what was the best show on tv... that never got a fair shake/ cancelled way too soon.

[Fritz]

The Patty Duke Show, only 3 seasons, it should of been upgraded to color and went another 3-4. There were plenty of 60's shows that ran much longer and were not nearly as good.

 

[cannonball]

The Class
Worst Week

 

[Cornerb0y]

Most of my favorites have already been mentioned:

Arrested Development
The Critic (BTW the complete series dvds do have the webisodes as well)
Twin Peaks

(Twin Peaks fans check this video out!)

Some More shows:
Mission Hill
Clerks: The Animated Series
Stella
Clone High

 

[Cylotron]

1. Carnivale - Biggest cliffhanger of any end season show. Ever. Then canceled. Fuck me. Had such potential.

that was exactly what i had in mind when i saw this thread. what the hell happened with that show anyway. i loved it and couldn't believe it was gone.

 

[Ancient Flounder]

Forgot about this one... used to love this in the early 90s


It managed 2 Seasons, but for the time I thought it was
pretty bad ass.

Was that Lamar "Limp-wristed throwing style" Latrell as the gun-toting scientist?

 

[Loopz]

Four pages, and no mention of MAX HEADROOM?

 

[SouthtownKid]

As much as I would have loved more Twin Peaks, I think some of the middle episodes while Lynch was off filming Wild at Heart show how easily the whole thing can fall off the rails the second he steps away. Like when James actually leaves the town and gets wrapped up in a trite 'framed for murder' storyline that wouldn't have been greenlit for a low-rent basic cable thriller.

So if Lynch could have stuck around and carried out his Season 3 plans, I absolutely would have loved to watch them. They sounded disturbing and awesome. But if he was going to continue to be drawn away to other new, interesting projects anyway, and would have left the show in other hands again (even Frost's), then I guess I'm kind of glad things were left as they were, with "stuff to dream on" as he'd put it. The movie made the whole thing a kind of perfect circle -- an endless loop.

 

[cdamm]

Four pages, and no mention of MAX HEADROOM?

great call. also this:

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Damn fine galactic cop show, low budget but the fx were nice

 

[Domino-chan]

I agree with Freakazoid, the Critic, and Space: Above and Beyond. My picks?

Reaper - Great story with schlocky monsters and Ray Wise as Satan? Sign me up. Too bad it lasted all of 2 seasons.

The Secret Lives of Men - I barely even remember what it was about, but I enjoyed it for whatever reason. Axed after 1 season.

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Reaper - Great story with schlocky monsters and Ray Wise as Satan? Sign me up. Too bad it lasted all of 2 seasons.

I really loved that show, so many things hurt that show from the strike to WB

 

[Hidden Character]

Like many of you, I also miss Pirates of Dark Water, The Critic, and Earthworm Jim, but I also miss:

Aeon Flux
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Strangers With Candy
Reno! 911 (with Carlos Alazraqui)
Boston Public
Scarred
Cheap Seats

 

[Renmauzo]

Does anyone remember the late 80's cartoon C.O.P.S? That cartoon was ahead of its time and the animation quality was superb! I bought the DVD (really hard to find outside eBay) last year and it's aged really well, but there were only 2 seasons, and the way it finished was like the studio had no idea they were getting canned. *sniff*

 

[Xian Xi]

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn

I miss hearing Colin calling Patrice "Stupid" all the time. That was always funny shit.

 

[Moon Jump]

Does anyone remember the late 80's cartoon C.O.P.S? That cartoon was ahead of its time and the animation quality was superb! I bought the DVD (really hard to find outside eBay) last year and it's aged really well, but there were only 2 seasons, and the way it finished was like the studio had no idea they were getting canned. *sniff*

COPS!! Fighting crime...in a future time!! Good stuff. I remember the old toys they had. They brought it back in re-runs a few years after it originally aired as Cyber C.O.P.S. I guess even though they had periods between the letters they thought they would get a letter from Fox or something.

