Short-Lived TV Shows

[Starfist]

Does anyone remember...

Gerry Anderson's 'Secret Service'...? I've read about it but I've never seen an episode.

[blueray]

to me, a show that ended to soon is one that got canceled and ended with either a cliffhanger or a lot of unsolved answers.

the 4400: major cliffhanger, a great show. and a lot of questions left unanswered (excluding the non-cannon books).

sgu: massive cliffhanger, that not only left a lot of questions but showed a end of a franchise .

kyle xy: what kind of ending was that?! I have to admit I loved this teen drama even though I was slightly to old for it lol. It was a great family show, that had mystery and great characters. and for no reason abc family canceled in on a massive cliffhanger.

dead like me: the show ends greatly (to soon but no loose ends) but then they make a movie that ends in a cliffhanger.

ended before its time but without major cliffhangers:

roswell: I would have liked to see a fourth season. the way that it ends it always makes me want more. I wonder if Isabel and Jessie got back together, if Kyle develops powers and I wonder what Liz's and Maria's family thought about there children's adventure and if they were annoyed that Valenti never told them that he knew what was going on lol. and of course if they ever returned to Roswell.

sanctuary: like many people on this board, I was really into this show. and while it doesn't end with a cliffhanger but a new beginning. I wonder what would have come of the new sanctuary as well as all the characters had the show got renewed. I want to know if Biggie lived and rather Helen's plan to fake her death really worked.

refering to odessy 5, I saw the first few episodes when syfy decided to air it for some reason. I went to go watch more and found out it was canceled after only a few episodes (so I didn't bother watching the rest).

[Starfist]

I apologise for a mistake I made in an earlier post regarding 'Seven Days'.

As far as I can remember we only got to see 7 episodes in the UK when it aired on BBC2.
So I was unaware that it ran for 3 years.

[Krisz]

Does anyone remember...

Gerry Anderson's 'Secret Service'...? I've read about it but I've never seen an episode.

I'd never heard of that, but another Gerry Anderson short lived one was 'Space Precinct' that ran for only one season. It had some great characters, but suffered from not deciding whether it was a kids' or kids' and adults' show!

I loved 'Dead Like Me' that was a great show, I really got into it and it just.........ended, I wanted more. The movie was welcome, but it still only served to remind me that I still wanted more of that great black humour and brilliant characters!

In the same sort of vein another show 'Reaper' only lasted two seasons before it ended suddenly. It was just starting to find its feet....*poof* it was gone!

'Alcatraz' was a weird one, only one season, but its cancellation was justified, it really went nowhere fast as far as resolving things went, just became more convoluted!!!

Anyone remember the UK show 'Crime Traveller', only one season. Had a great time machine that really looked cobbled together from bits of toasters and microwave ovens in a woman's flat! I can never forget the main character always wearing a horrible yellow jacket in every episode! I liked the idea of the police detective having a few hours of going back in the past to try and solve various crimes.

[VampyreWraith]

American Gothic - aired on CBS in the mid 90's, only lasted one season, ended with a cliffhanger. I loved this series, and wish there was more of it.

Kings - lasted only 1 season, I thought it was a really good show; ended on a cliffhanger.

Dollhouse - 2 short seasons, it has an ending since the producers knew it was getting cancelled, but things seemed rushed and there is a massive time jump to give it an ending. It would have been nice more of what led to that ending.

Wolf Lake - was very short lived, I remember waiting every week for this to come on, but half the time it wasn't one when it should have been and it didn't last very long( only 9 episodes). It's finally coming out on dvd next month.

The River - 1 Season, I thought it got really interesting towards the end, and I would have liked to see more.

SGU - 2 seasons
Caprica - 1 Season
Firefly - 1 Season (14 episodes) + movie
Happy Town - 8 episodes
Outcasts - 8 episodes
The Fades - 6 episodes
Crusade - 13 episodes
Earth 2 - 1 Season

[Starfist]

I do remember both Crime Traveller and Space Precinct. Both from the mid 90's.
And I also remember Earth 2.

[maneth]

Oh yeah, let's not forget that foreign networks can decide not to buy an entire show, even if they've bought the first season.

Finnish TV channel Nelonen really screwed up when they bought the first 3.5 seasons of both DS9 and Voyager and broadcast them concurrently, but didn't show the rest! I had to get the DVDs to see it all.

Oh yeah, and I really enjoyed the first two seasons of SGU and would have liked to see more.

