A cancelled series is a fragment that can spark fire to the imagination. TV shows that were killed before their time
In the summer of 1995, creepy promos started airing for a new show with a dark sensibility and the phrase, “Someone’s at the door.” Blood formed the catchphrase on the wall, an ethereal ghost girl appeared, and I was intrigued. On Friday, September 22, 1995, CBS aired a quirky spooky little show set in the […] More
FlashForward was doomed from the start. While ABC was looking for its next Lost as the mega-hit entered its final season, HBO decided not to pick up FlashForward, a high-concept series based off a book by Robert J. Sawyer. HBO claimed that the show was more suited for network television and ABC pounced on the opportunity, […] More
You get one of the guys behind the ’90s high school dramedy and critical darling Freaks and Geeks to make a modern-day full-on comedy about going away to college—it should be amazing, right? Well, it was. And a Judd Apatow show should be a hit, too. Right? I remember the Fox announcer at the end […] More
Look, it’s not like I don’t understand why Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was cancelled. I didn’t like it much the first time through either. I came to the Sorkin party late and was just coming off my first binge-watch of The West Wing. I was hoping his follow-up show would work as methadone […] More
Boomtown premiered in late September 2002. I remember some of the run-up: “One crime. Seen from every point of view.” That’s what it says on the front of my DVD box set, at least; maybe the ads at the time were a little different. But they were fundamentally along the same lines, and I recall […] More
It’s been years since The Pie Hole closed for good. Much like the abandoned buildings from our past, there’s an overriding urge to cast a glance through those windows one more time. If anything, revisiting the world of Pushing Daisies awakens something lost along the way. This is not about remembering what made the series […] More
It is not a hard sell to say that HBO and the BBC’s Rome (2005-2007) ended too soon. We know many of the reasons why: expensive production in Italy, HBO cutbacks for historical productions, and strategic planning on HBO’s part. Creator Bruno Heller has cited a lack of structure for the show, claiming that while […] More
Think about a task we do every day: You retire to bed, your head hits the pillow, and you drift off to sleep. But imagine if the typical outcome of this routine changed drastically, and instead of waking up 6-8 hours later, reluctantly ready to face the morning, you found yourself in an alternate reality. […] More
1995 was a remarkable year for television comedy. The two highest-rated comedy shows in TV history, Seinfeld and Friends were soaring high—earning as many as 25 million viewers per episode. In March of that year, NBC debuted Newsradio, a critically-lauded series because of its sharp writing and cast of extremely talented performers. In September, a […] More
My parents keep asking how school was. It’s like saying “how was that drive-by shooting?” You don’t care how it was. You’re lucky to get out alive. 1994 was a year that changed a generation. Music and culture experienced a shift toward the DIY attitude. Teens were feeling empowered and able to express themselves more. […] More
William McKinley High School, Michigan. 1980. The scene opens on a football field. It’s after school, and the team is practicing. The coach can be heard yelling typical platitudes — “Come on ladies, let’s see some hustle!” — as the camera pans left into the bleachers. We settle on a typical couple, straight out of […] More
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