|
 Sifl and Olly was one of the few post-B&B things that MTV got right, so of course it had to die after two seasons in the late 90s.
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 06:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:44 |
|
|
Now and Again John Goodman stares in it for 5 minutes as a banker who falls onto the tracks and dies, and the government takes his brain and puts it in Captain America's body to create the perfect US secret agent. There was some great chemistry between the two male leads, Eric Close and Dennis Haysbert, and it was a mystery of the week sort of thing with the constant b-plot being "Will Wiseman(Close) ever get to see his family again" and the constant back and forth conflict between the 2 leads and the government handlers wrt what Wiseman could have access to. For most of the series his banned from any form of media for fear of 'contaminating' their super experiment and Wiseman is forced to eat nothing but optimized food meals planned to min/max his body so every time he's sent off into the field the first thing he does is buy street food and watch TV while bullshitting his handlers the entire time. NBC finally released the series in a complete DVD last year after sitting on it for-loving-ever. That's one thing that baffles me the most, networks have so many single season shows they just sit on and don't release, and it's not like making DVD sets is an expensive proposition nowadays. Republican Vampire posted:If I'm remembering right, he didn't want to destroy the company. He wanted to ensure its survival at all costs because he was raised in a cardboard box with their logo on the side and internalized the idea that their slogan ("a family company") meant that the company and the family that founded it were somehow his real family. It had the most 90s "hacking" CGI I've ever seen as well. This trailer has some of the best examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt7FFeN2K3I Also, the show has him in a weird incestuous relationship with his step-mother and the main actor tried really loving hard to channel Charlie Sheen from Wall Street.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 06:25
|
|
|
Terriers can't be mentioned enough. Dead Like Me deserved another two seasons, at least. Pushing Daisies deserved more too, especially if it meant they got to crossover at some point.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 08:23
|
|
 American Gothic Gary Cole chews the scenery as Sheriff Lucas Buck, who is basically a Southern Gothic version of Judge Holden from Blood Meridian. It's implied that he is some kind of supernatural devil figure, but the details are never clarified. The main character, Caleb, is the illegitimate son of the Sheriff and the plot concerns the attempts of Sheriff Buck to corrupt Caleb and convert him to the dark side. Caleb is aided by a cast of good characters, including the ghost of his dead sister, who attempt to counteract the influence of the Sheriff. Unfortunately, the network messed with it, by airing the episodes out of order, entirely skipping several of the best ones, and then adding insult to injury by putting them in the wrong order on the DVD's as well, so you have to look up the correct viewing order on the internet. It only lasted a single season, but it's definitely worth checking out. Someone's at the door. SimonChris fucked around with this message at 08:59 on Sep 4, 2015 |
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 08:53
|
|
|
Pick posted:I loved Sirens but I'm the only person I know who watched it. I loved Sirens, too. I guess we're like two of the thirty people that actually watched it. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 11:32
|
|
|
God, the Devil, and Bob God feels like he's really screwed up with humanity, but he's not entirely convinced that wiping everyone out and starting over is the best move. He and the Devil agree that the Devil will select one person, with that person then making the case to keep humanity around. Bob, an average auto plant worker from Detroit, is our one chance. It only ran for four episodes on NBC before the religious outcry finally shut it down, but 13 episodes were made. They eventually ran in full on Adult Swim many years later and are available on YouTube if you want to check it out. Personally always loved this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oq7-40wDJM&t=1040s
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 12:27
|
|
|
Almost Human A scifi show with the future as it is imagined in an 80s tech noir movie like Robocop or Blade Runner, with anatomically correct but obsolete self-aware replicants, Karl Urban, bitcoin, tons of funny references and a big wall around the mega-city with something unspeakable on the other side. Only got 13 episodes, because it was too good to exist. poo poo like Helix and Extant got second seasons, but this didn't.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 13:35
|
|
|
Pikehead posted:
Flash Forward was unbearable after a short while. I don't agree that it deserved to be extended. evobatman posted:Almost Human Almost Human was a terrible show with two likable actors. It really deserved to go away.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 14:48
|
|
|
