Shows That: Died Before Their Time, Never Got A Fair Shot, Or Were Ahead Of Their Time

[Trini]

Agreed on Kings; it was a pretty unique show --period-- not just for NBC.

[kikismom]

If you liked Jericho, we now have a Jericho forum just created! Now on the PTV master list of shows!

 

Plus we'll be starting a rewatch 04/11/15!

 

Come join us---bring your own peanuts!!

[AshleyN]

I really liked Kings, but at the same time I think even under the best of circumstances, with a crazy amount of promotion and the best possible timeslot, that show would have been a super long shot to be successful on NBC.

I agree with this. I really liked Kings and thought it was a unique and fascinating concept for a TV show, but if ever there was a show that needed to be on cable, it was that one.

Edited April 12, 2015 by AshleyN

[LuciaMia]

Someone mentioned 'Frank's Place' which was a crying shame that it didn't get renewed.

But I can go even further back..."My World And Welcome To It' starring William Windom and based on the stories and cartoons of James Thurber.  It was just too wonderfully quirky to survive in '70's TV land.

[anony mouse]

I agree with this. I really liked Kings and thought it was a unique and fascinating concept for a TV show, but if ever there was a show that needed to be on cable, it was that one.

 

It missed its calling on AMC/HBO. Damn you, NBC.

[Kel Varnsen]

It missed its calling on AMC/HBO. Damn you, NBC.

Has anyone ever investigated whether or not the show Kings was even pitched to HBO? I mean did HBO pass on it or was it something that the producers never even thought of originally taking to HBO. I mean if they had it would have been on after The Wire, the Sopranos and Deadwood had all ended. 

[whyjen8]

American Gothic, Jericho, Life, Veronica Mars all cancelled too soon.  There was a show around 2000, Popular that I thought was the best show about the high school crowd that I'd ever seen.  It lasted 2 seasons.

 

As a mom with sons, I've been forced to watch a lot of cringe inducing kid's shows.  It rare to find one that I'm actually interested in but the original Teen Titans on Cartoon Network was great.  It didn't last too long, wanted more of it.  Now they have Teen Titans Go and it is just sad to watch.

[The Crazed Spruce]

American Gothic, Jericho, Life, Veronica Mars all cancelled too soon.  There was a show around 2000, Popular that I thought was the best show about the high school crowd that I'd ever seen.  It lasted 2 seasons.

 

As a mom with sons, I've been forced to watch a lot of cringe inducing kid's shows.  It rare to find one that I'm actually interested in but the original Teen Titans on Cartoon Network was great.  It didn't last too long, wanted more of it.  Now they have Teen Titans Go and it is just sad to watch.

Except for Popular, which I never watched, and the bit about being a mom with sons (I'm a single man with nephews, is that close enough?), I agree with absolutely everything in this post.

[anony mouse]

Has anyone ever investigated whether or not the show Kings was even pitched to HBO? I mean did HBO pass on it or was it something that the producers never even thought of originally taking to HBO. I mean if they had it would have been on after The Wire, the Sopranos and Deadwood had all ended. 

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

 

Advance showings received mostly positive critical reviews.[4] The Sunday March 15, 2009 premiere placed fourth in network television ratings for that evening.[5][6] After four episodes aired, NBC moved it to a Saturday slot,[7] but only showed one more episode before pulling the series until summer.[8] The remaining seven episodes were aired on Saturdays in June and July; however, Kings was canceled after failing to find a sufficient audience.[1][9]

 

 

Apparently it was only pitched to NBC, and it was the last pilot picked up before the writers strike - wonder if that played a part with its problems, too. What gets me though is that NBC never gave it a chance. They had something that was reviewed well, but when it didn't immediately take, started bouncing it around the week with no real promos.

 

When I think about how it would have done on HBO....

[Bort]

There was a show around 2000, Popular that I thought was the best show about the high school crowd that I'd ever seen. It lasted 2 seasons.

Season 2 of Popular was godawful. By the time it got canceled, I didn't care anymore.

[katie9918]

I just finished binge-watching "Growing Up Fisher" and was really bummed that it was over. I think a season two could have ironed out some of the kinks. But I love that show.

[millennium]

This is a great thread.   Bittersweet as hell, remembering so many great shows that died before their time.

