# Shows that ended too soon but... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934 "2016-12-17T15:42:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/21 "2016-12-17T20:22:19Z")
I was going to suggest _The Adventures of Brisco County Jr._, but it was just one season. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > _Fawlty Towers_ wasn’t discontinued because of being cancelled, but because both John Cleese and Connie Booth were creatively exhausted, and Cleese has subsequently refused to even consider a third series or film adapatation. And it is arguably not “too soon” in the sense of being incomplete. Like _The Prisoner_, _Fawlty Towers_ completed a narrative arc. It is better seen as a book that just came to close. It’s my belief that Basil dies at the end of _Fawlty Towers_[sup]\*[/sup]. It’s the episode with the health inspector. Basil, after chasing Manuel’s pet rat all over the hotel, presents the inspector with the box of crackers and the rat is there happily chewing away. After a moment of disbelief, Manuel and Polly are dragging Basil’s body out to the lobby and Sybil says “oh, it’s raining again”. It’s even foreshadowed in an earlier episode when someone says Basil will drop stone dead if he doesn’t relax more. And really, isn’t that how Basil should die, just drag him out of the room and get on with lunch? - I originally typed that as “Fawlty Toewrs”; almost left it that way as an homage. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/22 "2016-12-17T22:48:09Z")
Keen Eddie. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/23 "2016-12-17T23:27:24Z")
**Legend of the Seeker** Books are cheesy as can be, but the show was a lot more fun. 2 seasons, deserved 5 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/24 "2016-12-17T23:44:15Z")
Various reasons why “Combat” was canceled after five series. They thought they could get the same results with a newer cheaper series “Garrison’s Guerrillas”. they figured with color tv’s becoming more popular, it was best to get a series where the first four seasons were in black and white into syndication ASAP, rumors of ABC being bought by ITT meant there were some obscure tax questions. I think Vic Morrow and co star Rick Jason getting pay raises from $3,500 to $10,000 a week would have made a reluctance for the money men to continue. “Maverick” continued for four years but was basically dead after James Garner left after two seasons. Warner Brothers should have found a way to keep him, although Garner and series created Roy Higgins long complained about being underpaid. The comedy series “Popular” was great the first season but a bit ragged the second and got cancelled. Did the WB tv network really have something better to replace it with? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/25 "2016-12-18T01:26:20Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > They thought they could get the same results with a newer cheaper series “Garrison’s Guerrillas”. Nitpick: The name of the show was _ **Garrison’s Gorillas** _. It was a clone of _ **The Dirty Dozen** _, and all of the men were convicts (except for the commanding officer). _ **Combat!** _, which I loved, had pretty much run its course after five years, and the WWII craze was dying out because of Vietnam anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/26 "2016-12-18T02:40:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Legend of the Seeker** > > Books are cheesy as can be, but the show was a lot more fun. 2 seasons, deserved 5 or so. This is a good one that I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/27 "2016-12-18T02:43:52Z")
Stargate Universe was just getting its legs when it died at the end of the second ?season… ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/28 "2016-12-18T02:52:21Z")
I always liked “The Invaders”. The first season had Vincent fighting the aliens alone, the second he had allies. In a third, there might have been allies inside the government. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/29 "2016-12-18T03:37:07Z")
_The Vicar of Dibley_ went on for years but only at the rate of a couple of episodes per year, sometimes one, and sometimes a couple of years between episodes. All together there aren’t as many episodes as one full US season. So when I binge-watched it earlier this year, I came to the end far too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/30 "2016-12-18T04:03:11Z")
A little show called [Homefront](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homefront_(U.S._TV_series)) ran for two seasons in the early 1990’s and was nominated for/won a couple Emmys. To this day, I’ve no idea why it was canceled. > [@](#): > > Homefront is an American television drama series created and produced by Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick in association with Lorimar Television for ABC. The show was set in the fictional city of River Run, Ohio in 1945, 1946, and 1947. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/31 "2016-12-18T04:34:26Z")
_ **Gilligan’s Island** _ is one of the more famous ones here. The story is will known and easily google-able, but basically ti came down to a last-minute schedule squeeze between it and Gunsmoke. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/32 "2016-12-18T06:37:11Z")
I was really pretty disappointed when _Tru Calling_ got the axe after an aborted second season. I thought it had what it took to go the distance. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/33 "2016-12-18T07:23:44Z")
[**The Smoking Room**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Ki42zAg9k&list=PLaGqZod7OfsJUz_YdZMXTF9ZLdiHq5wOr) It only ran for two seasons and a Christmas Special. I really liked the character interplay, especially how the entire series takes place in only one room and the characters come in and out during the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/34 "2016-12-18T07:51:25Z")
Party Down miraculously survived two seasons on a TV network that had no idea what it was doing. For a while, HBO had the “Girls Curse” where any show directly following Girls (Enlightened, Looking, Togetherness) all had exactly two seasons. Worthy of mention even though it lasted 6 seasons is Community which, give or take a Futurama, is probably the show that has had the most narrow scrapes with near death due to the gross incompetence of not one but two separate TV networks. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/35 "2016-12-18T13:02:08Z")
Gilligan’s Island and That Girl should’ve ran for one more episode, the rescue and the wedding. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/36 "2016-12-18T21:20:51Z")
**Barney Miller** could have/should have kept going. Same with **The Dick Van Dyke Show**. mmm ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/37 "2016-12-18T22:07:59Z")
“The Riches”. It was a brilliant dark comedy about “Travellers” (Irish Roma) in the USA. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver were f’ing brilliant. And the whole thing went down due to funding problems. A crying shame. Agree re: Carnivale. An extremely unsatisfying ending, with way too many loose ends remaining. Has nobody said “Firefly” yet? Or did I miss it? If it’s not here by now then by Og the demographic has officially changed on the SDMB . . . ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/38 "2016-12-18T22:31:23Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > “The Riches”. It was a brilliant dark comedy about “Travellers” (Irish Roma) in the USA. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver were f’ing brilliant. And the whole thing went down due to funding problems. > > A crying shame. > > Agree re: Carnivale. An extremely unsatisfying ending, with way too many loose ends remaining. > Has nobody said “Firefly” yet? Or did I miss it? If it’s not here by now then by Og the demographic has officially changed on the SDMB . . . The OP specified more than 1 season, thus why no Firefly or Police Squad. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/39 "2016-12-18T22:35:41Z")
Another vote for **Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23**. Funny show with two very attractive leads. Not sure if the writers could have kept it up for further seasons. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/40 "2016-12-18T22:40:56Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > **Barney Miller** could have/should have kept going. > > Same with **The Dick Van Dyke Show**. Eight seasons and five seasons, respectively. You might want them to have lasted longer, but both shows had relatively long runs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934.md?page=3)