Doctor Butts posted:Almost Human was a terrible show with two likable actors. It really deserved to go away. I agree here. All of the procedual crimes where either totally bland or irredeemably stupid and the show kept gushing over bitcoins, which annoyed me on a personal level. Neither of those problems had anything to do with network fuckery. It just wasn't written well. For example: In one episode someone steals faceparts. It turns out he wants to make himself look like his profile pic, in order to impress his online girlfriend. Twist ending: she's actually blind! I am a terrible human being who can't really stop watching a tv show, but still hated it so I was glad that it died. Shows which actually died an early dead are Andy Richter controls the universe and Better of Ted. cant cook creole bream fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Sep 4, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 15:08
|
|
|
Just popped in to say that I am glad to see Rubicon and Terriers mentioned multiple times on the first page. Also, Party Down. Good job, goons. Edit: Although different, we Rubiconers have Mr. Robot now. Michael Cristofer, the nonchalant boss of the protagonist in Rubicon, is also the CEO of Evil Corp. in Mr. Robot. Good casting call. Ferdinand Bardamu fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Sep 4, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 15:56
|
|
|
Air is lava! posted:I agree here. All of the procedual crimes where either totally bland or irredeemably stupid and the show kept gushing over bitcoins, which annoyed me on a personal level. Neither of those problems had anything to do with network fuckery. It just wasn't written well. For example: In one episode someone steals faceparts. It turns out he wants tome make himself look like his profile pic, in order to impress his online girlfriend. Twist ending: she's actually blind! I thought all the buttcoin mentions were loving hilarious.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 16:02
|
|
|
Vanderdeath posted:I loved Sirens, too. I guess we're like two of the thirty people that actually watched it. Yo, I did the write up!
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 16:22
|
|
|
Almost Human really did deserve to be cancelled because outside of the two leads the rest of the cast was an absolute black hole of charisma (Minka Kelly especially) and even having the episodes air in order would have done nothing to prevent that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 16:44
|
|
|
WaryWarren posted:Just popped in to say that I am glad to see Rubicon and Terriers mentioned multiple times on the first page. Also, Party Down. Good job, goons. I loved Party Down but I don't think it was cancelled before its time. The cast was just too good not to have a number of them be lured away to something bigger. It was good it was cancelled before it took a lot of talent away and tried to work in new characters/situations. quote:Edit: Although different, we Rubiconers have Mr. Robot now. Michael Cristofer, the nonchalant boss of the protagonist in Rubicon, is also the CEO of Evil Corp. in Mr. Robot. Good casting call. Yea, I noticed that immediately. He's a good type to be cast for that show.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 20:45
|
|
|
Train Surgeon posted:Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 WRONG! That show was awesomely funny. But now we have Broad City, so I don't miss it much these days.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 20:51
|
|
|
Obviously a number of these shows bear repeating and rediscovering, especially Terriers, Better Off Ted, Party Down and Firefly. Seriously watch them all and hey, they're short too. I'll add one oversight that somehow hasn't been mentioned yet, but I guess got more episodes than Arrested Development first run and still couldn't find its' audience. Happy Endings  gently caress me that was a rocky start. Aired out of order, stupid relationship drama set up from the get go, I'm not surprised most people wrote it off. It really quickly turned into one of the tightest absurdist comedies on TV though, with the tightest cast I've seen in a long time just firing off rapid fire jokes like nothing else. gently caress, even Elisha Cuthbert turned out to be a hilarious MVP. I'm hard-pressed to think of a better conventionally-formatted sitcom in the last 5 years.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 21:47
|
|
|
Might as well add the very recently canned Hannibal to the list. The show could have continued for at least two more seasons. Outstanding cinematography and easily the goriest show where you just kept watching with a uneasy mix of horror and fascination. Also the best cooking show ever to air on tv.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2015 22:01
|
|
|
