Television is a big part of all our lives, whether we want to admit so or not. There’s nothing worse than when a show we love is yanked off the air just as we become attached to it. I’ve decided to list (in no particular order) my favorite shows that were canceled much too early.
The Tick- Silly and hilarious live-action version of the popular comic book series and animated show that was canceled by FOX. Only 9 episodes were filmed and FOX didn’t even air them all, I had to buy the DVD set to watch the rest of the episodes. Patrick Warburton is perfect as The Tick and the supporting cast was also great. Special props go out to Nestor Carbonell’s hilarious, woman-crazed Batmanuel.
Wonderfalls- Another terrific series canceled by FOX and available on DVD. FOX predictably canceled the lovely, and original series after just 4 episodes! All 13 episodes are collected on the DVD set and is certainly worth purchasing.
Reaper- One of my all time favorite shows. Reaper is about a slacker whose parents sell his soul to the Devil. He has to become the devil’s bounty hunter. The series lasted 2 seasons and both seasons are on DVD. The show was cut short in its prime by The CW and Ray Wise was Emmy-worthy, hilarious one minute, and creepy the next as the suave Devil. Reaper was a cult show for the ages.
Freaks And Geeks- Long before producer Judd Apatow was making overrated slob comedies that grossed a fortune at the box office he had this special loook at the Hell that is life in high school. Freaks and Geeks was touching, funny, and painful, just like real life. 18 episodes was too short for this excellent show. James Franco fans rejoice! He’s actually good in this.
My So-Called Life- Another pitch-perfect look at high school life with a perfectly cast Claire Danes as the voice of reason navigating the madness of life. Jared Leto became a heartthrob on this series. The brooding, mumbling Joradan. 19 episodes later, the show is a classic and gone way too soon. Thanks to syndication and DVD it will life on forever though.
Roar- Long before Heath Ledger was the definitive Joker in The Dark Knight, he was on this short-lived FOX adventure series as the leader of a band of Celtic warriors battling an evil Roman empire, including a villain who killed Jesus on the cross. Action-packed, filled with terrific scenery and battles, Roar was canceled by FOX but lives on thanks to DVD. FOX only aired 8 episodes, but all 13 filmed are collected on DVD.
Profit- Adrian Pasdar played an amoral corporate yuppie without a soul who slept naked in a cardboard box at night. Profit was a perfectly dark look at greed and capitalism run amok and Pasdar was perfectly cast as the handsome sociopath. FOX canned this classic quickly, but its available on DVD. It’s like a better version of Wall Street.
Whats your favorite short-lived television series of all time ? Comment below and let me know.
You can also get the tv shows mentioned below on Amazon
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Kuno
Sep 18, 2010 -
I’ll have to go with Arrested Development. I have all 3 seasons on DVD and it’s just might be the funniest show I’ve ever seen. The actors blamed the marketing department for the show’s low viewership.
Reboot
Sep 18, 2010 -
My So-Called Life was such a good show, it felt natural, not over the top drama(but they still had it when it was appropriate)
That show remineded me of Pete-and-Pete, though im sure there nothing alike.
Natasha
Sep 18, 2010 -
BOOMTOWN!!
FIREFLY!!!
Both shows only lasted one season. Firefly got some justice from the feature film Serenity.
ps. Reboot was the best =)
underdog
Sep 18, 2010 -
The Invisible Man
John Doe
Standoff
Touching Evil
The Inside
I could go on and on
Erica
Sep 19, 2010 -
Probably too many to name… Almost everything that’s already been named. And Traveler, which I’m hoping will get a DVD release now that White Collar has made Matt Bomer a little more famous.
This would make a great series of posts! I’ve seen quite a few lists similar to this one but I’d love to know exactly what you loved about each one, and what we were missing by never seeing the show go beyond half a season.
ccfmds
Sep 20, 2010 -
There are so many great short-lived television shows. I could have also included Haunted and Carnivale, maybe I will do a longer more in-depth list as you suggested. Carnivale lasted two seasons before HBO canceled it. I had an online meltdown after that because there was a cliffhanger and it was never resolved since HBO didn’t give the series a season 3. The night I found out it was canceled, I called my cable company and canceled HBO forever……..
Tricorvus
Jul 19, 2011 -
I miss “Thanks” with Charles Shaugnessy & Cloris Leachman as a Pilgrim family in hilarious everyday life. Charles was the dad, Cloris was the sex-starved gramma. There was a great episode where a man in the village sent for a “Mail order bride”. She showed up looking like a modern model. At the end, the teen daughter of the primary family in the show, was chowing down, and someone asked her why, and she said she never wanted to be that skinny and someone said, someday that will be fashionable. and the girl was all “no way!”. Then there was “Whoops!” The Bomb went off and there were like 5 people left on the planet and they had to work together to survive. Now if they did them, they’d probably suck. These shows were on in like 1993 or thereabouts, after 93 for sure. Anyone else remember them?