27. "Dead Like Me" (Showtime)
26. "Early Edition" (CBS)
25. "Blind Justice" (ABC)
24. "The District" (CBS)
23. "Windfall" (NBC)
22. "It’s Like, You Know…" (ABC)
21. "The Tick" (Fox)
20. "Terriers" (FX)
19. "Undeclared" (Fox)
18. "Titus" (Fox)
17. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (NBC)
16. "Greg the Bunny" (Fox)
15. "Everwood" (WB)
14. "NewsRadio" (NBC)
13. "Rome" (HBO)
12. "Firefly" (Fox)
11. "Lucky Louie" (HBO) [reworked as “Louie” on FX]
10. "Party Down" (STARZ)
9. "Kitchen Confidential" (Fox)
8. "Mr. Show" (HBO)
7. "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (NBC)
6. "Flight of the Conchords" (HBO)
5. "Futurama" (Fox) [resurrected by Comedy Central]
4. "Jack & Bobby" (WB)
3. "The Sifl and Olly Show" (MTV)
2. "Arrested Development" (Fox)
1. "Freaks and Geeks" (NBC)
Daniel Roberts is a magazine reporter in New York.
Am I the ONLY person who remembers Women In Prison, on Fox?
@Moff No! Your point?
@Moff Pour one out for Wendie Jo Sperber.
28. Kings (NBC)
:(
YES. Eamonn Walker needs to always be on my television.
My So Called Life, Yo!! How could you forget that, nomsen?
That alone is an egregious enough omission to invalidate the list.
There are a couple of other weird "ended early" designations on this list that just seem to be cluttering it up. Conan? Futurama? Get focused! And also, there were few hearts broken for most of the stuff on this list that wasn't on a major network. Were that many people freaked out about "Everwood"? Hardly anyone watched the bottom half of the WB. Probably a lot more people watched "Cop Rock".
@brianvan Also Early Edition was on for like 40 years. That's more a "didn't get the audience it deserved" issue than one of cancellation.
I will add: Homicide, Friday Night Lights, All My Children.
@hockeymom 35 seasons simply wasn't enough for All My Children.
@obomobo I know, right?
Mostly just sad about Homicide :(
@hockeymom Love FNL. I drew the line for 'cancellation early' at 4 seasons or less, so if a show had made it 5, seemed to me like you couldn't argue it was killed in the early stages. FNL, Just Shoot Me, and 3rd Rock from the Sun are all ones I considered but they made it 5+ seasons...
@Daniel Roberts News Radio was on for 5 seasons.
@hockeymom Friday Night Lights is still on (or back, as it were)NBC. Just watched 5.2 last night.
Oh, unless you mean it's been canceled after the 5th (DirectTV) season. In which case, :(. But it had a good run.
@Twintone Ah, you got me. Guess all I can say is the listicles aren't meant to be a prediction of what everyone at large would think, but the writer's own opinion, right. Mine being, in this case, that even 5 seasons wasn't enough! ha.
Sportsnight, yo!
@gumplr Agree!
@gumplr How did they miss this one? LOVED THAT SHOW
@caw_caw "Sportsnight's a good show. Anybody who can't make money off of it shouldn't be in the moneymaking business."
Wow, I actually disagree with a lot of this list: "Louie" is by no means a "reworking" of "Lucky Louie," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" got really, really bad after the first few episodes, and "Newsradio" totally lasted as long as it should have. Not too many shows can soldier on when one of their main cast members is murdered. Okay, I guess three quibbles is not "a lot." Still, THE INTERNET MUST KNOW MY OPINIONS!
What, the internet should know everyone else's opinions and not yours?
Eldard was great in it, but Blind Justice should never have made it beyond the pilot.
@Harry Cheadle I agree! A lot of these shows ended when they should have. Mr. Show is a holy thing to me, but they got out while the getting was good, and Conan's Tonight Show was way inferior to what he was doing before and what he's doing now. And if Lucky Louie would have prevented FX's Louie, then it had to go.
But Party Down and Arrested Development? Their best days were ahead of them. (sob.)
@heroofthebeach I can't decide about AD. One one hand, I thought the third season was the weakest and maybe the fourth season would have been a disaster, but on the other hand maybe part of the problem with the third season was they needed to wrap everything up in a hurry.
@Harry Cheadle The one hand is wrong and the other hand is correct.
@Harry Cheadle And Lucky Louie was so so bad. And I love Louis CK, so that's saying something. It was for the best.
But YES on Party Down and AD! Also glad to see that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed "Windfall," which had an intriguing basis for a plot!
Fish Police.
