The Best Tv Shows That Were Cancelled To Early (Merged)

In honor of the 10 year anniversary of the cancellation of Firefly, I thought we should look at the best shows that were cancelled before their time. I will list my top 5 and my thoughts.

1. Firefly- A great space western. Great characters, great story and a great cast. Joss Whedon really made this world come alive. The lead was flawed and honest. It is definitely sci-fi, but anyone could enjoy this story.

2. Arrested Development- Fantastic show with a fantastic ensemble cast. Very original story that made you care about a narricistic, self absorbed family. Definitely quirky with real heart.

3. Studio 60- Wonderfully written by Aaron Sorkin with real character with real problems. All of the main characters are multi-dimensional who are true.

4. Freaks & Geek/Undeclared- Didn't take themselves to seriously, but still had depth.

5. Friday Night Lights- Great story lead by fantastic leads. You truly fealt for the characters and routed for them to succeed. This is not a story about football. It is a story about a family that happen to have football in their lives.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a different top 5?

---------- Post added November-21st-2012 at 01:23 PM ----------

How do you edit the title? Should be too early, not to early.

I loved "Yes, Dear" I thought it was the funniest show on TV, and still watch all the reruns....plus jummy is an avid Redskins fan and is always rocking their gear in the show!

Jerico has to be in the top 5

Jerico has to be in the top 5

I never saw Jerico, but I heard it was great. I also Flashpoint (??) was also fantastic...

Arrested Development lasted 3 seasons. Friday Night Lights lasted 5.

Studio 60 made a fundamental error - it showed the comedy skits that were supposed to be so wonderful. They were awful. 30 Rock has always limited access to the show itself and when it does, it lets us know how lousy the show is. Sorkin was trying to actually write great sketch comedy and failed miserably.

Freaks and Geeks, I'll give you.

Dabney Coleman made great tv shows that nobody would watch. He really should have been born 20 years later. Buffalo Bill would have lasted for six seasons on FX. Same with Slap Maxwell.

The Famous Teddy Z was a great show that only lasted 20 episodes. It actually won Emmys. Figure that out.

Another show that would have had a huge life on cable now is Get a Life with Chris Elliot.

It stinks...that two networks kicked it off the air.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n2qzL_RWec0/TksETZEpJJI/AAAAAAAADdM/fARNifJ5fbU/s1600/the-critic-thumb.jpg

It stinks...that two networks kicked it off the air.

That's a good one. That show had its voice from Day One and seemed to have completely filled its universe in just 23 episodes.

Firefly is easily #1 on my list.

Journeyman, Pushing Daisies, Better off Ted are way up there too.

If we're talking old school..the original Star Trek is the clear #1.

---------- Post added November-21st-2012 at 10:40 AM ----------

one more...The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

Arrested Development.

Arrested Development lasted 3 seasons. Friday Night Lights lasted 5.

Studio 60 made a fundamental error - it showed the comedy skits that were supposed to be so wonderful. They were awful. 30 Rock has always limited access to the show itself and when it does' date=' it lets us know how lousy the show is. Sorkin was trying to actually write great sketch comedy and failed miserably.

Freaks and Geeks, I'll give you.

Dabney Coleman made great tv shows that nobody would watch. He really should have been born 20 years later. Buffalo Bill would have lasted for six seasons on FX. Same with Slap Maxwell.

The Famous Teddy Z was a great show that only lasted 20 episodes. It actually won Emmys. Figure that out.

Another show that would have had a huge life on cable now is Get a Life with Chris Elliot.[/quote']

I completely forgot about Get A Life. That would definitely be in my top 5. I didn't realize that Friday Night Lights made it 5 years. I guess with all the timeslot changes and hiatuses, it didn't feel like 5 years. I still think Arrested Development qualifies, three years wasn't enough time for that show. I suppose I should replace Friday Night Lights with Get A Life.

PS...when and what channel is Get A Life on?

The critic, definitely haha loved that show.

Overall, I don't know many because I usually wait for a series to get to season 3 or more before i catch up and watch 'em.

I don't have a top-5 list, but I wanted to give my support to Friday Night Lights. I think it was incredible, but also think you have to end a show like that because how much can you really do after 5 seasons? I guess they could keep cycling in new players but eventually the story lines would all be the same. Incredible show with great acting though!

In no particular order...

