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Most of my favorite shows get canceled. I just don't understand how they can cancel Newsradio, Arrested Development, Firefly, Sealab 2021, Soap, and a few others while 'Rosanne', 'The Cosby Show' and a bunch of others last over a decade. Futurama is another that I feel got canceled way early, but, they've brought it back, and I have mixed emotions about WHAT they brought back. Generally positive though.

Also, I'm kinda peeved that a HUGE complaint about Beavis and Butthead was them doing the lighter/spraypaint/flamethrower thing. On South Park the other day they actually showed kids BURNING DOWN A STORE my that exact means, and I heard no outcry whatsoever. I do like South Park, , but It just kinda irks me how muck flak B&B got for that.

I hate the fact that HBO allowed shows like the Sopranos and Sex and City to continue on way after they jumped the shark.  Yet they cancelled Deadwood and Rome after two seasons.  I loved the Sopranos all up until Ralphie died. They should have stopped after that seeing the writing tanked.  This only lead to a lackluster ending of the series.  As for Sexy And The City, talk about riding a one trick pony until it died.   :lookingup:

As for Beavis and Butthead, I agree.  They were kind of like the Lenny Bruce of adult animated shows.  They opened the door, took the sh!t from special interest groups and pretty much everyone else walked through with a similar act after that. 

Seems to me that one of the things that separates a show that ends too soon from one that runs too long is its ability to develop a fan base.

Quite a few really good shows might never have become hits if they hadn't hung on long enough for viewers to take notice of them. Cheers and Seinfeld, for example.

On the other hand, a lot of hit shows take a sharp dive in quality at some point, but stay on the air for years after that because they built up enough fan loyalty early on. Happy Days, the Cosby Show and The Simpsons are among the many examples.

And it seems like the whims of network execs have a lot to do with whether the show gets a chance. Both Cheers and Seinfeld lasted because someone at the network stood behind them. On the other hand, Fox seemed to be working against Futurama from the beginning, moving it around and pre-empting it all the time. And shows have been cancelled in spite of good ratings, simply because of a new boss at the network with different ideas. Hogan's Heroes comes to mind.

Just the same, it continues to baffle me how some really mediocre shows manage to find lasting success with no difficulty at all.

Pushing Daisies gets cancelled, yet, According to Jim is still around?

How does this happen?

In my best Darth Vader voice "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yeah I heard about this and its a shame.  One of the few really good shows that was irvesibly damaged by the writer strike.  A truely unique show gone. 

Then there are the shows that stay on the air for no discernable reason.  Somehow America's Funnisest Home Videos survives despite the fact that it really only has 4 videos, (Man gets hit in Groin, Person's pants fall down, Baby does something cute, Animal does something cute)  and you can see the same things on youtube any time.  I think its because the head of the network's wife or something is a big fan.

Seems  a lot of shows I like get the can. To name a few: Arrested Development, Tick, Tremors: The Series, Futurama, Wonderfalls, The Lone Gunmen, Armed and Famous (stupid reality show but I liked it), Eli Stone, Justice, Justice League, Harvey Birdman, Sealab 2021, etc. Good shows like these (well for most of them were) get canned yet crap like Dancing with the Stars stays on. Ugh...

I really liked John Doe, and it gets canned after the first season, sucks.

From what I've heard, if all the episodes from this season air, it'll end on a cliffhanger.  They ordered only 13 episodes, then cancelled it.  So unless they hurry up and re-write it or get ABC to order one more to end the cliffhanger, it'll be a disappointment.

You're going to hate me for this but. .


What!  There was a SERIES?

Did I blink and miss it?

Actually I may vaguely recall hearing about this.  Wasn't it on the Sci-Fi channel?

Speaking of the Great Beast (where series go to die slow torturous deaths). . .

Sliders getting cancelled was really more of a mercy killing.  The idea of adding Kari Wurher was genius.  Adding her to a series that has no nudity and airs on a censored commercial station was clueless stupid.


