A friend mentioned today an article she’d read about television series that never really found their audiences. This started me to thinking and here’s my list of shows I loved that just never caught on.
To qualify for this list the series had to have been shown on network TV—I’m stretching things by including Fox—and been cancelled after a season or less.
- Frank’s Place
- Maximum Bob
- Grand
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
- The Tick
- Eerie, Indiana
- The Flash
- Max Headroom
- Firefly
- Tales of the Gold Monkey
I have no idea why Frank’s Place never took off. It was simply one of the finest shows ever put on TV. And I’m not the only one to think so. When it was cancelled I felt as though I’d lost friends.
Not only was Maximum Bob a funny show it was one of the funniest shows ever to be shown on TV. Featuring Beau Bridges and the lovely Liz Vassey.
One of the most talented casts ever assembled for a half hour sitcom.
I fell in love with this western satire from the very first episode. Bruce Campbell has the most remarkable ability to make fun of himself.
Funny, quirky, clever. We still quote lines from this show around the house. Also featuring the lovely Liz Vassey. Is there a pattern emerging here?
Once again a very quirky, clever show.
Probably the best one hour dramatization of a comic book ever on TV. It came on in the wake of the first Batman movie and never found an audience. Featured John Wesley Shipp and Amanda Pays.
Incredibly stylized high concept science fiction series. Starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. Hey, there is a pattern emerging here.
I’d just started becoming fond of this series when it was cancelled. Apparently high concept just doesn’t work on TV.
One of the most fun pure action shows ever on TV. A TV version of Smilin’ Jack. Put on as a rip-off of the first Indiana Jones picture this show featured a great cast.
Don’t like my list? Make your own darned list! I’d be interested in hearing your candidates.
I’d add “Tenspeed and Brown Shoe” to your list. It came out in 1980, and starred Jeff Goldblum (fresh-faced, funny, and yes, nerdy — before I I’d seen him in anything) and Ben Vereen, in a tongue-in-cheek combination of hard-boiled detective novel and sitcom. Jeff as Brown Shoe was a blackbelt ex-stockbrocker private eye wannabe and his partner, Ben Vereen, was a streetwise cool tough guy. Great chemistry, great writing, great series. It gave all of us nerdy types hope — and an excuse to laugh at ourselves. I couldn’t believe it when it was canceled, after only a few episodes. One of the only shows ever with writing that impressed me so much, that I paid attention to the credits right away to find out who the writer/creator was — Stephen J. Cannell, who went on to become an icon in television series creation and production.