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* Besides Firefly. 
I recently watched, finally, Freaks and Geeks, the seminal and cult single-season show from thirteen years ago, now, and the founding document of Judd Apatow's kingdom. I remember vaguely hearing about it when it was on, but mostly in the ensuing years as Apatow gained status and so many of its young cast members--main or guest--gained celebrity. Like most people who can relate in one way or another with what it was trying to do, I found it pretty incredible, and I was likewise pained in the end that this was all there was.
That was an NBC show. But Fox comes to mind most for this question: that frustrating, ratings-mad network that has, to its credit, greenlit a lot of great and original programs over the years, but has then shown no patience in letting them find their audiences. Firefly being one of the most (in)famous, a couple years after F&G met a similar fate. (In one way, they can't be blamed, at least in this era, where a huge hit show might pull 12-14 million viewers compared to an average show forty years ago--when it was only the three networks--pulling close to 30-40 million. Less pie to go around has put everyone on edge.) Another top one in my own list is Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles a few years after that, which lasted only two seasons--right when it was getting really damn good (after an entertaining, if average, start in its first season).
To spread things around, however, a non-Fox favorite that always comes to mind was HBO's trippy two-season run of Carnivale. A victim of that network's own budget considerations (the cheaper to produce The Wire, which probably had similarly low-ratings compared to the darling Sopranos, was still running then).
But some shows haven't made it that far, losing, like Firefly, their mid-season pickups. (I might have considered the 13-episode run of Last Resort from this TV season, but because the show runners chose to actually wrap up the entire somewhat promising story, probably intended for three or four seasons, in two bad, bad, episodes, I can only say good riddance.)
And some shows have lasted for multiple seasons before getting the ax before their creators would have liked. (Flip side, of course, are those shows that should have been cancelled before they...well, you know the phrase.)
Which ones do you miss?
I recently watched, finally, Freaks and Geeks, the seminal and cult single-season show from thirteen years ago, now, and the founding document of Judd Apatow's kingdom. I remember vaguely hearing about it when it was on, but mostly in the ensuing years as Apatow gained status and so many of its young cast members--main or guest--gained celebrity. Like most people who can relate in one way or another with what it was trying to do, I found it pretty incredible, and I was likewise pained in the end that this was all there was.
That was an NBC show. But Fox comes to mind most for this question: that frustrating, ratings-mad network that has, to its credit, greenlit a lot of great and original programs over the years, but has then shown no patience in letting them find their audiences. Firefly being one of the most (in)famous, a couple years after F&G met a similar fate. (In one way, they can't be blamed, at least in this era, where a huge hit show might pull 12-14 million viewers compared to an average show forty years ago--when it was only the three networks--pulling close to 30-40 million. Less pie to go around has put everyone on edge.) Another top one in my own list is Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles a few years after that, which lasted only two seasons--right when it was getting really damn good (after an entertaining, if average, start in its first season).
To spread things around, however, a non-Fox favorite that always comes to mind was HBO's trippy two-season run of Carnivale. A victim of that network's own budget considerations (the cheaper to produce The Wire, which probably had similarly low-ratings compared to the darling Sopranos, was still running then).
But some shows haven't made it that far, losing, like Firefly, their mid-season pickups. (I might have considered the 13-episode run of Last Resort from this TV season, but because the show runners chose to actually wrap up the entire somewhat promising story, probably intended for three or four seasons, in two bad, bad, episodes, I can only say good riddance.)
And some shows have lasted for multiple seasons before getting the ax before their creators would have liked. (Flip side, of course, are those shows that should have been cancelled before they...well, you know the phrase.)
Which ones do you miss?
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