# Tell us about your favorite failed TV shows. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743 "2015-12-30T18:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/201 "2016-01-05T17:48:25Z")
[The Edge](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103407/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_53). Early 90’s sketch comedy show with Jennifer Aniston, Wayne Knight, Julie Brown, and Tom Kenney, among others. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/202 "2016-01-05T17:59:09Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Yeah, I liked “The Searcher” segments; weren’t there also segments with Adam West as an actor who thinks he’s a detective? If I am honest I only remember The Searcher. However according to Wikipedia > [@](#): > > In four episodes of Danger Theatre, the other segment of the show was called Tropical Punch; a send-up of Hawaii Five-O, with Adam West playing the lead role corresponding to Jack Lord’s on the original. West played the Inspector Clouseau-like Detective Morgan, a police detective with no clue as to what is really going on. Morgan only solves crimes because his partner McCormick, played by Billy Morrisette, does in fact know what is going on and saves him from failure constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/203 "2016-01-05T19:32:31Z")
Anyone else remember a mid-90s thriller called ‘Profit’? It was about this psycho Wall Street dude who had devoted himself to manipulating and murdering his way to the top of a massive corporation. It only lasted about 7 episodes before FOX shitcanned it on a cliff-hanger, but it was really good. ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/204 "2016-01-05T19:45:42Z")
[Space: Above and Beyond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_Above_and_Beyond) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/205 "2016-01-05T20:47:24Z")
I’m apparently the only person who ever liked [the relatively recent NBC rendition of “Constantine”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_(TV_series))(based on the “Hellblazer” comics). Matt Ryan did a pretty solid John Constantine, I thought, and Angelica Celaya made an awfully easy on the eyes Zed. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/206 "2016-01-05T21:16:40Z")
> [@Tithonus](#): > > Anyone else remember a mid-90s thriller called ‘Profit’? It was about this psycho Wall Street dude who had devoted himself to manipulating and murdering his way to the top of a massive corporation. It only lasted about 7 episodes before FOX shitcanned it on a cliff-hanger, but it was really good. I loved Profit. The best part of it was that he was so damaged by his mother issues that he slept in a box. The show I miss the most is Pushing Daisies. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/207 "2016-01-05T21:22:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m apparently the only person who ever liked [the relatively recent NBC rendition of “Constantine”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_(TV_series))(based on the “Hellblazer” comics). > > Matt Ryan did a pretty solid John Constantine, I thought, and Angelica Celaya made an awfully easy on the eyes Zed. I liked it, too, and was disappointed when it was not renewed. Constantine (played by the same actor) was on an episode of _Arrow_ this season. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/208 "2016-01-05T21:25:51Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [The Edge](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103407/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_53). Early 90’s sketch comedy show with Jennifer Aniston, Wayne Knight, Julie Brown, and Tom Kenney, among others. What ALF is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE!: (shot of an ALF doll hanging half out of a garbage can) What Oscar the Grouch is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE!: (same shot, with this voice-over: Hey! Get outta my house! C’mon get your ass outta my face!) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/209 "2016-01-05T21:31:50Z")
Oh, I forgot one. _Jack and Bobby_. The story is about two brothers and their single mother, one of whom grows up to become President, although the show doesn’t tell us which one it is. A LOT of the show was done with people in the future talking about their experiences with the two brothers. One of them is the girlfriend of the older brother who eventually winds up marrying the President, whoever that might be. Excellent show with an odd, wonky-sounding premise, but I really enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/210 "2016-01-05T21:45:07Z")