You mean like the Stargate series?  This series had a great premise that got squandered by hacks.  Would anyone disagree that they've needed to take this franchise out behind the wood shed and give it the Old Yeller treatment a long LONG time ago? 

...and Alice lasted almost ten years. It baffles science.

(http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr154/Raffine/alice240.jpg)

"Hey, y'all out there in TV Land! Kiss our grits!"

Alice was another show that suffered from Happy Days Syndrome. It started out good, and people got into the habit of watching it. And it was profitable enough for the network to refuse to let go of it, tinkering around and sticking band-aids on it until it completely sucked. A worn-out hit can run for several seasons on momentum alone. Sadly, such is the fate of many a good TV show.

It seems like today that lots of sitcoms are being canceled to get replaced with a reality show that is worse than what it replaced.  I don't like reality shows at all and think that they are a waste of cash.

So good sitcoms go and we are stuck with Dancing with the Stars which is just a waste of cash, then you have Extreme home make over which is in my opinion one of the worst shows in America.

Yup. I think it came on in 2003. It lasted a season. Michael Gross returned as Burt Gummer. Lela Lee came back again as Jodi Chang. The guy who played Melvin showed up a few times. Nancy was back but played by a different actress.

Basically it was Perfection Nevada and the area around it is constantly having paranormal activity. Desert Jack left and sold the buisness to a new guy who is a main character. Since El Blanco from pt 3 is an Endangered Species they have to have a Federal Agent, Dept. Twitchell, oversee the valley. Also Miguel's daughter (?) took over his ranch.

Overall it was fun. Tounge in cheek humor. It was kinda like the movies. I loved all the movies and would love to see the series released on DVD. Try looking online for downloads of it.

Actually it costs less to churn out these turds than it does a regular series.  Remember actors HAVE to be paid, attention whores starving for 15 seconds of face time on network TV will make fools of themselves for FREE.

That's true that it would be cheaper to make it, but it's still a waste of money.

I thought it lasted two seasons.  I knew it was in trouble when they invented an episode where Jimenez's character had to hide in a watertrough.  She was wearing a wifebeater, but no bra.  :buggedout:

It was a fun series, nothing to take seriously, but some good, escapist television.

Magnificent Seven: The Series was one of the best tv Westerns ever. The cast included Michael Biehn, Ron Perlman, and Laurie Holden. It was cancelled in 2000 after lasting 2 whole years. :question:

Two seasons is a good run, actually.  Jericho lasted about that, well one and half seasons really if you don't count the BS half seasons broadcasters have started rolling with to break a season up to try to inflate DVD sales.

How about MERCY POINT or SPACE RANGERS or COVINGTON CROSS???

These were all series with great potential.  But they were never given a chance.  All were pre-empted by sports and pretty much never given a proper slot in the schedule thus they never got a audience, which means the suits that probably didn't like them anyway had a excuse to axe them.  Amazing how that works out.

Space Rangers lasted about 6 episodes, Mercy Point something like 4, and I have no idea how many episodes of Covington Cross aired.  Sadly genre series get this treatment all the time.  Viz. OTHER WORLD, SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND, FIREFLY, STARHUNTER, &tc.  None were given solid time slots and they were often pre-empted.

Yet the same tired old regurgitated garbage series about doctors/hospitals or cops/lawyers get virtually decades long runs (including spin-off series) while genre series aren't even given the courtesy of airing for a full season.  Worse, if a genre series does get picked up it seems like they are contractually obligated to dumb-down the stories.  Just look at what happened to SLIDERS in it's second season on or that lame attempt to revive the TWILIGHT ZONE in the wake of THE OUTER LIMITS cancellation.

Letting go of THE OUTER LIMITS was a real blunder.  Alas Showtime decided they'd rather be the rainbow network than the intellectual network so they axed their entire Sci-Friday line-up.  Idiots.

KING OF THE HILL is in it's 13th season and is as good as ever.Though,I do miss Cotton.And what the hell is up with Luanne's pregnancy?Is she gonna have the damn thing or not?