DEADWOOD?!?!?! Also...AD had run its course. That show was about ready to jump the shark. And Flight of the Conchords was not killed too early. They wanted to stop the show because they couldn't write songs fast enough.
@obomobo Agree on all points. Arrested Development was wonderful and brilliant, but ended at the right time. Deadwood, however, was only getting better and was plain ol' murdered. I really wanted to see the town burn down, which they had clearly been building up to for a few seasons.
@riotnrrd Holy shit. I never put the fire thing together and I am this close to openly weeping now. Deadwood was too good for this world.
@obomobo I guess it's time to finally give up on the hope that they'll make a couple of Deadwood movies to wrap it up, isn't it?
(wearily agree re: AD, it was perfect, but maybe ended just in time.)
Better off Ted! It was a delight. If you enjoyed Arrested Development and Party Down, I think you'll like Better off Ted. Don't start with the first episode, though. Start near the end of season one, early season two.
Also, Lucky Louie wasn't that great. I like Louie (the comic and the new show) but Lucky Louie was just grim.
@blily Oh wow, I just started watching Better Off Ted and I started at the beginning and I already love it, so I guess I'm really in for a treat!
@blily Agree times a million! Team Phil and Lem!
@blily Absolutely agree. I just watched the last episode this weekend and felt so sad that it was over...
@blily I wondered if someone would bring up Better Off Ted. Such a funny, funny show.
@Anna Jayne@twitter Phil and Lem were the best! But those Veridian Dynamics commercials were also the best. Veronica and Linda were second best, but that's still very, very good.
You meant Wonderfalls and not Windfall, correct?
@ambarella Nope.
Wonderfalls is dope. I own the shit out of it.
@Daniel Roberts Windfall had a good concept, but poor execution. Too many bad actors.
Team Wonderfalls! Same people (I think) who made Pushing Daisies, which was also too good for this world.
Brynn Hartman killed NewsRadio.
Among other things.
CAPRICA,
and?
The Edge of Night
(suck on that Ozanich)
@Rod Caprica was good? I saw the introductory movie and it was so plain old awful that I never even bothered with the show.
Mmmmax Headroom.
@Annie K. Oh dear god yes.
Veronica Mars and Dollhouse.
@El Matardillo YES
@El Matardillo Yes to VM. I only liked the alternate, post-Doll episodes of Dollhouse, but maybe it's because I found Eliza Dushku mostly one-note.
Veronica Mars is missing, although it did at least get 3 seasons. Newsradio shouldn't be on the list. Firefly should probably be top 3.
I really miss Veronica Mars, and they left so many plot lines unresolved.
Veronica and Logan 4Evah!
@LondonLee Agreed but good gravy they lost the plot around when the Guttenberg showed his weird mug.
@Tim Glaser@twitter Firefly is my # 1. I am watching the reruns on Science channel and I am already sad knowing they will be over soon.
@Tim Glaser@twitter @LondonLee Still furious that the series ended with her dating that boob she went to college with. Piz? Was that his name? Ugh, that guy sucks.
The Tick but no Freakazoid?? Dude, forreal.
Hold the phone! Where is Deadwood!?
I'm surprised by the omission of My So-Called Life, but see it as a perfect single season.
Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
Also, "The District" means you habitually stay home and watch TV on Saturday nights. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but, yeah.
@Mr. B Touché, but to be fair, I was 14 yrs old when it was on. Watched w/ my dad.
@Daniel Roberts: Fair enough. Far be it for me to begrudge anyone the histrionics of Craig T. Nelson, which have a special place in many of our hearts, I'm sure.
What a surprise @ #1 and #2. How trendy.
@Trampus Climer I'm sure the shows you would have picked were so cool I hadn't even heard of them, which is why you offered no replacements?
@Chest Rockwell Hi Chest! Welcome to The Awl.
@Mr. B Thanks. I can't take Gawker anymore.
@Chest Rockwell I believe house style is "G*wk*r."
I felt Rome didn't need anymore.
where is Twin Peaks?
Anything involving Andy Richter. ...Controls the Universe was adorable.
@whizzard Oh wow, I had completely forgotten about that show.
Andy Barker, PI was equally genius.
Hey! What about "Pushing Daisies"?
@Ryan Jones@facebook What makes it more heartbreaking was it was finding an audience and doing pretty well in the ratings! The first Brian Fuller show with long-term prospects! And then the Writers' Strike fucked it all up.
I definitely preferred Pushing Dasies over Dead Like Me.
"The Riches"
@mickeyitaliano YES. YES. YES.
@mickeyitaliano +12
Wait. Wait hold on. Wait. But? Wasn't the Party Line that the reason British sitcoms are so superior is because they time-out after a season? Right? Honest question, I think?
