# Best 1 season tv series that should not have been canceled **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819 "2004-01-30T20:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/141 "2004-02-06T00:07:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > **prisoner** , in what way was _Firefly_ responsible for the cancellation of _Futurama_? The new, I forget her title but it was something like the executive something or other in charge of programming or some such (basically she decided what shows stayed and what shows went) axed Futurama to make room for her personal pet project, Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/142 "2004-02-06T01:05:40Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > What, no Police Squad? Only 6 eps and they were better than the movies. That show has so much potential for a fast burn-out, it was a good thing they stopped while on top. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/143 "2004-02-06T01:10:28Z")
Nothing new here, just thought I’d add my vote for \*\*Key West, Bakersfield PD, Strange Luck \*\*, and best of them all, **Lucky**. ---
**Author:** ![toomuchtv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@toomuchtv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toomuchtv)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/144 "2004-02-06T01:27:28Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > **Nichols** , when James Garner was asked his favorite role he replied Nichols. Nichols also employed one of the most audacious makeovers ever used on primetime TV. This sort of thing happens on soaps all the time, but as far as I know this was the first (and one of the few) times it was used at night. I think Garner’s character was loosely based on his character from the film “Support Your Local Sheriff”. He was supposed to be smart, and wryly humorous, and brave when he had to be, but mostly he was supposed to be a nice guy who got put upon a lot. Maybe a little too much, because one of the strongest criticisms of the show at the time was that Nichols was just too much of a wimp. So at the end of the episode that marked the middle of the season, Nichols gets… killed. Dead. Roll credits. Next episode, a stranger come riding into town, looking for the man who killed Nichols. The stranger looks oddly familiar. Yep, it’s James Garner, playing Nichols’ twin brother, who of course is made of sterner stuff than the dearly departed. I thought it took a lot of guts to air that. Wasn’t enough to save the show… ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/145 "2004-02-06T01:31:47Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > There’s another show in the back of my memory, but the only details that I can remember is the main character always holding his gun sideways and him finding a cache of video tapes near the end of the show that completely turned everything he thought was happening to him upside down. Maybe I just have two different memories of Nowhere Man? I don’t know. That’s the last show I remember also - that’s why I keep thinking it ran two seasons. I remember him following the info trail, he found this house and kept doing things that the former occupant had: when he hid his negatives, he found others in the same place. Later, he runs into a man who knows all, but the man kills himself (I think, not sure). Then the video tapes show him being brainwashed - his life he remembered was not his life at all. Very good ending, and creepy. All you thought you knew, _poof_, gone in two minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/146 "2004-02-06T01:32:29Z")
> [@prisoner6655321](#): > > The new, I forget her title but it was something like the executive something or other in charge of programming or some such (basically she decided what shows stayed and what shows went) axed Futurama to make room for her personal pet project, Firefly. What? Where the hell did you hear _that_ from? Unless you’ve got a cite of some sort, I’m going to have to call bullshit on that. First, _Firefly_ and _Futurama_ never aired on the same day. How does cancelling a half hour show on a Sunday free up room for an hour long show on a Friday? Second, if _Futurama_ was cancelled because of _Firefly_, how is that the final episode of _Firefly_ aired [December 20th, 2002](http://www.scifispace.com/html/ffepisodes.php), while the final episode of _Futurama_ aired [August 10th, 2003](http://animatedtv.about.com/b/a/015252.htm)? How can _Firefly_ have caused the cancellation of a show that outlasted it by eight months? As an aside, I loved both shows, but if I had to make a Sophie’s choice about which to keep and which to kill, I’d have kept _Firefly_ and axed _Futurama_. I still wouldn’t have been happy about it, though. ---
**Author:** ![toomuchtv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@toomuchtv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toomuchtv)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/147 "2004-02-06T01:53:30Z")
Stingray, featuring Nick Mancuso Combining elements of _The Godfather_, and _The Equalizer_, Nick tooled around in a black Corvette, helping out when good people found themselves in desperate binds. His tagline: “Yes, I’ll get you out of this mess. No, I don’t work for money. There’s just one requirement. Someday, somewhere, I will come to you and ask you for a favor. Whatever it is, you _have_ to do it.” They were usually in a place where they would agree to anything. One of the best parts of any episode was seeing how he would collect on an old debt in order to help the current victim. > **[Stingray (TV Series 1985–1989) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090528/)** > > Stingray: Created by Stephen J. Cannell. With Nick Mancuso, James Handy, Barbara Williams, William S. Taylor. "Ray", a man of mystery, gets people out of trouble, asking for favors in return. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/148 "2004-02-06T02:46:30Z")