 

I was a Nowhere Man fan.   Other favorites of mine already mentioned include: Brimstone, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 (season 1 only -- James Vanderbeek's caricature of himself was incredible), the Sarah Connor Chronicles (Lena Headey, Summer Glau and Shirley Manson in the SAME series!),  Witchblade, E.N.G. (I think I used to watch ENG late at night on USA or TBS or some cable station like that).

 

Somebody mentioned the original Kolchak series.   I'll second that and throw in the Stuart Townsend reboot series which never got a chance to get off the ground.

 

Millennium, the X-Files' dark sister, was poorly handled.   It lasted only three seasons.  But when it was good, it was great, thanks in part to Morgan and Wong, who were also responsible for many of the best X-Files scripts.   To this day, fans are trying to get it back as either a show or movie but Lance Henriksen will probably die before that ever happens (he's 74 now)..   A Millennium comic book debuted this year.

 

La Femme Nikita.  I was a diehard fan back in the 1990s.  Books have been written about how Steven Chao, an executive at USA network singlehandedly undermined the show, which at the time was the highest rated original series on cable.   One example: he mandated that LFN cast pro wrestlers in the roles of bad guys, because USA had leased programming from the WWF (or one of those wrestling entities).  USA never gave LFN the support it needed.  It received very little advertising or other promotion (there's a famous story about how the first LFN convention was left almost entirely without show-related merchandise because USA just couldn't be bothered and what little there was sold out immediately, leaving many pissed off fans empty-handed). 

 

LFN was very nearly canceled after the fourth season, but after fan outcry USA relented and permitted an abbreviated 5th season to tie up loose ends.   Unfortunately, the quality of the 5th season sucked (I'm guessing the show runners were already looking ahead to 24) and even worse, series star Roy Dupuis appeared in only a few of the episodes; on the bright side, Season 5 did have Edward Woodward of Equalizer fame as the mysterious head of Section.   

 

A moment of silence for Alberta Watson (LFN's Madeline), who died a few weeks ago after a long fight with cancer.

 

Highlander: The Series  I'll probably get flamed for this, but I loved the show.  Adrian Paul is one of the best martial arts experts and swordsmen ever to star in a television series.   His acting was merely okay but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and the action sequences and scenery in Paris more than compensated.   The writing was either really good or really bad.   When it was good, Duncan Macleod wrestled with serious matters of morality, honor, loyalty and duty.   But as time went on more and more crappy episodes wormed their way into the line-up.   Then it started getting cutesy.   They added an unconvincing love interest, a neighborhood bar where the regulars hung out, then they started doing lighthearted comic episodes ... I'm trying to cut back on profanity but it's difficult when I remember that they even cast Sandra Bernhard in an episode and put Adrian Paul in Shakespearean female drag.   That's how bad things got.   The show careened towards cancellation.  Fans pulled the fat out of the fire, but it turned into another USA Network deal with the devil.    USA told the show, sure, we'll give you an abbreviated final season to tie things up, but by the way you also have to devote half the remaining episodes to creating a female spinoff character.   And Adrian Paul can only appear in some of the episodes.   The result, a messed-up hybrid season where Adrian Paul did walk-ons for some scenes, but only as a gateway to action featuring a revolving door of potential female immortals.   Some episodes he didn't appear at all.   Ironically, none of the screen test female immortals used for the final season episodes made the cut (no pun intended).   The spinoff, Highlander: The Raven, went to Elizabeth Gracen, already a Highlander regular, and it was dreadful.  

 

Oh, and Spenser For Hire.   Robert Urich seemed like a big guy with a big heart and it always showed in this series.  And Avery Brooks was the living, breathing incarnation of Hawk.  Sadly, the writing became uninspired and formulaic.   Only a couple episodes were actually written by Spenser's creator, Robert B. Parker.   As a New England native I enjoyed the Boston scenery on the show and even once watched them shoot a scene in Charlestown.   I think if the series had been edgier and more hard-boiled it might have lasted longer.   Instead, the writers took a "social issues" approach to the subject matter and it fell flat.

 

Urich starred briefly in a western series a couple years later.   I forget what it was called but I liked it.   Then it ended because Urich found out he had cancer, which eventually killed him.

Edited April 30, 2015 by millennium

[Chaos Theory]

I agree with this. I really liked Kings and thought it was a unique and fascinating concept for a TV show, but if ever there was a show that needed to be on cable, it was that one.

