Best TV drama cancelled way too soon

[LostinVA]

Poll question: Best TV drama cancelled way too soon

Poll result (34 votes)
China Beach	(6 votes, 18%)	Vote
American Dreams	(9 votes, 26%)	Vote
A Year in the Life	(1 votes, 3%)	Vote
Brooklyn South	(0 votes, 0%)	Vote
Other -- List	(18 votes, 53%)	Vote

[YellowRubberDuckie]

1. Dead Like Me...

God I loved that show...
Duckie

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

15. NO!!! It's the best show ever created. Ever.

crap... it's true.
http://www.deadlikemeonline.com /
MGM has officially announced that Dead Like Me will not be going to season three on Showtime. There are many things that can happen at this point, one of which is that another network could pick up the series.

We are urging fans of Dead Like Me to contact both Sci-Fi and WB asking them to consider picking up future episodes of Dead Like Me. Please write a snail letter and mail it to each of the names mentioned below:
SCI FI CHANNEL

Rick Austin, VP, Alternative Programming
Robyn Lattaker-Johnson, Director, Development & Production
Stuart Swezey, Director, Alternative Programming
100 Universal City Plaza
10 UCP Bldg. 1440, 32nd Fl.
Universal City, CA 91608
Fax [phone]

THE WB TELEVISION NETWORK
Mike Clements, Co-Ex. VP, Comedy Development
Tracey Pakosta, Co-Ex. VP, Comedy Development
Keith Cox, Sr. VP, Alternative Programming
4000 Warner Blvd. Bldg. 34R
Burbank, CA 91522

We've started a petition asking MGM/Showtime to renew it for at least another year. To sign the petition, please visit this link: http://www.petitiononline.com/dlm1218/petition.html

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. Profit

a delightfully twisted corporate revenge drama starring Adrian Pasdar as the title character who was RAISED IN A SHIPPING BOX...

Tweaked and very very dark. Lasted five episodes.

[colinmom71]

28. Ahem! You can get the complete limited series on DVD...

Just came out a month or so ago... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007WQGZE/102-3091160...

This will be under this year's Christmas tree for my husband!

[CanuckAmok]

33. I worked on that one.

We actually shot 9 episodes, but only five aired.

Too bad.

I have to say, the scripts didn't read that well, but once I saw the finished episodes, I was really impressed. Pasdar is a great guy, too.

It was going in truly bizarre directions. I can't imagin what they would have come up with as a season-ending cliffhanger.

It was getting very Shakespearean.

As it was, Profit was starting an incestuous relationship with his mother...

It's a shame Fox didn't have the guts to let it bloom.

[no name no slogan]

3. Freaks & Geeks

[Hatalles]

6. I second that.

[slybacon9]

40. Third that.

[DerekG]

42. Definitely "Freaks and Geeks"

n/t

[RockaFowler]

4. Once and Again

I loved that show. It was awful because they kept moving it around to different nights on the schedule. Sela Ward and Billy Campbell had the best chemistry

[OhioBlue]

5. Home Front

early 90's - I loved that show!

[LostinVA]

18. ARRRGGHHH! I thought I put this one in my poll!

[RubyDuby in GA]

54. I loved this show. I'm still mad it was cancelled.

I'll hold a grudge forever about this.
A close second about American Dreams.


Bastards!

[MN ChimpH8R]

7. Twin Peaks n/t

[leftofthedial]

26. yep

may have been the best thing ever on TV

[NMMNG]

29. I'll third that

The owls are not what they seem

[XemaSab]

31. word

Two twin peaks mentions in a day means it's time to rewatch the entire show.

For sure.

[undeterred]

8. Hack and Third Shift

[gollygee]

9. I'll Fly Away

I LOVE that show.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Me too!!!

I sometimes watch the original "Law and Order", but always think of "I'll Fly Away" when I see Sam Waterson. And do you remember the name of the actress who played Lili, the main character? I can't remember her name!

