.
2. Freaks and Geeks
(NBC, 1 season, 18 episodes, ended in 2000)and Undeclared
(FOX, 1 season, 17 episodes, ended in 2002)It would appear that Judd Apatow never really got the hang of serial narration -- Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, his pet "cult classics," lasted no more than a season apiece. But maybe NBC and FOX never really got the hang of him. At least we can still count on the release of an Apatow-branded comedy every 18 months or so to provide dude jokes and sappy moments and screen time for every actor Apatow helped make famous. Movies are his "thing" now. But we'll never forget those one-season wonders.
1. Arrested Development
(FOX, 3 seasons, 53 episodes, ended in 2006)There's only one way to say it: FOX made a huge mistake when they canceled this brilliant comedy. Though the 2010 movie may temporarily satisfy our cravings for cornballs and hot ham water, nothing can replace that ensemble cast and that magnificent, absurd script.
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I'd have to add two favorites that never got a full season -- Six Degrees on ABC and Reunion on Fox. Reunion was a murder mystery that never got solved, for crying out loud!
Veronica Mars shouldn't have ended because it was the best show ever
All those shows were bad. I'm not surprised they got canned.
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It was complete bulls*** when Arrested Development got cancelled.
Although, I also have to give a nod to reaper and tru calling... maybe not the best of the best, but they were certainly getting interesting and then whoosh! out the door they went
I definitely agree with dead like me and firefly... but at least they each scored post series movies that gave us a brief chance at seeing the characters again (but i prefered the original daisy adair)
You forgot Kings. Amazing show. Poorly promoted, and thus probably wasn't well-known, but wow, I loved it.
Shows that got cancelled for no reason. Kyle XY, Moonlight, and Eastwick. All perfectly good shows. Just a shame.
Shows that got cancelled for no reason. Kyle XY, Moonlight, and Eastwick. All perfectly good shows. Just a shame.
My choice for top of the list is "Nothing Sacred," a drama about a parish priest and his dealings with parishioners and the challenges of faith. This show was militated against by the {so-called) Catholic League who went at sponsors in order to kill the show. Some episodes remain forever in the can despite vigorous viewer protests.. I wish a cable network had picked it up or would now run the entire and only season. The show was complex, interesting, well done, and a breath of fresh air.
Now And Again. Have to love the idea of a middle-aged overweight insurance exec getting pushed in front of a subway train and his brain being rescued and placed in a genetically-enhanced 25-year-old body by a mysterious government program. The interplay between his old and new lives was poignant and beautifully written. What a shame it had to end with (yes) yet another cliffhanger....
I miss Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, Veronica Mars and one not listed Valentine. Network people are so stupid, they don't even give shows a chance anymore like they use to. An example of a show that got a chance is Friends. They did poorly in the first season and yet they stayed on and look what happened, they became even more popular as seasons went by.
Ha, good list. It really reminds you how annoying and stupid network executives are! They just tease us! :( Moonlight should have been on the list though. If they had only hung on a little longer they could have jumped on the twilight craze and made a fortune! And it was such an amazing show with a great cast. O, and Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles. :( I miss all these shows.
no everwood????? well....
I think Moonlighting was canceled way way way too early!!!!!
I so loved Wonderfalls and Dead like Me!
The shows that really need to be cancelled are all of the reality shows now they suck... It seem's whenever they get a good show on they cancell it. All of the ones like Dirty Sexy Money, Cane, that was a really good show and did'nt last long at all what a shame. Who is in charge of cancelling all of these shows whoever they are something is wrong people you need some better people to pick the shows that are taking off of the air. Reality shows just are not very entertaining at all. Please find someone that knows what is good and what is not. October Road, Prison Break, Third Watch, "Cain" that was just down right a very good show. Come on people get it right. Bring back the good ones.
At least Firefly was given a Conclusion, still it was a great show, and then Pushing Daisies was just another victim of the writer's strike, it was pulled off in it's first season before it was able to secure an actual audience.
I loved Dead Like Me! I think Arrested Development was good, but I stopped watching it as it was not my kind of show.
Daybreak with Tay Diggs...gooooooood TV show..
Futurama?
Knight Rider!
I was happy to see that piece of **** Jericho off the television set and I can not imagine why any of these are listed above genuinely GOOD shows that deserved to be kept on the air
No My name is earl? that IS this list
I'm happy that Jericho made the list but pissed that Firefly and the Dresden Files aren't mentioned. I also noticed that the Fox channel shows up most on the list.....