pentyne posted:NBC finally released the series in a complete DVD last year after sitting on it for-loving-ever. That's one thing that baffles me the most, networks have so many single season shows they just sit on and don't release, and it's not like making DVD sets is an expensive proposition nowadays. It seems, too, like you could have a bit of a market for heavily rotated little-known series on some generic cable channel. Something like an economy version of TV Land or something could specialize in more or less forgotten TV shows that only ran a season or two. Heck, I remember years ago when some channel like A&E or something I think used to air really old one-season stuff. It'd be a lot of content that would be 'new' to a lot of people and you could promote a bit of it now and then with things like, "Before they were famous" with episodes or shows featuring now popular entertainers. A bit more along the lines of what you've mentioned about not releasing things, I've mentioned this a few times in the last half-decade, to be certain: Day One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWE_WZEYWyc NBC announced a series, then kept reducing the number of episodes they'd film/air, pre-emptively cancelling it as a series or even miniseries and eventually filmed a multimillion dollar pilot movie that was open-ended enough for a potential series. They aired the commercials, they promoted it, and after all that, they cancelled the airing of movie, too. From my understanding, even nearly 1/2 dozen years later, it's never been aired or released in any way, shape or form. Not even as a 'Syfy is short a Sharknado movie this week, can they air Day One?" Also, Coronet Blue's a show that was probably cancelled well before it's time. Made in the 60s, a guy comes out of the water with no memory except for the words "Coronet Blue" and is being hunted by unknown peoples. Ran for one season. There have been some other shows with similar themes, but I was always sort of surprised it never got a modern Hollywood revival ala Fugitive, Prisoner, etc. in either TV or movie form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHZJ0dx7tS4.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 04:57
|
|
|
JediTalentAgent posted:It seems, too, like you could have a bit of a market for heavily rotated little-known series on some generic cable channel. Something like an economy version of TV Land or something could specialize in more or less forgotten TV shows that only ran a season or two. Heck, I remember years ago when some channel like A&E or something I think used to air really old one-season stuff. It'd be a lot of content that would be 'new' to a lot of people and you could promote a bit of it now and then with things like, "Before they were famous" with episodes or shows featuring now popular entertainers. There's really no reason not to release shows on DVD since nowadays they can be produced literally on-Demand by Amazon. quote:About CD-R and DVD-R Media
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 10:52
|
|
|
There's two reasons: music rights (aka the reason why Journeyman still doesn't have a Region 1 DVD, also why Scrubs early seasons are missing half their original music) and residuals. Unless you handhold the rights holders through the process or figure it all out for them they usually won't bother.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 13:01
|
|
|
For the fans of The Middleman, it might interest you to know that the creator, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, published two comics (one as recently as last year); one was the comic adaptation of the unfilmed final episode of season 1, and the other involved them meeting their comic book counterparts (that is, the ones from the comic book the show was based on), which also tied in to the story about Wendy's dad. Aside from the comics themselves, you can check Youtube for the cast doing readings of both comics at a reunion (they even pulled Matt Keeslar out of acting-retirement to do it). Javier also wrote a crossover fanfic between his show and Doctor Who then posted it to Livejournal 
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 13:57
|
|
|
Titus. The show based on the life of Christopher Titus. It was a dark comedy dealing with such subjects as rape, murder, suicide, domestic violence (against men), and mental illness. It lasted three seasons on Fox but only produced 54 episodes. And it, too, was a victim of incorrect order broadcasting. One of the show's highlights is Stacy Keach's brilliant performance as Ken Titus, the family's patriarch.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 15:12
|
|
|
 Bored to Death, which was an HBO Comedy but ended up being a fantastic, poignant look at three men (Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, and Ted Danson) feeling lost and uncertain in their lives, with Ted Danson doing an incredible job. At least it's getting a movie to finish off the series.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 15:23
|
|
|
mcbexx posted:Might as well add the very recently canned Hannibal to the list. No, by the end it showed why it was cancelled. Season 1&2 rocked, however. It lasted as long as it should have.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 15:25
|
|
|
FarScape. I mean, yeah, it got The Peacekeeper Wars, but it should have gotten a fifth season.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 16:05
|
|
|
Wheat Loaf posted:FarScape. From what I remember they got an offer for a 10 episode season but rejected it. Farscape was always one of SciFi's most expensive shows to produce and the fourth season was definitely a huge drop from the amazing third season. Farscape getting cancelled was probably affected by the upcoming BSG production as well as the absolutely moronic order of First Wave for three seasons before a single episode aired. Farscape wasn't really alone either, nothing besides BSG and Stargate Atlantis lasted from the 2003/2004 years for more than two seasons, and SciFi cancelled other shows leading into it (including MST3k). Ironically the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries was produced for almost the exact same amount of money as the shortened season would have been (20 million). Party Plane Jones fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Sep 5, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 17:11
