# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/41 "2016-12-18T23:40:43Z")
[QUOTE=Mean Mr. Mustard] Barney Miller could have/should have kept going. Same with The Dick Van Dyke Show [/QUOTE] > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Eight seasons and five seasons, respectively. You might want them to have lasted longer, but both shows had relatively long runs. Also, both shows voluntarily quit because they wanted to go out while they were still ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/42 "2016-12-19T12:20:46Z")
I thoroughly enjoyed _**[Reaper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaper_(TV_series))**_ which was cancelled after two series. Great banter between the three regulars and Ray Wise as the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/43 "2016-12-19T12:32:58Z")
**Early Edition** Great premise. Reminds me a bit of Person of Interest without the insanely unrealistic gun play. **Picket Fences** We needed to see more Fyvush Finkel. **Twin Peaks** Of course. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/44 "2016-12-19T13:59:40Z")
Hmmm – the examples of “…ended too soon” that stand out in my mind don’t meet the OP’s criterion of “more than one season”. In both cases the shows definitive ended “too soon” because it was very clear that there was much more story to tell, not because it hadn’t creatively matured, or something. **Coronet Blue** was a 1960s thriller series about a guy who is evidently in the espionage business and has lost his memory. He can’t find out who he is – none of his ID information is corroborated. The show ended before the Big Reveal that solved this mystery. **Alien Nation** ended on a cliffhanger that was supposed to be resolved with the first show of the next season. The resolution was covered in a comic book, and the show continued on in a number of “specials” for years afterwards. I suppose you could include “Firefly”, as well, for that matter – it got its own movie. But it was only one season. Like Coronet Blue, the network bounced it all over the programming slot chart, so it was hard to catch an audience. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/45 "2016-12-19T15:06:28Z")
[Life](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0874936/). I’m convinced that I was the only one not related to the cast who watched this show, and that Jay Leno only came back to screw Conan O’Brien and my Wednesday nights. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/46 "2016-12-19T16:59:52Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > [Life](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0874936/). I’m convinced that I was the only one not related to the cast who watched this show, and that Jay Leno only came back to screw Conan O’Brien and my Wednesday nights. I’m not related to any of the cast, but my wife and I watched it and liked it. I like just about anything Damian Lewis is in. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/47 "2016-12-19T19:07:41Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > 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. I really enjoyed that show, as well! ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/48 "2016-12-19T19:26:58Z")
_Dollhouse_, _Tru Calling_, and _Person of Interest_ all still had a lot of potential when they were cancelled. (But at least 2 out of 3 were brought to a decent, if rushed, conclusion.) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/49 "2016-12-19T20:26:29Z")
I came in to mention: **Stargate Universe Community** And although they’re still on air but whenever **The Simpsons** and **Big Bang Theory** gets cancelled it’ll be too soon. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/50 "2016-12-19T23:31:47Z")
Grand. I’ve always loved Bonnie Hunt. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/51 "2016-12-19T23:40:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > **Early Edition** Great premise. If Early Edition had kept going, I wonder how they would have handled the “why didn’t you prevent 9/11” thing? (I’ve wondered the same thing about [Seven Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_%28TV_series%29), which maybe should be on the list.) ---
**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 19, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934/52 "2016-12-19T23:50:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Eight seasons and five seasons, respectively. You might want them to have lasted longer, but both shows had relatively long runs. Of course I wanted them to run longer. That’s what the OP asked for examples of. There was nothing in the OP that suggested our responses should be shows that have run between 2 and 5 seasons. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-ended-too-soon-but/774934.md?page=2)