Firefly

Star Trek (original)

Fawlty Towers

Arrested Development

Twin Peaks

Heroes. GREAT show and I know the budget was insane, but it was amazing.

LOOOOOOOOOOVED Friday Night Lights but that was a satisfying way to end that show. I think they went out on top.

Firefly is easily the #1 most shafted show of all time.

edit: Pushing Daisies is a good call, too.

Heroes. GREAT show and I know the budget was insane, but it was amazing.

LOOOOOOOOOOVED Friday Night Lights but that was a satisfying way to end that show. I think they went out on top.

I dunno Heroes first 2 seasons were really good then it went downhill quick. Wasn't a bad show though.

Heroes was great the first season, but they went downhill after that. Studio 60 was pretty good and I am a fan of anything Sorkin, so I would have liked to see it get a 2nd season. Sports Night got shafted. I loved that show but it only made it 2 seasons.

I liked Firefly a lot, but you have to admit -

(a) They made a freaking feature film out of it, and

( Even in the limited amount of time the show had, a fewof the episodes were pretty awful.

I can understand why they cancelled it, even if I wish they had made a lot more. There were some episodes that left me thinking, "Cmon...you have such an awesome universe, likeable cast, etc. and you do an episode about THIS!?" Sorry, it's been a while since I watched the show so I can't name any specifics.

In a similar genre, I feel like 2 seasons was not nearly enough for The Legend of the Seeker. Likeable cast, interesting world, good acting, good fighting, sex appeal...that show had it all, man. Especially considering there are like 15 books in that series now, they could have whittled down most of the garbage in the book series and squeezed out another 2 seasons easily.

I don't have a top-5 list, but I wanted to give my support to Friday Night Lights. I think it was incredible, but also think you have to end a show like that because how much can you really do after 5 seasons? I guess they could keep cycling in new players but eventually the story lines would all be the same. Incredible show with great acting though!

Yep, Friday Night Lights maybe had a couple of good seasons left. At some point, though, it was going to fall of a cliff as some of the main actors would likely leave soon and it would, at best, turn into just another nighttime soap. Ending it at 5 was a terrific move. Left you wanting more.

I really liked Journeyman.

I liked Firefly a lot, but you have to admit -

(a) They made a freaking feature film out of it, and

( Even in the limited amount of time the show had, a fewof the episodes were pretty awful.

I can understand why they cancelled it, even if I wish they had made a lot more. There were some episodes that left me thinking, "Cmon...you have such an awesome universe, likeable cast, etc. and you do an episode about THIS!?" Sorry, it's been a while since I watched the show so I can't name any specifics.

In a similar genre, I feel like 2 seasons was not nearly enough for The Legend of the Seeker. Likeable cast, interesting world, good acting, good fighting, sex appeal...that show had it all, man. Especially considering there are like 15 books in that series now, they could have whittled down most of the garbage in the book series and squeezed out another 2 seasons easily.

No to argue, but some of the episodes (if I remember) were originally shown out of the original order, including the 2hr pilot that wasn't officially shown, and the last 2-3 were shot and written after they got the cancellation news. That said, I really cannot think of a bad episode.

It's too bad that they never officially got to reveal Inara Serra's big secret --> (spoiler below in black)

She's dieing.

Plus - how cool would have been to learn Book's real history?

Oh, I too liked Legend of the Seeker! That makes 2 of us, apparently. ols

Sledge hammer

Heroes was great the first season, but they went downhill after that.

Heros got caught up in it's story. They gave too many characters unlimited power, then countered by taking all powers away and time jumping...it all became too much. They should have kept everything simple...

Deadwood. Absolutely. Biggest all time regret. I hate that the show only made it three seasons.

Firefly, Arrested Development, and Freaks & Geeks are all solid answers too, though they've developed cult followings and you're getting an AD movie years and years after the fact. In hindsight, the third season of AD kind of sucked, maybe it was time.

Family guy is an odd case for me. Clearly canceled too early, then brought back and allowed to linger years after it jumped the shark.

I loved the show Terriers that came on FX like two years ago. Starred Donal Logue. Great show that only made it one season. Nobody watched it and it was a gem.

I liked Firefly a lot, but you have to admit -

(a) They made a freaking feature film out of it, and

I loved the movie and would have been happy if Firefly would have become the next Star Trek, but that didn't happen either (even thought it was both finincially and critically successful)