With 'BTY' on the bubble, I think now is a good time to look back at some shows that FOX gave up waaay too soon on and I am sure regretted....

Family Guy (1999-2002, 2005-present)

The show: Crude, satirical irreverent and hilarious animated series focusing on the Griffin family and their wacky friends and neighbors.

Cancellation and Resurrection: Everyone seems to know the miraculous story of "Family Guy." Its original run lasted for 50 episodes over three seasons. The series, which always had a small cult audience, was never able to cultivate a mainstream viewership due to Fox's trademark scheduling ADHD. After several brushes with death, it was quietly canceled in 2002.

Several years went by and "Family Guy" was all but a memory. Then two things happened. Cartoon Network added the show's 50 episodes to its "Adult Swim" lineup, and the first three seasons were released on DVD. The ratings were high for the Cartoon Network repeats, but that was nothing compared to the mind-bogglingly astronomical DVD sales. Fox reevaluated its prior (poor) decision and eventually brought the series back in 2005, three years after it was left for dead.

The Return: "Family Guy's" return engagement proved to be fruitful and Fox, learning from prior mistakes, kept the series entrenched on Sunday nights. "Family Guy's" success also led to a second animated series for creator Seth MacFarlane ("American Dad"). Additionally, a new animated spinoff of "Family Guy," starring Peter's friend Cleveland will likely be included on Fox's 2008-09 schedule. Oh, and the original series is still going strong too. Once again, good decision.

Futurama - Like "Family Guy," "Futurama" suffered from poor handling courtesy of the Fox network. Its timeslot was dreadful, and the series was regularly preempted for football coverage and other special (and not so special) events. After death, it enjoyed success in syndication on Cartoon Network and on DVD (though not as much success as "Family Guy"). The series has since been revived in the format of four direct to DVD films, which will eventually be split up into a sixteen episode "season" to be aired on Comedy Central. So it technically came back. Technically.

Firefly - Another example of Fox mismanaging and ultimately sabotaging a promising series. Although Joss Whedon's third (and least successful) series never returned to television after its hasty cancellation, it did get a rebirth of sorts - on the silver screen. The series' passionate fan base drove DVD sales way up, enough so that studio executives became keen on the idea of doing a feature. The film, which included the entire regular cast and picked up where the series left off, was lauded by critics and fans…unfortunately, not enough of them paid to go see it.

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/08/back_from_the_dead_tv_shows_that_survive

In it's attempt to be a big sports powerhouse, FOX forgot that they also show TV programs, and shows like Firefly and Futurama were pre-empted for weeks on end for either baseball or football games.

And they were actually surprized that viewers never watched thier shows.

:confused:

Brian, you're gonna give us a heart attack..lol..