Funny, I lost interest in King of the Hill years ago. Hard to say why, but it happens with a lot of shows that go on for a few seasons. I think it has a lot to do with the show gradually changing from sitcom to comic soap opera. That and the stories shifting from being plot-driven to being character-driven as the characters develop. King of the Hill started off as a show that had a good assortment of quirky but relatively simple characters that got put into funny situations and reacted in their particular ways. Light but very funny, although it still tackled some weighty subjects at times. Gradually, the characters developed a history, complex layers of personality, etc., and the stories got to be about them, and started following great story arcs which made casual viewing difficult. A different show, really.

KOTH is one of those shows I've tried to watch and never could get into it, but, there was ONE episode that really kicked butt IMO: The one where Dale digs the tunnel under Hank's house and gets his finger cut off. The part at the beginning where he was polishing the turtle (with Turtle Wax no less) was hilarious, that whole episode was.

I was the only one in my whole group of friends who liked the show when it came on.  My friends were all like, "Yeah, this guy did Beavis and Butt-head."  Then the show came on and they're like, "It's a horrible show."

I think it's downright hilarious.  Least you gave it a shot.

Yea, people looking for Beavis and Butthead part 2 are going to be disappointed. There are a few B&B references, KOTH had an episode called "Pregnant Paws", B&B had one called "Pregnant Pause". When KOTH was brand new people asked if B&B were going to make an appearance. Mike Judge was pretty adamant that they wouldn't in any way, , and for a while people were looking for them to show up.

I did especially like the "Pregnant Pause" episode of B&B, it's the one where Beavis thinks he's pregnant. It's pretty good, he hears two women talk about using a home pregnancy test, about how "If this thing turns color, I'll know I'm expecting". Beavis used one: "I'm pregnant! I peed on it and it turned YELLOW" or something like that. Too retarded, too funny.

I still mourn the loss of  "Dead Like Me," "Wonderfalls," and "Freaks And Geeks".  I'm rather glad I don't have access to much TV. There's just so much dreck, even if a show has good ideas.  And I have a friend who raves about "Lost".  Sorry, folks, but in the end, they're gonna find the S.S. Minnow and a skeleton wearing Gilligan's clothes.

But the most annoying thing is that they even greenlight a show and try to kill it from the first episode. WTF? Save some money and kill it before you p**s off a sub-section of your audience by even showing them what they'll be missing in two weeks.  Heck, just make the series for the direct-to-video market, buy the air time to show the pilot and sell the damn thing to those who want it.

Actually, American television should follow the British format.  Give them 6 to 10 episodes, guarantee they'll all air and if it is a hit, order 6 to 10 more episodes with the same arrangement.  The production company can save money, the network will have a constant stream of new series and the fans won't have to dole out $60 for a full season.  But I guess "more" is better, even if you never get to see all of them. 

There was a vampire detective show on that I was just starting to enjoy -- Was it called "Moonlight"? -- and before you could blink, it was gone -- pity.

I also liked "Arrested Development" and "The Tick" -- Strange connection story:  Phil Proctor got a recurring role as a preacher on "Arrested Development" -- the day before its cancellation was announced!  Phil played the police chief opposite me in "ROBO-mess" & also did voices on "The Tick" cartoon series, along with the rest of The Firesign Theatre members.  Phil and David Ossman were well on their way to getting me on board as a voice for "Tick", when it got cancelled as well!  Ah, showbiz . . .

There was a legendary ABC-TV ripoff of "Laugh In", called "Turn-On", that was cancelled after one episode!!  Sadly, I missed it, but I'm sure it's out there on YouTube somewhere . . .

peter johnson/denny crane

Also God The Devil and Bob was pretty good. Loved the episode where the Devil is depressed because God forgot his birthday again and the Devil's little minion brings in Martha Stewart to give Hell a make over.

The biggest travesty for me is still Firefly - I love it but get angry at whatever fool pulled the plug when I watch it. I seriously can not find fault with this series, except the fact that it is too short. At least we had a film from it, although I get angry again as there is not gonna be a sequel (despite it usurping Star Wars on  several "Best Sci-Fi Film" polls, including one for a reputable highbrow newspaper here in the UK, if memory serves).

