TV Shows Tragically Canceled vs. Crap That Lingered

[Cato]

My wife and I have recently reviewed the short lives of a few TV series canceled by short-sighted networks, despite the shows being very original.



Pushing Daisies.  We had seen a few episodes when it was broadcast, and found it highly original: it has a nearly operatic score.  Almost every minute is accompanied with music: great special effects.

And it is cledalistic!  Straight from Dali: the hero and heroine are unable to touch each other, and thus must experience intense love by avoiding physical contact!  (The plot has the hero able to bring back the dead (for one minute) by touching them: if he touches them twice, then they die again...and stay dead.  The love of his life was murdered, so he brings her back, but can never touch her again.)

"Cledalism" is explained in Dali's novel:



The other series of interest is Eli Stone, wherein a young lawyer receives messages from God...or maybe just hallucinations from an aneurysm...or the aneurysm is the mechanism for receiving divine messages!

It had Victor Garber, and anything with him cannot be half bad.  (This rule applies also to Warren Oates, Bruce Dern, Harvey Keitel, and Dennis Hopper.)

Two half-years of 26 epsiodes total was the lifespan of these shows.  Two others which come to mind are Journeyman and Life On Mars, the latter with Harvey Keitel. (Check the above rule.)  Both dealt with a kind of time travel scenario with detectives.

In contrast, absolute 217% Dreck has survived for years: two examples for the Americans here, since I am positive these shows never crossed the ponds, were the incredibly awful




Drew Carey Show which lasted NINE YEARS because of some sort of demonic pact,

and the quintupleplusunfunny






Yes, Dear, which lasted SIX YEARS because anybody who happened to see it was immediately turned to stone and counted as a constant viewer and fan, until enough ossified corpses were discovered by the authorities, and the ratings declined.  It starred a certain Mike O'Malley, who is credited by IMDB with being the center of one of the worst TV shows ever, The Mike O'Malley Show, canceled after 2 (two) episodes.

So who has other shows that they liked, but which the networks killed?  And which shows should be canceled, even though they have an audience?

I would immediately cancel every "reality" TV show and schedule the perpetrators for anesthesialess root canals...on every tooth.

[DavidW]

In those cases the networks should not be blamed.  The audience should be blamed.  The decisions are made based on how many tune in for the show.  Short sided networks should be blamed when they don't give a new show enough time to find an audience but when we're talking about shows that have been on a few seasons and then were canceled that is something different.  We have so many reality shows because more people will watch them than actual story driven shows and they cost less to produce.

To name a tv show that lasted way longer than it should-- Full House.  It wasn't particularly funny and I always saw it as filler between Perfect Strangers and Family Matters.  But it lasted for way, way, way too long!

[Brahmsian]

Speaking of shows that aired for way, way too long (beyond the pilot episode  ):

[knight66]

The final series of 'The Wire' was foreshortened and the plotlines tidied away in a perfunctory fashion. A bit of a let down.

Mike

[greg]

In those cases the networks should not be blamed.  The audience should be blamed.

Probably most people are just dumb, and want dumb TV instead of something genuinely creative, artistic, or smart. They want material that is down-to-earth and easily accessible because they have no imagination. (Generally).

That's why I watch my own stuff... not a very high proportion of good stuff on TV vs. garbage. The only interesting thing I watch now is No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, just because they travel. Kind of sad, really.

[The new erato]

To name a tv show that lasted way longer than it should-- Full House.  It wasn't particularly funny and I always saw it as filler between Perfect Strangers and Family Matters.  But it lasted for way, way, way too long!

It didn't simply last too long, it should never have started!

[greg]

It didn't simply last too long, it should never have started!

I probably never even laughed once while watching that show.

[Sergeant Rock]

FIREFLY  ...cancelled after 13 glorious episodes. I will never forgive Fox for cancelling Firefly.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Speaking of shows that aired for way, way too long (beyond the pilot episode  ):

There are two very good reasons why this show should never be cancelled 

Sarge

[Scarpia]

What about DVD issues?  NYPD blue was a favorite show, and Fox terminated the DVD edition of the show after only 4 seasons were issued.  Given that even the most forgettable shows get issued on DVD these days, I don't understand why NYPD blue doesn't make the cut.

[Todd]

When television is good, nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

Mr Minow observed in 1961 a truth that exists to this day.  If anything, though, with even more choice, the wasteland has expanded.  Since free and basic cable television is above all an advertising medium, the shows that survive must attract a minimum number of viewers in the sought after demographic groups.  Quality has very little to do with what stays on the air.

I'm a over the air only kind of guy, especially with Netflix carrying the few good shows on DVD, and even with such a limited set of choices I usually find nothing good to watch.  Can someone tell me why the various CSI and CSI-like shows continue to plague the airwaves?  They are uniformly awful.   Most sitcoms are so bad and so unfunny that I can't make it to the first commercial break.  I was just on vacation and had access to I don't remember how many cable stations, and the situation was even worse.  HBO has apparently fallen a long way from its 1980s heyday (the vampire show is laughably bad, and the movie choices thin), if a heyday it was, and CNN has devolved into trash on par with Fox News.  Perhaps the late evening time slots don't have good shows, who knows, but I was only too glad to get to bed early.  I found myself pondering how sad it was that the best thing I could find one evening was a stand-up special by Ron White on CMT.

[Sergeant Rock]

My wife and I have recently reviewed the short lives of a few TV series canceled by short-sighted networks, despite the shows being very original.



Pushing Daisies.  We had seen a few episodes when it was broadcast, and found it highly original: it has a nearly operatic score.  Almost every minute is accompanied with music: great special effects.

If I weren't such a rugged, stoic, battle-hardened veteran, I would have wept when Pushing Daisies was cancelled...and cancelled without a resolution, with mysteries still unsolved.

Sarge

[Brahmsian]

Six Feet Under

Favorite show of all time, lasted 5 seasons on HBO, but wish it could have gone on forever.  An amazing show, and wonderful cast.

[Brahmsian]

There are two very good reasons why this show should never be cancelled 

Sarge

[The new erato]

FIREFLY  ...cancelled after 13 glorious episodes. I will never forgive Fox for cancelling Firefly.

Sarge

I thought about mentioning that too. Have you seen the movie that somehow seems to tie a few things up?

[Sergeant Rock]

I thought about mentioning that too. Have you seen the movie that somehow seems to tie a few things up?

I did see it, and I appreciate that they did it...but they didn't do it very well. A rush job, probably, full of space opera cliché (which the series avoided in the main). I should watch it again. Perhaps I'd feel more kindly towards it now that my anger at the series cancellation has abated somewhat.

Sarge

[Bulldog]

Six Feet Under

Favorite show of all time, lasted 5 seasons on HBO, but wish it could have gone on forever.  An amazing show, and wonderful cast.

It was a good series.  However, the ending of the last episode was the worst conclusion to a series I ever saw.

[Brahmsian]

It was a good series.  However, the ending of the last episode was the worst conclusion to a series I ever saw.

Yes, I agree there.

[Cato]

There are two very good reasons why this show should never be cancelled 

Sarge

Glad to see that you are so up front about Jennifer Love Hewitt's better points!   0:)

[karlhenning]

Youse guys!