Another I remember from the 80s that I loved: “Wizards and Warriors.” Okay, so it had Jeff Conaway in it. It was still fun! Julie ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/149 "2004-02-06T03:24:15Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Do you mean [this](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005NKCQ/qid=1075765531//ref=sr_8_xs_dvd_i1_xgl74/103-0257176-4353451?v=glance&s=dvd)Prisoner? I sure do. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/150 "2004-02-06T04:42:02Z")
I vaguely remember _Buffalo Bill_, another good Dabney Coleman show that did not last. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/151 "2004-02-06T06:55:14Z")
Wizards and Warriors had Julia Duffy in it, and it was still fun. Cliffhangers seems to be lurking at the back of my memory somewhere. Didn’t the Dark Empire story line involve using black and white for the old west sequences and color for the underground dark empire stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Verick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ea666f/32.png) [@Verick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Verick)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/152 "2004-02-06T07:34:21Z")
I have to say that I had forgotten about a lot of these shows, and I really loved most of them. American Gothic was fantastic, and so was Now and Again. But no one mentioned [Wolf Lake](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295694/), or I just missed it totally. I liked that show and would have loved to see the storyline develop. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/153 "2004-02-06T08:29:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What? Where the hell did you hear _that_ from? Unless you’ve got a cite of some sort, I’m going to have to call bullshit on that. First, _Firefly_ and _Futurama_ never aired on the same day. How does cancelling a half hour show on a Sunday free up room for an hour long show on a Friday? It doesn’t - it frees up the money to make the new show. Futurama was horribly expensive to make, even for an animated show. > [@](#): > > Second, if _Futurama_ was cancelled because of _Firefly_, how is that the final episode of _Firefly_ aired [December 20th, 2002](http://www.scifispace.com/html/ffepisodes.php), while the final episode of _Futurama_ aired [August 10th, 2003](http://animatedtv.about.com/b/a/015252.htm)? How can _Firefly_ have caused the cancellation of a show that outlasted it by eight months? Because - and this is a widely-known fact - Futurama was cancelled in _May 2002_. Fox fucked around with the show so much that it took more than a year to show the remaining episodes. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/154 "2004-02-06T11:22:45Z")
**Greg the bunny** **Clerks** , the TV series. Personally, I loved the whole “The rest of the episode has been finished by the Korean animators.” segment. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/155 "2004-02-06T14:43:44Z")
I’ll throw in a vote for **Firefly** , **Undeclared** , and **Freaks & Geeks** , \*\*Brisco County \*\* and \*\*Beans Baxter \*\* (I can’t believe anyone else remembers that show! I loved it!) and add **[Probe](http://imdb.com/title/tt0125605/)**, a show starring Parker Stevenson as an eccentric scientist who tries to shutdown a killer computer with his assistant. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/156 "2004-02-06T15:28:13Z")
> [@Gundy](#): > > and add **[Probe](http://imdb.com/title/tt0125605/)**, a show starring Parker Stevenson as an eccentric scientist who tries to shutdown a killer computer with his assistant. So I’m not alone! I mentioned that one back on page 2 but figured I was the only Probe fan. Julie ---
**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:** [February 6, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/157 "2004-02-06T16:02:05Z")
figured I was the only Probe fan. Just me or does that sound very dirty 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Scarlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlet)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/158 "2004-02-06T16:16:37Z")
Lets see: Firefly Haunted Strange Luck And though they ran more than one season: Dark Angel The Tick (cartoon) - at least put it out on dvd you bastards! Norm Boston Commons ---
**Author:** ![mug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@mug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mug)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/159 "2004-02-07T04:02:21Z")
:smack: I can’t believe I forgot one of my all-time favorite shows, even though it’s going pretty far back. Anyone else remember **Voyagers!** with Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce? I think this only lasted one year, one and a half, tops. But great show. ---
**Author:** ![3Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/4af34b/32.png) [@3Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3Much)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819/160 "2004-02-07T14:52:35Z")
Don’t know how to post a link or I would, but does anyone else remember When Things Were Rotten? Created by Mel Brooks, it was a comedy (what else?) about Robin Hood. Extremely funny, and only lasted 3 months back in 1975. Hi-ho. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-season-tv-series-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/226819.md?page=9)