I also get angry when I stumble on Stargate and Charmed on TV, as they didn't get cancelled when they should have done - despite some high points, they went on far too long in my opinion.

Gutted to hear that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled too - this is the first I have heard of this. I am getting to the point where I am reluctant to watch new series, as I am sick of investing time and emotions in them, only to have them axed.

The STARGATE franchise is endemic of the problem with science-fiction in television.  As a genre it, and it's audience, are viewed with contempt by the "suits" so what you inevitably get is dumbed down drivel.  I think it was the National Socialists who came up with the idea that to sell a "big lie" propaganda has to be crafted to be understandable by the least intelligent citizen.  It has been said that Hollywood is run by idiots with delusions of grandeur that greenlight projects to be produced by morons who think they're geniuses.  And when you look at a show like STARGATE ALTANTIS it's hard to disagree.

CHARMED is perhaps a far better example of this sort of watered down nonsense than STARGATE SG-1, though it had it's moments.  CHARMED, from what I caught of it when it was in perpetual re-runs a few years back, seems to be all "grrl power" with a reset button.  There were never any consequences for character actions.  That sort of escapist fantasy drivel may play to a tween girl audience but, honestly, what sort of message was this imparting to that audience about actions and deeds?  Nothing good.

Even Bugs Bunny, the original un-expurgated cartoons, at least showed a carnival mirror reality.  But in CHARMED it didn't matter because the message here was by using witchy neo-pagan "grrrl power" reality would just realign itself around the wonts and desires of those "charmed" in the craft.

Or did I totaly mis-read the series?

No - I don't think so; if you did, then I did too. What also ticks me off is the "watered down nonsense" that is Charmed lifted many storylines and plot elements from Buffy, handled them in a completely inferior way and yet persistantly outperformed Buffy, ratings wise.

It's funny that you mention about there not being any consequences either, as the three episodes that I can recall that did have them (the one where Pru died, the one where Pru's policeman love interst died, and the one where Chris died) were, from what I recall the best episoded they did. I think it actually went downhill after Pru's departure as at least she broght some gravity and authority to the mix.

Whenever an actor wants to leave a series their character gets killed off.  So you can't really count character deaths as being "meaningful" in any way since that is THE cliche these shows use to dismiss characters when an actor leaves the series.  It's really rather petty, if you think about.

I suppose you are right, but meaningfulness in a series may be kind of relative; since Charmed was meaningless fluff for 8 series, I don't think they could do much better. Even though their deaths were due to the actors leaving, for me that did add something to the drama levels cos I knew that there would be no reset button; these characters were not coming back.

Still, it would have been refreshing if they had taken more than storylines from Buffy and killed off characters purely for dramatic purposes.

Not true, Mulder wasn't killed off.

No, but he might have well as been.  The seres had already reached its peak and was starting to decline.  I think for a lot of people this made the shark jump official.

What was funny to me, was if you were payin attention to the rumors about what was going on behind the scenes.  Duchoveny (sp) really wanted off the show, and stayed on because of contract requirements.  But years later, when asked if he would due another X-Files movie, he seemed real enthusiastic about it.  Like he realized the mistake he made by quitting.

One show I thought had potential but was cancelled after one season was Animal Face Off on Animal planet.  The show was, well just what the title said.  Scientist used information, mechanics, and CGI to see which animal would when in a fight.  Crocodile vs Great White Shark, Elephant vs Rhino, Gorilla vs Leopard were some of the fights.

But as I said, the show had POTENTIAL.  It needed some major retooling which it didn't survive long enough to get.  My major problem was the show was an hour long devoted to one fight.  It would have been better as two half hours and two different fights.  Especially since it became clear which animal would win after the first 15 minutes. 

The new American Gladiators didn't last long either.  Which was odd considereing how much exposure it got the first season.