I think the list should have been more than ten anyways I am going to go back a little bit I think these shows were cancelled way to soon 1. The PJs. the claymation animated series created by Eddie Murphy 2.South Central. this show debuted in 1994 it featured Larenz Tate and also Jennifer Lopez the show was very deep and real 3.House of Buggin. which featured John Legiuezimo was a Latino version of In Living Color 4.Sara Connor Chronicles 5.Down The Shore. a early Fox show that featured a bunch of friends sharing a weekend beach house I know I am going to reveal my age bracket when I mention these shows 6. BJ and The Bear 7. Sheriff Lobo 8. Automan 9.Riptide 10.Sledge Hammer 11.Rags to Riches 12.Punky Brewster 13.Crime Story 14.Sonny Spoon 15.V the Series and thats my list
1. "Due South" 2. "Eli Stone" 3. "Ryan's Hope" 4. "What's My Line?" classics on Game Show Network, and the whole concept of "Black And White Nights", where they'd show the really OLD games, all night, in the hours where there are now infomercials. Those shows are priceless!
My five shows: 5) Andy Richter Controls the Universe I found the cast to be hilarious, the writing clever, and the style very original. Definitely deserved a chance to catch on with viewers. 4) The Critic Hilarious! Jon Lovitz is incredible, the supporting cast amazing, and the movie parodies were spot-on. 3) Futurama This show really grows on you. Incredibly smart, funny, and with characters you really care about, this show was taken off the air too soon. Luckily, producers realized this and the show is back! 2) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles The show was a bit hit-or-miss, but when it was good it provided the most riveting action on TV. Made worse by the fact that the series ended with some of its strongest episodes, and left a huge cliffhanger right as things were heating up. 1) Arrested Development Come on! Easily the best serial sitcom ever, and arguably the best TV show of all time, this show was robbed from us by the stupidest execs on the earth, FOX. It's the one show that I can rewatch the series over and over and never get bored, and often discover jokes under the surface. If you haven't seen this show do yourself a favor and buy all the DVDs right now.
Reality TV is the cause of the demise of most of these shows and others. People that watch that mess are contributing to the futher decline of decent tv. Moonlight and Bloodties are the two that I'm ticked off about most because along with reality tv and the writer's strike, both were killed off they should have been brought back for a new season. Firefly, Farscape, Dark Angel, American Gothic (pre-reality show madness), Vengeance Unlimited, Enterprise, Voyager, Jake 2.0 (which has been redone as Chuck. They think we're that stupid. But then again some of us are and will watch that mess), Dark Angel, Dresden Files, Eleventh Hour and New Amsterdam. There are others that could be on this list.
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As long as i never see FRINGE on that list...
Arrested Development... EPIC
You missed KINGS!!!!!!!!
I have to disagree with quite a few selections not made. 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'was the best new show of the past 3 years, at least. 'The 9'was incredible. 'Smith' was equally fascinating. And 'Castlebury's Law' with Julianna Margulies was exceptional. Either the American public at large has it's taste buds planted somewhere where the sun don't shine or the major studios give a damn about the highest quality. They need to stand by the highest quality shows. Given a little time quality is never anathema to wide popular and financial success. Thank goodness for Trauma, Mercy, Grey's Anatomy, Fast Forward and the Good Wife to name a few.
I miss Dirty Sexy Money, Big Shots, October Road, and Women's Murder Club!
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I agree with quite a few, and would add Space Above and Beyond.
Just recently the cancellation of Defying Gravity sent me into a fit of language my grandmother would not have been proud of. New Amsterdam last season (following the writer strike) got me pretty out of sorts. And one my wife introduced me to, Keen Eddie (from quite a while back) was a great show. I was also a big fan of several of those on the list as well as several of those that have been mentioned in the comments.
Awww man, what about Over There? That was an awesome show that only ran for one season.
Two more to add to the ever-increasing list: Kyle XY and Journeyman. Kyle XY was ended on a cliffhanger (REALLY stupid when networks do that), plus it was just a great show that was sci-fi/mystery/(little bit of) teen drama all rolled into one that made a really engaging show that kept me watching every week and they just cut it off just when things were getting even better. Journeyman was all about time travel, and that's enough to get me hooked. But it was kind of like "The Time Traveler's Wife" from the time traveler's perspective. You have this man (Dan Vasser) who has a family and he suddenly and uncontrollably is thrust thorough time seemingly at the worst of times. Plus it stars Kevin McKidd, (also known for playing Lucius Vorenus in Rome), so what more could you ask for?
John Doe! They left it hanging with a HUGE cliffhanger!
Moonlight should be on this list. That was such a good show. I was so bummed when it didn't come back for season 2. :(
100 Centre Street should be on the list.
Girlfriends should be on this list
and how can u guys forget REAPER... damn that was a good show
Moonlight and The Master should be on this list as well.
Another one that I'd add would be family guy, although it's back on our screens now, how many times have the studio execs pulled it or threatened to. plus it's one show that actually proved them wrong by going on to be one of the biggest shows on the network and worldwide.
My favorite show that was cancelled after only 1 season was "Alien Nation". It was critically praised, and developed a cult following, but should've had more of a chance to make it.
What about Boston Public!?! That was an awesome show too :(