Carnivale

Best Canceled Shows

Another HBO show gone before its time. The tale of carnies traveling across the Oklahoma Dust Bowl of the 1930s had an overarching theme of good vs. evil and was really going somewhere--until it was pulled without answering all of its mysteries. (Photo: HBO)

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Boston Legal Primetime's favorite 'bromance' between Denny Crane and Alan Shore came to a sad end when the over-the-top but still brilliant 'Boston Legal' was canceled and ended its five-year run in December 2008, despite Emmys, SAG award nods and a very loyal fan base. (Photo: ABC)
Moonlight Hot vampires. What's not to love? Fans sure loved star Alex O'Loughlin but it wasn't enough for CBS to bring "Moonlight" back for a second season. (Photo: CBS)
Extras Brilliant Brit Ricky Gervais' HBO series 'Extras' featured just two seasons, but it's two of the most hilarious seasons of comedy on TV today. (Photo: HBO)
Studio 60 on the... Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind "The West Wing" and "Sports Night," had a lot of hype behind this high profile series, but it was a surprising flop despite its amazing cast (Bradley Whitford, Matthew Perry) and sharp writing. (Photo: NBC)
Sports Night Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, and Robert Guillaume led this brilliant 1998 sitcom from Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing") that sadly only lasted two seasons. (Photo: ABC)
Arrested Develop... Those of us who were obsessed with the brilliant "Arrested Development" will never forgive those of you who refused to watch, leading to its cancellation! At least there is a movie in the works now. (Photo: Fox)
My So-Called Lif... Teen angst made Claire Danes a star in 1994 in "My So-Called Life." (Photo: ABC)
Gilmore Girls The coolest mother-daughter duo on TV ever, with their clever pop culture references and witty banter, The "Gilmore Girls" are sorely missed. (Photo: WB)
Veronica Mars Kristin Bell's turn as a modern day Nancy Drew was a hidden gem. It had a good run (2004-2007) but never got the viewer attention it deserved. (Photo: CW)
Deadwood Set in the wicked wild west of Deadwood, South Dakota, a town of corruption and crime, David Milch's HBO gem had a loyal following. (Photo: HBO)
Jericho One of the most successful "Save Our Show" campaigns, featuring tons of peanuts, actually worked (at least for a little while) to bring back "Jericho." But it was ultimately canceled a second time. Nuts! (Photo: CBS)
Men in Trees This delightful romantic comedy starring Anne Heche as a NYC writer transplanted to Alaska was the victim of network mishandling, ill-timed hiatus, and time-slot swapping. But at least Heche got something out of it: a real-life romance with her on-screen hunk, James Tupper. The couple announced in December that they are expecting their first child togehter. (Photo: ABC)
Back to You It was considered a shock when this high-profile comedy series featuring the return of Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton was canceled by Fox after just one season. And yet 'Til Death' is still on the air? (Photo: FOX)
Journeyman A reporter suddenly has the ability to travel through time and change people's lives.... The show was better than that premise would make it seem. Still, star Kevin McKidd was great in it and you can find him now on "Grey's Anatomy" as an Army doc. (Photo: NBC)
Rome The fall of "Rome" still haunts fans who loved this HBO series, which was decadent, deviant and dirty. History was never this much fun! (Photo: HBO)
Twin Peaks "Who killed Laura Palmer?" That question started an obsession in David Lynch's cult show "Twin Peaks," which ran from 1990-1991 and spawned a prequel film, "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me." (Photo: Mario Casilli)
Pushing Daisies (Photo: ABC)
Dirty Sexy Money ABC's fall 2008 slaughter didn't stop with 'Daisies.' 'Dirty Sexy Money' also became a victim, even though the drama is dirty sexy fun, a real throwback to the primetime soap days of 'Dynasty,' 'Dallas' and 'Knots Landing.' Shame. (Photo: ABC)