[The Urban Spaceman]

I was always wondering what Galen's true agenda was.

I loved Galen, easily my favourite character in the show.

Some other shows that ended far too early:

Covington Cross -- got 13 episodes before it was cancelled after some stupid politician bought the time slot to run some stupid presidential election campaign. One of the reasons why I hate politics.

The Tick -- died after 9 episodes because of poor network administration and the fact that it was a victim of its own high-calibre. It would have done far better if aired in the UK; sadly, US audiences didn't really 'get' it and it instead gained a small cult following.

[TennisMennis]

Sarah Conner was the best of the short series for me. Needed at least one more solid season. Second was too short.

[Snowman37]

to me, a show that ended to soon is one that got canceled and ended with either a cliffhanger or a lot of unsolved answers.

I think we've already got a thread going about shows ending on a cliffhanger. We're not talking about cliffhanger endings or shows that ended too soon, but rather a show that just wasn't on the air for very long. This can be a show that only lasted one or a few years, or perhaps several years, but with short seasons. An example of this would be Sanctuary with it's 13-episode seasons.

roswell: I would have liked to see a fourth season. the way that it ends it always makes me want more. I wonder if Isabel and Jessie got back together, if Kyle develops powers and I wonder what Liz's and Maria's family thought about there children's adventure and if they were annoyed that Valenti never told them that he knew what was going on lol. and of course if they ever returned to Roswell.

I would have liked to see more stories told while the show was on the air, but really, I think they ended it at the right time. It was a teen drama about kids in high school, some of whom are human-alien hybrids. There was too little science-fiction in the first season, too much in the second season, finally finding a balance in the third and final season. Most of the stories were wrapped up pretty decently. There are a lot of questions left unanswered, but really... what series doesn't end with unresolved questions? Besides, real life rarely has all of the answers. It's realistic for there to be stories unresolved. When watching the finale for the first time (I saw the series during it's original run), I just assumed Isabel and Jesse would get back together. She made that pretty clear. They just had to wait until the heat died down. Wait a few years, correspond secretly until it's safe to come out of hiding. When she can, he'll have a home waiting for her. Who knows, he could be sending Isabel money so the group can live a little easier. As for Kyle, if Liz did develop powers soley because Max healed her, Kyle is inevitable. What kind of powers? Who knows. As for Liz and Maria's parents... I think Liz's parents would take it well. Maria's mom? Kaboom! lol I never thought about them exploding at Valenti for knowing the whole time and never telling them squat. Good point. haha I think if there'd been a fourth season, the group might have returned to Roswell if the Special Unit could be defeated once more. The show's called Roswell, afterall.

Sarah Conner was the best of the short series for me. Needed at least one more solid season. Second was too short.

I don't know that I have a favorite short-lived show. TSCC is defiantly among my favorites, though. How was the second season too short? It ran for 22 episodes after a short first season of only 9 episodes. Many people have criticized the second season for running too long, padding out various storylines to the point of loosing direction. Personally, I think what killed the second season was being too hard to follow by a casual viewer. Someone who's not watching every week and missing the "Previous, on..." segment at the start of each episode is going to be unable to follow the show. Additionally, the show was doing fine until the defeat of Chromartie. After that, it became all about the three dots, and it just stopped being about fighting Skynet. Yeah, there was mention of fighting Skynet, but the focus was on three dots. Will it be Skynet this time, or another dead end? By the time the audience got some answers and payoff, the audience had shrunk too small, and thus the show was axed. Had the show continued, I believe the plan was for a five year run. Judgment Day, April 2011, would have coincided with the ending of the fourth season. If the show had gotten that far and been renewed, the writers could have revealed that the future was changed into something radically different to avoid the April, 2011 Judgment Day.

[LoneStar1836]

How long does a show have to be on for the show to have had a decent run? What's that magic number where, even if it ends on a cliffhanger, you feel like it had a good run? For me, it's three seasons.

Depends on the show. I generally think at least 4 to 5 seasons...especially depending on the style of the show. It is episodic or serialized?

I consider BSG serialized and think it went the right amount of seasons...4...to tell the story I wanted/enjoyed. Any more would have been too much, imo, and just stringing it along. Babylon 5 was perfect at 5 seasons even if the first half of S5 had its flaws. 4 seasons of Farscape. I certainly would have been on board for a 5th season which they wanted to do but got cancelled. 4 seasons got the bulk of the story told but then the proper conclusion of the series had to be smushed into the PKW mini-series. I'm grateful for PKW but would have preferred that 5th season.

