# shows canceled first season- that should not have been canceled. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738 "2018-10-10T03:46:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/21 "2018-10-10T13:09:59Z")
Somebody has already mentioned this one – “Don’t Trust the B\_ in Apartment 23”. I really wanted to see that show continue! From the 1970s – I wish that “Get Christie Love” had lasted beyond the 1974-1975 season. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/22 "2018-10-10T13:13:33Z")
_Brimstone_ - Peter Horton as Ezekiel Stone, a deceased New York City cop, let out of Hell to chase down a hundred or so “of the worst souls” who had escaped some time before. Excellent performances by Horton, John Glover as Satan, and Teri Polo as the leader of the escapees (although you don’t learn that until the last broadcast episode). Good show, atmospheric as all hell (so to speak), all around good watching. Stone: \* You loved her.\* Satan: _I never loved anyone but God! And that was a long time ago!_ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/23 "2018-10-10T13:59:44Z")
Lasted a couple of seasons… **Joan of Arcadia** and **Sports Night**. Continuing with Aaron Sorkin, I also liked **Studio 60**. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/24 "2018-10-10T14:12:21Z")
_Trophy Wife_ was legit hilarious for a network sitcom The only show I was emotionally attached to, though, was _My So-Called Life_. Maybe it’s for the best; who knows if a second season would’ve totally ruined its legacy ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/25 "2018-10-10T14:14:04Z")
**Selfie** Usually not my kind of show, but Karen Gillan was adorable, John ( **Star Trek** re-boot) Cho was a solid male lead and the show was just hitting its comedic stride when it was given the boot. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/26 "2018-10-10T14:16:22Z")
Buffalo Bill lasted only 2 seasons but was truly funny. Dabney Coleman plays a perfect asshole. > **[Buffalo Bill (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_(TV_series))** > > Buffalo Bill is an American sitcom television series that featured the misadventures of an egotistical talk show host, played by Dabney Coleman, and his staff (including Geena Davis and Joanna Cassidy) at WBFL-TV, a small TV station in Buffalo, New York. It premiered June 1, 1983, on NBC and ran for two seasons (1983–84). It was also shown on the then-new UK fourth TV channel Channel 4. > Most of the humor came from Bill's completely unredeemable qualities and from the staff's frustration at deali... ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/27 "2018-10-10T14:25:28Z")
Closest I can come off the top of my head is **Better Off Ted**. It lasted two seasons, so mine doesn’t count. I’m still gonna post it anyway, because I’m still pissed they canceled it. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/28 "2018-10-10T14:44:06Z")
Like **ivylass** , my vote is for _Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip_. Apparently no one else in the world watched/liked it, but I thought there was some very good stuff happening in that first season. I also would have liked to see more than two seasons of **Sports Night** , but once Sorkin left to do _The West Wing_ the older show was doomed. > [@DrDeth](#): > > I will add: > [New Amsterdam (2008 TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam_(2008_TV_series)) > > The first (?) \*New Amsterdam. \* > > Why on earth they copied that title for yet another medical drama, , i don’t know. Yes! I loved that show! And it _was_ a little confusing when the new one started. The first one wasn’t a medical drama, though: it was about an immortal NYC homicide detective. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > _Profit_–basically the predecessor to every edgy show with an amoral and sociopathic protagonist that David Chase, Matt Weiner, and Vince Gilligan have made since. Seconded. > [@DrDeth](#): > > You know, zillions of people, even reviewers have said that they LOVE F&G- but then, why did no-one watch it? 😕 My guess? It was pre-DVR. Sure, VCRs were ubiquitous by then, but DVRs made it _so easy_. I think a lot of the people who love the show didn’t watch the original broadcast, but caught up with it afterwards. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Trophy Wife_. Maybe not a ground-breaking sit-com but it was well-written and it had a good cast. I loved the writing, but I found the son’s pronounced overbite to be _seriously_ distracting. Borderline annoying…which I know is a ridiculous reaction to have to a physical characteristic, but that kid took me out of the story every time he talked. I almost couldn’t understand how his mouth even worked. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Forever_. An interesting detective series where the lead character is a secret immortal. I think you and **Dr. Deth** both conflated _Forever_ with _New Amsterdam_. 🙂 _Forever_ is the medical one, where the immortal is a medical examiner. Interestingly, “Forever” is _also_ a recycled name for a [2018 show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forever_(2018_TV_series))…completely different premise, though. > [@kayaker](#): > > _Luck_, a series on HBO starring Dustin Hoffman was canceled after one season. > > Two horses died during filming of season one. A third horse died during filming of the second episode of season two, so they canceled the series due to fear of bad press. Thing is, horses die or are euthanized at the track all the time. No big loss, IMHO: I watched the first episode or two (or three), and didn’t find it very compelling/interesting. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/29 "2018-10-10T14:58:34Z")
