Where was DirecTV when they needed them?!

Last week DirecTV announced it had secured the exclusive US rights for two seasons (20 episodes) of Damages, thus saving the show from the cancellation scrap heap.

We’re certain one outcome of this will be that fans of shows with bad ratings will begin mounting campaigns for DirecTV to save their show, no matter how awful the ratings are.

That inspired me with the idea to do a silly weekly top ten list next year: “The DirecTV Top 10” for the shows most in need of saving from DirecTV.
To be clear, it is just intended as fun and to have yet another forum to discuss show ratings. There is no reasonable expectation, at least by us, that DirecTV will actually pick up any of the shows. Consider this: literally dozens of shows have been canceled in the last few years. DirectTV has had a hand in saving two of those shows, Friday Night Lights, and Damages.
While I plan to have some fun with it in the coming season, one idea that popped up was doing a bracket style tournament to produce an ultimate winner at the end of the season. While that idea didn’t work great for me in terms of how to handle next season’s shows, I thought it was a great idea in terms of going into the archive of already canceled shows to produce a winner. Basically, just like the NCAA basketball tournament come up with 64 shows, create brackets that produce various match ups with the winners advancing.

The first trick — coming up with 64 shows. Fortunately for us, Julia already did the work of trying to come up with a list of 64 shows. She included a lot of shows that were canceled since we launched the site in 2007, but for shows before that she tried to only include shows fans are still lamenting today (e.g. Arrested Development and Veronica Mars).
Edit: to be clear Julia is NOT suggesting (and neither am I) that these shows were actually canceled too soon or that they shouldn’t have been canceled. It’s just a list of shows that were either canceled in the last 3 years or still have fans lamenting the cancellations.

Here’s her list, it’s sorted alphabetically:

Canceled Too Soon?
Andy Barker, PI
Arrested Development
Back to You
Better off Ted
Bionic Woman
Boston Legal
Cane
Cold Case
Dead Like Me
Dirty Sexy Money
Dollhouse
Drive
Eastwick
Eli Stone
Everwood
Firefly
FlashForward
Freaks & Geeks
Gilmore Girls
Greg the Bunny
Heroes
Jericho
Journeyman
Knight Rider
Kyle XY
Las Vegas
Law & Order
Legend of the Seeker
Life
Life on Mars
Lipstick Jungle
Melrose Place
Men in Trees
Moonlight
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
New Adventures of Old Christine
New Amsterdam
Numb3rs
October Road
Party Down
Prison Break
Privileged
Pushing Daisies
Raising the Bar
Reaper
Roswell
Samantha Who?
Scrubs
Shark
Smith
Star Trek: Enterprise
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Terminator: TSCC
The 4400
The Beautiful Life
The OC
The Unit
Ugly Betty
Veronica Mars
What About Brian
Without a Trace
Women’s Murder Club
Wonderfalls

If you have shows you think should be added, what show would you remove? Or perhaps, like the NCAA we will merely expand the bracket to include 68 or even 96 shows.

Can You Think Of Any More????

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/29/64-shows-that-were-canceled-too-soon/58510

The presence of Law and Order makes this list null and void.

Planet Of The Apes -1974
Invisible Man-1975

both of these were canceled way too soon

Scrubs? That was on for 9 seasons!

Prison Break What else can you do with this show once they broke out?

Another one here I disagree with is "Prison Break".

My opinion is that the show lost its mojo after the second season. It had a decent run of four seasons, plus a direct-to-video movie, so it ended at the right time.



Also, though I wasn't a regular watcher of it, no idea why "Gilmore Girls" is here. It had a good run of 7 seasons, plus I hear that the original creator wasn't even involved during its last season.

Shindig: September 1964-January 1966


Hullabaloo: January 1965-April 1966


They both had some light left in them.

What the hell kind of list is this? Many of these shows ran for years. Law & Order? Really? It ran for 20 years. Isn't that enough? Scrubs ran for 9 years (3 too many), Gilmore Girls and Wiithout a Trace ran for 7 (a perfect amount). Other shows just don't deserve to be on here because they were simply atrocious to watch. While I would agree with some (Old Christine, Boston Legal, Samantha Who?, Back to You), this list is pretty....weird.

My So-Called Life (ABC, 1994-1995, a total of 13 episodes produced)

Popular (The WB, 1999-2001, 43 episodes)

Kitchen Confidential (FOX, 2005, 13 episodes)

Grosse Point (The WB, 2000-2001, 17 episodes)

Moonlight and Roswell: definitely
Heroes: maybe (a finale tying together the loose ends would be nice)

Also: Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Sledge Hammer!

