# Great Shows Cancelled after \<20 Episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965 "2009-08-19T16:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/41 "2009-08-20T00:21:00Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > To the OP, I was also really getting into _Journeyman_ when it was cancelled. That, and also _New Amsterdam_, which I liked even better. (And which the creators swore up and down was NOT based on Pete Hemphill’s novel, but … well … ) ---
**Author:** ![missouri65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@missouri65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missouri65)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/42 "2009-08-20T00:23:58Z")
\*\* Cupid\*\*, with Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall, has only 15 episodes listed on IMDB. The recent remake did not fair any better, but it would be a stretch to call the remake great. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/43 "2009-08-20T00:26:15Z")
I may be the only one, but I think **[Space Rangers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106144/)** was a pretty good SF action series, canned after three episodes. It was hurt because CBS ran the episodes out of order and because it premiered a couple of weeks after ST:DS9 started. Trekkies were scornful of plot elements in it that they raved about in DS9\*. And the show tried to be a little different – using bullets instead of ray guns, for instance. Still, CBS buried it and science fiction TV fans just weren’t ready to accept anything different from Star Trek. \*One complaint at the time: Space Rangers had someone hitting a device to get it running. Everyone complained that couldn’t happen. But yet, DS9 used exactly the same trick in its premiere. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/44 "2009-08-20T00:27:15Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I can’t find how many episodes it lasted, but it was less than one season. Greg the Bunny had 33 episodes; one season of 13 episodes on Fox, and 20 episodes over two seasons on IFC. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/45 "2009-08-20T01:37:14Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > That, and also _New Amsterdam_, which I liked even better. (And which the creators swore up and down was NOT based on Pete Hemphill’s novel, but … well … ) I LOVED that show and I was PISSED! ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/46 "2009-08-20T01:45:02Z")
Correction: Pete Hemphill? Where did I get that? I meant _Pete Hamill_. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/47 "2009-08-20T02:02:03Z")
I came in here to mention Journeyman. I was also very much enjoying My Own Worst Enemy this year before it died. [The Pirates of Dark Water](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Dark_Water) (which ran 21 episodes, actually). If it was half as brilliant as my memories paint it, then it’s a tragedy that it was never completed. Unfortunately, it’s not available on DVD, so I can’t check. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/48 "2009-08-20T02:41:25Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Correction: Pete Hemphill? Where did I get that? I meant _Pete Hamill_. The REALLY sad thing is that true TV junkies made the mental conversion. It can be a reflex. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/49 "2009-08-20T02:59:31Z")
Max Headroom had 14 shows. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/50 "2009-08-20T03:04:35Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > I came in here to mention Journeyman. I was also very much enjoying **My Own Worst Enemy** this year before it died. > > [The Pirates of Dark Water](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Dark_Water) (which ran 21 episodes, actually). If it was half as brilliant as my memories paint it, then it’s a tragedy that it was never completed. Unfortunately, it’s not available on DVD, so I can’t check. I really liked **My Own Worst Enemy** as well. Would’ve been neat to see the agent deal with a stopped up toilet in the middle of the Christmas holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/51 "2009-08-20T03:34:50Z")
Thanks for the great nominees. I have added several of them to my Netflix queue. (Of course, all of them seem to be available on one or two disks.) ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/52 "2009-08-20T04:04:46Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Greg the Bunny had 33 episodes; one season of 13 episodes on Fox, and 20 episodes over two seasons on IFC. Actually, the Greg the Bunny episodes on Fox are completely different from the IFC shorts. The shorts shown on IFC were only about 10 minutes long and were just film parodies and not actual episodes of the show. (Also, they weren’t nearly as funny. I don’t recommend them as they are a far cry from the show.) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/53 "2009-08-20T04:22:50Z")
I miss _Crusade_, and I still curse the nameless idiots who messed with it after promising not to then canceled it because they didn’t understand what they had. Twerps. I hope all their toenails are forevermore ingrown. Painfully ingrown. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/54 "2009-08-20T04:38:56Z")
Salvage? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/55 "2009-08-20T08:32:59Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I thought the recently cancelled **Harper’s Island** was fantastic, and it only had 12 episodes. But I’m blood-thirsty that way. > > I’m not sure what they would have done with additional seasons, though, because who would stay on an island where a serial killer struck in 2002 _and_ 2009? Kill us off twice, shame on you. Kill us off three times… okay, the rumor was that the writers would have changed locales as well as casts. I’m not sure how that would be the same show, then. **Harper’s Island** was only intended to run 13 episodes (the last two episodes were aired on the same night, sort of the reverse of some shows which run a two-hour pilot which is later split into two one-hours episodes in syndication). I never heard of any plans to try to do a secnmd season, no matter how it did in the ratings. I also would have liked to have seen more of **My own Worst Enemy** and **Journeyman**. The latter started off slow but the last few shows, which of course aired after the decision had been made to pull the plug, picked up steam and made me want to see more. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/56 "2009-08-20T10:09:57Z")
My vote goes to [Day Break](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0801425/) which was a cop drama built on the “man keeps waking up on the same day” premise as the movie Groundhog Day. It had some pacing problems, but ABC yanked it out of the schedule then kept moving it around so it was never able to grow an audience. 13 episodes were produced, only 8 aired and the last 5 were put on [abc.com](http://abc.com) for a limited time. Sci-fi and fantasy premised shows really fare badly on commercial networks. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/57 "2009-08-20T10:52:22Z")
I was going to jump in with Chris Elliot’s [Get a Life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Life_(TV_series)), but was astounded to see it actually ran to 35 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/58 "2009-08-20T12:39:49Z")
[Cupid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_%281998_TV_series%29), the original. A well written comedy/drama starring the charismatic Jeremy Piven, and written by Rob Thomas, who would go on to do Veronica Mars. It was smart, funny, and well before it’s time. I’m still pissed about it getting the axe. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/59 "2009-08-20T12:59:56Z")
I came in to mention the Paper Chase, but then I counted the number of episodes listed on the DVD set in Netflix and there were 22, so never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965/60 "2009-08-20T13:09:22Z")
_Keen Eddie_. Fox pulled it after only a few episodes. Bravo aired the rest, but it still wasn’t picked up. (Sigh.) Thirteen perfect hours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-shows-cancelled-after-20-episodes/506965.md?page=4)