Also, stopped reading the list because: NewsRadio? This is a joke, right? A very morbid, actually kind of depressing joke?
@Matt I stopped watching The Simpsons because whatever happened to Lionel Hutz?
@Miles Klee Disparaging the boot is a bootable offense!
@Miles Klee Why'd they stop making Joy Division records, anyway? Loved those guys!
I thought British sitcoms were superior because their seasons last six (6) episodes?
@Matt Yeah, I was surprised when Nirvana broke up. I thought they were doing really well.
@spiralbetty Some British sitcoms never go away. Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps, Last of the Summer Wine, Ned and Stacey. These shows are shit. But you're right, that is the usual line. But one of the real reasons is they are usually written by their creators, one or two people who cannot reasonably be expected to write 26 awesome episodes a year. Foreigners are shocked (shocked!) by the number of writers on US shows. Leading cause of lost or broken monocles.
I was a big fan of HBO's Rome spectacle. For true TV snobs: I, Claudius begins, rather nicely, at an attractive interval after Rome ends. In my memory palace Rome wasn't cancelled. It just stopped short and let I, Claudius continue with the torch.
Rome wasn't cancelled, the show was only slated for a 2 season run. BBC knows how not to fuck things up, so they stop shows before they get horrible. If memory serves, it was also the most expensive TV production ever.
Sarah Connor Chronicles' third season was about to blow everyone's mind.
Sifl & Olly?!?! Crescent Fresh!
@KenWheaton I am on time in ways you could never understand.
@KenWheaton Um yeah. Super cres at best
Deadwood is my #1.
John from Cincinnati deserved more time, although I don't think they had any idea where in the fuck they were going, which may have been its charm.
I thought Six Feet Under had the best ending of any show, ever....but I could've watched that show for another decade.
No more Terriers makes me pissed.
Profit
Popular
The Critic
Veronica Mars
Ellery Queen (70s version with Jim Hutton)
@areaderwrites I love VM but I think it may have gotten near an end. Profit, though, that's a thumb's up!
Clearly your list was written by a young.
Wonderfalls
Profit
Bakersfield, PD
Dead Last
Tales of the Golden Monkey
On the Air
Sledge Hammer
@My Number Is My Address much respect for BPD mention.
@My Number Is My Address Agree 100%, though belatedly, with you and @KeithTalent, regarding Bakersfield, PD.
news radio? seriously? where's Wonderfalls? so good. Sports Night is also a glaring omission. oh, and FoTC wasn't cancelled. They decided they wanted to quit while they were ahead, which i think is pretty commendable.
@zombiepanda ... and The State! too awesome for it's own good?
Ditto on Tales of the Gold Monkey -- and this.
Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, SportsNight yes all over the place! I'd add Eli Stone and Relativity, and argue that NewsRadio actually went on for one season too long and should have ended after Phil Hartman died.
@HereKitty Ooooh Relativity. Totally loved that show! And still think of it every time I see that poor guy that's been in a million failed sitcoms (imdb update: Adam Goldberg).
1. 2011-2012 NFL on TV
Really sad The Cape didn't go "six seasons and a movie." [Translation: worried Community might someday join this list, though I'm not sure how, central plot of going to community college wise, they can stretch it past 4]
@semiserious Community: Grad School. It'll be like Saved By the Bell The College Years.
No "EZ Streets"? YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID.
@Hez Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
Man, the Awl has sucked since Balk and Choire quit editing it.
No Sellout
I'm torn on AD, I definitely think it was cut short (also, being dicked around for awhile didn't help either), but then again 50+ episodes on FOX for a show that didn't kill in the ratings is a lifetime compared to what other shows got. It seems like after 5 or 6 episodes, FOX will cancel a show that isn't tearing up the ratings.
Also, season three gave us "analrapist" and Bob Loblaw, amongst others, it wasn't slowing down. Also, they had to compact season three to actually end the show (not only was the show cut short, but the season was cut short too, it was still great).
Agree with those who didn't care for Louie, it was good, but I think it gets remembered more fondly than it should because "Louie" is so great. Also, didn't Flight of the Conchords cancel themselves, and decide not to go on? It might be heartbreaking, but I don't know if those types of endings belong on a list like this (like everybody else in the world, I feel all lists should comply to my standards).
I'm also torn on Arrested Development, because while it was cut too early, I still feel like they got to tell a complete story from start to finish and 53 episodes is still a very impressive run for a comedy that never performed well in the ratings.
I think Sports Night should definitely be included, though.
The Great American Dream Machine
Life.
@kpants Yes. Damian Lewis for the win.