Moonlight and Roswell: definitely
Heroes: maybe (a finale tying together the loose ends would be nice)

Also: Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Sledge Hammer!

I always thought the sitcom with Bob Saget, Raising Dad, was pretty good when it aired around 2003 on the WB. It lasted one or two short seasons and that was it but it was of the same level, in my opinion, as What I Like About You, and could have lasted a little while longer.

Numbers i argee iwish they never got canncled. it was their number one hit show for years it was myfaovoite show. it even had henrywinkler gues stared.
The 4400
Moonlight
jouranyman
life on mars leastitgot a ending
Early ediiton need a endingreally bad why doees gray ge t the paper? were does the paper come from?
Daybreak
seven days usedtwatch it on upn then it moved to fox. so itdidn't lastlong i wish spike tv wouldair it agig. they air it early in the moring.
martial law
promise land
now and aging
the invisable man
the dead zone
Quatmaleap even thoughit did end i still think sam should have leaped home.

I think Gilmore Girls and Prison Break ended at the right time. I remember reading somewhere that the creators of Prison Break only wanted it to be a four season thing. I was ok with Cold Case ending this year but a series finale should have been filmed as an alternative.

Note: these aren't all shows that I watched.

CBS:
The Unit
New Adventures of Old Christine

ABC:
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Ugly Betty
Men in Trees
Better off Ted
Boston Legal
Dirty Sexy Money
Eastwick
Eli Stone
FlashForward

NBC:
Heroes
Knight Rider
Las Vegas
Life
Lipstick Jungle
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
Bionic Woman

FOX:
Terminator: TSCC
New Amsterdam
Dollhouse
Arrested Development
Back to You

CW:
Privileged

OTHER:
The 4400 (USA)

Plus: Kath & Kim, The Nine, Eleventh Hour, K-Ville, Close To Home.


That's 32.

I thought The O.C. ended at the right time. I didn't like the series finale but looking back the show really couldn't go on longer. At least The O.C. didn't end up like One Tree Hill which has run it's course creatively.

Another one here I disagree with is "Prison Break".

My opinion is that the show lost its mojo after the second season. It had a decent run of four seasons, plus a direct-to-video movie, so it ended at the right time.



Also, though I wasn't a regular watcher of it, no idea why "Gilmore Girls" is here. It had a good run of 7 seasons, plus I hear that the original creator wasn't even involved during its last season.

I agree Gilmore Girls had a good run. Amy Sherman Palladino had a contract dispute with the CW which happened because her contract with the WB was about to end around the same time that it was announced that UPN and WB were going to merge. Also Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel stated they were ok with the show ending after seven seasons.

Everwood is one show that I wished lasted at least a couple of more seasons. But Dawn Ostroff was an idiot who save 7th Heaven from cancelation even after a series finale aired. Everwood still had some creative juice left. 7th Heaven didn't have any left.

As far as the vast majority of the shows that are listed, I never watched them... but, of the few that I did watch:

Back To You: I would have liked to have seen this show be given a chance... I think Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton have earned the "right" to be given a chance to really succeed. I'll admit I wasn't super crazy about the few eps that I did see, but given a chance, I think they could have made it a really good show. I, for one, was more than willing to give the show a chance to "find itself". I have a lot of respect for both stars.

New Adventures of Old Christine: I thought this show was very funny, and very well acted by absolutely everybody. Once it started changing nights, I'd often forget that it was on and I'd miss it, but I always liked this show from day one... JLD is an all time favorite of mine.

Samantha Who: I like Christina Applegate... this show was really different, and I think it was easy to miss some of the humor. Again, I thought it had a very good cast, but it didn't seem to me like this thing ever had a regular time. I never knew from one week to the next whether it would even be on or not. I hate when they do that.

Law and Order: had a long run, I don't know why it's there. Once a show goes on that long, it'll never be off the air...



Some shows I never watched:

Freaks and Geeks: I actually never watched it, but a LOT of people that I know liked the show, and were disappointed when it was canceled.

Gilmore Girls: My wife liked this show for quite a while, but thought, if anything, that it went on way too long. I've never heard anyone suggest that it ended too soon.

Heroes: A few friends of mine told me that they thought I would like this show, but I never saw it. I don't really know what it was about or why they thought I would like it, but I never did catch it.




Other shows that I think ended too soon:

Police Squad! (in color) - six episodes, but still a classic.

James at 15 (later James at 16)... I don't know how long they could have kept that show going, but i enjoyed it very much while it was on.

My Mother, the Car - just kidding :)


One could argue, I guess, that certain shows that lasted only two seasons ended too soon (The Addams Family, The Munsters, F-Troop). But I'm happy with what they did produce, and as great as all those casts were, we don't necessarily need any more episodes.