[gollygee]

13. Regina Taylor

I love Sam Waterson too and he was great in that show.

[SeattleGirl]

14. That's right!

I recognized the name as soon as I read it. Thanks!

[ghostsofgiants]

10. Toss up between Carnivàle and Twin Peaks

[HeeBGBz]

24. I'm upset about Carnivale

That was so dark and twisted. I was looking forward to another season.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

12. American Dreams and Joan of Arcadia

[sakabatou]

34. After Joan's cousin died...

Arcaida just got over-dramatic. Ick.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

48. Yeah it jumped the shark for sure

[redqueen]

58. Her cousin died?

I loved that show.... even after said shark-jumping.

[sakabatou]

63. Yeah, she got stabbed a bunch of times

[redqueen]

65. Ah, that wasn't her cousin.

It was a close friend she'd made in the mental institution.

I was really looking forward to the evil character they'd introduced at the end of the last season. I missed the last season finale, too.

[friesianrider]

16. Does My So-Called Life count as a drama?

God I loooooved that show when I was younger. Probably only bcause Jared Leto was just SO damn fine!

[LostinVA]

19. Yes.

[HeeBGBz]

23. That was the one I was gonna list

I really enjoyed that program.

[bigwillq]

36. My So-Called Life

I agree. It was a great show.

[KamaAina]

17. Frank's Place (actually a "dramedy")

starred Tim Reid as a Bostonian who inherited his father's New Orleans restaurant and was suddenly plunged into the parallel universe that is the Big Easy. Fine acting and writing, and also, to my knowledge, the only show set in New Orleans in over a half-century of television. Inexplicable.

edit: speling

[kwassa]

50. Agreed .... I met Tim Reid later on

He and his wife are producing small independent features on their own, none has yet to be a big money maker. It is a very hard thing to do.

[DrZeeLit]

20. Houseboat. (waaaaaay long ago)

Anyone remember?

[xmas74]

21. Once again-Homefront.

Always my vote.

[Deja Q]

22. Firefly

[colinmom71]

25. "Beauty and the Beast", "Profit", and "My So-Called Life"....

BatB has to be one of the best teachings of liberal philosophies ever presented on TV, without being pretentious or preachy. Profit was just outright hilarious and outrageous, not to mention very well written.

And MSCL was probably the best exploration of the then emerging "Gen-X" psyche in the mass media. I don't know anyone who didn't sympathize with Angela's misplaced self-absorbed angst, and who didn't want to just take Ricky in and hug him? And I think we all knew a problem child like Rae-Ann, as well as the uptight Sharon (I too have cousins like her!)... Yeah, that show was definitely cancelled well before it's time.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

27. Nothing Sacred...

Damned conservative Christians didn't even see a profound message about faith and values when it was right there on their television screen.

Oh, but we got umpty-squat seasons of "Touched By An Angel."

[democracyindanger]

30. Homicide: Life on the Street nt

[SeattleGirl]

32. Such a great show

And I totally loved Andre Brower!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. Awesome show.

Though to be fair, it did last seven seasons.

Amazon has all seven seasons on DVD for only $270. The movie that wraps everything up is only $10.

[CanuckAmok]

35. The Kingdom

Lars von Trier's epic about a haunted hospital.

He shot nine hour sof it, each one more of a cliffhanger than the last.

Five hours for season 1

four hours for season 2.

And then one of the lead actors died, and von Trier said it would be impossible to continue the series without him. The conclusion wasn't even written...nobody but von Trier knows how it was to end.

[britpopper]

37. TWIN PEAKS

Not only cancelled way too soon, just one of the top five TV shows of all time...

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. 'Bay City Blues'

Stephen Bochco sorta-spinoff from "Hill Street Blues" in 1983 about a Double-A minor-league ball club. Michael Nouri played the manager, Dennis Franz the pitching coach. I remember one scene with Franz teaching a kid pitcher how to load up a ball: "You got your spit, you got your snot, you got your hair gel..."