Really? I am surprised at that as I find it to be far more entertaining than the new series of UK Gladiators which seems to be going strong (I would be happy to stand corrected on this point if anyone has heard about it being cancelled too).

If Mulder hadn't left then we would never have had Doggett!!!!!
Doggett is the best character in the show!!!
He is awesome.

Series 5,8,9 were the best.
Without Mulder there was no tedious alien conspiracy nonsense.

 :thumbup:

It was a bit drawn out, I agree.

I did enjoy X-Files but it too did last too long when superior series fell by the wayside.

One funny twist on this that happened many years ago. There was some soap opera that I'd never heard of (it had the name of some California city as its title. San Clemente? San Jose?) until I read this item in some entertainment news update. Seems ratings were really poor and the producers really wanted to clean house. So there was an earthquake. And everybody, I mean EVERY SINGLE FREAKIN CHARACTER was killed off.

Santa Barbara. Don't ask me how I know that.

I am slightly impressed that every character in a show can die and yet it not get cancelled!

A soap here in the UK called Emmerdale, did a similar thing and killed off a load of their cast with a plane crash.

I remember being extremely disappointed when Surface, Threshold, and Invasion were all cancelled.  I mean, come on!  They were great sci-fi shows and they had so much more to give.  Though, CBS screwed up big time by switching around Threshold's timeslot during the Christmas season, which is why it got cancelled.  Morons!!!

Other shows that were good that got cancelled was Joan of Arcadia.  It had a lot of pontenial and it seemed like it could be going somewhere good.  K-Ville was pretty interesting and loved the setting it was in.

Biggest insult to me was cancelling George Lopez Show.  Can you believe that got rid of it so they could put in the Caveman show that was horrible?  Insult!

I agree - lots of poignant storylines, superbly acted.

At about the same time, there was also Wonderfalls with a similar basic premise, but handled in a completely different way, making it poles apart but equally good. It too is sadly missed by me (plus I have lost one of the discs from my box set, making me even more bitter!).

Sorry, but sadly, television is pretty much like voting.  Only the highest rated shows stay on the air.  They don't care to make one viewer happy, but millions.

I watch mostly documentaries on the Discovery, Science and National Geographic Channels.  Unlike fictional TV shows, you don't invest much emotion in those.  You don't feel much empathy for the characters and you don't care how the story is going along as it is always fact.

But still, even Documentary series get cancelled.  I remember many of Discovery's documentary series which are no longer on the air, like the Secret Life of Machines, Discover magazine with Lucky Severson.

I do expect a few of my current favorite Documentary series to be cancelled eventually.  Like Mythbusters.  That show has been going strong for the last seven years.  But like all TV shows, its strength will eventually wane and go on the chopping block

Perhaps the only shows that almost never get cancelled are Soap Operas.  Many of these shows are still on TV, some started on radio before migrating to TV.

My wife and I used to tape Santa Barbara and watch it religiously  :teddyr:  It was a real cut above the other soaps.  Stuff actually happened!  I didn't know everyone died in an earthquake.  Interesting trivia:  the show was wildly popular in Russia and many Russians learned to speak English from watching it.

The soap Passions got canceled a few years back.  It had the worst ratings of any soap, and maintained that for years and years.  Due to fan outcry, DirecTV picked it up, but canceled it after a few months.  Deservedly so, if you ever had the misfortune to see an episode. 

Well, my memory was faulty as it turns out. Wikipedia claims it wasn't everybody.


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara_(TV_series))

I can't find any more information than that. As I said, at the time I'd never heard of the show but the announcement of the earthquake caught my attention because of the large number of characters being killed off at once.

Missing the point, and taking a patronizing tone while doing it. WW is nothing if not consistent.

 Carnivale: IMO one of the worst crimes of the 21st century was it's cancellation. .

Jeremiah also had a lot of potential and should not have got cancelled.

Dark Angel (after Firefly, cancelling this was the worst mistake in TV history, in my opinion)

Also, I think Angel had another series left in it (maybe he could have been dusted though and it focus more on Illyria?)

