The Top Five television programmes cancelled before their time

Sometimes really bad TV shows seem to last forever, and sometimes really great TV programmes go on for far too long and by the time they finish they're a poor watered down version of the great shows they once were, but all too often really great television bursting with potential gets cancelled long before it's given a chance to find its feet. This is a celebration of those programmes that should have had a much longer run.

1) Arrested Development.

Whoever was behind the decision to axe Arrested Development made a huge mistake. Genius is a word that's often overused today (mostly by Kanye West) but this programme was nothing short of it. Flawless performances from a brilliant ensemble of talented actors, the subtle inside jokes rewarding loyal fans, the brilliant plotlines which within each 22 minute episode get massively convoluted and brilliant tie together in a neat little package at the end. It's the closest thing to a live action Simpsons that was ever made. It keeps me up at night that shows like Two And A Half Men are entering their 8th season while this get cancelled after two and a half ( Did that just happen I didn't even plan that). Make a movie I mean COME ON!


2) Veronica Mars.

 Ok, ok yes if you tell someone that you've been watching a television programme about a teenage detective who, when she's not busy with homework, solves crimes, it does conjour up an image of a bad, low budget, made for TV Disney film. However, Veronica Mars was one of the smartest teen dramas on the air. With a sassy heroine that falls somewhere between Sherlock Holmes and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a smorgasbord of brilliantly developed well rounded and diverse characters. Striking a perfect balance between scenes of eerie, dark and suspenseful drama and sharp witty comedy. Mars fans were left with a horribly unsatisfying cliff-hanger ending that left about a half dozen loose ends. Word on the blogosphere however, say that Kristen Bell is rallying the troops together and campaigning for a film to wrap it all up.

3) Freaks and Geeks.

Most TV programmes about teenagers fall into one of two traps, either they’re full of tried and tested clichéd characters, The jock, the cheerleader, the princess the basket-case, or they become obsessed with creating remarkably cool characters that everyone watching wishes they were. Judd Apatow created characters that everyone already is or have been. Everyone can in some way relate to the characters presented to us in this brilliant comedic drama beauifull capturing life in an eighties high school. I’d like to think I was one of the freaks but I guess deep down I know I was definitely (and in some ways still am) one of the geeks. This TV show did however launch the careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco and one of my favourite television actors, How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segal and made Judd Apatow one of the most bankable comedy directors in Hollywood.
Fun Fact: Freaks and Geeks lends the name of its fictional high school “McKinley High to the insanely popular Glee.

4) Fire Fly




I’ll be honest I’ve only seen the first episode, I'm not much of a sci-fi geek but a friend of mine who is a massive one was pretty relentless in his demand that this make the list so here is Colum O’Toole’s argument for why FireFly should still be in the air.
Do you ever blue-ball for a mythological expansive universe but you’re too busy reading Pynchon for a college assignment or figuring out how to break the news to a loved one that they need to cop on and brush their teeth? Luckily, Joss Whedon made our lives a hell of a lot easier in short, 40 minute bursts of unparalleled escapism. Whereas Buffy was his opus extravaganza, Firefly was his finger to naysayers and fan boys alike which will, unfortunately, be remembered for departing this world far too soon.

5) J-Pod

Yeah you probably haven’t heard of it it’s pretty obscure. It turns out Canada is worth more than Trivial Pursuit and Justin Bieber. It’s more than capable of producing some dope television. J-Pod is an adaptation of a Douglas Coupland novel focussing on the hilariously dramatic lives of five people working in a video-game design lab of a software company. The show beautifully balances between the genres of comedy and drama. It knew no boundaries for plot (thier boss getting kidnapped and taken to china to work in a sweatshop where he becames a heroin addict was particularly out of the blue). It also featured a broad range of beautifully caricatured characters from the Asian mafia head Kam Fong to the homely Martha Stewartesque drug grower and seller mother. This show had it all.

Fans  of this wonderful television can only take solace in the fact that they didn't go on too long and decline in quality until they (for want of a better word) sucked. We’re looking at you Scrubs.
Honourable mention to Studio 60 on the sunset strip. It probably wasn’t good enough to be included but I really wanted it to be. But maybe if it had taken off Aaron Sorkin would have been too busy to write The Social Network. Anyway 30 Rock won that race for the TV show about a TV show but that’s a topic for another blog post.

Skins USA Review.

I waited until the second episode to pass judgement on the Skins US remake and I'm glad I did, because guess what? It's worth its salt after all. The first episode was a shot for shot remake of the first episode of the UK original and I think the main reason it fell flat for me was because it tried to replicate the British culture and characters of the original  but set it in a town in America and it just didn't translate. Imagine for example that you took the dialogue and characters of say Gossip Girl and set it in Dublin. It's Lego and mega blocks. It just won't fit.
The new episode instead gave us a completely new plotline unlike one we've seen before. It focused on Maxine (Tea Marvelli) , the most drastic change from the original cast but quickly became my favourite character though I was completely adverse to the idea of the gender swapping of Maxie, one of my favourite characters from the original, but after last nights episode she's really grown on me. Katie is a little different from her British counterpart Cassie going for a more unhinged, dead pan stare, serial killer vibe versus Cassie's dazed and confused act but each works in their own way. Everyone else however, is virtually a carbon copy.
The big Italian family makes for great viewing despite being a little clichéd. I'm also a little disappointed to see that the creators are not doing the whole minor celebrities playing the parents routine which I always got a kick out of in the original. Making Maxine of Italian descent was a nice move.
I've got to be honest, I'm finding it hard not to like Tony (James Newman). His acting leaves a little to be desired but I'd find it hard to deny that he's got that smooth charm required to play Tony, a charm that would come across as sleaziness in most actors.
 Skins is a mixed bag. I'm impressed by the creators gutsy decision to cast teenage actors as was intended, bringing on the 'wrath' of the Parents television committee who are lobbying to have it examined under child pornography laws and calling it "The most dangerous television show ever" (could they have asked for better advertising? They should quote that on their poster) . For the most part the acting is up to scratch, Not breath-taking but more than adequate. Some of the dialogue falls flat and doesn't quite feel natural and I think that could be part of the British influence not translating to American television. The humour is a little more obvious and things are spelt out lacking the subtlety of the original but that doesn't bother me too much. But let me tell you what does, the censoring. That bleeping of curse words completely snaps you out of any illusions you're under and makes you all too aware that you're watching a tv show. It's unnatural and reeks of producers sticking their noses in. If you're not allowed to say 'fuck' then say 'hell' or 'damn' not ideal but far more preferable to the annoying *bleep*. Also liking Tony's lesbian euphemisms "Worship at the Gucci shrine"..."Pluck the lady harp". Keep 'em coming.
Fans of the original will find it difficult to get over the idea of a remake of one of their favourite programmes and may be left cold by this but I think it could carve out a decent audience in the states (especially with the Parents television committee making it so cool). Skins USA is no masterpiece but it is an antidote to the 'rich kids spending daddy's money' formula that has dominated the teen drama scene since the late eighties. I watched the first episode out of curiosity, the second to do this review but I will be watching the third because I want to see where they go with it.
What's next?