|
|
|
Suprised nobody has brought this one up - The Fades  It is one of the best sci-fi/fantasy TV programs ever produced and was cancelled after 1 series due to budget cuts at the channel. Not going to go into the plot, as if you haven't ever seen it watch it (think its on Hulu in the US, series can be bought in various places, etc), its only 6 episodes long so its only 6 hours of your time. The cancellation was odd at the time as it was very well reviewed and the second series was cancelled after only a few episodes of the first had been shown so the UK press was wondering why they chose to cancel it and then to rub it in even further it won the best Drama Series award for that year at the BAFTA's. Its easily one of the most bizarre and wrong cancellations in TV history.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 18:05
|
|
|
Drive A bunch of people on an enforced cross-country race trying to find clues to the next stop (or the whereabouts of their loved ones). Everyone had a secret and the stakes were high to NOT be the last person to arrive at a checkpoint. It had a really good cast and I loved the crap out of it Created and produced by Tim Minear, starring Nathan Fillion. Fox only aired 4 of the episodes then promptly canceled it. They promised to air the two episodes that remained to be seen and ended up just slapping them up online. Amazon used to offer it for streaming, but its currently unavailable: "Our agreements with the content provider don’t allow purchases of The Starting Line at this time. "
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 18:17
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:
I had no idea they were making a movie, that's cool. I didn't think season 3 was that great but season 2 I thought at the time was one of the best shows on HBO. I should really rewatch this sometime.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 21:33
|
|
|
CobiWann posted:Shows that should have been given more of a chance/another season? HBO themselves regret canceling Rome. It was only clear that it was a hit that could justify the budget after they obliterated the sets. I'm not sure but I were a betting man, I'd bet Game of Thrones came about entirely because of this misstep, though. Party Plane Jones posted:From what I remember they got an offer for a 10 episode season but rejected it. Farscape was always one of SciFi's most expensive shows to produce and the fourth season was definitely a huge drop from the amazing third season. Farscape getting cancelled was probably affected by the upcoming BSG production as well as the absolutely moronic order of First Wave for three seasons before a single episode aired. I don't remember the details but I remember hearing there was a huge cluster gently caress when it came to renewing the show and that it actually got canceled, in a way, on accident and the way things worked out, it became irreversible. Maybe someone knows more on this, but I do remember it came >< close to actually getting another season. Svanja posted:Created and produced by Tim Minear, starring Nathan Fillion. Fox only aired 4 of the episodes then promptly canceled it. They promised to air the two episodes that remained to be seen and ended up just slapping them up online. I can see why Fillion has been 'slumming' it on ABC for so long, Fox just keeps killing every project he gets involved with. Blazing Ownager fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Sep 5, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2015 22:08
|
|
|
Blazing Ownager posted:I can see why Fillion has been 'slumming' it on ABC for so long, Fox just keeps killing every project he gets involved with. Drive was one of the most exploitative mystery shows to come out of the post-Lost mystery frenzy. EVERY SINGLE SCENE IN THE SHOW involved the characters pointing out that something was a mystery and how it was a big deal. The problem was, it really wasn't. Viewers got invested in Lost's mystery elements because a smoke monster murdered a dude in the pilot. Your natural inclination after seeing that is to ask "what the gently caress was that?" There was never that moment in Drive; there was no smoke monster, no polar bear.. nothing to make you ask any questions or care about the things you weren't told. It was just characters standing around telling us that '[fill in the blank] is a totally compelling mystery, guys, we swear!' edit: I can't believe I wrote all that about motherfucking Drive. Irish Joe fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Sep 6, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 00:24
|
|
|
The Duke posted:I had no idea they were making a movie, that's cool. I didn't think season 3 was that great but season 2 I thought at the time was one of the best shows on HBO. I should really rewatch this sometime. Yes well Season 3 ended at a weird point with Jonathan in a sexual relationship with his sister. It looks like they were heading towards George being Jonathan's actual father, somehow, but the plug got pulled It seems like a lot of HBO's cancelled shows do really well after they've ended, I hope they give more leeway now (Leftovers being a prime example... that is a good example of a show that would have been cancelled on Network but has a lot of potential).