I liked "Gidget" with Sally Field... that only lasted one season... it became popular in summer reruns, and they would have probably continued it (after originally canceling it), but Sally Field took the "Flying Nun" gig and so Gidget never came back.

The Dick van Dyke show ended just right as well, imo, even though it could have easily gone on for another season or two. I'm glad they never made it to color TV.




And again, I never watched the vast majority of shows on that list... I sort of made a conscious decision that, once a lot of my favorite shows from the 90s came to an end, I wouldn't worry so much about replacing them with new shows. Besides, there's too much "reality show" crap out there now anyway.

...(Everwood) still had some creative juice left. 7th Heaven didn't have any left.

You got that right about 7th Heaven (a show I liked very much)

Andy Richter Controls the Universe should be on this list!

As far as the vast majority of the shows that are listed, I never watched them... but, of the few that I did watch:

Back To You: I would have liked to have seen this show be given a chance... I think Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton have earned the "right" to be given a chance to really succeed. I'll admit I wasn't super crazy about the few eps that I did see, but given a chance, I think they could have made it a really good show. I, for one, was more than willing to give the show a chance to "find itself". I have a lot of respect for both stars.

New Adventures of Old Christine: I thought this show was very funny, and very well acted by absolutely everybody. Once it started changing nights, I'd often forget that it was on and I'd miss it, but I always liked this show from day one... JLD is an all time favorite of mine.

Samantha Who: I like Christina Applegate... this show was really different, and I think it was easy to miss some of the humor. Again, I thought it had a very good cast, but it didn't seem to me like this thing ever had a regular time. I never knew from one week to the next whether it would even be on or not. I hate when they do that.

Law and Order: had a long run, I don't know why it's there. Once a show goes on that long, it'll never be off the air...



Some shows I never watched:

Freaks and Geeks: I actually never watched it, but a LOT of people that I know liked the show, and were disappointed when it was canceled.

Gilmore Girls: My wife liked this show for quite a while, but thought, if anything, that it went on way too long. I've never heard anyone suggest that it ended too soon.

Heroes: A few friends of mine told me that they thought I would like this show, but I never saw it. I don't really know what it was about or why they thought I would like it, but I never did catch it.




Other shows that I think ended too soon:

Police Squad! (in color) - six episodes, but still a classic.

James at 15 (later James at 16)... I don't know how long they could have kept that show going, but i enjoyed it very much while it was on.

My Mother, the Car - just kidding :)


One could argue, I guess, that certain shows that lasted only two seasons ended too soon (The Addams Family, The Munsters, F-Troop). But I'm happy with what they did produce, and as great as all those casts were, we don't necessarily need any more episodes.

I liked "Gidget" with Sally Field... that only lasted one season... it became popular in summer reruns, and they would have probably continued it (after originally canceling it), but Sally Field took the "Flying Nun" gig and so Gidget never came back.

The Dick van Dyke show ended just right as well, imo, even though it could have easily gone on for another season or two. I'm glad they never made it to color TV.




And again, I never watched the vast majority of shows on that list... I sort of made a conscious decision that, once a lot of my favorite shows from the 90s came to an end, I wouldn't worry so much about replacing them with new shows. Besides, there's too much "reality show" crap out there now anyway.

I did watch a few episodes of Back to You. I didn't think they were great but they weren't bad at all. I thought Patricia and Kelsey had great chemistry. The show wasn't given a chance to build an audience and allow more development.

I loved Samantha Who but I agree the constant schedule changes probably played a large part in it's ratings drops and cancellation.

Note: these aren't all shows that I watched.

CBS:
The Unit
New Adventures of Old Christine

ABC:
Pushing Daisies
Samantha Who?
Ugly Betty
Men in Trees
Better off Ted
Boston Legal
Dirty Sexy Money
Eastwick
Eli Stone
FlashForward

NBC:
Heroes
Knight Rider
Las Vegas
Life
Lipstick Jungle
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
Bionic Woman

FOX:
Terminator: TSCC
New Amsterdam
Dollhouse
Arrested Development
Back to You

CW:
Privileged

OTHER:
The 4400 (USA)

Plus: Kath & Kim, The Nine, Eleventh Hour, K-Ville, Close To Home.


That's 32.

I also liked the US remake of Kath&Kim. I know a lot of people didn't like it. I agree The Nine ended too soon.

Note: these aren't all shows that I watched.


NBC:
Heroes
Knight Rider
Las Vegas
Life
Lipstick Jungle
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
Bionic Woman



A good friend of mine works for an NBC affiliate in Maryland. "My Name is Earl" was a big hit in her neck of the words because one of the writers of that show just happened to live in the area. Take this for whats its worth but according to him one of the things that helped to cancel that show was Jason Lee going on some anti-TV kick saying how that switch to DTV was "a waste of money" and how NBC and their stations were wasting peoples time about the switch..etc..anyway the local stations didn't like that at all ( who can blame them? ) and anyway they put pressure on NBC to can Earl.

Again take that with a grain of salt ( may not even be true ) BUT I do seem to recall an interview with Lee ( OK Magazine ? ) a few years ago where he said something like how he would rather be skateboarding than doing series TV and that he didn't own a TV set. This was at the time when he was doing My Name is Earl. Maybe NBC didn't like his statement but I doubt that was the "key" reason for the cancellation.

As far as the vast majority of the shows that are listed, I never watched them... but, of the few that I did watch:

Back To You: I would have liked to have seen this show be given a chance... I think Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton have earned the "right" to be given a chance to really succeed. I'll admit I wasn't super crazy about the few eps that I did see, but given a chance, I think they could have made it a really good show. I, for one, was more than willing to give the show a chance to "find itself". I have a lot of respect for both stars.

New Adventures of Old Christine: I thought this show was very funny, and very well acted by absolutely everybody. Once it started changing nights, I'd often forget that it was on and I'd miss it, but I always liked this show from day one... JLD is an all time favorite of mine.

Samantha Who: I like Christina Applegate... this show was really different, and I think it was easy to miss some of the humor. Again, I thought it had a very good cast, but it didn't seem to me like this thing ever had a regular time. I never knew from one week to the next whether it would even be on or not. I hate when they do that.

Law and Order: had a long run, I don't know why it's there. Once a show goes on that long, it'll never be off the air...



Some shows I never watched:

Freaks and Geeks: I actually never watched it, but a LOT of people that I know liked the show, and were disappointed when it was canceled.

Gilmore Girls: My wife liked this show for quite a while, but thought, if anything, that it went on way too long. I've never heard anyone suggest that it ended too soon.

Heroes: A few friends of mine told me that they thought I would like this show, but I never saw it. I don't really know what it was about or why they thought I would like it, but I never did catch it.




Other shows that I think ended too soon:

Police Squad! (in color) - six episodes, but still a classic.

James at 15 (later James at 16)... I don't know how long they could have kept that show going, but i enjoyed it very much while it was on.

My Mother, the Car - just kidding :)


One could argue, I guess, that certain shows that lasted only two seasons ended too soon (The Addams Family, The Munsters, F-Troop). But I'm happy with what they did produce, and as great as all those casts were, we don't necessarily need any more episodes.

I liked "Gidget" with Sally Field... that only lasted one season... it became popular in summer reruns, and they would have probably continued it (after originally canceling it), but Sally Field took the "Flying Nun" gig and so Gidget never came back.

The Dick van Dyke show ended just right as well, imo, even though it could have easily gone on for another season or two. I'm glad they never made it to color TV.




And again, I never watched the vast majority of shows on that list... I sort of made a conscious decision that, once a lot of my favorite shows from the 90s came to an end, I wouldn't worry so much about replacing them with new shows. Besides, there's too much "reality show" crap out there now anyway.

On the Flying Nun Season One DVD, Sally Field--in an interview--admitted that she hated the show and would have preferred to do a second
season of Gidget. But the network cancelled that series (low ratings, I
assume). Obviously, the future Oscar winner went on to bigger things.

I also liked the US remake of Kath&Kim. I know a lot of people didn't like it. I agree The Nine ended too soon.

I'm really not sure if they could've continued The Nine much longer, but they could've at least aired all the episodes.

Whatever happened to the Miniseries? I would think that shows like Lost, Prison Break, 24, and Heroes would have worked better in this kind of format. None of these shows were cancelled too soon, imo.

AMERICAN DREAMS!

I did watch a few episodes of Back to You. I didn't think they were great but they weren't bad at all. I thought Patricia and Kelsey had great chemistry. The show wasn't given a chance to build an audience and allow more development.

"Back to You" was soooo hyped around these boards, that I was tired of the show before it ever debuted - "Back to You" this and "Back to You" that. I never watched it on FOX, though I bought the DVD. It was *okay*, and I felt bad when it was canceled but by this point in time I don't care that it's been canceled. I've also gotten rid of my DVD of it.

And of course being a "Til Death" fan, wasn't easy around here either, with all the "Back to You" fans furious that the show I preferered (but they didn't) got to continue and their precious "Back to You" got the axe.

I agree with Marvo, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" should have lasted longer. As for not being on this list, well that's okay. This list is garbage anyways.

WKRP IN CINNCINATTI

"Back to You" was soooo hyped around these boards, that I was tired of the show before it ever debuted - "Back to You" this and "Back to You" that. I never watched it on FOX, though I bought the DVD. It was *okay*, and I felt bad when it was canceled but by this point in time I don't care that it's been canceled. I've also gotten rid of my DVD of it.

And of course being a "Til Death" fan, wasn't easy around here either, with all the "Back to You" fans furious that the show I preferered (but they didn't) got to continue and their precious "Back to You" got the axe.

I agree with Marvo, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" should have lasted longer. As for not being on this list, well that's okay. This list is garbage anyways. i never cared for back to you i know that most people here at sitcoms online seem to really like it but i just could not get into it

I also liked the US remake of Kath&Kim. I know a lot of people didn't like it. I agree The Nine ended too soon. i liked kath & kim too i think i must be the only person in the state of az who bought the dvd;s

Whatever happened to the Miniseries? I would think that shows like Lost, Prison Break, 24, and Heroes would have worked better in this kind of format. None of these shows were cancelled too soon, imo.

I have also wondered about the lack of miniseries now in days. HBO and Showtime seem to be the only ones doing them. CBS did the miniseries thing last year with Harper's Island. I read some of the comments on the link posted by the OP and one poster said that the creator of Prison Break originally wanted the show to have 2 seasons that were 13 episodes. I had previously read that the creator set up the four season format. I do wonder Prison Break was ever shopped to cable networks before Fox. The show might have worked better on cable. I agree with you Prison Break, Lost and Heroes might have worked better as a miniseries. They all ended at the right time. I wasn't regular or consistent viewer of Lost but my sister has said the writing was always solid. With Heroes there was a big dip in quality after season 2 and the show never bounced back after that.

AMERICAN DREAMS!

I think American Dreams should have at least one more season.

i liked kath & kim too i think i must be the only person in the state of az who bought the dvd;s

I also have the DVD's. I have a couple of friends who like the show.

i liked kath & kim too i think i must be the only person in the state of az who bought the dvd;s


i watched Kath & Kim but i have to admit it was a pretty awful show. There was no explination provided for why these characters were so shallow, selfish and petty. Selma Blair was particuarly awful too.

i watched Kath & Kim but i have to admit it was a pretty awful show. There was no explination provided for why these characters were so shallow, selfish and petty. Selma Blair was particuarly awful too.

It's a comedy though. Does it need an explanation?

Cosby

Back to You
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Better off Ted
8 Simple Rules
Everwood

i watched Kath & Kim but i have to admit it was a pretty awful show. There was no explination provided for why these characters were so shallow, selfish and petty. Selma Blair was particuarly awful too.
I liked Selma Blair on The WB's "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane." That series should have lasted longer than 2 seasons. And even though it had 5 years under it's belt, I'll add "Unhappily...Ever After" to the list too.

It's a comedy though. Does it need an explanation?

yes, because knowing WHY they act that way would make it more funny to watch. Having a bit of backstory would make the show a better show.

"Back to You" was soooo hyped around these boards, that I was tired of the show before it ever debuted - "Back to You" this and "Back to You" that. I never watched it on FOX, though I bought the DVD. It was *okay*, and I felt bad when it was canceled but by this point in time I don't care that it's been canceled. I've also gotten rid of my DVD of it.

And of course being a "Til Death" fan, wasn't easy around here either, with all the "Back to You" fans furious that the show I preferered (but they didn't) got to continue and their precious "Back to You" got the axe.

I agree with Marvo, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" should have lasted longer. As for not being on this list, well that's okay. This list is garbage anyways.

WHYYYYYY would you buy the DVD?? I only buy a DVD if it a show I personally love to a great extent and want to collect all the seasons for my own collection. I would've just watched the episodes online or downloaded them off torrents, maybe, first - then, if you really liked it, you could've bought it.

Especially, since you didn't sound so enthusiastic about the show in the first place (I wasn't a fan of the show either), I'm just wondering why you bought the DVD? I don't completely understand...

WHYYYYYY would you buy the DVD?? I only buy a DVD if it a show I personally love to a great extent and want to collect all the seasons for my own collection. I would've just watched the episodes online or downloaded them off torrents, maybe, first - then, if you really liked it, you could've bought it.

Especially, since you didn't sound so enthusiastic about the show in the first place (I wasn't a fan of the show either), I'm just wondering why you bought the DVD? I don't completely understand...

At the time, I had dial up internet, and I simply couldn't download and watch videos and tv shows online without it taking a really long time and I have zero patience for stuff like that. Plus a family of five and all of us wanted online.