Kings like Higher Ground(a show I brought up for this category) is just ahead of its time and probably would fit nicely into a number of networks. Back then no one knew what to do with it....I mean fantasy of that magnitude could never happen in tv right. Edited April 30, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[ganesh]

Highlander was actually a syndicated show, airing on independent local channels. USA network got the back seasons. This was back in the heydey of syndicated shows: Sentinel, Forever Knight, Xena, Hercules. So while S4 was airing locally, for example, USA was only showing 1 to 3. 

 

The back of Season 3 to Season 5 was as good as anything on television. You could have easily made a feature from Homeland. 

 

AP actually wanted to end in S5, but agreed to a shortened S6, if EG and PW were listed as regulars in the credits. That was actually pretty nice. The finale was pretty good. Shows do shortened seasons now, so nbd. 

[Trini]

 

I was a Nowhere Man fan...

 

I thought my family were the only ones who watched that show!

[BatmanBeatles]

 

As a mom with sons, I've been forced to watch a lot of cringe inducing kid's shows.  It rare to find one that I'm actually interested in but the original Teen Titans on Cartoon Network was great.  It didn't last too long, wanted more of it.  Now they have Teen Titans Go and it is just sad to watch.

I hated where they left the show.

 

From what little I've seen, I have no desire to watch Teen Titans Go.

[millennium]

I thought my family were the only ones who watched that show!

 

Nope!   In fact, when Bruce Greenwood turned up on Mad Men recently, I was like "Nowhere Man!"

[millennium]

Highlander was actually a syndicated show, airing on independent local channels. USA network got the back seasons. This was back in the heydey of syndicated shows: Sentinel, Forever Knight, Xena, Hercules. So while S4 was airing locally, for example, USA was only showing 1 to 3. 

 

The back of Season 3 to Season 5 was as good as anything on television. You could have easily made a feature from Homeland. 

 

AP actually wanted to end in S5, but agreed to a shortened S6, if EG and PW were listed as regulars in the credits. That was actually pretty nice. The finale was pretty good. Shows do shortened seasons now, so nbd. 

 

I was very active on the boards, etc., back then, in the same AOL forum as Gillian Horvath and Donna Lettow (writers for the show)   I know that USA was the party that mandated the final episodes be used to develop a female immortal spinoff, which ultimately ruined the final season.    Nothing about that season was good, IMHO, from the silly Ahriman storyline to the "It's a Wonderful Life" finale.

 

I like AP, but his judgment is suspect.   He publicly stated that "Highlander: The Source" would be the best Highlander movie yet.   Need I say more? 

[ganesh]

Oh, that's not good. I thought Endgame was actually good.

 

Gillian Horvath rules. 

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Highlander: The Series  I'll probably get flamed for this, but I loved the show.  Adrian Paul is one of the best martial arts experts and swordsmen ever to star in a television series.   His acting was merely okay but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and the action sequences and scenery in Paris more than compensated.   The writing was either really good or really bad.   When it was good, Duncan Macleod wrestled with serious matters of morality, honor, loyalty and duty.   But as time went on more and more crappy episodes wormed their way into the line-up.   Then it started getting cutesy.   They added an unconvincing love interest, a neighborhood bar where the regulars hung out, then they started doing lighthearted comic episodes ... I'm trying to cut back on profanity but it's difficult when I remember that they even cast Sandra Bernhard in an episode and put Adrian Paul in Shakespearean female drag.   That's how bad things got.   The show careened towards cancellation.  Fans pulled the fat out of the fire, but it turned into another USA Network deal with the devil.    USA told the show, sure, we'll give you an abbreviated final season to tie things up, but by the way you also have to devote half the remaining episodes to creating a female spinoff character.   And Adrian Paul can only appear in some of the episodes.   The result, a messed-up hybrid season where Adrian Paul did walk-ons for some scenes, but only as a gateway to action featuring a revolving door of potential female immortals.   Some episodes he didn't appear at all.   Ironically, none of the screen test female immortals used for the final season episodes made the cut (no pun intended).   The spinoff, Highlander: The Raven, went to Elizabeth Gracen, already a Highlander regular, and it was dreadful.

 

I hated that they made Richie into an immortal, though it was inevitable, but did they have to kill Tessa in the process?

 

I actually liked Elizabeth Gracen, though probably not as much as Bill Clinton did.  :D

[ganesh]

They never really knew what to do with Richie imo. I liked EG as a supporting character. They shouldn't have made her the lead in the follow up. Amanda was never a regular fighter. She took more heads in The Raven than Amanda did in the 1100 years prior. If she was going to be the lead, they should have made the show about the other side of being immortal. You don't always fight all the time. 

