Too bad it didn't survive...

[Dunnyman]

At sale on Target was the one and only season of Back To You, so I grabbed it, blind buy and how did this not make it? It's funny as all get out, with some great characters (especially Fred Willard's), and I think it died before it had a chance to grow an audience.
Sound off on shows killed before they had the chance to develop a real following!!!!
Firefly-Damn it, give Whedon a chance, like they did with Buffy!
Rome-I don't care if it cost TEN million an episode, it was great!
Police Squad-How many other shows that only had SIX episodes have spawned THREE successful movies?
What else was killed by brainless executives???

[Dan Mancini]

Arrested Development.

[tucco]

Carter Country ....sorry couldn't resist..

[Dan Mancini]

Cop Rock. Sorry, couldn't resist.

[HGervais]

Dollhouse...sorry...could not resist.

[tucco]

I did like the John Laroquette Show......That was like a one-two punch scheduled alongside Frasier. Not as good as prime Frasier but I liked it enough to keep watching.

[booklover]

Carter Country ....sorry couldn't resist..

You have nothing to apologize for. It was a darn funny show. I'll also add:

C.P.O. Sharkey
Daddy Dearest
The George Carlin Show

And I'm on the fence about the original "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." On one hand, Darren McGavin didn't want to do the show anymore. On the other hand, ABC gave the show a terrible timeslot and little publicity...even if McGavin wanted to continue, ABC probably would have cancelled it regardless.

[HGervais]

Ellery Queen...terrific TV show based on the mystery novels of the same name.
When Things Were Rotten...Mel Brooks meets Robin Hood.
Quark...Buck Henry meets trash collectors in space.
The Richard Pryor Show....greatest comic of his age in a medium not nearly ready for him.
The Man From Atlantis...Patrick Duffy as a merman fighting crime on the surface world.
Skag...Karl Malden drama that never really had a chance.
Legend UPN show with Richard Dean Anderson.
We could of course start a whole sub-section of showed developed by Fox and quickly faded. That list has to start with Profit. Even today Profit is kind of shocking in where it was willing to go and how it was willing to do it. Sure the computer graphics look ancient but the writing & performances are amazing.
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, M.A.N.T.I.S., Greg the Bunny, The Tick, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Brimstone...this list could go on & on.

[Paul Kile]

The Outer Limits original series. ABC didn't quite know what to do with the show, it was too "cerebral", and some of the monsters did frighten the typical TV audience of the day (such as Robert Culp's final incarnation in the episode "The Architects of Fear"). The series got canned after only 1.5 seasons, replaced by the awful, saccharine variety show The King Family.

I was only 12 in 1965, but that was the first time I felt disillusioned and cheated by a TV network's machinations. It would not be the last....

[Stubblecat]

Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Too brilliant for its day.

[Dave Johnson]

Veronica Mars. It had three solid seasons before it's untimely abortion, but what a show.

[erich]

Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Too brilliant for its day.

Heartily seconded! Hilarious show.

Ditto on Veronica Mars, Arrested Development, and Freaks and Geeks (someone must have mentioned F&G somewhere).

I'll also throw in Jim Henson's The Storyteller. I loved that show (and the Muppet hour it spun off from) when I was a kid.

[Steve T Power]

Rome was indeed fantastic, but wasn't always on some sort of a 2-year plan?

My vote goes to Deadwood - best show ever.

[mkiker2089]

The real crime is Ellery Queen, as it's not even on DVD yet as far as I know. You'll have to Limewire it or something. It's a great show that could have gone somewhere given a chance and a little marketing.

I seem to recall and 80's variant where they showed you a scene and then walked you through the clues. It didn't make it either, but I can't recall the name at all.

[Dave Ryan]

Rome was indeed fantastic, but wasn't always on some sort of a 2-year plan?

My vote goes to Deadwood - best show ever.

Rome was on a 5-year plan to begin with, that would have taken them up to the end of Augustus' reign (I think), based on an interview with one of the creators that I read recently and am too lazy to go find and link.

I'll concur heartily on Richter and Deadwood.

And, once again: MAX HEADROOM!!!!!! For the love of God, at least put it out on DVD, cruel video lords!

[Dave Ryan]

Carter Country ....sorry couldn't resist..

Carter Country was no She's the Sherriff. Nor even a Capitol Critters.

[TemporalWisdom]

I'll third Veronica Mars. Modern Men really had something, but the star, Jason Segal, is tearing it up on How I Met Your Mother now, which is even better.

Point Pleasant had serious potential. Elisabeth Harnois gave me chills.

[mavrach]

Another vote for Firefly.

I would have loved to see how the show would have progressed if it were given a few years. I mean look at Buffy and Angel. Going through these a second time, it's just stunning seeing how far all of the characters grew, then going back to the earlier seasons and seeing how they started out. Firefly was just the first 12 episodes of what should have been a longer series. I can only imagine how the Serenity crew would have ended up by Season 7.

[tucco]

Carter Country ....sorry couldn't resist..

Carter Country was no She's the Sherriff. Nor even a Capitol Critters.

What a crap career move that turned out to be for Victor French! It took him years to worm his way back onto Little House on the Prairie......The show could have only benefited from his earlier return.....Look at his replacement as Charles' best friend "Jonathan Garvey". He was so bland it was painful.

[Steve T Power]

Another vote for Firefly.