Eli Stone 'Eli Stone' may not have had great ratings, but the quirky drama was still higher quality TV than alot of the other dreck on the dial, and it at least deserved a third season to try and find its way. (Photo: ABC)
Firefly You didn't have to be a sci-fi geek to love Joss Whedon's ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") tale of a renegade spaceship crew. Canceled after only 11 episodes, the series from 2002 led to a film version called "Serenity" to satisfy its many fans. (Photo: Fox)
Joan of Arcadia This story of a teenage girl named Joan (Amber Tamblyn) who had unexpected conversations with God was sweet and touching. It aired on CBS from 2003-2005. (Photo: CBS)
Wonderfalls The charming, quirky show from 2004 about a young woman working in a Niagara Falls gift shop--who talked to inanimate objects--was wonderful. (Photo: Fox)
American Gothic "American Gothic" was a short-lived, first-rate horror series from Shaun Cassidy about a sinister sheriff played by Gary Cole. But fans were left incredibly disappointed when it was canceled during its first season in 1995. (Photo: CBS)
The Agency "Hardy Boy" Shaun Cassidy also executive produced "The Agency" in 2001, a smart CBS drama about the inner workings of the CIA that probably should have lasted longer than the two seasons it did. (Photo: CBS)
Invasion "Invasion" (2005) was yet another Shaun Cassidy series with potential gone before its time. It was one of those serialized shows with a long-running mystery that viewers either found too complicated or simply lost interest in and tuned out. (Photo: ABC)
Profit Back in 1996 before he was one of the "Heroes," Adrian Pasdar played a ruthless psychopath in the intriguing drama "Profit." Jim Profit was a junior VP with a charming demeanor, dark ways and an unusual secret--he slept naked in a card board box on the floor. (Photo: Fox)
Carnivale Another HBO show gone before its time. The tale of carnies traveling across the Oklahoma Dust Bowl of the 1930s had an overarching theme of good vs. evil and was really going somewhere--until it was pulled without answering all of its mysteries. (Photo: HBO)
Freaks and Geeks The "Freaks and Geeks" at a Michigan high school circa 1980 made for a charming show. At least its creator Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year Old Virgin") went on to bigger and better things. (Photo: NBC)
Keen Eddie "Boston Legal's" Mark Valley played "Keen Eddie" back in 2003. Eddie was a witty New York cop who busted crimes in London in the Fox drama that failed to gain traction, despite being, you know, good. Even costar Sienna Miller couldn't lure in more viewers. (Photo: Fox)
Close to Home 'Close to Home' starred Jennifer Finnigan as a case-cracking new mother returning to the workforce. When the legal-crime drama was pulled after a successful run on Friday nights from 2005-2007, CBS said the decision wasn't based on ratings, the network just wanted to try something different. Huh? (Photo: CBS)
What About Brian... Some people still wonder, 'What About Brian?' What happened to that fun show with the cute guy (Brian Watson) who became the third wheel when all his friends got married? It came and went in the 2006-2007 TV season, when it was renewed, than disappeared with little explanation. (Photo: ABC)
The Fugitive It's never a good idea to remake a classic, but likable Tim Daly took on the task in the CBS series from 2000 that was actually quite good. But between the success of the 1963 original--and the 1993 Harrison Ford feature film--viewers weren't interested in a third incarnation of Dr. Richard Kimble, and they left "The Fugitive" out on a limb. (Photo: CBS)
"Eyes" Post-"Wings," Tim Daly's unfortunate bad luck continued. Daly played a charming private investigator in the terrific 2005 crime series "Eyes," but ABC pulled it after just five episodes. A year later, his complicated bank heist "The Nine" was canceled, and now he's hanging out in the sub-par "Grey's" spinoff, "Private Practice." (Photo: ABC)
Kolchak: The Nig... A genre classic even though it only lasted a year, this '70s series starred Darren McGavin as crime reporter Carl Kolchak, who tracked supernatural occurences...like vampires. (Photo: Universal Studios)