The Greatest Television Series You've Never Seen!

2008-03-08T17:50:00.001-08:00

Well Ladies and Gents, it is a snow day here today on the sunny beaches of Toronto, so what is one to do when you're cut off from the outside world? Why, you blog of course!

I like watching TV. Its true. But sometimes I wonder what TV executives are thinking when I'm forced to hit the channel button when another reality TV show comes on or the 13th version of CSI graces my non-HD tv screen. You gotta wonder, if THIS is what impresses the higher ups and major networks then what kinda junk do they pass on year to year? The answer to that is pure gold. Read on avid reader, and all shall be revealed.

What follows is a list of the greatest TV series that got canceled after or even before they were able to finish their first season. The hows and whys of those wise corporate decisions are unknown but aren't really important in this blog post. What is important is that every single one of these series had the potential to be big and if you are ever lucky enough to watch some of these sometime, I guarantee that you'll often catch yourself wondering what might have been.

Oh, if you disagree or have any comments then by all means, keep them to yourself. This is MY blog dammit!

CLONE HIGH

The Premise: Shadowy government types create amusing teenage genetic copies of important historical figures and toss them into a high school. Hilarity ensues.

Reason for Greatness: This animated show takes its premise and just wildly runs with it like a kid with scissors. Using historical personalities and placing them into stereotypical teen roles is what makes this show genius. For example Abe Lincoln is the nerdy nice guy, Cleopatra is the hot prom-queen bitch, Joan of Arc is the self loathing goth, and JFK is the womanizing jock. But what really sells the show is Gandhi as the wild party animal who never gets any. The crazy antics of these memorable characters are helped with sharp writing and some of the wittiest dialogue ever written. Trust me on this. Clone High is comedic genius.

ANDY RICHTER CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE

The Premise: Andy Richter juggles the craziness of his office job with his rollercoaster dating life with his eccentric friends.

Reason for Greatness: Before there was Scrubs there was Andy Richter. Each episodes were packed with so many scenes of uncontained hilarity. Really, the only comparison of comedic consistency this show has would be the early seasons of the Simpsons. With madcap cutaways and dream sequences that involved anything from broadway musical numbers to enjoying flash fried pencils this show had it all. The writers of this show eventually went on to work on a more successful show called Scrubs. ARCTU probably had the saddest fate out of all on this list as the network only aired 6 of its 20 episodes and there doesn’t seem to be any intention of releasing the series on DVD.

FIREFLY

The Premise: A crew of renegades try to make a living out in the wild west of space.

Reason of Greatness: I know, I know. Space drama. Ugh. Right? Wrong. There are no bad face prosthetics or terrible techno-babble here. That crap is for Star Trek. Firefly is just plain old good drama that just happens to set in space. What makes this show work is the large ensemble cast. The 9 main stars of the show are so strong that each of them could just as easily carried their own TV series. Together, they create such a strong dynamic they begin to feel as familiar as family. Think I’m hyping you up like a voice over on a reality TV show? Here’s proof. After completing only 13 episode (10 of which ever actually got aired) the fan response was so big on the DVD sales that creator Joss Whedon was able to make a major feature film based on the show with Universal Pictures called Serenity. Seeing how only a handful of long running TV shows are continued onto films (X-files being the only one I can think of off the top of my head) then I’d say that pretty damn impressive.

DO OVER

The Premise: A middle aged man who is unhappy with his dull and boring life gets into an accident that sends him back to his teenage years in the 1980s. Armed with the knowledge of the next 20 years of his life, he sets out to act on missed opportunities of his youth.

Reason for Greatness: I think the premise speaks for itself. How many of us have wished for the chance of a do over? The great thing of this series is that it never squandered its premise at all. Filled with hilarious situations and great characters, it doesn’t take much to fall in love with this show. Our main character gets into all sorts of trouble like becoming a stock broker shark by trading in high tech stock that no one cares about like apple and intel. Or almost becoming famous after playing Greenday’s “Time of your life” at a talent show. The show also had an interesting love interest as there was the girl he had never the guts to ask out but for some reason can’t seem to work up the courage still. If you manage to come across this one, please LET ME KNOW! An uber rare find.

FREAKS AND GEEKS

The Premise: The lives of a brother and sister growing up as teenagers in the early 1980s.

Reason for Greatness: Yes, I know. Another teen drama. But look closely at the creative talent involved and you’ll see why this show is above the rest. Before Judd Apatow made 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, and Knocked Up, he created this show. Filled with the same sort of feel good sincerity as his films the show still managed to get in the good laugh every once and a while. The cast here all went on to do bigger and greater things, most notably Seth Rogen in Apatow’s films and James Franco as Harry Osborn in the Spiderman films. A great series with likable characters.

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The Greatest Television Series You've Never Seen!