Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I Like Lists; Volume 2: Cancelled before I Was Done Edition

I read this Website, Television Without Pity, and a while ago, it made a list of shows that it thought were cancelled too early.  I am sure that countless websites or magazines have made this type of lists, so I figured, with another recent cancellation of a show that I like, that it's time that I make one.  Here it goes...

(warning, I accidentally get really into listing the cast members.  it gets pretty drawn out.  additionally, this is really way too long.  feel free just to skim.)

10.  Pushing Daisies- An obvious choice, but for a good reason.  It was clever, interesting, and had a killer cast.  I loved the coloring and visual effects.  And I still wish that I knew what happened with Ned's dad.  I'm still waiting for the one final episode that is set to air soon.
9.  Related-  I'm really not surprised that this one was cancelled.  It was fairly unknown, with a largely unknown cast and no overtly sexual, mysterious, or funny themes.  But it was cute.  A comedy about four sisters living in New York.  My sisters and I loved it.  But it was bound to meet its end, as it came to The WB, just as it was becoming The CW.
8.  Grosse Pointe- Most people don't remember this show.  Which is really sad, because this comedy about the making of a teen television drama, very similar to 90210 was hilarious.  It starred Big Red from Bring it On, Ross's girlfriend, Mona, from Friends, and this adorable guy, Kyle Howard, who you will recognize from whatever. He was actually on Related also.  Fortunately, my sister bought me the dvds, so I can watch it whenever.  Unfortunately, it ends without the chance to see the start of the romance.
7. Reunion-  Not the greatest show ever, but maybe on of the most attractive casts ever.  I'll explain that after I get a chance to explain the real tragedy behind the cancellation.  It was a mystery.  I have no idea how the mystery ends.  I NEED TO KNOW.  But yeah, it has the cute brother from Brothers and Sisters, the older brother, JJ, from American Dreams, sexy Sean Faris, from Sleepover and Life as We Know It, Meredith's sister, Lexi, from Grey's Anatomy, and Hailey Nichol from The O.C.  I was upset when the show started because it meant the ends of two shows (both on this list) and one character I liked, but I got attached.
6. Off Centre-  I can almost guarantee that no one other than my sisters, myself, and the cast remembers this show.  It was created by the makers of American Pie and starred Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and John Cho, best known for playing Harold in Harold and Kumar.  It was hilarious.  But I guess no one watched it, so buh bye.
5. Undeclared-  Judd Apatow.  Brilliant.  College comedy.  Only 17 amazing episodes.  It was after Freaks and Geeks, but in typical Judd fashion, it retained a lot of the same cast.  Seth Rogen and Jason Segel came from Freaks and Geeks, some other of the stars came to guest star.  Jason Segel played an insane boyfriend who worked at a copy store.  His girlfriend was played by period blood girl from Superbad (also known as Carla Gallo).  She is in a lot of Judd's work.  So is the lead character, Steven Karp, played by Jay Baruchel.  Love him.  It also had Dawson's Creek's Monica Keena.  She is amazing.  And the beautiful, like beyond beautiful Charlie Hunnam.  And Rufus Wainwright's dad, Loudon Wainwright III.  Singer of "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road."  I almost cried when the dvd series stopped for this tv show.  Best comedic guest stars I have ever seen on a tv show.
4. Life on Mars-  This is the one that propelled me to write this absurdly long list.  I just read on EW.com that it's being cancelled.  Fortunately, it's getting a proper send off, with a real finale and everything.  I loved this show.  Because I love American history and cities.  And this took place in New York City in the 70s.  But the main character, who is apparently British, came from 2008, so he retained all of the same awareness we have.  I like the crime solvings, and the slow to come mystery of why he is in 1973.  I don't want it to end!
3. Life as We Know It-  Before it came out, people thought it would be the male equivilent of My So-Called Life.  Angsty boys moaning over their families and relationships.  The boys were hot, like really really hot, the dialogue was snappy, and it was partially written by the writers of Freaks and Geeks.  Weirdly enough, Kelly Osbourne was on it.  Some people mocked her for being fat, but her boyfriend and pretty, popular best friends didn't mind the weight.  God, Sean Faris, Chris Lowell, and the non-hot one, Jon Foster.  His brother is Ben Foster, from the hilario movie, Get Over It.  This show really shouldn't have ended.  But it totally predicted the eventual popularity of Snow Patrol.
2. Freaks and Geeks-  An obvious choice.  The obvious choice.  In an era where the only comedies worth seeing are the ones written by Judd Apatow and his gang, there is really no need to even explain.  
1. American Dreams-  Typical American family living in Philly in the 1960s.  It uses culture from the era and real American news to propel it.  It was seriously smart, and seriously entertaining, with weekly musical guest stars appearing as singers from the 60s on American Bandstand.  Brittany Snow (pre Hairspray, John Tucker, and the Lily VDW GG spin-off) starred, alongside a ton of other insanely talented actors.  The show lasted 3 seasons, which is better than the one-season runs of the rest of the list, but the show had so much more it could do.  And what's worse, the music rights from the show make it nearly impossible to put to dvd.  I bought first season after waiting two years for the pricing to drop from $100 to $45.  But I'm still waiting for those next two...

p.s. My So-Called Life was a little too angsty for me.  I'm not that upset it was cancelled.
p.p.s. sorry this was so long.

2 comments:

  1. 1.)I tried to watch Pushing Daisies, I tried really hard. I just couldn't connect beyond the first couple of episodes. I don't know why.
    2.)Related- My mom watched this show but any time I caught an episode with her I was never really interested.
    3.)Reunion- It really upsets me that I don't know the end to that mystery. LIKE WTF. Also, that girl who plays Lexi and Dave Annable (Annabel?) made the best couple ever and I still have issues with them being with other people on their respective shows. Esp. since I never liked Justin's gf when she was on Everwood.
    4.)I absolutely remember Off Center, I watched it every week because I love all of those boys, but I can agree that it really wasn't that funny. I think my love for them just clouded my judgement and made me think it was funny.
    5.)Grosse Pointe. I watched every episode. I thought it was soooo scandalous that they were doing a show based on the real cast of 90210.
    5) LIFE ON MARS IS GETTING CANCELLED?!?!?! I DIDN'T KNOW THIS AND AM DEVASTATED. I got really attached really quickly. Plus, I have a big crush on that boy who plays chris and he was just cancelled from October Road and now I'm not going to see him.
    6.)I read the book that Life As We Know It was based on, Doing It, and so I could never really enjoy the show as the book was way better and I could not identify with any of the girls.
    7.)Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. These two shows being cancelled are the biggest disappointments of my life.
    8.) I really disagree with the American Dreams thing. I thought it went completely downhill after the first, maybe second, season. I couldn't even watch the third season. Not only did I think it was okay it was cancelled, I thought it stayed past it's prime.
    9.) I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DON'T LIKE MY SO-CALLED LIFE. The fact that it's overly angsty makes it kind of ironically funny. And I swear to god that cliffhanger ending haunts my life every day. I reference Jordan Catalano (well, every character) almost daily.

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  2. I don't dislike My So-Called Life! I just didn't want to put it on the list. Also, it was really hard for me to watch them online so I haven't even seen it all, so I'm not the best person to judge.

    As for American Dreams, I agree, it ended on a bad note. But just because it lost its footing didn't mean that it couldn't be great again.

    I wrote a 1005 word blog post instead of doing my research paper on the Vietnam War.

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