I would have loved to see how the show would have progressed if it were given a few years. I mean look at Buffy and Angel. Going through these a second time, it's just stunning seeing how far all of the characters grew, then going back to the earlier seasons and seeing how they started out. Firefly was just the first 12 episodes of what should have been a longer series. I can only imagine how the Serenity crew would have ended up by Season 7.

Supposedly, Joss's plans for Firefly were to go three seasons total. I'm actually kind of glad Serenity ended where it did. I think the show will be remembered much more fondly in the state it's in right now. Serenity did a fantastic job on closing the book, per se, and i shudder to think what might have become had the show run it's intended length. Joss's judgment hasn't always been sound, as is evidenced by what two (i think?) seasons of Buffy that have been regarded as all but throwaway by all but the most ardent of supporters.

I think it's serendipity at work. Which is not to say i wouldn't mind seeing stories set in the interim between Firefly and Serenity, as they've been doing with the comic books (first series was awesome, though i'm told the second sucked).

[HGervais]

I would have loved to see how the show would have progressed if it were given a few years. I mean look at Buffy and Angel. Going through these a second time, it's just stunning seeing how far all of the characters grew, then going back to the earlier seasons and seeing how they started out. Firefly was just the first 12 episodes of what should have been a longer series. I can only imagine how the Serenity crew would have ended up by Season 7.

I think in a lot of ways Angel was just getting started. I love the idea of the good guys losing and Los Angeles being transported to hell. Insert LA jokes to your heart's delight.

[the5thghostbuster]

If it had been left alone to the original creators, Sliders would have been fantastic to keep around. As it stands, we managed to get two solid seasons followed by three that are best left forgotten.

[Future Man]

Star Trek: TOS
Fawlty Towers

[Dan Mancini]

Fawlty Towers

It survived. Cleese and Connie Booth chose to do only two series. In fact, they almost passed on the second series because they weren't sure they could match the quality of the first 6 episodes.

[mavrach]

Another vote for Firefly.

I would have loved to see how the show would have progressed if it were given a few years. I mean look at Buffy and Angel. Going through these a second time, it's just stunning seeing how far all of the characters grew, then going back to the earlier seasons and seeing how they started out. Firefly was just the first 12 episodes of what should have been a longer series. I can only imagine how the Serenity crew would have ended up by Season 7.

Supposedly, Joss's plans for Firefly were to go three seasons total. I'm actually kind of glad Serenity ended where it did. I think the show will be remembered much more fondly in the state it's in right now. Serenity did a fantastic job on closing the book, per se, and i shudder to think what might have become had the show run it's intended length. Joss's judgment hasn't always been sound, as is evidenced by what two (i think?) seasons of Buffy that have been regarded as all but throwaway by all but the most ardent of supporters.

I think it's serendipity at work. Which is not to say i wouldn't mind seeing stories set in the interim between Firefly and Serenity, as they've been doing with the comic books (first series was awesome, though i'm told the second sucked).

That's true too. Buffy and Angel both had full season's that are just chores to go through (Buffy Seasons 1, 7, somewhat 6, and Angel Season 1), though you tend to view them anyway because they are still important to the overall story.

What little we got of Firefly was top quality, so we wish for seasons more worth of that quality. Considering Wedon's other work, there would probably be a couple of clunker season had it lived.

[jcankerhuxley]

TV Funhouse: Hard to believe that Comedy Central actually cancelled this show because of cost concerns (and it gleefully forked $50 million over to an unstable Dave Chappelle) even though it was helmed by Robert Smigel and had rave reviews from the likes of Tom Shales. Living proof that Comedy Central would not know comedy if it reached down and bit them in the ass.

The Manic Misadventures of Ed Grimley. Unfortunately listed as a kiddie cartoon in 1980s crap like GI Joe and He-man, this featured five of the best comedic talents out there - Martin Short, Cathrine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, and Joe Flahrity plus the great Jonathan Winters. To quote David Letterman, "Grimely is just better as a Cartoon." Only 13 episodes, this one needs to be out on DVD.

[ellroy]

Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Too brilliant for its day.

Heartily seconded! Hilarious show.

And on March 24, 2009 it will be released on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Andy-Richter-Cont ... 388&sr=1-1

[barnaclelapse]

Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Too brilliant for its day.

Heartily seconded! Hilarious show.

And on March 24, 2009 it will be released on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Andy-Richter-Cont ... 388&sr=1-1

I thought Ted Danson's last sitcom, Help Me Help You was pretty decent.

[Jim_Thomas]

At sale on Target was the one and only season of Back To You, so I grabbed it, blind buy and how did this not make it? It's funny as all get out, with some great characters (especially Fred Willard's), and I think it died before it had a chance to grow an audience.

I saw the first few episodes. Great talent, great production values, 20 year-old storylines.

[Udvarnoky]

Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Too brilliant for its day.

Heartily seconded! Hilarious show.

And on March 24, 2009 it will be released on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Andy-Richter-Cont ... 388&sr=1-1

I can't believe I had no knowledge of this. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Also in the category of "win," the extremely short lived Dana Carvey Show (aka the show everyone who ended up on The Daily Show worked on) is coming out as well.

By the way, thinking of Andy Richter and his other cancelled show Andy Barker PI has reminded me of Lookwell, that famous 1991 pilot written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel starring Adam West as a delusional and slightly deranged washed up TV actor who's convinced he can solve real life crimes because he used to play a police detective. (See a supposed alternately edited version of it here.) Do failed pilots count in this thread? Because if so, I would also give a shout out to Welcome to Eltingville, which aired as a special on Adult Swim but never got picked up as a full series. You can see that one here.