I feel like I need to admit that I never liked arrested development as much as other people. I found it kind of cloying in some way. That said, I thought Bateman was great and loved it when the daughter got an alligator in spelling class.
I would have liked to watch more episodes of Journeyman.
Cedric the Entertainer and old shows that got canceled too soon and have far too few episodes in syndication, Police Squad and Fawlty Towers.
WKRP and Barney Miller, 4 evah.
Im still mourning the loss of "My so-called life"
Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies need to be on that list.
Holmes & Yo-Yo.
I suffer from extreme hype aversion. Most of these shows have been eulogized to death but I'm glad to see "Jack & Bobby" make the cut!
I'm pretty sure I'm the only Carnivale fan that's ever existed. When that show ended prematurely, my world was shattered for a good week.
@Rick Paulas Loved it but hooo boy did that show go haywire (and over budget)
@dntsqzthchrmn I could easily go on for 4,000 words on this, but if they just would've condensed the first season into one episode, people would have LOVED it. Well, maybe love it strong. Tolerate? They'd tolerate it into a 4-season run.
@Rick Paulas probably! that show was good, but really really slow and then really really insane.
I'm watching Party Down right now, in the middle of Season 1 and it HURTS to realize I don't have many more episodes to enjoy. That show is (was) fucking hysterical!
Titus was terrible and shouldn't have lasted as long as it did.
The Riches
Brotherhood
Louie
Deadwood
Sports Night
Studio 60
@Dual Louie is still on--new season starts in June. Never got into Brotherhood but it seemed pretty good. Agreed on the others, except that Studio 60 actually did suck. Just for that stuff with Hughley and the young black writer it should be buried under Yucca Mountain.
Clone High anyone?
I also think we need a list for the shows that had the sharpest declines--Weeds, The L Word--and would have been better served only lasting a season or two.
Also, passionate comments about TV! TELEVISION I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT SUCH!
this list is invalid without Law & Order.
@joshc Damn, and what about Gunsmoke? It was just coming into its prime!
no one's even going to mention the comeback????
Pushing Daises !!
I could have used a few more seasons of The Wire and Deadwood
Really surprised to see "Rome" up here, and yet no "Carnivale", the show it killed.
And no "Pushing Daisies" if we're listing shows that went for more than one season? And no "Wonderfalls"? I know people who still mope over that one (and the way it was treated)...
But we all know "Firefly" should be no. 1 here. If you could find some way of turning browncoat angst into electricity, the energy crisis would be solved. Fact.
Trying to get my head around the neglect of My So Called Life. Such an obvious mistake, just like its cancellation.
I have to chime in with a where is Pushing Daisies as well.
That being said I'm still personally mourning the loss of 2000 Malibu Road, a little remembered Aaron Spelling show starring Lisa Hartman-Black as a high price hooker who is accused of murder when the body of one of her clients is found in the swimming pool. Business is hampered so she takes in a few strangers as roommates and they move into her Malibu mansion, namely Jennifer Beals as the alcoholic lawyer with blackout problems, orphan Drew Barrymore the wanna be nympho starlet, and Tuesday Knight as Drew's big witchcraft wielding stage mom of a sister. It still pains me that it only lasted six episodes to this very day.
I agree with jbsquare: how did Twin Peaks not make this list? I really wish that Lynch's view of a continuously running, twisted soap-opera was extant today.
@Paul C. Bower@facebook - Twin Peaks went on too long. It wasn't cut short.
Party Down was THE BEST!!
So is this the cartoon Tick or the live action Tick? I thought the live action version definitely had potential, but the Saturday morning cartoon was a masterpiece of the form.
@DoctorDisaster The live action was the one that was on Fox. I only ever saw the cartoon on Comedy Central. And the cartoon was, indeed, BRILLIANT.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/nbc-cancels-the-paul-reiser-show-after-two-episodes/2011/04/25/AF7FxzhE_blog.html?hpid=z12
[Paul Reiser's show gone after TWO episodes]
Murder One
The Michael Richards Show
The Riches (already mentioned above)
This list pretty clearly was written by a 20-something, as proven by the missing My So-Called Life and Sports Night.
And even a young should have included Veronica Mars. And probably Pushing Daisies.
(Totally agree with Freaks & Geeks as number 1, though!)
Yo, MISSION HILL needs to be on this list - cancelled after one season. I loved Greg the Bunny when it was on too. Fox sucks, they cancel everything good. Some things take more than a week to catch on, give people a chance to see it. jeez.
From an olds: Square Pegs, and more importantly, Frank's Place.
Anyone remember "Ed," the bowling alley lawyer?
Reunion???
Pushing Daises, Better off Ted, every great Nick show.