 

I actually really liked when they didn't do beheadings every week. The actors, could be really funny and they never mined that as much imo. 

 

If you like the show (Highlander, not Raven) the tie in books are quite good. I think Horvath wrote one or two. Really captured the spirit of the show. There's also a companion book An Evening At Joe's, with short stories, etc. There's a cool Methos story from his Bronze Age days where he witnesses a beheading on holy ground and there's a modern day story about him and Alexa. 

[selkie]

I was very active on the boards, etc., back then, in the same AOL forum as Gillian Horvath and Donna Lettow (writers for the show)  

 

:: waves. Same here. I really enjoyed it when they got talking about the nuts and bolts of trying to make a good show on a tight budget. They'd have a scene that was originally supposed to be a couple guys on horses coming into a keep with a crowd of extras around them, and then to make their numbers work, they'd be cutting down the extras and the horses and their wranglers until it was down to one actor walking through the gate and they guy letting him in would have no lines because then he'd no longer be an extra and they'd have to pay him more.

 

And IIRC, they had to officially call Donna the office secretary because the 'skilled' production side jobs had to have an insanely high percentage of Canadian content in order to max out on their Vancouver tax credits, never mind that she was pretty much writing a full script and then they'd ship it off to an official Canadian to put their name on it and keep the British Columbia film commission happy.

[millennium]

Oh, that's not good. I thought Endgame was actually good.

 

Gillian Horvath rules. 

 

I really enjoyed Endgame.    A good but deeply flawed film.  My main criticism was the editing.   You watch the movie two, three times, you get a distinct feeling a large portion of it landed on the editing room floor.   (And what do you know, I just found this on Wikipedia: "Endgame's theatrical distributor, Dimension Films, demanded that cuts be made to the film to give it a faster pace. The deleted footage contained exposition necessary to understanding the Highlander universe, resulting in a theatrical cut that was criticized for being incomprehensible to audiences unfamiliar with the franchise. An extended cut with restored footage was later released on DVD."  

 

I haven't seen the DVD version yet.   Anyway, I believe It would have made a better miniseries.   The flashback sequences were classic "Highlander:The Series," although the main action had clearly moved on from that.   It had a darker, lonelier atmosphere that hinted at the downside of immortality.  From the montage of black clouds at the opening credits to that scene of Duncan wandering through that empty neon mall at the end while the strains of Bonnie Portmore play, the movie  at times evokes deep feelings of desolation. 

 

I saw Endgame in the theater the day it came out so I know the original ending; I'm glad it was changed for the later VHS release.    For me, Endgame is where the story of Duncan Macleod of the Clan Macleod sits at the moment.   I reject "The Source" the same way earlier fans rejected Highlander II and the planet Zeist.

 

Many complained that Endgame broke canon when Duncan married Kate.  And It did, of course.   It didn't bother me though.   After seeing the film, I found myself thinking about the Arthurian legends and how there are different versions of Arthur and his knights told by different storytellers in those early times.   It occurred to me that the stories of the Immortals, dating back to antiquity, might have undergone similar reinterpretations through the ages.   I regarded Endgame as one such interpretation. 

 

I always meant to drop Gillian a line to let her know how much I appreciate Endgame, because she was on the writing team; alas, I never got around to it.    By that time the AOL Highlander group had moved on. 

 

"The Source" was a devastating letdown. 

 

I posted this review on Netflix a couple years ago.  It holds true today.

 

 

 

This movie broke my heart.

 

It laid waste to everything I loved about Highlander. It soured my respect for David Abramowitz's storytelling which, when at its best, turned HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES into a modern day morality play as Duncan weighed the implications of immortality, vengeance, friendship, etc.

 

HIGHLANDER: THE SOURCE was supposed to be the first of 3 new movies starring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod.  I was excited because I really do enjoy Adrian Paul's work. Hes an okay actor but his swordsmanship and martial arts skills are a pleasure to watch. Besides, he seems like a nice guy (see his PEACE website for more on that). But best of all, Adrian Paul IS Duncan MacLeod, a character Ive come to admire for his courage, resolve and morality. So when Adrian Paul proclaimed this was going to be the best Highlander movie yet, I believed him.

