Great Cancelled TV Shows

[Serving UpSmiles]

What Ever Happened to Robot Jones?

No really that was the name of the cartoon, so damn good but i think the animation made it go down the tube.

I could draw this guy better in Biology

 

[Harry Mason]

Firefly
Invader Zim
The Tick (Animated and live action)

But most of all,
Freddy's Nightmares!

 

[Rylot]

Better off Ted
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Off_Ted

Definitely agree with that one. Also another opportunity to mention Clone High for the third time this month.

Code Monkeys, anyone?
I like fritos, TAB, and Mountain dew, thanks to that show.

Great, now I've got Coulton stuck in my head... Actually that isn't such a bad thing.

 

[Morrowind393]

Enterprise

(Yes I'm being serious)

I thought that I was going to have to be the one to say this.

 

[EvilPicnic]

Well, Joss Whedon shows in general...

And Doctor Who in '89. Season 26 was one of the series' strongest,* viewing figures were good, and at the time it was one of the very few BBC shows to actually turn a profit (mainly from foreign sales). But Michael Grade hated it, and he ultimately throttled it to death. Yes, it came back, but there was such good stuff planned for season 27 that was never resolved! Ace's arc would have completed with her enrolling at the Time Lord Academy, and the Doctor/Other mystery would have been properly revealed...

Oh, and Futurama, multiple times:

'Good news, everyone! Those asinine morons who canceled us were themselves fired for incompetence... and not just fired, but beaten up, too... and pretty badly. In fact, most of them died from their injuries. And then they were ground up into a fine pink powder.'

And a fairly unknown show called 'Jeckyll' from a few years back. Wickedly dark and funny, but just 6 episodes Was written by Steven Moffat (current DW showrunner & writer of Spielberg's Tintin)

Enterprise

(Yes I'm being serious)

I thought that I was going to have to be the one to say this.

Strangely, I agree. That's another show that picked up massively in the last season. But it was too late cos the first seasons were shockingly bad.

Babylon 5 doesn't count - it ran its course and ended the story. Crusade sucked and Legend of the Rangers didn't get a chance

I never cared for Crusade, but B5 absolutely does count: they were cancelled halfway through production of season 4 but JMS managed to wrangle a full season and hastily stitched the main S4/5 plots together to give fans an ending. And then when by amazing luck they ultimately got picked up by a different network, S5 was just left with tying up loose ends cos the story had already been done. We were cheated out of the grand finale and got filler for the final season. And no Ivanova. Because of a cancellation.

[footnote]*(although admittedly the two seasons preceding it were shaky at times)[/footnote]

 

[MatsVS]

Best show ever to be cancelled without a satisfying ending: Deadwood

Honestly, it was soooooo fuckin' gooooood. Sad Mats.

 

[Beliyal]

Not usually the first to get to it, but mine is definitely MEGAS XLR. I would have loved one more season of that show.

This, so much. And Samurai Jack. I will never get over it.

From non-cartoons, Firefly of course and John Doe. I also liked Dead Like Me, but I watched it years ago and I didn't really remember it was cancelled, somehow I had a feeling it ended normally. Apparently, it didn't.

Edit: I noticed someone mentioned Rome, and despite I haven't watched it yet, I am already sad about it having only two seasons and being cancelled. I simply know I'll love it, being an insane antiquity lover, and then end up disappointed because they cancelled it.

From what I've heard Samurai Jack is getting a movie or some such to put a proper close to the story, but I don't have anything substantive to back that up. One can hope though.

Yeah, I heard that too, but I've been hearing it for quite some time now. First time was a few years back, and still nothing. But yeah, we could hope. It was such an amazing show, and I'm even quite surprised that it managed to have 4 seasons. Too bad they didn't give it one more shot.

 

[elcamino41383]

Okay, just so we're clear, "Firefly" is a given.

Many people seemed to have missed this part...

Firefly is NOT a given because that show wasn't even good, let alone great.

I've never even seen it, but after seeing Serenity, I have a feeling I'd completely agree. I have no desire to ever watch it. Thank you for being someone on Escapist that feels this way.

OT: Freakazoid! Invader Zim, Megas XLR. Those are about the only ones I can think of. And those that said King of the Hill...really? That show went 13 seasons too long! (In case anyone doesn't know it had 13 seasons before being canceled.) It ran it's damn course!

That almost sounds like it's a real thing...

 

[eljawa]

arrested devlopment...yeah. best show ever...and it ran 3 seasons only

 

[Delock]

Megas XLR
Heroes (right when it looked to have finally recovered from the writer's strike)
Toonami (not a show, but it didn't deserve what happened to it, mostly the painful last years of its life)
Freakazoid

 

[xureus]

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (They just got an alien baby at the end of the last season, a huge cliff hanger as Superman and Lois couldn't have a baby themselves and then cancellation :'( )
Extreme Ghostbusters (Cancellation after Season 1 :'( )

 

[Klitch]

For me, it'd be Crusoe. It was wildly unpopular, dropping from 7.38 million viewers to 3.12 million by the time it was cancelled after its 13th episode, but I absolutely loved it. As you can guess, it was loosely based on the book Robinson Crusoe, but it was infused with the classic campiness of the old Kevin Sorbo Hercules or Xena series. Also it had Sean Bean and Sam Neill (Dr. Grant from Jurassic Park), both of whom I love.

 

[johnsojn]

Wonderfalls
Greg the Bunny
Better Off Ted


Oh, Wonderfalls... *sniff*

 

[GonzoGamer]

How has Arrested Development not been mentioned yet? Best show ever.

Because I hadn't seen this thread yet.
Definitely one of the funniest sitcoms ever... like right up there with Seinfeld and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

I also miss Dead Like Me.

 

[ddrfr33k]

Props to the people who said Life, John Doe, and SCC. But I've got one from way out in left field:

7 Days. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_%28TV_series%29]

Anybody else watch this?

 

[Soluncreed]

I enjoyed Better Off Ted for it's witty and sarcastic dialogue.
Also, Invader Zim. If only for the episode where Zim steals kid's organs.

 

[Kroden]

I haven't seen anyone else post this so I will. Freaks And Geeks. Only one season and they didn't conclude it.

 

[Not Good]

Korgoth of Barbaria
Mission Hill
Sym-Bionic Titan
My Life as a Teenage Robot
the first Star Trek series

 

[trollnystan]

Enterprise

(Yes I'm being serious)

^This. It wasn't the best Star Trek series but it had so much potential! I quite liked it.

Spoiler: And if they hadn't been cancelled... SPOILER

Maybe Trip wouldn't have been killed off. Wishful thinking perhaps...

Other than that the series I miss have already been mentioned: Firefly, New Amsterdam, Pushing Daisies, etc etc...

 

[Spike_Alexbobby]

Drive
Jericho
Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles

Totally agree with Jericho and SCC, also Keen Eddie and the only redeemable thing on G4, code monkeys.

Also nobody mentioned Outcasts. Amazing brit sci-fi series that was recently cut. Damn shame too it was just taking off. Why don't audiences appreciate series that take the time to build solid characters... Same goes for Stargate Universe