Kevin's Watch

Plently of shows have been cancelled over the years. Some where plently of fans have made a massive outcry, some where no-one even noticed - or cared.

So my question is: what show have you loved, and then deprived of? What is your favourite show to be cancelled. Why was that show cancelled, and what do you think of the reasons?




For me, there's two that stick to mind:

Firefly - Amazing Sci-fi, no way this should have been cancelled. It was one of the best series I ever got into. Sadly, however, it aired only 12 episodes before it was cancelled. I'm not sure why, I amuse the Chief Excutives of the Studio's it was made at don't know a good show when they see one.

That of course, is not the end of the story for Firefly. Excelling Dvd sells, and millions of fans protesting, got through to whoever decides to cancel this show; and it got made into the film Serenity. An amazing film.. and indeed, millions of fans worldwide wait to see if there will be another two films.

The second show I want to express my outrage at being cancelled for is Futurama: I've been told that the reason it was cancelled is because the producers felt it was taking too much attention away from the Simpsons- and so they cancelled it.

That sickened me. As much as I love the simpsons, I felt that Futurama was much better. And had much more potential before it was cancelled. I suppose the people who cancelled are kicking themselves now, as millions now agree that the Simpsons has really gone down hill.

So what are yours?

There was a time when I mourned the cancellation of "Hello Larry"...
I was so in love with Kim Richards

Cancelled shows eh?
Yeah Futurama is at the head of the list for me.
I liked The Lone Gunmen
The Critic
The Tick (both animated and live action)

There are more to be sure.

Firefly

Crusade

Nowhere Man

Millenium

Brimstone

Vengance Inc.

Firefly, Futurama, and when it happens, Scrubs.

Blakes 7

Millenium
Vanishing Son
Quantum Leap

Futurama for me, although i heard a rumour that it may be returning.

The Simpsons, when the writers canceled all the quality episodes.

Family Guy. It pulled a Grover Cleveland, though.

The Pretender

The Phoenix

Nowhere Man

Futurama

Firefly, Futurama, Dead like me.

i had to think on this one a bit cause i don't watch that much tv anymore.

Star Trek:TNG

i miss jean-luc *sigh*

I *think* Revan was talking about shows that were cancelled before their time. ST:TNG did have a series finale, so I don't think it counts.

Farscape
Dead Like Me
Titus
I-Man

The Lone Gunmen and Brimstone were good, too, but I wouldn't have thought of them (not that the others weren't good, just that I wasn't currently watching them when they were on).

Enterprise. . . . . just kidding.

Syl wrote:I *think* Revan was talking about shows that were cancelled before their time. ST:TNG did have a series finale, so I don't think it counts.

well...what i'm SAYING Sylvanus, is that I think it was cancelled before it's time!!! counts to me.

of course, we could DISCUSS it!

Sports Night
the Job
Homicide
Twin Peaks

I used to be a TV junkie from the late '70s to mid-'80s, so there was always something for me to watch every day, every night. So I caught a lot of shows that I liked which died early deaths. I fondly remember these short-lived series from the early '80s:

Masquerade
Tales From The Gold Monkey
Bring 'Em Back Alive
Automan
Mission: Impossible (updated version)
Police Squad!
Greatest American Hero
WKRP In Cincinnati
Probe
Spenser: For Hire
Hardcastle & McCormick

Why did all these shows get cancelled? Bad ratings and/or too-expensive budgets. I'm not saying every one of these shows was a classic, but I can't deny that I enjoyed all of them while they were around. I guess they didn't stick around long enough for me to actually start hating them.

Tales from the Gold Monkey (with Stephen Collins) and Bring 'Em Back Alive (with Bruce Boxleitner) were basically Indiana Jones knock-offs, back when the huge success of Raiders of the Lost Ark had every rival studio frantically green-lighting anything that involved an adventure dude circa 1930s. Hey, at least these two shows had good, swashbuckling title themes worthy of Indy himself. I'm still hopeful that they will appear on DVD some day. (Doesn't everything eventually pop up on DVD no matter how obscure?)

Automan...I think it pandered to Tron fans like me. Basically, super-program written by super-programmer geek comes to life in the real world in the form of super-blonde guy who does super-crimefighting deeds while driving in super-cool virtual car. Does that make sense? The show lasted only a handful of episodes, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.

Okay, now Police Squad! was definitely a classic. Too bad nobody was watching, except me and a few other scattered souls across the continent. The Naked Gun movies sort of redeemed the situation, but I don't think they ever quite captured the lunacy and comedic timing of the TV show.

Greatest American Hero...it did achieve some popularity at least, especially with the theme song. I liked the whole premise. Robert Culp and William Katt were a good duo.

Spenser: For Hire...very decent Robert Urich series. Too bad the show was pitted against Miami Vice. Gee, guess which one won that ratings battle.

Dead Like Me was cancelled? No wonder I've not heard anything about it for a while.

Good call on Titus, Syl. That show was funny as Hell.