Thirteen of my favorite short-lived TV seriesIf you are like me, you have probably developed attachments to new series only to see the networks yank them off the air prematurely. It really gets frustrating when a promising show gets bounced early on while less deserving series are allowed to litter the airwaves for season after season. Below (in alphabetical order) are 13 of my favorite series that were dropped after only a short time on the air.
Please note that this is the Thursday Thirteen, so a line had to be drawn somewhere. Having said that, what are some of your favorite short-lived TV series?1. Best of the West- This western spoof ran on ABC from 1981-1982 and starred Joel Higgins (right) as town marshall Sam Best and Leonard Frey (left) as villainous town boss Parker Tillman. A line from the show that still cracks me up is when Sam's wife Elvira is sweeping the floor with a broom and sighs, "I just can't seem to get the dirt off this floor" to which Sam replies, "It's a dirt floor".
2. City of Angels- This Steven Bochco hospital drama aired on CBS from January 2000 to December 2000 and featured an ensemble cast headed by Blair Underwood and Vivica A. Fox. CBS effectively killed this show when they ran it opposite
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (then the hottest show on TV) in the fall of 2000.
3. Eerie, Indiana- Sort of a cross between
The Wonder Years and
The Twilight Zone, this comedy-drama ran on NBC from 1991-1992. It focused on 13-yr old Marshall Teller (Omri Katz) and his younger pal Simon as they learned that things weren't always as they seemed. A Donna Reed-like woman who sealed her twins in vacuum-wear every night to keep them young and having Elvis Presley for a neighbor were just a couple of the strange things that Marshall and Simon encountered in their town.
4. Ellery Queen- This lighthearted 40s set mystery series ran on NBC from 1975-1976 and starred Jim Hutton as the title character (a mystery writer/amateur sleuth) and David Wayne as his inspector dad. Very much a precursor to
Murder She Wrote, one of my favorite elements of
Ellery Queen was that it allowed the viewer the opportunity to figure out whodunit.
5. Eyes- Starring Tim Daly as the slick head of a risk management firm and Garcelle Beauvais as one of his assistants, this high tech drama ran for only 5 episodes on ABC in the spring of 2005. Leading up to its premiere, ABC promoted the hell out of this series. When it debuted to less than stellar ratings, the network quickly washed their hands of it.
6. The Five Mrs. Buchanans- Airing on CBS from 1994-1995, this hilarious comedy focused on 4 disparate sisters-in-law who shared one commonality: their hatred for their malicious mother-in-law (played by the great Eileen Heckart).
7. Freaks and Geeks- Set in suburban Detroit in 1980, this comedy-drama was one of the best series about high school life. Although it only ran on NBC from 1999-2000, many members of its cast have gone on to great success in both the movies and TV. These include Linda Cardellini (ER), Seth Rogen and James Franco (Pineapple Express), and Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother).
8. It's All Relative- Airing on ABC from 2003-2004, this sitcom focused on a young man from a blue collar family who dates the adoptive daughter of a gay
couple.
9. My So-Called Life- ABC really blew it when they let this series starring Claire Danes and Jared Leto slip through the cracks after only one season (1994-1995). Even though only 19 episodes were produced, the fact that MSCL still occasionally airs in reruns is a testament to its status as one of the best portraits of teen life to ever air on TV.
10. Police Squad- Running for only 6 episodes on ABC in the spring of 1982, this cop spoof introduced the world to Lt. Frank Drebin (played to perfection by Leslie Nielsen). One of the silliest things I've ever heard is ABC's reason for giving this show the ax. They felt that it was demanding on the viewers because it required them to pay attention! To me, that's one thing that made this show so much fun. Props to the creators of this show for persevering. Although the series was a failure, Lt. Drebin jumped to the big screen for the highly successful
Naked Gun trilogy.
11. The Richard Pryor Show- The legendary comic brought his brand of edgy humor to TV for this comedy/variety series that ran on NBC for just over a month in the fall of 1977. Airing against the hottest shows on TV at the time (Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley), it didn't stand a chance.
12. South Central- If you ask anyone who saw this comedy-drama (which ran on FOX during the spring and summer of 1994), they will most likely tell you that it was one of TV's most realistic portrayals of inner city life. Featuring a cast that included future stars Larenz Tate and Jennifer Lopez, there is very little information online about
South Central. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even find a cast photo and had to settle for a headshot of actress Tina Lifford (who starred in the series as a single black mother).
13. Wonderfalls- Focusing on a recent Brown University grad named Jaye who works as a clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop, this comedy-drama aired on FOX in 2004. In each episode, Jaye hears the voices of inanimate objects (a wax lion, a brass monkey, a wind-up penguin toy, etc.) --which instruct her to help out total strangers. Of course, no one else can hear them. Sort of an acid-drenched version of
Touched by An Angel, I read that the show was originally titled
Touched by A Crazy Person. Also appearing on
Wonderfalls as Jaye's brother Aaron is Lee Pace (who currently stars in the ABC fantasy
Pushing Daisies).
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