Home > Entertainment > Television > TV Genres & Trends
Created on: September 20, 2007
Some shows are doomed from the start. I'm not sure why, but I honestly believe that some networks don't like to take chances with shows and go out of their way to set them up for failure.
Some of my favorite shows that didn't make the cut:
"Strange Luck" (1995, Fox): A great show with an off-beat premise. It's about a photographer named Chance Harper. Chance has this amazing way of always falling into and out of weird situations often by the skin of his teeth and an odd series of events always end up bringing everything together at the end. Chance is no superhero, he's just really lucky. If he needs to pay for his lunch, he'll buy a lottery ticket and it will usually be for just the price of his lunch plus a pretty sweet tip. He'll jump out of a building to get a picture of a woman attempting suicide, take some pictures of her on the way down and land on an airbag - with a dislocated shoulder. It was an extremely different show that only lasted 17 episodes. Fox decide to put it on Friday nights at 9pm (the usual slot for shows that they don't like).
"Profit" (1996, Fox): Adrian Pasdar (of "Heroes") starred as Jim Profit, a corporate raider who was willing to do ANYTHING to get to the top of his company. He lied, cheated, and even murdered anyone that got in his way - and then, he would frame someone else that was in front of him. He was the perfect anti-hero. He had no likable qualities to speak of, but you really wanted to see how far he would go. Unfortunately, the show only had eight episodes and soon enough Fox canceled it.
"Firefly" (2002, Fox (again)): In a review it was called "The Most Canceled Show on TV". It had a great premise of a far future where everything isn't all wine and roses and the "civilization" that controls the Universe is anything but benevolent. The show follows that exploits of a renegade ship manned by refugees, veterans of the losing side of a civil war, high-classed call girls, and a man of the cloth. It had a lot of promise, but once again Fox decided to throw it into their "time slot of doom", Friday 9pm. Oddly enough, the show still inspired a highly successful feature film, "Serenity".
"The X-Files" (1993, Fox): Believe it or don't, this show was canceled after their freshman season. Fox had no intention of bringing it back. However, a massive letter-writing campaign convinced Fox to give it another shot. The show would go on to have eight more seasons, one movie (with a rumored second in pre-production), and ill fated spin-off:
"The
Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:
Brilliant but cancelled: Why some great TV shows don't make it past the first season
TV shows are ten a penny these days, and while many capture the hearts of viewers, they don't last and people wonder what
by Steven Koch
It’s happened to all of us. We start watching a television show, and really start to enjoy it. The characters mean
Some shows are doomed from the start. I'm not sure why, but I honestly believe that some networks don't like to take chances
by Can Tran
There have been plenty of brilliant TV shows in the past. However, they usually get cancelled. One could ask: Why do brilliant
Brilliant but cancelled are hardly two words that coincide with each other. Let's take the word brilliant for starters,
View All Articles on: Brilliant but cancelled: Why some great TV shows don't make it past the first season
Helium Debate
Cast your vote!
American Idol scandals: Is prejudice a factor in who gets the boot?
Click for your side.
Featured Partner
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
The Pulitzer Center promotes in-depth engagement with global affairs through its sponsorship of quality international journalism across all media platforms and an innovative program of outreach and education.more