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 02:36
|
|
|
Irish Joe posted:Drive was one of the most exploitative mystery shows to come out of the post-Lost mystery frenzy. EVERY SINGLE SCENE IN THE SHOW involved the characters pointing out that something was a mystery and how it was a big deal. The problem was, it really wasn't. Viewers got invested in Lost's mystery elements because a smoke monster murdered a dude in the pilot. Your natural inclination after seeing that is to ask "what the gently caress was that?" There was never that moment in Drive; there was no smoke monster, no polar bear.. nothing to make you ask any questions or care about the things you weren't told. It was just characters standing around telling us that '[fill in the blank] is a totally compelling mystery, guys, we swear!' I was interested in learning about the hows and whys of the race-- why were certain people chosen for the race, who is really behind that, which teams were going to work together or betray their partner.... I actually did care. I also really enjoyed the cast and the soundtrack. It did get that Emmy nom for visual effects as well. Its not as bad as you are making it out to be. Svanja fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Sep 6, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 02:41
|
|
|
In the Flesh was excellent & deserved a 3rd season. https://youtu.be/3uAJklDka_U https://youtu.be/RbHJrNORMDk Dead Snoopy fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Sep 6, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 08:54
|
|
|
Professor Shark posted:It seems like a lot of HBO's cancelled shows do really well after they've ended, I hope they give more leeway now (Leftovers being a prime example... that is a good example of a show that would have been cancelled on Network but has a lot of potential). HBO cancelled Deadwood and Carnivale because of production costs more than anything else; the sets (or lack thereof for Carnivale, shooting on location is expensive) cost huge amounts and they hadn't quite figured out how to deal with that. Their experience came in handy later on with Rome, Boardwalk and to a lesser extent GoT (since GoT uses pre-existing locations and sometimes CGI). Rome got cancelled because production costs were shared between HBO and BBC; when BBC pulled out they took one look at the costs and cancelled it. Nevermind the fact that the huge and expensive sets they created were already written off in the costs for the first season. Then there's weird reasons for cancelling, like Luck killing horses during production.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 09:58
|
|
|
Party Plane Jones posted:Then there's weird reasons for cancelling, like Luck killing horses during production. According to David Milch, the show was wildly over-budget and his creative and personal relationship with Mann was awful (he was forbidden from even going to the set). So the show was already going to hell, the horse thing was just the cherry on top. Pedro De Heredia fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Sep 6, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 10:24
|
|
|
It's too bad because Luck was a pretty good show, mostly because of Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Farina. The restaurant scene where Farina has noticed an assassin and quickly hatches a plot where he leaves the restaurant and Hoffman goes to the bathroom, but then goes out the back door and lets Farina in so he can kill the assassin in the bathroom, was GOOD TV
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 11:19
|
|
|
Pedro De Heredia posted:According to David Milch, the show was wildly over-budget and his creative and personal relationship with Mann was awful (he was forbidden from even going to the set). No showrunner in their right mind would let Milch on set.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 11:31
|
|
|
Mine would be:  As well as others mentioned: Terriers, Better Off Ted, Mission Hill, Bored to Death, and Happy Endings
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 13:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 04:44 |
|
|
mcbexx posted:Might as well add the very recently canned Hannibal to the list. It's my understanding a bit part of the reason for the cancellation is that the rights holders to Silents of the Lambs effectively were stonewalling and trying to hold Clarence hostage for more money and that was enough to sink renewal chances.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2015 14:09
|
|