Best TV Shows That Ended Too Soon

How did this show fail? It had the guy that created Sex & The City behind the helm, it had Bradley Cooper, John Francis Daley, Nicholas Brendon and Jaime King in the main cast and it was based on a book by a popular chef. It was hilarious, Emmy nominated and on one of the biggest networks at the... oh wait, it was on FOX, the channel known for killing every good show before it's time. This one managed to air 3 episodes before the baseball started which caused a several month gap between episodes 3 and 4, and promptly after the 4th episode the series was canceled and no more episodes got to air. Luckily this shows been released on DVD so go buy it now.

So let me see if I follow this, Buffy at it's best would get about 5 million viewers, Angel at it's best could just manage that, and Firefly would pull a similar number and it had the added burden of being in the Friday Night death Slot, but sadly it only lasted 1 season. it's a shame because it's possibly Joss Whedon's best work, a mix of great Sci-fi action and some brilliant western writing mingled with well constructed characters and a cast that got it from the get go. Fortunately this forgotten gem managed to get a movie and thanks to DVD it's gained a huge fanbase, but still no season 2.

I kind of understand why this one had issue finding viewers, I'll admit the first few episodes weren't the best but if you look at the 6th episode of the first season and go from there you'll see a show that was touching, clever and wonderfully written. It wasn't the kind of show you could just watch casually, if you weren't paying attention you could miss something important but if you paid attention you were rewarded with a wonderful show that was unappreciated and unwatched, at it's best it could only just break the 4 million viewer mark in season one, by season two it could only hit a high of 2 million.

Again how did this get cancelled? By the time it began Nathan Fillion had started getting mainstream attention (He wasn't a nerd only property), Tim Minear should've brought with him some Buffy viewers and it was a show full of car chases and action which seems oddly popular, and yet only 6 episodes got made and 4 aired, and the last episode ends on a huge cliffhanger. Again at it's best this show got 6million viewers but it dropped to about 4 and a half million by the 4th episode so it got cancelled. This is the first entry on the list that doesn't have a DVD release, it's available in the US and Canada but nowhere else which is a shame because it's a wonderful show that deserved to at least finish it's first storyline.

Yaaay a non-FOX entry on this list, this one's an ABC Family one. A fun little show about a group of kids at a weight loss camp that's a lot more warm than the concept suggests. With a star like Nikki Blonski who everyone knows from Hairspray and a show that had stars who weren't stick figures but real people, this show should've been a huge hit because it helped show people that fat people aren't evil or stupid, in this show they were the heroes.

Why this one got canceled I have no idea, it was the highest rated comedy on UPN the year it started and it was fricking hilarious. Witty and smart and a cartoon that that was intended more for adults than children but without opting for just being obscene. It managed to get 2 seasons out before being given the boot, but it's on DVD so go get it now.

Yes this one was technically cancelled because of high production costs, but if there had been more viewers I'm confident they would've pushed on. A comedy show that starred the president that wasn't actually making fun of him, it was intended as a parody of 70's and 80's sitcoms. It took scenarios that we've all seen a million times, but when done by George and Laura Bush in the White House it becomes so much funnier.

James Woods playing a lawyer... do I really need anything more? This show was basically House in a courtroom and I think it's a billion times better. Shark was a complex character who was trying to repent for the people he had kept out of jail who should've been sent there and he didn't mind breaking a few rules on the way. The highlight of the series would be a 3 episode arc that involved Shark going toe to toe with a sociopath which would lead to a standoff that was just terrifying.

Another Lawyer show except this one had the lawyer hearing voices, in the form of people doing George Michael songs. It's a strange and quirky show that was just hitting it's stride when the plug got pulled and it vanished from TV, but luckily both seasons are out on DVD

Another show with a weird concept that would've turned a lot of people off, but it's beautiful look and witty writing should've brought them all back if only it had the chance. A strange cast played the roles to perfection, and I call them strange because the show itself is strange (It's about a pie man who can bring the dead back to life but only for one minute, if that's not strange I don't know what is) and it required a cast that wasn't one you'd normally expect. Somehow all the strange ingredients that went into this show brought out a fantastic product, one that was sadly shortlived. However hope is not lost, not only are the DVDs available now but there are comics based on the series being released in 2011 so the Pie Man will live on.