Greg the Bunny... great idea and cast.

And what about The Red Green Show? PBS sabotaged that one by changing the date/time too often. Or maybe it was just Oregon PB that did that. It was funny without offending anyone (except maybe those Canadians who live in Port Uranium--all 53 of them), and that's not easy anymore.

Speaking of offensive, Action, probably got the ax for that reason (I loved it--EVERYbody should be offended once in a while). I loved Mohr, in a close-up, screaming obscenities and then his young daughter telling him, "That's good, daddy."

What do I know? I think after Mad Cow they should call the Swine Flu, Hog Wild... Wheeeennnngggg!!!

I just remembered, I liked Drew Carrey's Green Screen Show.  It was cancelled too early for my taste.  Very disappointing.  :bluesad:

The Red Green Show ran for 15 years and 300 episodes, and it's still in reruns on a couple of channels. The cancellation seems to have more to do with Steve Smith wanting to retire than with anyone messing around with the show.

I used to watch Red Green pretty regularly. As far as I'm concerned, the show jumped the shark when the "outdoor show" format started getting mixed up with other goings-on at the lodge. We started seeing things happening apart from the show within a show, and people who would previously just get described in Red's stories became real characters on the show. It was much better at the beginning.

Are you saying I am the only one that yells at the screen when those pseudo-docu-dramas start to present hypothesis as fact and try to pass theory off as scientific evidence?  :buggedout:

So, you're saying the Illuminati aren't battling the Vril Society for mastery of the world?

I agree.I remember seeing one of the new episodes that showed a bunch of women(I think they were wives of the lodge members)picketing or some such thing.Women should never ever be shown on the Red Green Show.If ever there was a show that was 100% for men,it is Red Green(though my Mom watches it once in a while).
It still airs on Saturday nights on the local PBS affiliate here near KCMO.I just wish they would show episodes that I have not already seen a dozen times.

I loved Red Green when I was growing up in Northern Minnesota.  After I moved to Texas, I could never find it.  :(

I have always felt Married With Children was taken off kind of early/oddly. I mean i'm a huge fan and all, but I will say the jokes were wearing a little thin but I still loved them and the ratings were still good, espcially in foreign markets(I understand Germans are huge fans of MWC)just kind of weird it was canned at the last minute without a final show for the fans. You have to understand MWC was the very first show to run on Fox when nobody knew what Fox was and MWC helped it become as popular as it is now. Just goes to show you how networks care about their shows and fans. :(

Shame too, as I really liked it.  I remember they moved it like, three times, from Sunday night to Tuesday, then to Saturday nights.  Good show.

My Name is Earl gets the axe. Worst thing is it ended on a  "to be continued..." I didn't like the season where he was in jail as much as the first ones but this last season I thought was back on track.

Had no idea the show had ended. Pretty funny show too.

Red Green! I love that show. I'm from Michigan of course. All true Michiganders love Red Green.  :cheers: I have a hat I wear every single day-everywhere- just like his. A green fishing hat. Red Green the MAN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QFRSjWVTmY

I usta like SPACE:1999-Martin Landau and Barbra Bain (who had already done a series together - Mission Impossible)....and guest stars like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing! Fun show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DF9nDJZrdA

well, to be fair, Rome was phenomenally expensive to produce, and they ended it at the perfect point.  After Octavian ascends as Caesar Augustus, things get kind of boring in Rome for a while (other than Octavian's daughter being a nymphomaniac). 

Creator Matt Groening has said that all Fox was wanting out of Futurama was simply The Simpsons in space. They were basically left dumbfounded when they saw the pilot episode as Futurama wound up being its own unique thing that I actually preferred over The Simpsos as a whole.  Fox kind of freaked about what to do with the show hencd the constant scheduling changes leading to the canceling it after 5 years/ 4 seasons.

Is it just me or has Fox kind of went down hill since the 90's. I mean take a look of all the great groundbreaking shows that came out with in the 90's (The X Files,In Living Color,Martin,Simpsons,Cops,Living Single,MWC...), they have some great shows now, but I think they lost some of the things that made them a great network in the early days.

