# Favorite short-lived TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055 "2002-04-17T02:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/41 "2002-04-17T23:59:37Z")
I’ve only skimmed this thread, but didn’t see any of my favorites (I’m alittle busy to comment on all of them, but they were all fabulous: Bob (most of the first season only) Freaks and Geeks It’s Your Turn Another vote for Lateline also. And it was Anthony Clark who starred in Boston Common. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/42 "2002-04-18T00:30:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AtomicDog \* > You have the ENTIRE RUN of “Sledge Hammer!” on tape? We need to talk. I have a lot of blank tapes! Actually, not the entire run. But a lot of first-run episodes. (Not edited for syndication episodes.) I would be happy to make you copies, but I don’t have a way to make copies! But if I ever get a second VCR, I’ll be doin’ a lot of copying for EVERYONE. So, wait in line! 😃 My video collection is beyond comprehension, it’s so huge. It’s also pretty disorganized. I just _remember_ that I have these things on tape - damned if I can find them! I hesitate to mention this, but many of the shows the rest of you have mentioned I have on tape. At least an episode or two, anyway. I scare myself. Some other favorite shows (that I have on tape): “Shadow Chasers” (Trevor Eve and Dennis Dugan), “Johnny Bago” (I just LOVED that one), “Michael Nesmith’s TV Parts”, and on and on. I have an episode of a pre-Quantam Leap Scott Bacula in the short lived “Gung Ho”, I have a live telecast of a remake of “Mr. Roberts” (with Kevin Bacon as Ensign Pulver, and Robert Hays as Mr. Roberts…) Oh my gosh. The stuff I have in my collection. The mind reels. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Spider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Barking\_Spider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Spider)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/43 "2002-04-18T01:05:43Z")
The one that first popped in my head was “Get a Life” ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/44 "2002-04-18T01:28:33Z")
**When Things Were Rotten** from 1975 - 13 episodes. One of those wonderful Mel Brooks shows (actually produced by Mel, and he did some of the writing). His first attempt at making fun of Robin Hood. …and what a cast! Richard Gautier … Robin Hood Dick Van Patten … Friar Tuck Bernie Kopell … Alan-a-Dale Richard Dimitri … Bertram/Renaldo Henry Polic II … Sheriff Misty Rowe … Maid Marian David Sabin … Little John Ron Rifkin … Prince John ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/45 "2002-04-18T01:32:45Z")
I adored **God, the Devil and Bob**. God as an aging hippie in a Hawaiian shirt, Birkenstocks, Bermuda shorts, and sunglasses! Alan Cummings as Satan! It was brilliant! Favorite moment: Bob is driving a car, God’s in the passenger seat, they’re stopped at some railroad tracks, and Bob is angry with God over something - “I don’t get it, God! You’re supposed to be so great, how can you allow evil in the world?” God: “Well, it’s like this-” and starts to explain, but just then, a train starts to go by, so you can’t hear him. You can see him making all sorts of hand motions, though. The train passes. Bob: “Wow, when you lay it out like that it all makes so much sense…I’m sorry I got so mad at you.” God: “Well, people feel strongly about this.” 😃 I just started a threat on **Sports Night** , so everyone knows my feelings on that…I was a big **Due South** fan too…and I keep hearing great things about **Cupid** from people whose TV taste agrees with mine, but I never got to see it. I’ve had no luck trying to track down episodes on WinMx - anyone know where I might be able to find some? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/46 "2002-04-18T01:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > and I keep hearing great things about Cupid from people whose TV taste agrees with mine, but I never got to see it. I’ve had no luck trying to track down episodes on WinMx - anyone know where I might be able to find some? _cough cough_over here_cough cough_ If I ever get the second VCR, that is… ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/47 "2002-04-18T05:22:26Z")
I watched **Misfits of Science** and **Davis Rules** and **Strange Luck**. Couple of others that were good: **Nothing Sacred** and **Nightmare Cafe**. ---
**Author:** ![Phlip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlip)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/48 "2002-04-18T05:39:06Z")
I really liked the Ben Stiller Show on Fox in the late eighties or early ninties. Can’t remember exactly when it was on, but it only had 3-4 episodes if I remember. My fav was when he did a Die Hard spoof. Funny stuff. For the record though, Clerks is in my top three favorite movies of all time, and I own the animated series DVD. Its trash. Aweful television. I think alot of it had to do with the fact that they couldn’t swear on TV. But all in all, it was VERY boring. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/49 "2002-04-18T05:42:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thea Logica \* > \*\* > > _Forever Knight_. My (now ex) boyfriend \*\* hated\*\* this show, mostly because he couldn’t reconcile the idea of a vampire being a decent sort of, um, human being. I loved the show. I was on a vampire kick when it was running, but I think I mostly liked it because Geraint Wyn Davies is sooooooooo hot. Kind of fell on its butt during the third season, largely for the same reasons \* Bewitched\* fell on its butt after Dick York left the show. > \*\* I liked the first two seasons of FK. Even though it had kind of a lame concept overall I thought the show was pretty good. The last season was horrible but they managed some level of redemption by the last episode. SPOILER . . . . . . . … . . . . . . . . . . They killed almost everyone off in the last episode. Most series don’t have the guts to do something like that. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/50 "2002-04-18T05:50:05Z")
**My So-Called Life** Brian Krakow sitting on the bike watching Angela drive off with Jordan Catalano. Man… I never actually saw this when it was originally on either, only reruns on MTV. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/51 "2002-04-18T06:31:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by singular1 \* > \*\*The very best short-lived but much-beloved show I’ve seen had to be **Maximum Bob**. It had great reviews and the ratings were pretty good, and it was supposed to be picked up as a series, but mysteriously disappeared. Thank Zook I had the foresight to tape all 6 (I think) episodes-I usually don’t luck out like that. > > And **Quark** rocked! \*\* Wow, I recently read (and loved) Maximum Bob, and had no idea there was a TV series based on it. One of my earliest TV memories is of Quark. For years I wondered what the name of the show was based on my few memories, and it wasn’t until I found this board that I found out. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/52 "2002-04-18T06:58:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > Actually, not the entire run. But a lot of first-run episodes. (Not edited for syndication episodes.) I would be happy to make you copies, but I don’t have a way to make copies! But if I ever get a second VCR, I’ll be doin’ a lot of copying for EVERYONE. So, wait in line! 😃 At least there’s a line! 😃 > [@](#): > > My video collection is beyond comprehension, it’s so huge. It’s also pretty disorganized. I just _remember_ that I have these things on tape - damned if I can find them! _Pssssssssssst!_ iMovie + iDVD + Superdrive + videotapes = home-made DVDs to sell to fellow Dopers. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broken\_Doll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@Broken\_Doll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broken_Doll)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/53 "2002-04-18T16:08:09Z")
What was the name of the extremely short-lived sitcom which had the luscious Lori Petty in it playing a waitress at Hooters? I wanna see that again just for perving _pouts_ ---
**Author:** ![Flippin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@Flippin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flippin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/54 "2002-04-18T22:55:03Z")
Does anyone remember a show called Stressed Eric? It was cartoon-like… similar to the Simpsons… I only remember two or three episodes but i loved it. I think it was on like maybe 5-10 yrs ago? ---
**Author:** ![Jeu\_D\_esprit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@Jeu\_D\_esprit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeu_D_esprit)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/55 "2002-04-19T03:27:58Z")
How about\*\*\* Space 1999\*\*\*? Two seasons and more or less two different shows (the second season is so radically different). I really like some of the first season shows, like the one where a planet sends a telepathic warning to not try and land there. A good shoot-em-up-and-everybody-dies space warfare episode. And how about that other Anderson creation _ **UFO** _ ?(26 episodes) Commander Straker is still\*\* the\*\* epitome of giving all (including personal life) to a cause. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/56 "2002-04-19T03:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Broken Doll \* > \*\*What was the name of the extremely short-lived sitcom which had the luscious Lori Petty in it playing a waitress at Hooters? > > I wanna see that again just for perving _pouts_ \*\* Well, according to the IMDb, [Lori Petty](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Petty,+Lori) was in the following TV Series: “Thorns, The” (1988) “Booker” (1989) “Lush Life” (1996) and “Brimstone” (1998) Any of these sound familiar? ---
**Author:** ![novacaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@novacaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/novacaine)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/57 "2002-04-19T07:45:17Z")
I can’t believe that with all the fans of **The Critic** no one has mentioned **Freakazoid** or **Animaniacs**. As far as cartoons full of adult humor go these were two of the best. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/58 "2002-04-20T00:11:28Z")
Another vote for **Police Squad!** and **Freaks and Geeks** , but my all-time favorite short-lived show is [drum roll, please]: **Fawlty Towers**! Only 12 episodes, but absolutely brilliant. Now available, complete, on DVD. The teleplays were published in book form years ago, BTW, and it reads as funny as it plays… Cleese’s greatest work, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/59 "2002-04-20T01:13:35Z")
Well, if animation can qualify, I’d like to add _Cybersix_, sort of a poignient techno-noir that Fox stopped showing before they ran all of the episodes on hand. Probably so they could run more “Digimon” reruns. I mean, Digimon is all well and good, but was five episodes a day from the previous season really called for? Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055/60 "2002-04-20T01:26:58Z")
I really liked **High Incident** , a police drama based in a fictional town near Los Angeles. Another vote here for **Sledge Hammer** and **Sports Night** , both excellent in their own way. A resounding “hear, hear” (or is that “here, here”?) for **When Things Were Rotten**. I like anything assoiciated with Mel Brooks (with the single exception of a film a while back called **Life Sucks,** which was a real downer). Dipping back in years a little farther, **The Charmings** was, I thought, really funny, especially the dliciously nasty Judy Parfitt as Queen Lillian White, and the hilariously sarcastic Paul Winfield as the Mirror. How was the queen less than the fairest? Let the Mirror count the ways! But going really back (so many of you people are so young!) to the early seventies, a fine gentle comedy called **My World, And Welcome To It** , based on the writings of James Thurber, came and went seemingly in a flash. It starred William Windom. I guess its run was so short (I don’t think it passed 13 episodes) because the material was too sophisticated for audiences who howled at \*\*The Beverly Hillbillies[/] and its ilk. (I _love_ that word “ilk.” Makes me think of a tiny creature with disproportionately large antlers…but then, I’m a little strange.) 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-short-lived-tv-shows/104055.md?page=4)