TTT: Favorite Cancelled Shows

Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is a weekly book meme. Today's theme is TV shows and I couldn't make up my mind whether to list Favorite Cancelled Shows or Books I Wish Were TV Shows. So I did both.

Top Ten Tuesday is a blog meme hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish

 
Gone too soon applies to everything on this list. EVERYTHING.

Battle Creek (CBS)

This show really deserved a second chance. (Ironic, considering #2 on this list). My Worth Watching review basically sums up what an amazing show it was -writing, execution, cast, crew- but it's a crying shame this show didn't survive its first season. It racked up good review ratings and die-hard fanbase, but the viewership odds were not in its favor.

Second Chance (Fox)

I fell in love with this show and I fell hard, as my Worth Watching review/spotlight can attest. Much as I love it, at least I can see why it was cancelled.

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (Fox)

A rare and beautiful gem among television shows, it ran one season in 1993-94. Starring Bruce Campbell as a Harvard-educated-lawayer-turned-bounty-hunter, Brisco County Jr. made the western/science fiction show a thing long before Firefly. (Sorry, Joss Whedon.)

And I'm laughing now because I just found out this was on Fox.

The Middleman (ABC Family)

This one's hard to describe, so I'll let the internet do that: Struggling female artist Wendy Watson, recruited by a secret agency, struggles to wrap her head around her bizarre new job -- fighting dangers humanity isn't prepared to face -- under the guidance of a handsome and relentlessly wholesome hero who calls himself "The Middleman" in this tongue-in-cheek adventure series.

The funny thing is, the series was literally one episode away from a satisfactory ending. It ran 12 episodes when the 13th would have connected everything together, answered questions we didn't even know we were asking, and finished off the series nicely. While we never did get this elusive missing episode -we did get the next best thing. After the fact, almost the entire cast sat on a Middleman panel at SDCC for a live reading of the episode 13 script, with show creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach acting as moderator and narrator. It was beautiful. It's also on YouTube.

Also, this guy:

And speaking of Mark Sheppard...

Firefly (Fox)

You knew it had to be coming. And no, Universe; we will never get over this.

Life (NBC)

Life was his sentence.

Life was what he got back.

Life is what they cancelled.

If you want to see the bottom lip wobble on any of my family members, just intone that little gem. We all loved this show.

Homicide detective Charlie Crews served 12 years for a crime he didn't commit, but now he's back on the job with a few new quirks -prison habits, a Zen philosophy, and an insatiable craving for fresh fruit. The show is equal parts zany and poignant.

Fun fact? Created by Rand Ravich, who also created my #2 heartbreak, Second Chance.

Forever (ABC)

My dad and I fell in love with this show about an immortal medical examiner. It was fun and I always thought it was pretty clever; what's a crime show without a good quirk now a days? 

Young Justice (CN)

Another show that just shouldn't have been cancelled. But hey -those Netflix season 3 rumors just started up again, so here's hoping.

Agent Carter (ABC)

Admittedly, I haven't finished season 2 yet, but I was disappointed when this wasn't renewed. It had everything -the time period, the snark, so much Marvel origins potential, and Peggy Carter.

Pushing Daisies (ABC)

If you haven't heard of Pushing Daisies, you're hanging out with the wrong crowds. Lee Pace, Chi McBride, Kristin Chenoweth, AND NARRATED BY JIM DALE. (Yes, narrator-of-the-Harry-Potter-audiobooks, THAT JIM DALE.)

With a single touch, Ned can bring the dead back to life. But one more touch will kill them again. Permanently. It's a zany mystery series and love story with fantasy elements, beautiful cinematography, wonderful wordplay, and the occasional musical number. (Because yes, THAT Kristen Chenoweth, too!)

Scarecrow and Mrs. King (CBS)

And if you thought the early 90s were as far back as I'd go -you were wrong! It had four season running from 83-87. I've just been introduced to this show and I LOVE it. While it had four great seasons, and they did give us as satisfactory an ending as they could swing with the cancellation, I would have loved to see more of this show.

Don't miss my Ten Books I Wish Were TV Shows!
I understand the pain. Share some of your favorite cancelled shows.