TV Shows Cancelled Too Soon

It’s been awhile since I did a list post.  So, I decided to make one.  I enjoy books, I enjoy movies.  I tend not to get into TV series quite as much.  There are some I watch, but…it seems I like a show and it gets cancelled!  Some shows, far too soon.  Some because they don’t have good enough marketing, some because it seems like I like them, but no one else does.   Of course, these are my opinions, and obviously, and shows which I haven’t seen wouldn’t be on the list (so no My So-Called Life, even though I hear it was awesome…perhaps someday I’ll watch it).    Also note that shows that were great, but ran their course are not included. Most things on here will have run only one or two seasons.  So, as much as I loved Chuck, it had its life, and we moved on.

1. Forever

  This show was on last year, and was cancelled after just one season.  I was devastated!  Following the life of a New York City medical examiner who cannot die, this murder drama was cleverly written, brilliantly acted and just phenomenal all around.  Henry Morgan looks 30, but he’s actually over 200!  After a freak occurrence at his “first death,” whenever he dies, he is simply reborn, 30-years-old, with all his memories into the nearest body of water.  Not only was it awesome, it was remarkably family-friendly for a modern TV series, especially a crime serial.  But it got cancelled anyway after only one season. 

2. Kings

A modern interpretation of the Book of Kings, this show was inventive and clever.  I never saw it when it was actually on, but my mother told me about it, and I started watching it shortly before they decided it was a goner after the first, small season.  I loved its take, but I think that it was cancelled because it was too religious to appeal to the general crowd, and its liberties were too much for Bible-Thumping, Conservative Christians (for example, they made Jonathan same-sex attracted…though he never acted on it, and I honestly had no problem with it).

3. The Magnificent Seven

I LOVED this show.  A TV version of the fantastic 60s movie with Steve McQueen and Yule Brynner, but with more lovable members of the Magnificent Seven? Yes, please.  Any show with 7 completely lovable and marriageable men is okay by me.  But, this Western with a heart had everything going for it.  It was even popular.  One problem: it was freakishly expensive to produce.  So, it got cancelled after two seasons.

4. Freaks and Geeks

This clever high school drama highlighted the lives of two highschool cliques—the freaks and the geeks—connected by two siblings.  It was funny, quirky and witty, not to mention had some great acting ability attached to it.  But it was scrapped for whatever reason.

5. Firefly

This show kind of epitomizes the category.  And I used to have no idea what was going on with people who talked about this show.  Then I dated a guy who was way into Firefly, and he got me hooked, and now I have a serious problem.  Joss Whedon doesn’t have great luck when it comes to TV shows.  Some say it’s because he was too smart in his humor and it didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominators.  Fair enough, but this Space Western was awesome.  I also really like the idea of a SciFi where there aren’t any aliens.  With all the joy of Westerns (and I like westerns), plus the banter of SciFi, this show was awesome. But it was cancelled after thirteen episodes, many argue because of bad marketing, a doomed Friday-slot, and airing the episodes out of order, so that they didn’t make any sense.  However, its cult status sprung a good movie, Serenity, which remains the most successful TV-show-spin-off move to date.

6. About a Boy

I started watching this show, almost by accident.  But this show about a single mother to one son, who lives next-door to a man child who is “between jobs,” was just fun.  The rom-com, turned TV-serial feel was great for my demographic, and some episodes had me laughing till I couldn’t stop.


Any other ones that I missed?