# 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:** 14
**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:** [January 16, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/261 "2016-01-16T16:26:30Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > The Green Hornet[/COLOR], which was based on the comic book and got supplanted (with a two-part cross-over episode) by the much more campy approach (the complete opposite of the comic books’ dark approach) of the Batman series. There was a \*\*\*Green Hornet \*\*\*comic **before** the TV series came out? I always thought it was based on the old radio series. 😕 _ **Batman** _, I think, didn’t even get to finish its third season. It got yanked sometime in February or March, mercifully. ---
**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 18, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/262 "2016-01-18T15:45:03Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Seriously? I can see us disagreeing on the writing, but how can you stand to watch Tracy Morgan? After three episodes I felt like I had rubbed a cheese grater across my flesh, thanks to him. > > But as you say, to each his own. Mostly non-annoying characters. 🆒 Jack McBrayer (Kenneth) and Alec Baldwin, especially in the first two or three seasons, more than compensated. But yeah, I tuned out Tracy Morgan so much I had forgotten he was in the show…until I searched on my old posts and you reminded me! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/263 "2016-01-18T16:27:10Z")
_ **Happy Endings** _ was extremely funny (for the most part, though you could sort of sense they were running out of steam by the time it was canceled). _ **Pushing Daisies** _, as previously mentioned. This is one of the few shows that consistently bowled me over with the amount of sheer creativity involved. Definitely a victim of the writer’s strike! Did no one say _ **My So-Called Life** _? Only one season, but man, what a perfect encapsulation of being a high school student in the 90s. There were a couple of cheesy episodes but in general it was a fantastic show. ---
**Author:** ![Salad\_Smell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Salad\_Smell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salad_Smell)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/264 "2016-01-18T16:43:00Z")
The John Larroquette Show. Bakersfield PD. Selfie (that one hurts because it was so good and so recent). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/265 "2016-01-18T16:58:07Z")
> [@Salad\_Smell](#): > > The John Larroquette Show. I have my own “This is a dark ride” sign I used to keep at work. 🙂 Most of the shows I enjoyed didn’t make it but two I really miss are _Best of the West_ and _Hello, Larry_. The former was actually pretty well written and produced but just the wrong kind of comedy for the times. The second was sort of a television version of the famous bad movie _The Creeping Terror_ - everything that could go wrong did. It just seemed cursed from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/266 "2016-01-18T19:33:38Z")
I just checked out Superstore (which is not yet canceled and has potential). The star in that reminded me of another recent one: A to Z. It was a romantic comedy with really charming stars (especially the woman who was played by the Mother on How I Met Your Mother). I liked it but it crashed and burned. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/267 "2016-01-18T21:14:10Z")
Remembered another one…[Joan of Arcadia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367345/). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/268 "2016-01-19T04:09:34Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Correction: Tim Conway was merely the guest host for the first episode of _Turn-On_. Robert Culp and his wife were co-hosts for the 2nd, unaired, episode. Other than that, he really had nothing to do with the show. > > Only one station seems to have pulled it after the first commercial break. Many didn’t even air it all. ABC put it on “hiatus” 2 days after airing. I saw Turn on. I remember talking about it the next day in school. There were shows from the 60s that were really big to a schoolkid, and the theme song might have stayed around for years or decades in memories. Branded was for me the heaviest. Chuck Connors, and that incredible theme with the visual of the breaking sword. Everybody knows “It’s about time” right? Batman was the biggest thing going, a mania. But it only lasted two seasons. Captain Nice? Coronet Blue? The Guns of Will Sonnet: Walter Brennan as the patriarch with two sons and they were all the fastest gun in the west somehow. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/269 "2016-01-19T13:49:21Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The Guns of Will Sonnet: Walter Brennan as the patriarch with two sons and they were all the fastest gun in the west somehow. Nope. The first son was fast. His brother was faster. But dad was faster than both of them. \* “No brag, just fact!”\* And _ **Batman** _ was mercifully yanked in the middle of its third season. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/270 "2016-01-19T17:53:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Nope. The first son was fast. His brother was faster. But dad was faster than both of them. \* “No brag, just fact!”\* > > And _ **Batman** _ was mercifully yanked in the middle of its third season. That’s right. I recall the convolutions of fast faster fastest. It was too much for my young mind. How could you say that about Batman? It holds up better than most, including the Twilight Zone I reckon. I think the intro and theme is one of the most exciting ever on a tv show, but I was impressionable then. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/271 "2016-01-19T18:11:46Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > That’s right. I recall the convolutions of fast faster fastest. It was too much for my young mind. > > How could you say that about Batman? It holds up better than most, including the Twilight Zone I reckon. I think the intro and theme is one of the most exciting ever on a tv show, but I was impressionable then. The first season of Batman was wonderfully. It got worse as it progressed. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/272 "2016-01-19T20:26:10Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > **Max Headroom** - loved this show as a teen, all 14 episodes, and was really disappointed when it was cancelled. Maybe the first time I experienced that. Yeah, I remember it as being really awesome and thought-provoking. Seems it had quite a bit of “success” ([as in Emmy wins](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092402/?ref_=nv_sr_1)). Also, I remember Max Headroom’s bit was used in some commercials? And even in a talkshow? Anyone have an idea WHY they cancelled it? ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/273 "2016-01-19T20:30:37Z")
I also loved the ['80s Twilight Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone_(1985_TV_series)). I don’t know that it qualifies, since it was actually a revival, but it was different both the way it was filmed and the kind of stories it featured. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/274 "2016-01-19T21:09:54Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > How could you say that about Batman? It holds up better than most, including the Twilight Zone I reckon. I think the intro and theme is one of the most exciting ever on a tv show, but I was impressionable then. Compared to the grand first half-season, it was by that time a pale imitation of what it had been. It wasn’t even on two nights a week anymore! ☹ ---
**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:** [January 19, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/275 "2016-01-19T21:14:56Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Yeah, I remember it as being really awesome and thought-provoking. > > Seems it had quite a bit of “success” ([as in Emmy wins](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092402/?ref_=nv_sr_1)). Also, I remember Max Headroom’s bit was used in some commercials? And even in a talkshow? > > Anyone have an idea WHY they cancelled it? IIRC, it was never high in the ratings because the average viewer didn’t understand it. For a time, they showed promos explaining the concept, but it didn’t help much. I think Max started out doing commercials and then got his own series. I vaguely remember some kind of talk show along the lines of _ **Space Ghost: Coast-to-Coast** _ too. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/276 "2016-01-19T21:30:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Compared to the grand first half-season, it was by that time a pale imitation of what it had been. It wasn’t even on two nights a week anymore! ☹ I have to bow to the epicures of Batman. The theme was still the same though. That one and the Munsters really get my blood going even now, when they have the sound effects from the opening. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/277 "2016-01-20T09:10:08Z")
> [@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. I remember that one. I also noticed that at least 3 of the main cast from that show ended up on “Mad Men.” “Bobby” became “Percy Jackson.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/278 "2016-01-20T15:04:13Z")
Not sure if I’ve already mentioned it but I loved a show called “Flying Blind.” I was 18 at the time and wanted to _be_ Tea Leoni’s character. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/279 "2016-01-20T15:33:39Z")
I still mourn the cancelation of **[Me & The Chimp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcjCAV0atUA)**. Those danged network apes always monkey around with the TV schedules and cancel my favorite shows! ☹ ---
**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:** [January 20, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743/280 "2016-01-20T16:32:15Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I still mourn the cancelation of **[Me & The Chimp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcjCAV0atUA)**. Those danged network apes always monkey around with the TV schedules and cancel my favorite shows! ☹ _“Oh, Doctor! You have such sensitive hands!”_\* 😃 \*From memory, 1972. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-failed-tv-shows/741743.md?page=15)