Episodic tv on the other hand. I suppose that can last as long as they can keep it interesting/keep people watching....shows like NCIS etc. I'm usually generally satisfied with those type shows when they end their runs...no matter how long or short...well not too short, but I'm usually not as heavily invested in those type shows. JAG. One of my favorite episodic tv shows lasted 10 seasons even though it had its ups and downs and I never watched the final season...though I did watch the final ep.

Stargate: SG-1. I consider it to be mostly episodic. That's how it survived 10 season, imo. Granted I wasn't completely satisfied with the later seasons and at times thought it had dragged on past its expiration date, but in retrospect it could still produce some entertaining eps.

Like I said I think it depends on the type of show. Not all shows can fit nicely into a 3 or 4 season run...even if they make it that far and get cancelled. I tend to think 5 is a nice number for a show that is more serialized than episodic. Those seasons tend to be my favorite seasons of shows. For example Supernatural. While I still love the show, I think its prime days are behind it. The first 4 seasons are my favorite and the best, imo. It's currently into S8. S5 could have been the cut off as it wrapped up the show's major story arc but left one of the main characters in a terrible place if it had ended there.

But then 5 seasons doesn't fit with some shows and shorter ones are best. The Wire was highly serialized and went 5 seasons but I could have done without the final season as it felt somewhat tacked on. I enjoyed Caprica but didn't see it lasting beyond 2 or 3 seasons. I think a final 2nd season would have wrapped that show up pretty nicely. Hated that it got cut off at only 1 season. TSCC certainly could have gone a 3rd season. I was disappointed that it got cut just when it was about to get good again. I'm one of those that thought S2 dragged because of too much focus on Sarah. I know her name was in the show title, but I certainly didn't watch it for her.

For a good run I want a show to at least get the bulk of its story told before being cut short. How many seasons that takes depends on the show. I think Deadwood got in what it needed to before it was cancelled. Farscape got in most of what it needed, but that cliffhanger would have been a devastating way to have left it. SGU needed a season or two more. SGA on the other hand had a good run. Could it have gone longer? Sure but it didn't need to as it's main story was essentially told. SG-1 could have ended at S6 as far as I was concerned. The 4400 could have gone one more season but I was satisfied enough with what they gave us. Survivors (UK)...not satisfied. I wanted more. Sure it got 2 seasons but still had plenty of story to tell in at least one more season. They did essentially get in the main story in those 2 seasons, but I wanted to see what Tom was going to find on the other end of that plane ride and just where would the show go from there. Roswell...satisfied. Space: Above and Beyond...only one season so no not satisfied. Firefly...heck no. Thankful for the movie though which wrapped up the major show arc. Obviously it sucks to have a show cancelled after one season so to get some satisfaction from a show it needs to at least go two seasons, preferably 3, imo.

[Snowman37]

Depends on the show. I generally think at least 4 to 5 seasons...especially depending on the style of the show. It is episodic or serialized?

Most shows I watch don't go much further than five years, so that seems like a full run. Really, the only shows that I kept up with that went longer than five years were three of the Star Trek spin-offs, SG-1, and The X Files (casual viewer)... that's it, really. As for being episodic or serialized, what's that matter? An episodic show can end on a cliffhanger just as easily as a serial.

I consider BSG serialized and think it went the right amount of seasons...4...to tell the story I wanted/enjoyed. Any more would have been too much, imo, and just stringing it along. Babylon 5 was perfect at 5 seasons even if the first half of S5 had its flaws. 4 seasons of Farscape. I certainly would have been on board for a 5th season which they wanted to do but got cancelled. 4 seasons got the bulk of the story told but then the proper conclusion of the series had to be smushed into the PKW mini-series. I'm grateful for PKW but would have preferred that 5th season.

I never watched BSG nor B5, too wierd. I've got Farscape in my Netflix queue. I plan to watch that once I've finish one of the shows I'm already watching.

Episodic tv on the other hand. I suppose that can last as long as they can keep it interesting/keep people watching....shows like NCIS etc. I'm usually generally satisfied with those type shows when they end their runs...no matter how long or short...well not too short, but I'm usually not as heavily invested in those type shows. JAG. One of my favorite episodic tv shows lasted 10 seasons even though it had its ups and downs and I never watched the final season...though I did watch the final ep.