I was disappointed that [The Returned](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3230780/) was cancelled after one season. The premise is that dead people come back to life, but they’re just like they were before (e.g. not zombies). It’s closely based on a French TV show, so you can conclude the series there, but I thought the US one was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/30 "2018-10-10T15:37:35Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Fairly) recent ones include \*[Pan Am](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_(TV_series)) \*and [_The Finder_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finder_(U.S._TV_series)). I really liked Pan Am, but I always felt that part of the problem was that it came out at the same time as The Playboy Club and they were both competing with Mad Men. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/31 "2018-10-10T15:44:56Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > No big loss, IMHO: I watched the first episode or two (or three), and didn’t find it very compelling/interesting. Different strokes, I guess. I binged the first season of _Luck_ and absolutely loved it. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/32 "2018-10-10T16:14:23Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Almost Human and No Ordinary Family are at the top of my list for shows that only last one season.] There’s one reason that lists like this exist - _Almost Human_, I agree with you, but _No Ordinary Family_ was “a good concept that got ruined when it turned into Yet Still Even Another Family Drama” (the same with _Terra Nova_, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was intended all along that, in the words of Troy McClure in _Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Of_f, “It was Earth all along!”, and never mind that pretty much one of the first things they said was that they knew that it _wasn’t_ Earth). > [@ivylass](#): > > Lasted a couple of seasons… **Joan of Arcadia** and **Sports Night**. Continuing with Aaron Sorkin, I also liked **Studio 60**. Another vote for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Here’s another: _Alcatraz_. I’m on the fence with _The Mob Doctor_; to be fair, the one thing I didn’t like about it - the ending - wouldn’t have happened if the show hadn’t been cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/33 "2018-10-10T16:30:08Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The ultimate answer is, of course, _Freaks and Geeks_, despite the presence of the now-insufferable James Franco. It perfectly captures being caught in between social groups with everyone telling you what you should be doing with your life and nobody asking, “What do you want to do?” The other Judd Apatow show that only lasted one season but should not have been cancelled was Undeclared. I watched both series in their original runs and loved them both. And they both had amazing casts. A more obscure one; MTV had a North American version of the UK series Skins, but it got a lot of negative attention and only lasted a single season. I really liked the UK original and hoped the American adaption would succeed as did earlier adaptions of Being Human and Shameless (two other UK programs that I liked quite a bit and were successfully adapted in the US). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/34 "2018-10-10T16:34:38Z")
_[Terriers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terriers_(TV_series))_! The language that came out of Donal Logue’s mouth was amazing at times. Laura Allen also appeared in the aforementioned _Awake_ but that isn’t really on my list of shows canceled too early. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/35 "2018-10-10T16:45:11Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > One that comes to mind: > [The Good Guys](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567254/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_52) with Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. Buddy cop comedy, but Whitford was brilliant as the completely insane, washed up, alcoholic, lecherous Dan Stark. Hanks did a pretty good job as the straight man to Whitford’s lunatic, I thought. I enjoyed the show as well- it was fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. And actually filmed on location to some degree, and got a lot of places here in town right. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/36 "2018-10-10T16:53:53Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > _[Terriers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terriers_(TV_series))_! OMG yes! I loved that show! I’ve rewatched the series at least once. One of the few shows where I never skip past the opening theme (\*Treme \*being another). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/37 "2018-10-10T17:09:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I really liked Pan Am, but I always felt that part of the problem was that it came out at the same time as The Playboy Club and they were both competing with Mad Men. I didn’t hate \*The Playboy Club \*either, but didn’t want to mention Playboy Bunnies _and_ stewardesses in the same post… ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/38 "2018-10-10T17:12:38Z")
The fascinating reality show [Utopia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(2014_U.S._TV_series))was canceled before it got far into its season. They kept the live feeds on for quite a while, luckily. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/39 "2018-10-10T17:15:10Z")
**Alien Nation.** While there were several TV movies done some years later, they failed to capture the tone of the series. And another vote for **Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.** ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738/40 "2018-10-10T17:20:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Forever_. An interesting detective series where the lead character is a secret immortal. That reminded me of _Forever Knight_, an interesting detective series where the lead character is a secret immortal, but it turns out to have run longer than I remembered–3 seasons, 70 episodes. Maybe I was conflating it with _Moonlight_, an interesting detective series where the lead character is a secret immortal that lasted only 16 episodes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-canceled-first-season-that-should-not-have-been-canceled/822738.md?page=3)