And still, I guess I'm the only fan of The Visitor. C'mon, I couldn't be the only person that liked that show.

 

[cdamm]

Like many of you, I also miss Pirates of Dark Water, The Critic, and Earthworm Jim, but I also miss:

Aeon Flux
Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn
Strangers With Candy
Reno! 911 (with Carlos Alazraqui)
Boston Public
Scarred
Cheap Seats

aeon had its full intended run and a finale. still it was a great show.

 

[Syn]

Liquid Television - It spawned a number of spinoffs, Beavis & Butthead, Aeon Flux, etc
Clerks - 6 episodes with only 2 airing

 

[Hidden Character]

Does anyone remember the late 80's cartoon C.O.P.S? That cartoon was ahead of its time and the animation quality was superb! I bought the DVD (really hard to find outside eBay) last year and it's aged really well, but there were only 2 seasons, and the way it finished was like the studio had no idea they were getting canned. *sniff*

Yep, still my favorite 80s cartoon of all-time and some of my friends say I look like Bulletproof.

 

[SNKorSWM]

Mad TV.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Man, this thread is actually kind of depressing. Jeez.

Anyways. I skimmed the thread, and I didn't see Deadwood anywhere in there. From what I understand, Milch voluntarily opted to end the show early to do John From Cincinnatti (for some goddamn reason), but that show should have gone for like 7 or 8 seasons at least. The ending was satisfying for what it was, but it could have been so much more.

I thought Rome ended too early too, but I'm pretty sure they only planned on doing 2 seasons from the outset. Still. I wanted more.

 

[Neo Alec]

How did I forget Reaper? Good call.

Tough Crowd witb Colin Quinn had to go. I watched it every night after TDS but I am glad that timeslot is finally properly filled. It was easily the most ill-informed debate show on TV and even though it was sometimes funny it quickly grew stale by having the same shortlist of comedians almost every night.

 

[Tron]

I'm surpise mike didn't mention this cartoon though it did have a terrible time slot.

Another show that didn't get a chance.

 

[Grandmaster B]

1) Sledge Hammer: even thoughit got a second season, it was cancelled way too soon. Each episode ist just hilarious.
2) the already mentioned Captain Power.
3) Darkskies. Kind of interesting X-Files spin-off.

 

[wataru330]

1) Sledge Hammer: even thoughit got a second season, it was cancelled way too soon. Each episode ist just hilarious.

Not only was the show canceled too early, I was only ever to find a one-shot of the Marvel comic.

SH was totally rad. Great pick, B!

 

[roker]

I obviously have different tastes, here's my picks:

- Stella - The sometimes brilliant sometimes slapstick show based on the comedy of 3 overachieving ex-members of The State.

- Ren and Stimpy ... The original John K. produced/animated version. Damn shame that revival 10+ years later was horrible.

- Flash Forward - Cool show, just couldn't find an audience in time.

- Get a Life - Fox was constantly harassing Chris Elliot to change the show until they finally canceled it. It's a little hit and miss, but you could tell there was a lot smart sometimes surreal humor that was untapped. Fun Fact: Charlie Kaufman got his start writing for this show.

The one that boggles my mind because of how funny it is:

PARTY DOWN - has anyone seen this show? It's freaking hilarious! It's on netflix. Try not to watch the 2 seasons too fast because you'll just be pissed that it got canceled.

Oh and although I love Arrested Development, it's cancelation wasn't that bad. After 1 1/2 seasons the formula got a bit stale to me and I felt the writing was lagging (esp. the travesty that was season 3).


Ok, didn't get canceled at it's peak (in fact it should've been canceled earlier): Heroes

Had so much potential. Every now and then I meet someone who's like, "I just started watching it and it's so awesome!"

to which I reply, "Don't watch anything after season 1." I've never seen a show take a nose dive like that so soon.

Oh, and the Critic wasn't that good. It's so incredibly dated. Seriously, why are you guys riding that so hard?