I'm just glad that FRINGE will be back for a second season on FOX. It's the best new show out there in my humble opinion and keeps getting better all the time.

I agree. FRINGE is a most interesting show.

I suspect it started in the 90s. When Fox was the new kid on the block, they were innovative and took chances because that was all they had, and they really had nothing to lose. So they came out with a lot of groundbreaking shows. I think they started to slip once they got firmly established as one of the major networks. I started to notice it after they got the NFL in 93. Fox had a great Sunday-night lineup in the 90s. You could watch all evening if you wanted. But one day I sat there and watched as post-game gabbing cut into season premiere night for some of those Sunday shows, wondering how they could think their viewers would like that. It occurred to me that they were finally competing with the big boys on even terms, and that was all that mattered. "Screw this stuff, we got the football games away from CBS." Fox continued to produce some good, creative shows, but they were definitely taking fewer risks, second-guessing themselves a lot more and generally behaving like any other network. That trend has continued.

I just found out that the CW's Reaper was canncelled.  It was one of those cool under-the-radar shows. And aside from Supernatural (which will end next year say the writers) it was the only CW show I watched.

Taken off early?It ran for 11 seasons.

But the ratings were still good, who does that?

There was a THS about this show.  The writers planned for another season, but were cancelled before they got it.

Shows sometimes get cancelled in spite of good ratings, simply because the people involved want to move on. And networks do have a history of axing popular shows in order to appeal to a different demographic, such as CBS and the 'rural purge' of 1971.

Yeah, but from my understanding the cast was planning another season. Yeah sometimes networks make really bad decisions.

Yeah, plus they pulled the plug without even telling anyone on the show they were doing so, not even giving them the chance to make a final episode.  I mean, how lame is that?  MWC was one of THE pillars of the Fox network, as one other reviewer put it, "Who could forgot Fox's one two punch of The Simpsons and Married With Children?"  And yet, for all the show did for them, they just dumped it like an unknown mid-season pickup.

Didn't they(Fox)keep changing the day and time when MWC was on?I think towards the end,it was on Tuesday?It worked so much better in the early seasons when it was on Sunday with The Simspons and for a while,Get A Life...Ahh,those were the days..

Well, of course, there's Firefly, I STILL can't figure out what the hell happened with that one.  I mean, Joss had TWO hit TV shows under his belt, you think Fox would have said, "Okay, well, let's give him a bit to see how well this new show turns out..." but instead they seemed dead set against it from day one.

I also thought it sucked how they canceled American Gothic and Brimstone, both were good series, IMHO. 

I was going to mention American Gothic, that was a genuinely creepy show, one I really enjoyed. Yeah its weird how FOX has changed since its beginnings, Married With Children and Werewolf (the one with Chuck Connors) were two of my favorite shows back then when they were experimenting with lots of edgy entertainment. MWC broke a lot of new ground for the sitcom, and although it did last a long time to end it with no real final episode is a big slap in the face to the cast and crew.

I think the days of experimentation with unique series is largely over, shows that allow for characters that are not cookie cutter archetypes to grow over time. Carnivale being one of the biggest recent examples, normally Showtime would see a series through to the end, but that one was canceled on the 2nd season albeit at the natural end of its first story arc.
 
Genre shows always seem to suffer the most when it comes time to make room for the lowest common denominator tripe these network execs like to champion. Firefly (this one still confuses me), Space: Above and Beyond, Surface what was that other one Earth 2?? Plenty of other examples have been mentioned in this thread.

King of the Hill is canceled now, and Judge's new show is not all that good from what I saw of the first episode. At least FOX from what I understand ordered a couple more episode of KOTH to end it properly.

I thought the final episode of KOTH was the one where Boomhauer went on vacation and came home with a woman,and the Hills ended up not getting along with their Canadian neighbors?

The one show I looked forward to regulaty...and they CANCELL it! Sci-Fi channel, eat my galaxy spanning shorts! :hatred: