# Great series you somehow missed during their original runs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 1, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532 "2011-07-01T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/1 "2011-07-01T17:52:36Z")
So we’re clear: I’m only looking for television series that (a) you consider great, (b) premiered while you were of an age to watch them, and (c) you never watched an entire episode of until after they were cancelled. In other words, if you adore _Star Trek_ but only know it from reruns because you were born in 1980, find another thread. Contrarirwise, if you _skipped Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ when it was on air because you thought the title was silly, then happened to catch an episode on DVD and became addicted to it, come in, sit a spell, and tell us all about it. My own nomination: David Mamet’s [The Unit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460690/). I can’t explain why I never saw this show during its original run. I love Mamet, I love Haysbert, and I love love love Regina Taylor; it should have been on my viewing schedule from the first episode. But somehow I missed it. It’s my own fault of course but I am going to blame the Welsh anyway. Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/2 "2011-07-01T17:57:26Z")
[Kind of similar to this current thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614132) but you have a few more distinctions. **Babylon 5** - Never saw one episode and it’s one of the greatest shows of all time. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/3 "2011-07-01T18:05:13Z")
I missed both _Firefly_ and _BattleStar Galactica_ (the reimagined series) during their original runs. Netflix fixed that just a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/4 "2011-07-01T18:08:14Z")
**Firefly** **The Office (UK)** I caught the last season of **The Larry Sanders Show** , and was hooked. \*\*Dexter \*\*is still going on, so it doesn’t count I guess. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/5 "2011-07-01T18:32:24Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > **Firefly** > **The Office (UK)** Me too. Also _Freaks and Geeks_, the first couple seasons of _The Wire_ and all of _Oz_. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/6 "2011-07-01T19:18:02Z")
**Sopranos**. The wifey and I are 3/4 thru the 1st season now. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/7 "2011-07-01T19:31:28Z")
Firefly. I’d meant to watch it when it was on the air, and managed to finally catch an episode (which happened to be the very last episode aired). As there was already a lot of backstory going on with the characters, I had a hard time following it. When the DVDs came out, I was able to watch it from the start (the intended order, not the air-date order, of course), which worked much better. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/8 "2011-07-01T19:35:28Z")
For my wife it’s **Frasier**. She never watched it during its run, but since it’s on several times a night locally, she’s gotten hooked. Ditto **ST:TNG**. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/9 "2011-07-01T19:50:29Z")
**Firefly** - I forget why I missed it when it was first run, although I suspect it was some combination of it being on opposite something I was already watching or airing at an inconvenient time. I bought the DVD set solely on te basis of what I’d heard about it after it was off the air. **Buffy** - While I had enjoyed the original movie, the premise didn’t seem like it would make a watchable series. Sometime later I’d heard from people whose opinion I respected that it was actually pretty good, but that it was hard to get into partway through. Then last November the Chiller channel started running it from the beginning, and I jumped at the chance to see it and was immediately hooked. I now have the complete series set sitting on the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/10 "2011-07-01T19:55:25Z")
Buffy, Angel, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, House. Come to think of it, pretty much everything in the past 10 years. We don’t have a broadcast connection. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/11 "2011-07-01T20:02:21Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Buffy, Angel, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, House. House cannot qualify; new episodes are still in the works (okay, it’s the summer break, but still). ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/12 "2011-07-01T20:04:37Z")
Freaks and Geeks. If only I had watched it maybe it would have stayed on the air . . . ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/13 "2011-07-01T20:29:45Z")
Ditto: “Firefly” and (UK) “The Office” (although I don’t get BBC or HBO, so I kind of have an excuse). Really regret only getting into “Arrested Development” after it was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/14 "2011-07-01T20:37:30Z")
**Rome** - pure awesomeness. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/15 "2011-07-01T21:50:27Z")
I must be the king of this. Firefly BSG Veronica Mars Deadwood Kingdom Defying Gravity Greek Freaks and Geeks Accepted Farscape Drive Life Being Erica All shows I’ve seen after the show had run it’s course. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/16 "2011-07-01T22:13:36Z")
**Firefly.** Never heard of it till I **Serenity** on HBO ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/17 "2011-07-01T22:25:56Z")
Pretty predictable results IMO, with Buffy, Firefly, etc. My pick is the Gilmore Girls. No, really. I’d come into the room and my wife and daughter were watching it, and I’d look at the screen, and think, “Holy shit, no way I’m watching this chick show.” Then I noticed Edward Herrmann was in it, and I sat down. (I’ve been a fan of Edward Herrmann since I first saw him in the Paper Chase movie in the early 70s.) It’s smart as hell, very funny, and I’m going to marry Lauren Graham when I grow up. (I’m now halfway through season 5, after watching every episode from the pilot forward on DVD.) ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/18 "2011-07-01T22:39:02Z")
I as well missed Firefly, Buffy and the modern versions of Dr Who. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/19 "2011-07-01T23:52:48Z")
Futurama and Frasier. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532/20 "2011-07-02T00:38:21Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > I must be the king of this. According to its Wikipedia site, _Being Erica_ is going to be getting a fourth and final season in September. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-series-you-somehow-missed-during-their-original-runs/587532.md?page=2)