Another one I just thought of: _Black Tie Affair_, a 90s comedy with Bradley Whitford, Kate Capshaw, and John Calvin. Whitford was a private detective trying to find out who killed a millionaire. The show was hilarious, but its generic title killed it, I think. They were originally going to call it _Smoldering Lust_, but the network disapproved. The show was brilliantly written, by Jay Tarses, and eminently quotable. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/211 "2016-01-05T22:30:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Oh, I forgot one. _Jack and Bobby_. The story is about two brothers and their single mother, one of whom grows up to become President, although the show doesn’t tell us which one it is. A LOT of the show was done with people in the future talking about their experiences with the two brothers. One of them is the girlfriend of the older brother who eventually winds up marrying the President, whoever that might be. Excellent show with an odd, wonky-sounding premise, but I really enjoyed it. Nope. They tell you at the end of the first episode that the younger brother becomes president and the older brother dies. I was really into the concept and the set-up until that moment. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/212 "2016-01-06T01:47:21Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > **Dweebs** - proto-_Big Bang Theory_ sitcom about a software startup full of nerds (including their socially inept, Bill Gates-style boss, played by Peter Scolari) that hires a pretty receptionist to help them navigate the real world as they prepare to go public. Great stuff, but only lasted a few episodes. Scolari had a classic line: “If I had a million dollars for every wedgie I got in high school [pause] oh, wait…I do.” 😃 > [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > My addition would be _ **“Hot L Baltimore”** _ Starring future Oscar winner James Cromwell. > [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Lou Grant ran for five seasons. Going slightly OT: the show got cancelled because CBS got pressured from the Reagan administration regarding Ed Asner’s continuous protests of our shenanigans in Central America. At the time it was cancelled (ostensibly for RATINGS) it still had a 27 share. Even in 1982, that wasn’t exactly bottom-of-the-list. > [@CT\_Damsel](#): > > Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip another Aaron Sorkin show Imagine 30 Rock with GOOD writing and NON-ANNOYING characters. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/213 "2016-01-06T05:33:57Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Imagine 30 Rock with GOOD writing and NON-ANNOYING characters. :eek: Funny, I’d describe 30 Rock as Studio 60 with good writing and non-annoying characters. To each his own, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/214 "2016-01-06T09:03:37Z")
I’d add my vote to _Firefly_, like so many others, and to _Terriers_ as well. _Life_ was surely just as much cut down in its prime. _Better Off Ted_ started great: sad to see its potential squandered. These have all been mentioned multiple times in this thread. The only show I’d add, which seems to me to not have been mentioned yet, is _Dead Like Me_. Only lasted two seasons, but my wife and I liked its quirky, dark humor quite a lot. Season 1 was better than Season 2, but the show had so much potential, it was very sad to see it fail. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/215 "2016-01-06T13:01:25Z")
I’ve been meaning to add Dead Like Me. In fact, that’s what I mistook reference to Pushing Daisies for. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/216 "2016-01-06T15:37:27Z")
I’m the lone weirdo who didn’t like _Dead Like Me_, I guess… oh I LOVED the premise, loved George, her boss was awesome but I got to the point where every time Mandy Patinkin would open his mouth I wanted to reach into the TV and throttle the ever loving shit out of him. I’ll just see myself out then? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/217 "2016-01-06T17:33:25Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I’ll just see myself out then? No, no. Room for all opinions, here. Care for a Scotch? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/218 "2016-01-06T19:03:06Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Scolari had a classic line: “If I had a million dollars for every wedgie I got in high school [pause] oh, wait…I do.” 😃 What’s funny is that was literally the only thing I remembered about that show. He was on one of those stair master things when he says it. ETA: I also did not like Dead Like Me for what that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/219 "2016-01-06T19:19:32Z")
What is this, dump on other people’s favorites day? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/220 "2016-01-06T19:50:00Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I forgot [Journeyman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_(TV_series)) on NBC. That show had a great premise, but it never seem to get its legs. It started out OK, but they the Timemasters or whoever started screwing over Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasse. His job, his finances his relationship with his wife and his kid were all in jeopardy- without any sort of side benefit. I agree with Dead Like me, Wonderfalls, and to an extent Pushing up Daisies. Deadwood, Rome, The Night Stalker all were good. Hornblower should have continued up to Captain Hornblower, the movie. _A Nero Wolfe Mystery_ could have gone on for at least another season. Here I blame A&E. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743.md?page=12)