 

And why not? He wouldnt have gone out on a limb like that if it weren't true, right? It was his career, his reputation, on the line. I figured if the film turned out even half as good as Adrian sold it, they'd just have to make the other two films. But of course the two sequels were deader than Richie by the time the producers of THE SOURCE found someone shameless enough to show this travesty: the ScyFy Network.

 

What kind of mass delusion enables a large company of professionals -- filmmakers, actors, etc -- to pretend they arent making pure, unfiltered, undiluted garbage? Was it madness or sheer hubris that inspired Adrian Paul to deem it the best yet? You could have shown me a single advance photo of that Guardian character and I would have known beyond all doubt that the movie would be awful. In the years since this film came out I have searched the internet for an interview with Adrian Paul or David Abramowitz in which they candidly admit and explain what went so horribly wrong with this movie. So far, I havent found a single word.

 

And somehow that makes it harder to bear.

Edited May 2, 2015 by millennium

[millennium]

. Amanda was never a regular fighter. She took more heads in The Raven than Amanda did in the 1100 years prior. If she was going to be the lead, they should have made the show about the other side of being immortal. You don't always fight all the time. 

 

She was terrible with a sword, LOL.   Remember that episode in Highlander the Series, "Forgive Us Our Trespasses, where Amanda takes a swipe at Steven Keane and makes a complete botch of it?   It was fairly well accepted in the series that Amanda survived by deception and her wits, not as a swordfighter.   She was no Rebecca Horne.

They never really knew what to do with Richie imo. I liked EG as a supporting character. They shouldn't have made her the lead in the follow up. Amanda was never a regular fighter. She took more heads in The Raven than Amanda did in the 1100 years prior. If she was going to be the lead, they should have made the show about the other side of being immortal. You don't always fight all the time. 

 

I actually really liked when they didn't do beheadings every week. The actors, could be really funny and they never mined that as much imo. 

 

If you like the show (Highlander, not Raven) the tie in books are quite good. I think Horvath wrote one or two. Really captured the spirit of the show. There's also a companion book An Evening At Joe's, with short stories, etc. There's a cool Methos story from his Bronze Age days where he witnesses a beheading on holy ground and there's a modern day story about him and Alexa. 

 

I read a couple of them.  One of them was Donna's book, Zealot, which I thought a solid piece of work.

 

There is an awful, just awful piece on youtube thrown together by Peter Wingfield, Elizabeth Gracen and Jim Byrnes, filmed at a beachhouse, trying to pass itself off as some kind of epilog to the series.

:: waves. Same here. I really enjoyed it when they got talking about the nuts and bolts of trying to make a good show on a tight budget. They'd have a scene that was originally supposed to be a couple guys on horses coming into a keep with a crowd of extras around them, and then to make their numbers work, they'd be cutting down the extras and the horses and their wranglers until it was down to one actor walking through the gate and they guy letting him in would have no lines because then he'd no longer be an extra and they'd have to pay him more.

 

How old are we, right?  lol.

[ganesh]

It was fairly well accepted in the series that Amanda survived by deception and her wits, not as a swordfighter.

 

And she was the best at it really. There was also in The Methusalah Stone where Methos is going bonkers and draws on Amanda and she's like, 'uuughhhh, noooo.' Then he tells her he wants to steal the Stone, and she's like, "I am in. So in. Don't tell Duncan."

 

I believe I do have the DVD of Endgame. I thought it was a natural sequel from TOS - The Series - Endgame. 

[ToxicUnicorn]

Firstly it is Flashpoint - by far my favourite recent police procedural, simply because they didn't bow down to the lowest common denominator.

 

Checking back in --- I've finished watching Flashpoint, start to finish.  It's predictable, but pleasant to watch in a series, like Law and Order for me, mostly because the characters are reassuringly familiar and competent.  For Snipsa, who recommended Flashpoint, I'd urge you to watch Spooks.  It's about a British intelligence group and I love it tremendously.

 

The big payoff of watching Flashpoint is falling in love with Enrico Colantoli, its star, and looking up Galaxy Quest.  He is so very, very funny there.  A thoroughly enjoyable science fiction spoof, which I never would have chosen otherwise.

[ganesh]

Spooks is fun, but it can be a little ridiculous too.

[DeLurker]

Where might I find this Spooks?

[ABay]

It's retitled MI-5 in the U.S. and Netflix used to have all of it. I don't know if it's still there, though.