The thing I really appreciate about episodic shows is the variety of stories that can be told. If you have 26 stand-alone episodes, you feel like there's more story than if there was just 26-parts to one, big story.

Stargate: SG-1. I consider it to be mostly episodic. That's how it survived 10 season, imo. Granted I wasn't completely satisfied with the later seasons and at times thought it had dragged on past its expiration date, but in retrospect it could still produce some entertaining eps.

SG-1 was in between. It had recurring characters and stories, more so than say Star Trek or Law & Order. At the same time, it wasn't a 24-style serial. Honestly, this is the best format. It's fun to have continuing stories, but at the same time... you also want to enjoy the episodes that are resolved come end credits. As for SG-1 dragging on past it's expiration date, I don't think that was the issue. Rather, it had more to do with the finality of the eighth season and RDA's departure from the show. The producers and writers had to scramble together new characters, villains, and stories for the ninth season; effectively a new show within an existing show as many have described it.

Like I said I think it depends on the type of show. Not all shows can fit nicely into a 3 or 4 season run...even if they make it that far and get cancelled.

The problem is that American television shows are renewed on a year-by-year basis. Occasionally, a cable channel will sign on to two or three years if they think the show is that good, but that almost never happens. Having a long-term story is cool and all, but not practical. Anyone doing a serial for TV should have a last-minute ending on hand should the show be cancelled, sort of an open-ended finale. An ending that brings closure but allows the show to be picked up by another network or resolved with a movie.

I tend to think 5 is a nice number for a show that is more serialized than episodic. Those seasons tend to be my favorite seasons of shows.

I'd say 3-5, but yeah... I pretty much agree.

But then 5 seasons doesn't fit with some shows and shorter ones are best.

I've never followed a show to the point where it felt like it had been on for too long. If a TV show's final seasons felt stale, it had more to do with departing regulars than anything. This would largely be due to the new characters simply lacking the draw of the older ones. It depends on the show. SG-1 lost Hammond after the S7 finale and O'Neill after the S8 finale. In the ninth season, we got Mitchell and Landry. Mitchell was interesting, but his backstory was awfully unbelievable. Landry, however... if Hammond was Grandpa, Landry was the goofy uncle. When Vala became a regular, she was the wildcard, and gave the show what it was desperately missing after O'Neill left: HUMOR. As for The X Files, when Mulder was reduced to a recurring role in the eighth season, the show became all about Scully. In addition, she was joined by a new agent, Doggett. In the ninth season, Scully slipped into the background (still got first billing) while Doggett partnered up with Reyes. Really, the show could have gone on with Doggett and Reyes for a few years. The stories were still interesting, except for the painfully-hard-to-follow "Alien Super Soldier" saga. However, because it wasn't Mulder & Scully, people stopped watching. Really, in American television, dropping regulars can be the death knell of the show more than anything else.

TSCC certainly could have gone a 3rd season. I was disappointed that it got cut just when it was about to get good again. I'm one of those that thought S2 dragged because of too much focus on Sarah. I know her name was in the show title, but I certainly didn't watch it for her.

"...just when it was about to get good again." That's what killed the show, it lost it's focus mid-season, and consequently, lost it's audience. By the time the show was back on track, too little, too late. Despite this, I would have loved a third season, but I understand and agree with why the show was cancelled. As for there being too much focus on Sarah... nonsense. The show was about the Sarah Connor chronicles. You may not have been watching it for her, but then... the producers were not making the show for you. They were producing it for people who admired Sarah Connor and the overall James Cameron production of the first two movies. That said, it's not unreasonable to think that if the show was on for the better part of a decade, it might have been re-titled to Terminator: The John Connor Chronicles, or more simply... Terminator: The Connor Chronicles.

For a good run I want a show to at least get the bulk of its story told before being cut short.

I mostly watch episodic shows. The serials I have watched have all been cancelled after just one or two seasons. Consequently, the only response I have is to say that I don't care how long or brief the show's run is. I just want an ENDING, whether it lasts 10 years or just one. Yeah, I said one or two seasons is too short, but it's tolerable if there's an ending.

How many seasons that takes depends on the show.

Not necessarily. Jericho had this huge story which could have gone on for years. After CBS reversed the cancellation, it was resolved in seven episodes.

Farscape got in most of what it needed, but that cliffhanger would have been a devastating way to have left it.