However, I blind buy a lot of TV shows on DVD. Some end up being favorites of mine (Curb Your Enthusiasm, How I Met Your Mother) and others didn't and I got rid of (Back to You, Sledge Hammer!).

But despite all the buzz here, I was still interested in seeing the show.

Also, I have a large TV on DVD collection. So that's also why I buy first, judge later. Back then, I had a job and lived with my parents and no social life. All my money went to DVDs. Now, I live on my own and couldn't do that. Though I did just blind buy "The Office" and quite enjoy it.

Whatever happened to the Miniseries? I would think that shows like Lost, Prison Break, 24, and Heroes would have worked better in this kind of format. None of these shows were cancelled too soon, imo.

You're right, there's not much in recent years but they are still around.

One recent one that I know of is HBO's "The Pacific" which got excellent reception.

I loved 8 Simple Rules and I thought the show did the best they could to keep it going after John Ritter's death. I can see why the show ended when it did.

You're right, there's not much in recent years but they are still around.

One recent one that I know of is HBO's "The Pacific" which got excellent reception.

With the exception of HBO and Showtime, the mini-series is pretty much dead now-a-days; at least on the broadcast networks. They don't make them anymore because there isn't an audience for them anymore. Most of the broadcast networks have completly abandoned the idea of TV Movies; you have to turn to cable to find those.

With the exception of HBO and Showtime, the mini-series is pretty much dead now-a-days; at least on the broadcast networks. They don't make them anymore because there isn't an audience for them anymore. Most of the broadcast networks have completly abandoned the idea of TV Movies; you have to turn to cable to find those.

I'm trying to remember some recent broadcast mini-series...

Stephen King (who is famous for them) had some on ABC in the early 2000s with "Rose Red" and "Kingdom Hospital".

Now even he went to cable and is trying to do a regular series with "Haven" on Syfy.




Also, I can't seem to remember broadcast TV movies from recent years. You're right also that they're all on cable now; such as Disney's popular "High School Musical" franchise.

Sledge Hammer!
Police Squad!
Max Headroom
Me and the Boys
Bridget Loves Birney
Hooperman
WKRP In Cincinnati

"Back to You" was soooo hyped around these boards, that I was tired of the show before it ever debuted - "Back to You" this and "Back to You" that. I never watched it on FOX, though I bought the DVD. It was *okay*, and I felt bad when it was canceled but by this point in time I don't care that it's been canceled. I've also gotten rid of my DVD of it.

And of course being a "Til Death" fan, wasn't easy around here either, with all the "Back to You" fans furious that the show I preferered (but they didn't) got to continue and their precious "Back to You" got the axe.

I agree with Marvo, "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" should have lasted longer. As for not being on this list, well that's okay. This list is garbage anyways.


How did you like til death in season 4???

The fact that The Wonder Years did not make the list of 64 is a downright disgrace. (Heck, it should have made a top FIVE list!)

The fact that The Wonder Years did not make the list of 64 is a downright disgrace. (Heck, it should have made a top FIVE list!)

Wonder Years is one of my favorite shows but I think, had it continued, it only would have lasted 2 more seasons at the absolute max and they wouldn't have been as good necessarily. If there were eight seasons, we'd be discussing today "it jumped the shark after season 6, they should have just cancelled it before it got awful." At least we have that - that the show never really became bad, although in season 6 some of those episodes, Fred Savage just seemed tired of it and the storylines were getting worse, in my opinion.

Also, they finished the show and concluded all the character's futures so that there would be no wondering (no pun intended). So, although, it MAY have been cancelled a tad bit early I am, at least, very pleased that the show never got obnoxious (like Family Matters) or other shows where you couldn't stand them anymore and was properly concluded.

I think The Wonder Years ended at the right time. I have to agree with DSfan Family Matters got annoying in the last few seasons.

The new "Melrose Place."

The new "Melrose Place."

I agree with you on that. I found it to be more entertaining than the new 90210. Katie Cassidy was the breakout star of Melrose Place.

Here are three shows that I liked that got canceled too soon...

"Titus"
"Norm"
"The Critic"

For me they are

Joey

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Trust Me

The Education of Max Bickford
Karen Sisco
Maximum Bob
Now and Again
The Tick

Here are three shows that I liked that got canceled too soon...

"Titus"
"Norm"
"The Critic"
I Agree with you about "The Critic" Paul! That was avery clever and funny show and it should have lasted longer.

I agree with you on that. I found it to be more entertaining than the new 90210. Katie Cassidy was the breakout star of Melrose Place.
Oh yeah, Katie was great. I think the show had so much potential.

Oh yeah, Katie was great. I think the show had so much potential.

Katie has improved as an actress over the past couple of years. She was great on Supernatural and Harper's Island. The new Melrose Place had a lot of potential. The one thing that bugs me about the CW's current lineup is One Tree Hill. That show should have ended already and season 7 wasn't watchable most of the time. The show's creative juice is gone. Melrose Place had a lot more juice for storylines and the acting on the show was much better than the acting on One Tree Hill.

For me they are

Joey

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Trust Me

Studio 60... you're right on the money!

I total forgot about TRUST ME! ;)

I totally with Back To You and Firefly. I would also add Christy, a family drama that aired on CBS from 1994-95, starring Kellie Martin, to that list.

Katie has improved as an actress over the past couple of years. She was great on Supernatural and Harper's Island.

Yeah, "Harper's Island" also didn't last that long.

I am not aware if it wasn't picked up to go on further or if it was the type of show that was meant to be short.

Bumping this thread, I know it's over a year old. I was glad to see all 3 of my favorite shows on the list: Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, and Wonderfalls. I recently watched the only season of Journeyman, that show should never have been cancelled. Quantum Leap should have ran a few more seasons. John Doe too.

Back To You: I would have liked to have seen this show be given a chance... I think Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton have earned the "right" to be given a chance to really succeed. I'll admit I wasn't super crazy about the few eps that I did see, but given a chance, I think they could have made it a really good show. I, for one, was more than willing to give the show a chance to "find itself". I have a lot of respect for both stars.

And again, I never watched the vast majority of shows on that list... I sort of made a conscious decision that, once a lot of my favorite shows from the 90s came to an end, I wouldn't worry so much about replacing them with new shows. Besides, there's too much "reality show" crap out there now anyway.

I completely agree and although I've never seen "Back to You", I'm curious about it now. I never was a Kelsey Grammer fan until became a "Frasier fanatic", so that's why I've never watched that show. But I agree that it should have been given more of a chance. From what I remember it wasn't on for very long.

I haven't watched most of those shows on the list either. But some of them I am surprised that they were canceled so soon.

Where was DirecTV when they needed them?!

Last week DirecTV announced it had secured the exclusive US rights for two seasons (20 episodes) of Damages, thus saving the show from the cancellation scrap heap.

We’re certain one outcome of this will be that fans of shows with bad ratings will begin mounting campaigns for DirecTV to save their show, no matter how awful the ratings are.

That inspired me with the idea to do a silly weekly top ten list next year: “The DirecTV Top 10” for the shows most in need of saving from DirecTV.
To be clear, it is just intended as fun and to have yet another forum to discuss show ratings. There is no reasonable expectation, at least by us, that DirecTV will actually pick up any of the shows. Consider this: literally dozens of shows have been canceled in the last few years. DirectTV has had a hand in saving two of those shows, Friday Night Lights, and Damages.
While I plan to have some fun with it in the coming season, one idea that popped up was doing a bracket style tournament to produce an ultimate winner at the end of the season. While that idea didn’t work great for me in terms of how to handle next season’s shows, I thought it was a great idea in terms of going into the archive of already canceled shows to produce a winner. Basically, just like the NCAA basketball tournament come up with 64 shows, create brackets that produce various match ups with the winners advancing.

The first trick — coming up with 64 shows. Fortunately for us, Julia already did the work of trying to come up with a list of 64 shows. She included a lot of shows that were canceled since we launched the site in 2007, but for shows before that she tried to only include shows fans are still lamenting today (e.g. Arrested Development and Veronica Mars).
Edit: to be clear Julia is NOT suggesting (and neither am I) that these shows were actually canceled too soon or that they shouldn’t have been canceled. It’s just a list of shows that were either canceled in the last 3 years or still have fans lamenting the cancellations.

Here’s her list, it’s sorted alphabetically:

Canceled Too Soon?
Andy Barker, PI
Arrested Development
Back to You
Better off Ted
Bionic Woman
Boston Legal
Cane
Cold Case
Dead Like Me
Dirty Sexy Money
Dollhouse
Drive
Eastwick
Eli Stone
Everwood
Firefly
FlashForward
Freaks & Geeks
Gilmore Girls
Greg the Bunny
Heroes
Jericho
Journeyman
Knight Rider
Kyle XY
Las Vegas
Law & Order
Legend of the Seeker
Life
Life on Mars
Lipstick Jungle
Melrose Place
Men in Trees
Moonlight
My Name is Earl
My Own Worst Enemy
New Adventures of Old Christine
New Amsterdam
Numb3rs
October Road
Party Down
Prison Break
Privileged
Pushing Daisies
Raising the Bar
Reaper
Roswell
Samantha Who?
Scrubs
Shark
Smith
Star Trek: Enterprise
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Terminator: TSCC
The 4400
The Beautiful Life
The OC
The Unit
Ugly Betty
Veronica Mars
What About Brian
Without a Trace
Women’s Murder Club
Wonderfalls

If you have shows you think should be added, what show would you remove? Or perhaps, like the NCAA we will merely expand the bracket to include 68 or even 96 shows.