[HalcyonDays]

Now that the networks have announced the cancellations/renewals, two more shows (IMO) to add to the list of "never got a fair shot".

 

Forever and Constantine. Both awesome shows that should have been renewed. I liked that, they were well done and great actors leading them.

 

*sigh*. And yet the Kardashians go on and on and on....

[DeLurker]

 

It's retitled MI-5 in the U.S. and Netflix used to have all of it. I don't know if it's still there, though.

Thank you! 

Just added Season 1 to my queue.

[merylinkid]

Ooooh, Methos and Alexa had the greatest love story of all time.   The first time he asks her out and lists all the things he wants to do then she says "But why?"  His response is the most romantic thing ever "Because the alternative would be unthinkable."

 

There used to be a clip of that scene on YouTube but I can't find it anymore.   

 

Highlander had 5 seasons.   It had a nice long run.    ANd I will never forgive them for killing Ritchie.   They set it up it would happen, but I still was not happy.   Especially when they showed other Immortals with friends they had trained and traveled with for 100s of years.     Hated, hated, hated the Ann character.   Of course I've never been a fan of the actress either.    

[Hanahope]

An extended cut with restored footage was later released on DVD."

 

Nice to know.  I'll have to look for it.

[ganesh]

Make sure Spooks/MI5 is the UK version. The show was 60 minutes long. The MI5 USA version was 43 minutes and cut tons of scenes out.

[magicdog]

My World And Welcome To It' starring William Windom

 

 

I found an episode online which was embedded in a blog posting about Windom's death.   I think it was the pilot - set at Christmastime.  I saw the entire episode and thought it was nothing short of brilliant!  Best of all the episode itself still held up beautifully!  This was the kind of TV we should have had more of back then.  Heck, we could use some of it now!

 

As a mom with sons, I've been forced to watch a lot of cringe inducing kid's shows.  It rare to find one that I'm actually interested in but the original Teen Titans on Cartoon Network was great.

 

 

TT actually had a good run - about 65 episodes in 5 seasons.  If your kids are ready for more teen superheroes (but not TTG), may I recommend Young Justice.  That was a show that deserved a longer run;  I'm still hoping for a miniseries or a few DTVs to help fill in some gaps the second season left behind.

 

I also had hoped Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated had run at least one more season (it wrapped up just fine for its official series finale).   I was hoping the gang would start monster hunting at Miskatonic University while being guided by Harlan Ellison.  Why CN chose to reject it I'll never know.

 

Sym-bionic Titan - Another show that deserved better.  It had a decent season finale but we needed at least one more season to wrap up more storylines that TPTB didn't get to do.

Edited May 12, 2015 by magicdog

[cheezwhiz346]

Season 2 of Popular was godawful. By the time it got canceled, I didn't care anymore.

I feel like Popular as a whole really gave us a taste of what was to come with Ryan Murphy, both good and bad. Season 1 will always be amazing to me, however.

[joelene]

Carnivale, This Life, Pulling and most recently Utopia (the vivid British and totally bonkers conspiracy thriller, not the US reality show about people on a farm) are the only ones I'm still sad about (that I can remember right now). The Inside, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls were also gone too soon.

[Chaos Theory]

Wonderfalls!!!!! I forgot about Wonderfalls. I loved that show.

[Lady Calypso]

I started watching Flashpoint again and it's one of the police procedurals that I enjoy every single episode. It's just so much fun. I think I've gotten over halfway with the show on Netflix, and I've kind of just been bouncing back and forth between episodes and watching ones I haven't seen before. Man, the actors on that show are top notched. Despite it not being exactly racially diverse (besides Winnie and Leah, and then Raf for a short time), the acting is just good all around and Sam/Jules is a couple that I can stand watching because they don't throw it in our faces every episode. It's more quiet. 

 

The Listener is another Canadian show that lasted quite a while, but I still feel like it had a lot to it. Ok, so they kind of ruined the originality with the show once they turned to IIB fully and not stuck with the paramedic angle, but the other angle of the main character Toby being able to hear thoughts, as well as having nobody else share his gift (besides a couple of guest stars here and there) was done really well. It wasn't a supernatural show, despite him having a supernatural ability. They also didn't have him in constant danger due to his telepathy. It was actually used quite well and it never disrupted the flow of the show, and I rather enjoyed his dynamics with other characters. It's a shame they did turn him into a consultant for the police and the show kind of migrated more there, and the fifth season disappointed me with getting rid of the one other angle that made them really unique, but overall it was a well done show and did want to see more of it.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Lady Calypso

[Mick Lady]

I'll second shows already mentioned, Wonderfalls, Going South, American Gothic, and ( I thought I was the only one who watched) October Road!

