TV Shows get cancelled. It happens. There are a lot of reasons they decide to swing that axe, but at the end of the day, nothing lasts forever. Even with the Simpson’s seemingly unending parade of seasons, that too will one day end.
So with last week’s news that Terra Nova has been cancelled, a followup story suggested that Netflix is looking to pick up the show as exclusive content for their on-demand service. I think this is a great idea.
GiantFreakingRobot has an article up suggesting 10 other shows that have been cancelled that they feel deserve to be resurrected before Terra Nova.
Of course the cult classic Firefly tops their list, and they mention some other good shows as well. Original/Exclusive content is really what the On-Demand streaming format needs to stand out. Right now, as impressive as it is, Netflix doesn’t offer much that falls in the category of “new,” so why not reach out to those niche shows that could be made on-the-cheap.
This is my list of shows that In MY opinion deserve a second life.
Jericho
A surprise nuclear strike simultaneously wipes out most of North America’s cities. The small farming town of Jericho is just far enough away from it all to not be affected. The show balances survival in a new world with the mystery and intrigue of who was responsible for the strike and why. It was Netflix that caught me onto this show in the first place, and I was hooked. The show had seriously good writing and a great concept with characters you couldn’t help but love.
Pushing Daisies
This quirky Bryan Fuller scripted show features Ned as a man with a unique gift. Ned can raise someone from the dead with a touch and send them back to the beyond with another. If they live beyond one minute, someone else dies in their place. He teams up with a private investigator who takes advantage of his gift to solve murders (by asking the victim). This is another one where the characters and snappy dialogue really sell the show. Lots of charm and light hearted fun set against a strangely dark concept.
Wonderfalls
This show is also by Bryan Fuller, which features Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye, a minimum wage tourist trap clerk in Niagara Falls whose misguided life of ruin starts to turn around when inanimate objects around her begin to give her cryptic advice. She knows she isn’t crazy, but if she goes against the advice of these animal shaped objects that only she can see, things turn out bad.
The show only saw 13 episodes, but it totally absorbed me with its cleverness and cast of loveable characters.
Better off Ted
Sitcoms are like candy. If they don’t have the one you like at the store, you just grab something else and you are fine with it. But this short lived tv series had just SO MUCH potential and personality that it was a shame when it was shut down. Staring Jay Harrington and Portia de Rossi, this office comedy was just so off the wall, you couldn’t help but cheer on this corrupt mega-corporation and the lunacy people working there endured in their daily lives. The Research and Development department alone could have been its own show. Sadly, after two seasons it too was canned.
Deadwood
No show in the history of television will ever amount to the sheer amount of Cussing in this HBO Western. Many wrote off the drama of a frontier town in its earliest days for its excessive violence, sex, and blush-worthy use of the f-word. But under all of that was an incredibly well balanced and well presented character drama of politics, romance, and social interaction. Timothy Olyphant is awesome as a former US Marshall who would rather just sell supplies in a retail shop. Of course, Ian McShane often stole the show with his monologues and ambiguous morals.
Honorable mentions: Legend of the Seeker, Chuck, Mr Sunshine, and 18 to Life.
So what would YOU like to see brought back? And would bringing that show exclusively to a service like Netflix make you want to sign up?