I haven't seen the show yet, but I'm sure the cliffhanger finale was indeed devastating to the audience. The miniseries was SciFi's response to a very angry audience. hah

SGU needed a season or two more.

Wasn't the plan for a five-year-run? SciFi committed five years to SG-1 (Seasons 6-10), five to Atlantis, so I guess the producers just assumed SGU would run five years as well. It makes you wonder, what would have happened in the remaining three years, and then... how would it have ended?

SGA on the other hand had a good run. Could it have gone longer? Sure but it didn't need to as it's main story was essentially told.

Atlantis had the benefit of being episodic. Really, the only things that had to be resolved were the Wraith and the fate of the lost city. Ultimately...

Spoiler:

The fate of the Wraith went unresolved, but we had closure in that Atlantis relocated to Earth. Had the show continued with a sixth season or TV movie, the city would have returned to Pegasus. Hopefully, with something better than a self destruct plot device. That said, we can still imagine that Earth maintains a presence in the Pegasus galaxy. I'd like to think that the Daedalus and Apollo take turns going to Pegasus, fighting the Wraith. Who's to say an SGC-type facility can't be built and manned in Pegasus? We've seen similar complexes built in the Milky Way, such as Icarus Base (SGU)

SG-1 could have ended at S6 as far as I was concerned.

Curious, why here? I can understand ending the show with "Moebius," but why "Full Circle?" Did you not like Seasons 7&8? What went wrong, too little O'Neill?

Roswell...satisfied.

Agreed. It was about teenagers in high school, some of whom were human-alien hybrids. The show resolved the relationship storylines, introduced premise-rocking concepts, and ended with their graduation and leaving Roswell. Really, it didn't need to continue. I really liked how it ended, though I wish the finale could have been a two-hour show. I can't find any sources on the web, but I once read that the final season was cut from 22 to 18 episodes, leading to three episodes being cut and the finale being reduced to a one-hour. Have you heard of this?

Firefly...heck no. Thankful for the movie though which wrapped up the major show arc.

At least it didn't end on a cliffhanger... just a regular episode. I saw part of "The Train Job" on TV, had no idea what it was, and never tuned back in. I saw the movie at the theater with my dad who admitted to being a fan of the TV series. It's based on a TV series? After the movie, I got the TV show on DVD. It's one of the few shows my dad and I both like. My mom especially loved it!

Obviously it sucks to have a show cancelled after one season so to get some satisfaction from a show it needs to at least go two seasons, preferably 3, imo.

Agreed. Even if a show gets cancelled after two years, you can at least say the network tried and gave it a second chance. When shows are cancelled after one year, it's like the network just didn't care.

[knowles2]

roswell: I would have liked to see a fourth season. the way that it ends it always makes me want more. I wonder if Isabel and Jessie got back together, if Kyle develops powers and I wonder what Liz's and Maria's family thought about there children's adventure and if they were annoyed that Valenti never told them that he knew what was going on lol. and of course if they ever returned to Roswell.

or their home planet, their enemies were never going to stop trying to kill them.

The problem is that American television shows are renewed on a year-by-year basis. Occasionally, a cable channel will sign on to two or three years if they think the show is that good, but that almost never happens. Having a long-term story is cool and all, but not practical. Anyone doing a serial for TV should have a last-minute ending on hand should the show be cancelled, sort of an open-ended finale. An ending that brings closure but allows the show to be picked up by another network or resolved with a movie.

The problem with that idea is that if the main story can be wrap up in a single episode then it does not need to be a TV series in the first place, it a film. I think if you want to do a serial then you got to think of it as a serial and write it as a serial and not even think about how to quickly wrap up the story and if you can think of how to quickly wrap it up quickly then it probably not serial worthy idea, not a 5 season long one. This is why I think The Lost Room and Taken, or the BBC Invasion: Earth are such brilliant mini series, they knew what they wanted to be and the story they wanted to tell.

That why I think Babylon 5 worked so well, Straczynski had his 5 years story that he want to do, planned out and it felt like a five year story. Unlike other serial lately, where it felt like there stories have been dragged out and that they are writing like they are always thinking it a going to be cut rather than working to create a story and universe, and characters which can last 5 years.

This is why I think tv shows today instead of having one or two on going story lines, try to have 5 or 10 different story lines all going on and continually feel the need to add more story lines in to the mix to continue the show rather than having one or two really strong central story to tell.