 

I nominate It's Like, You Know and one I'm sure nobody remembers, Maximum Bob, based on an Elmore Leonard novel. Weirdest show I have ever seen on TV! 

 

Does News Radio count? It had a pretty good run, but could have gone on much longer.

[Wax Lion]

I'll be honest, I didn't like Nowhere Man. On paper it appealed to me, but it suffered from being one of those shows that had to keep repeating the premise. I got tired of him keep approaching people he knew and being surprised when they didn't recognize him. My husband had a similar problem with Journeyman.

 

I'm not saying this to be a jerk to the Nowhere Man fans, I'm just thinking the show might have done better today because networks seem to have given up that formula and viewers would be trusted to get the plot of the show after one or two incidents.

 

Mick Lady, I remember It's Like, You Know. I keep trying to explain the episode where Joel Grey appears and people just look at me like there's no way a TV show would do a plot like that. Maximum Bob was the reason I watched Karen Sisco and Justified.

[ParadoxLost]

Does News Radio count? It had a pretty good run, but could have gone on much longer.

 

News Radio couldn't have gone longer.  Not because of the show, but it was just too hard to watch it and not think about what happened to Hartman. 

[Mick Lady]

Oh hell, I completely forgot about that!

 

Now I'm depressed...

[Bastet]

I nominate It's Like, You Know

 

I had forgotten all about that show, but I watched it for however long it was on.  I don't remember a whole lot about it beyond the cast, but it is probably something that might do better now.

[Mick Lady]

I'll be honest, I didn't like Nowhere Man. On paper it appealed to me, but it suffered from being one of those shows that had to keep repeating the premise. I got tired of him keep approaching people he knew and being surprised when they didn't recognize him. My husband had a similar problem with Journeyman.

 

I'm not saying this to be a jerk to the Nowhere Man fans, I'm just thinking the show might have done better today because networks seem to have given up that formula and viewers would be trusted to get the plot of the show after one or two incidents.

 

Mick Lady, I remember It's Like, You Know. I keep trying to explain the episode where Joel Grey appears and people just look at me like there's no way a TV show would do a plot like that. Maximum Bob was the reason I watched Karen Sisco and Justified.

 

Wow Wax Lion! I have never met another person who had seen this show before. Now we found Bastet too! I still can't get over Jennifer Grey's nose job!

 

I love Justified, I'm going to miss that show! But that's an example of one series that ran just the right amount of time.

 

Oh, I almost forgot- You Tube has all the episodes of It's Like, You Know! Watched a few the other night, and it still stands up!

[ParadoxLost]

Wow Wax Lion! I have never met another person who had seen this show before. Now we found Bastet too! I still can't get over Jennifer Grey's nose job!

 

I've seen it.  I think its the name people don't remember.  You've just got to say the show where Jennifer Grey played herself after the nose job.

[Bastet]

And did the moves from Dirty Dancing to prove it was her.

 

The series was memorable enough that when Evan Handler popped up on The West Wing, I thought, "Hey, it's Shrug."

[Mick Lady]

I've seen it.  I think its the name people don't remember.  You've just got to say the show where Jennifer Grey played herself after the nose job.

 

Hee! After being introduced to Jennifer Grey:

 

Arthur Garment: You know, you look different somehow.

Jennifer Grey: Well, you see a movie ten years ago...

Arthur Garment: I saw it just recently.

Jennifer Grey: ...on a small TV screen...

Arthur Garment: This was a revival. Huge movie screen.

Jennifer Grey: ...sitting so far back...

Arthur Garment: Front row. Right up close.

Jennifer Grey: NOSE JOB!

Arthur Garment: Oh... Just one?

[Raja]

Make sure Spooks/MI5 is the UK version. The show was 60 minutes long. The MI5 USA version was 43 minutes and cut tons of scenes out.

Was it syndicated somewhere? Like many UK shows PBS used to show it and they would have no need to cut it for commercial breaks and they would let much not ready for prime time content stand.

[selkie]

Spooks/MI5 showed on, IIRC, A&E for a while, hence the heavy cuts for US cable tv commercial breaks.