With Hollywood unable to create anything but reboots, sequels, prequels, and crap, many are turning back to good ol’ TV. But some tune in to find their favorite show gone! What gives? You ask “Why in the frak did Hollywood cancel that show while all this dreck is still inducing people to go slack jaw in front of their telly’s for hours on end?
Well, I frequently ask that same question, only this time I’ve come up with ten really good shows TV said goodbye to too soon. Let’s take a look.
Brimstone: The premise of this show alone was worth tuning in. Cops wife is raped and killed. Cop makes a deal with the devil to help send demons back to Hell. The endgame of the deal — the man gets his wife back. But it wasn’t just the premise that cause this viewer to go “Holy crap! What a show!” The Devil, as played by John Glover, was incredible. Why this show was cancelled, I have idea.
Lone Gunmen: This was a spin off of the X Files and offered some great conspiracies, humor, and outstanding writing. The gist was three men who ran a conspiracy theory magazine getting caught up in trying to solve serious national and international crime. A very interesting bit of trivia is that the last episode had a plot about a terrorist hijacking a plane and flying it into the World Trade Tower — filmed well before 911!
The Unusuals was one of the most unique crime shows I’ve ever seen. Set in New York, The Unusual wrapped itself around the insanity of being a police officer in one of the busiest cities in the world. It starred Amber Tamblyn and a cast of outstanding talent. This show should have been given a second chance.
Missing was one of those shows that was superbly acted (hello Ashley Judd), well filmed, and had a great plot. I am convinced this show would have survived had the missing son been cast and written with a more innocent twist. As it was, it was like trapping Jack Bauer and trying to get the audience to sympathize with him. Outside of that, the show was quite good.
The River was one of the more interesting shows on TV. It was a combination found footage and standard footage show that really gained momentum near the end of it’s one season run. By the last episode the show was intense! The River was well acted, but didn’t have any big stars. The setting was the Amazon River — so it was lovely. In the end, the audience was ready for more than two or three horror shows at once (and American Horror Story wasn’t going anywhere — than God!)
Firefly is the standard by which all sci fi shows should be compared. It was also one of the most shocking cancellations in recent decades. I put the blame of the cancellation of this incredible show squarely on the shoulders of the (then) Sci Fi channel. This show should STILL be running. Period.
Freaks And Geeks lasted but twelve episodes. Freaks and Geeks was also in Time magazines list of “100 Greatest television shows of all time”. Do the math… it doesn’t add up. This show was one of the first examples that modern network television didn’t know quality from it’s ass.
Caprica was a spin off of the fantastic Battlestar Galactica. Caprica brought to light issues most other TV shows dared not touch (mono vs. poly theism in a way that made mono theism the bad guy). Capria took Battlestar Galatica and made it sexy. No one wanted Cylons to be sexy. They were. Get over it.
Square Pegs was a “What if John Hughs did TV” and was MY coming of age show. This was about a group of outcasts in the eighties fighting desperately to be popular. Sarah Jessica Parker got her start here as did Merritt Butrick. This show was so cool, Devo appeared on it and sang their hit song “That’s Good”. Like totally. That’s right — it was hip to be Valley.
Max Headroom was aw-aw-aw-awsome! It makes me sad to think such a unique show only garnered one series — especially when said show had such an iconic character! This was cool science fiction with a hip edge that everyone was talking about. Now technically speaking, Max Headroom had two seasons; but the first season was six episodes and the second was eight. I call shenanigans on anyone claiming that to be two seasons.
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