Friday, April 28, 2006

Television, Part Deux

As mentioned in a reply to the last post, I was going to do the top 5 worst shows ever. But since they're really barely worth the space they are typed in, I'm going to do shows that didn't get a fair shake. Feel free to add to it, but I've researched this pretty extensively. They are in no particular order:

The Tick
Greg the Bunny

Get a Life (in the words of Artie Lange, "If I controlled television, Chris Elliott would be a superstar and Get a Life would be in it's 13th season).
Sports Night
MST3K
In Living Color
Duckman
Jackass

Jesse (Amazing season 1, awful season 2).
Herman's Head
Ed
Arrested Development
Mr. Show
(I never got into it, but trusted friends loved it)
Titus (Never saw it, but everyone raves)
Gumble 2 Gumble (just seeing if the Family Guy fans were paying attention)
Star Trek (pretty amazing, considering what it has become)
Clerks: The Animated Series
Freaks and Geeks

Futurama

I suppose you could also include Chappelle's Show here, but he cancelled it--not the networks. Also, I responded in the previous post that Freaks and Geeks (which would still be on if it was put in any timeslot EXCEPT Friday nights) was the only show I ever liked that took place in a high school. I was wrong. How could I forget Parker Lewis Can't Lose? Sure, it was a cheap rip-off of Ferris Bueller, but it was well written.

I started to dig for more gold at this site, but the 2nd show they mentioned was Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Talk about instantly killing all credibility.

Anyway, that's my list of stuff that was canned that probably shouldn't have been. I'll let the rest of you chime in with your two cents. Please try to keep in mind that 'cancelled' and 'ended' are two different things. Shows that run their course don't count, like the Cosby Show or Seinfeld.

5 comments:

Ben said...

It was bound to happen. I definitely missed at least one:

God, the Devil, and Bob

Any others?

Anonymous said...

Undeclared was pretty damn good. Made by the same guys who did Freaks & Geeks. Also, the biggest overlooked by the networks show in history: Andy Richter Controls The Universe.

This is how good this show was. I was up against Buffy in the time slots. I, me, Doyle, would tape Buffy to watch Andy Richter. That should easily freak half the known universe & tell how goddamn good that show was.

Ben said...

For those who don't know Doyle, this speaks praises unknown by mortal men to Andy Richter. I only caught the show once or twice, so I never got hooked, but I have indeed heard good things.
Doyle, you'll be pleased to hear Andy has another starring sitcom role in the works. You can find it at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0775349/. Written by Conan O'Brian and his Chief Writer, Jonathan Groff.

Jen said...

Ok, since I barely know what a tv is, I'll throw in my 2 cents. Futurama is on the top of my list. I can't say I've seen or heard of many others.
I think you need to do a musical list. "Bands that should have made it big" or "Really shitty bands that made it big despite being no-tallent ass-clowns".

JoBiv said...

Excuse me, Ben, but as much as I enjoy you sharing my brain, I'm gonna need it in the future.

Agreeing with you from Freaks and Geeks to Star Trek.

You did, however, miss some important sketch comedy shows: Strangers with Candy, Kids in the Hall are my top 2. And maybe you've never seen Home Movies, a Cartoon Network Adult Swim cartoon. If we're really getting into the deeply geeky parts of my psyche, we'll have to add Highlander (the USA series), and the Weird Science series.

When did I have this much time to watch tv?