# Any shows that were cancelled because the Networks didn't like the show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746 "2005-11-12T17:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/21 "2005-11-13T13:34:35Z")
Odd. I decided to Google the Donahue topic and I am getting articles that are conflicting. Some say he was the #1 MSNBC show. Others are saying that his numbers were as low as the Nielsen ratings can record. So, grain of salt, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/22 "2005-11-13T15:11:13Z")
**Playmakers** on ESPN was pretty well received and got good ratings for what it was, it wasn’t the next CSI or anything, but as a drama on a sports news network it did fine and had a following. It got axed primarily because it was distasteful to NFL execs, who obviously have a tight relation ship with ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/23 "2005-11-13T15:39:25Z")
I think Australia wins here. Doug Mulray was presenting a “special” that was rating 36 which made it the 2nd highest rating show of the year, when station owner Kerry Packer rang up and told them to take it off because he didn’t like it. It just instantly ended. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/24 "2005-11-13T16:04:24Z")
Looking back on the many years of television, we sould perhaps be tankful these kinds of things are so relatively rare. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/25 "2005-11-14T06:08:34Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > **Firefly** was apparently the victim of infighting at FOX. As I heard it, the executive that green-lighted the show left before it aired, and the replacement didn’t ‘get’ the show and didn’t like it. So it was treated poorly before it even aired. It was put in a bad time slot, the episodes were shown out of order (death for the kind of series that builds long, multi-episode story arcs), and it was constantly pre-empted. Then it was axed a third of the way into its first season when its ratings, while not stellar, were not horrible. It was never given a chance. I just finished watching the series (in order) on DVD. Gorem brilliant!! Hanging out to see the movie, Serenity. Thanks for the explanation of why there were so few episodes. Pity that such a great show was canned because of some moronic TV exec. I dont think this showed in Australia - I dont watch commmercial TV. Anyone know if it did? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/26 "2005-11-14T06:14:55Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > I dont think this showed in Australia - I dont watch commmercial TV. Anyone know if it did? Fairly sure it didn’t – hell, we didn’t even get Scrubs except at 11pm very occasionally on 7. As much as US TV execs suck, Aust TV execs should be taken out and shot for incompetance. Except ABC. They’re ok. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/27 "2005-11-14T06:31:27Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > **Firefly** was apparently the victim of infighting at FOX. As I heard it, the executive that green-lighted the show left before it aired, and the replacement didn’t ‘get’ the show and didn’t like it. So it was treated poorly before it even aired. It was put in a bad time slot, the episodes were shown out of order (death for the kind of series that builds long, multi-episode story arcs), and it was constantly pre-empted. Then it was axed a third of the way into its first season when its ratings, while not stellar, were not horrible. It was never given a chance. However, that does not meet the OP’s criteria, which is shows that were cancelled _despite having good ratings_. Firefly had bad ratings - it’s nice of you to say they weren’t horrible, but they weren’t good. Lots of shows have had bad ratings and have blamed bad handling of the show. WKRP in Cincinnati was like that. I am also assuming the OP isn’t counting shows that were “retired” because they’d run their course or the cast wanted to move on, or else we’d have to cite all kinds of great shows that went out with good ratings, like M_A_S\*H, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Cheers, Frasier… ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/28 "2005-11-14T06:59:52Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > I used to love The Equalizer which aired on CBS in the 80s. It was suddenly cancelled one year and I never really knew why (I just assumed it wasn’t doing well and I was the only one who was watching it.) I’ve read on the internet since then that the show was doing pretty well but was cancelled for a variety of reasons. The big one being in fighting between CBS executives and people working with the show. I think the controversial nature of the show also hurt it in CBS’ eyes (Robert McCall killed someone just about every episode, rape and other pretty heinous crimes are dealt with pretty graphically.) I believe Edward Woodward had a heart attack - perhaps several. At any rate, I think he simply wasn’t up to the physicality of the role. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/29 "2005-11-14T08:34:04Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > I used to love The Equalizer which aired on CBS in the 80s. It was suddenly cancelled one year and I never really knew why (I just assumed it wasn’t doing well and I was the only one who was watching it.) … I used to like that one as well. I vaguely remember reading that it was cancelled because Edward Woodward was either ill or was sick of acting - it was a long long time ago so I can’t really remember which. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/30 "2005-11-14T08:36:37Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > I think Australia wins here. Doug Mulray was presenting a “special” that was rating 36 which made it the 2nd highest rating show of the year, when station owner Kerry Packer rang up and told them to take it off because he didn’t like it. It just instantly ended. I remember that incident. Wasn’t the show cancelled half way through the 2nd epsiode? ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/31 "2005-11-14T09:06:34Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Fairly sure it didn’t – hell, we didn’t even get Scrubs except at 11pm very occasionally on 7. As much as US TV execs suck, Aust TV execs should be taken out and shot for incompetance. Except ABC. They’re ok. It did on channel 7 about 4 months ago shown in the US order (ie out of order) it was then shown on Fox 8 just before Serenity hit the theatres. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/32 "2005-11-14T14:14:18Z")
D’ya think Arrested Development would fit the bill here? I know that its ratings aren’t great, either, but the ratings definitely aren’t helped by the pre-empting, the moving around the schedule, the general non-marketing of the critically acclaimed, award-winning show. All of these are network problems. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/33 "2005-11-14T15:45:51Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > D’ya think Arrested Development would fit the bill here? I know that its ratings aren’t great, either, but the ratings definitely aren’t helped by the pre-empting, the moving around the schedule, the general non-marketing of the critically acclaimed, award-winning show. All of these are network problems. Did anyone in FOX hated the show? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/34 "2005-11-14T15:48:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > However, that does not meet the OP’s criteria, which is shows that were cancelled _despite having good ratings_. Firefly had bad ratings - it’s nice of you to say they weren’t horrible, but they weren’t good. Lots of shows have had bad ratings and have blamed bad handling of the show. WKRP in Cincinnati was like that. > > I am also assuming the OP isn’t counting shows that were “retired” because they’d run their course or the cast wanted to move on, or else we’d have to cite all kinds of great shows that went out with good ratings, like M_A_S\*H, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Cheers, Frasier… Yeah I mean shows with good ratings that were cancelled due to personal dislike by an executive. I didn’t realize that WKRP had bad ratings. Was it due to poor mismanagement or was the show not well liked? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/35 "2005-11-14T15:56:33Z")
Well, generally networks like money. If a show is making a profit, they will continue to make it. (of course since books can be juggled…) So a show makes money if the ad money is greater than the production cost. Dr. Quinn was popular but the extra expense of shooting a period western cut into the profits. A show can be highly rated but still have difficulty attracting advertisers so that show, must go. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/36 "2005-11-14T16:00:27Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > D’ya think Arrested Development would fit the bill here? I know that its ratings aren’t great, either, but the ratings definitely aren’t helped by the pre-empting, the moving around the schedule, the general non-marketing of the critically acclaimed, award-winning show. All of these are network problems. Here we go… ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/37 "2005-11-14T16:25:04Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Here we go… Maybe it is a conspiracy. I haer that Futurama and Animaniacs got the axe because someone did not like the show or creators ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/38 "2005-11-14T16:38:00Z")
Don’t know if it’s true but I read it on a reliable message board. Showtime’s Dead Like Me was dropped because it wasn’t made by Showtime and they had a bunch of new original programming they owned which they wanted to put in it’s place (Huff, Fat Actress). Of course the pay cable companies don’t watch ratings like the networks, they just care about subscribers. I don’t know how many people were watching but DLM had a very loyal following. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/39 "2005-11-14T16:39:51Z")
I don’t think “Politically Incorrect” was cancelled because of bad ratings. Was it cancelled because the networks didn’t like it? Well, perhaps they didn’t like the heat they were taking over it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746/40 "2005-11-14T16:46:09Z")
**Bridget Loves Bernie** had the distinction (at the time) of being the highest-rated show to be cancelled after only one season. The ratings were good, but it was a lightning rod for angry mail and such. I guess they just figured it wasn’t worth the aggrevation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-that-were-cancelled-because-the-networks-didnt-like-the-show/330746.md?page=3)