Lasted four episodes.

[slybacon9]

41. Six Feet Under...

could have watched it for the next decade.

[emmajane67]

47. I know,

but at the same time, the fect they wrepped it up before it became trite is part of WHY you could watch it forever.

Favourite show ever.

[Robeson]

43. May not be "the best" but Longstreet had a lot of potential....

...of course, I'm giving my age away, but here's a synopsis...

"CAST:
James Franciscus as Mike Longstreet.
Marlyn Mason as Nikki Bell.
Peter Mark Richman as Duke Paige.
Ann Doran as Mrs. Kingston.

PREMISE: Mike Longstreet is a a New Orleans insurance investigator recovering from an explosion that killed his wife Ingrid and took his sight. He decides to remain an investigator. With the help from his best friend Duke (who heads the Great Pacific Casualty Company), and aid of braille teacher Nikki and his guide dog Pax, Longstreet tracked down the jewel thieves who murdered his wife, and continued his career as a detective. Bruce Lee had a recurring role in the series teaching Longstreet jeet kune do, a Chinese form of improvisational combat."

It was actually filmed in New Orleans, and given the above, had alot of potential. It ran from 71 to 72.

[fleabert]

44. my so called life... nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. The greatest drama ever on TV: 'East Side West Side' with George C. Scott

One of Hollywood's greatest actors of his era, George C. Scott had some of his finest acting moments in this weekly televised drama during the 1960s. He played the role of a social worker dealing with such problems as poverty, prejudice, drug addiction, abortion, and capital punishment. Cicely Tyson was cast in the role of his secretary. The tone of this drama was very dark, very gritty, and very real. In fact it was so down-and-dirty real in dealing with problems such as race relations that it was canceled after only one season. The sponsors refused to support it. It wasn't 'feel good' TV like Ozzie & Harriet or Donna Reed. Here's a link describing this absolutely legendary show that was some of the highest quality television ever seen on a screen in America:

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:EnEFlflcCcEJ:www.mus...

[GalleryGod]

46. For Personal Reasons : "HACK"

My next door neighbor worked on the show.
I still have my "Hack" production ball cap!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

49. I liked Hack too

and wanted him to get back with his wife. I like that actor..forget his name. He used to be on St. Elsewhere, I think?

[jayfish]

51. "Wise Guy".

That show truly kicked ass. It was like "Miami Vice" without the, well ..."Miami Vice".

Jay

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

52. Cop Rock

[Giant Robot]

64. Dammit Vash I was just going to say that!! n/t

[AngryAmish]

72. So was I

[hyphenate]

53. Eerie, Indiana eom

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

55. Seconded; man that was a great show

& another reason why I need to upgrade to a multi-region DVD player.

[ironflange]

56. Johnny Bago

More of a dramedy, but I loved that show. It would even be nice if somebody re-ran it.

[bmbmd]

57. "Key West"

gets my vote.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

59. Maximum Bob

[redqueen]

60. Joan of Arcadia or Now and Again

I loved those shows. I wish someone would make more of them!

[flamingyouth]

68. I agree with both!

God, Friday nights tick me off when I turn on CBS by habit, only to find that insipid "Ghost Whisperer" on in place of "Joan." I really miss that show.

[redqueen]

70. I was heartbroken when I found out it was cancelled.

I don't even watch anything Friday nights anymore.

Wait, is Inside the NFL on on Fridays? Well if that's on, then that. Otherwise, nothing.

I miss my Joan!

[imperialismispasse]

61. I liked Northern Exposure alot but I guess that was on for awhile

[atomic-fly]

62. Keen Eddy

[BigMcLargehuge]

66. that show was pretty cool

a shame it didn't have legs.

[Divameow77]

67. It was on for awhile

but I really miss Any Day Now on Lifetime.
I can't even catch reruns anymore.

[MarsThe Cat]

69. sportsnight.

although, i guess it was closer to a sitcom.

[AngryAmish]

71. Gunsmoke