Can You Think Of Any More????

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/29/64-shows-that-were-canceled-too-soon/58510


Is there a show on the list from before 2000? How old is the person who made this list, 16?

Is there a show on the list from before 2000? How old is the person who made this list, 16?

The other issue is that a number of these shows ran for 4 or more years, which by all means is considered a lengthy, successful run. "Cold Case" ran for 7 seasons. "Ugly Betty" was by no means cancelled too soon; In fact I'd say it ran too long. It had run out of creative juice.

Of the list, I know these shows and my opinion for their demise. I read somewhere that the average lifetime of a successful series is about 4 seasons.

Arrested Development had three seasons. First season was great, second season not so great and the third season was awful. I quit watching it after the first season and so did lots of people except for diehards.

Back to You-Liked this show, but it was a FOX series, and FOX gives shows very little opportunity to grow their shows into something good. Back to You was good show that needed a second season, unlike that drek show that Brad Garrett had, that FOX tried and failed to cultivate. Not too bad, most of the players of that series found something better in the end.

Bionic Woman 1970's show, went on for a few years. A spinoff of a more famous show called the Six Dollar Man. Starring Lindsey Wagner, who went on to do Lifetime Original movies and whatever she did.

Boston Legal was on several seasons. Ridiculous program.

Jericho wasn't very good. I dont think that America wants to see a dystopian drama and they didn't. Got Major Dad as the lead. Pass.

Knight Rider was one of the dumbest shows of all time, a thinking, talking car driven by David F'ing Hasslehoff. This show was successful because it spawned the career of Hasslehoff and there was a rebooted series.

Law & Order SVU is still on. The parent series stayed on the air for TWENTY years. SVU has been on about 12 years and CI was on for about 10 years (and I think cancelled). A baby born when L&O first came on is old enough to drink now.

I loved L&O: Trail by Jury, and I liked L&O LA, and I wished NBC would have given this show a second season. Oh well.

Melrose Place was on forever, and there is now a remake (I think, I dont watch it.)

My Name is Earl was cancelled a year too soon. The first season was pure gold. Problem was that the creator of the series (Mr. Garcia) and the writers tinkered with the formula, and threw Earl in prison (which made the ratings drop to the floor.) They realized their error too late after trying to get back to the original formula of the series. Garcia has a new show called "Raising Hope" which started good, but like Earl has really taken a dive with me for the second season (I turned off the new episode without finishing it.)

New Adventures of Old Christine. This show was on for several seasons. I never saw it, but it lasted about the average a "run of the mill" series would last.

Prison Break. This show was on longer than it should have. I am an American in China and lots of Chinese were fans of this series for some reason.

Scrubs. Sorry guys, this was one of the worst multi season sitcoms I have ever seen. I even watched an episode with a friend and we thought, "Gee, this show sucks." Saying that, I do like John McGinley and Neil Flynn (who is now on "The Middle") But gee, this show went on NINE years!

Star Trek: Enterprise I am a Trekkie (or Trekker) and was disappointed with this series and it should have never have been made. Hated Scott Bakula as the Captain and did not much care for any of the other male performers outside of John Billingsley who played Dr. Phlox. I liked Jolene Blalock because she was hot, and Linda Park because she's hot and Asian.

But the writing of the show was dreck. The writers were basically the same ones who wrote for the other series since The Next Generation, and they more or less recycled old plots, when the show went into the tank, they had a season long story arc fighting some lame aliens called the Xindi and then...........wait for it............they go back to Nazi Germany to kill aliens from the future. What is sad was that the show sort of found its feet, and had some cool ideas for the season that they did not have. Oh well. The only reason the show did 4 seasons so that the owners of Trek could sell the series on DVD and syndication.

Truth is that most of these shows sucked and there was a reason why they were canceled but the small yet diehard fanbases can't seem to figure this out.

EDIT: I'm glad someone else agrees with me that Boston Legal: Flop Show is crap. It's the one thing I absolutely hate about John Larroquette, especially seeing as I feel he was only cast at last minute as a wedged in racist-homophobic-arsehole/love interest. SMH, John. SMFH. Johnssiah Legendquette should be above that crap.