It was about as UNPC as you could get, it dealt with race and terrorism and had a main character that smoked like a chimney, but it was funny. It was hilariously funny and the cast brought an energy to the show that was undefinable and sadly unappreciated.

Similar to Pushing Daisies, this show dealt with the idea of stopping death by going back in time and changing the events of the day in order to save a life. It was a great little show with a fun cast and was willing to get gritty and kill off main characters just because it could, so why was it... oh wait, it was on FOX, nevermind.

While not as good as Kelsey or Patricia's previous shows this little gem was funny on it's own with characters that were quirky and a cast that played each little quirk to perfection. It was a well written comedy that was more popular than it's lead in Til Death, and yet it wasn't renewed while Til Death got more seasons that no one watched

With only 2 seasons there was so much more life in this anthology horror series that sadly won't be realized. A treat for fans of horror movies because it let the directors have free reign, there were no limits given to them beyond no Male Nudity and No kids killing kids. The films they made were made how they wanted them, without much network interference (With a few exceptions, some were deemed to violent to be aired but are on the DVD sets). Only 2 seasons of this show got made but since each episode was like a movie that's 26 hours of horror happiness

How can a show based on an insanely popular movie series go out like this one did? It was a good solid fun action show that was respectful to the source material and had a cast that perfectly portrayed the difficult roles they'd been handed, and yet it's ratings were low and it sadly got canned.

Yeah I know Michael Moore is an incredibly polarising figure, you either love him or hate him but even the biggest hater has to admit that he has his moments. This show brought out the Sodomobile which Michael drove around the country and running into the WBC, making them flee in gay induced terror. He took shots at the woman who got Monica Lewinski to destroy someones privacy. He took on a healthcare provider and got a needy man an organ that he'd been denied. He even took on the police's percieved racism by convincing a ton of black people in New York to trade in their wallets for bright orange ones (Which are impossible to confuse with guns). One of the few shows that can actually make a point and change a life at the same time.

Like Michael Moore, Kirstie Alley is an actress you either love or hate and her show could get that same reaction. Only lasting 6 episodes it was a very funny show that didn't rely on a laughtrack to tell you when to laugh and was in general a good quality satire that wasn't going to get a second season

3 Seasons seems like a good run for any show, but when your show is as clever, witty and subversive as Arrested Development was then frankly you deserve more. It had some amazing one liners and possibly some of the best setups to punchlines that I've ever seen (Any fan will know what I mean when I merely mention "Loose Seal", which for me was a moment I found to be hilarious, well written and very clever). Not to mention one of the best uses of 1 person playing 2 roles that I've seen in a while. There was nothing I could even slightly say bad about this show, it was brilliant and didn't need a laugh track to tell you where the jokes are. The only reason it's so low on this list is because we got 3 seasons out of it.

In an age where true crime TV series can run forever, ones with a little twist to them are hard to come by and this is one of those. John Waters is a very original choice to host a True Crime show, his love of court cases is known to a lot of his fans but the charming way that he narrates as the Groom Reaper is ingenius and the cases that they choose are interesting. The acting for the recreations is top notch and it mixes genuinely suspenseful cases with splashes of wonderful dark comedy, usually provided by wicked puns by John Waters himself. Only lasting 13 episodes, look for this one on DVD because it's fun to watch.

Based upon the UK series of the same name this show had a lot going for it. It was funny, no laugh track and is one of the few cases where a remake of a UK show actually works in an american context. It IS most certainly a watered down version of the UK show, no swearing of any kind is done and this version is far more family friendly but at 4 episodes, there was a ton of potential for truly great comedy that was squandered by the network

A cartoon show where God is a main character... nothing can go wrong here. Writing wise this show was amazing, the voice acting sublime, the animation top notch and the people involved in it just hilarious. The only reason this show was cancelled you might ask? Religious people got pissed and demand it be taken from the air. Apparently having God as a main character like this was just too offensive, even though they treat him with incredible respect throughout the series