Gone, But Never Forgotten

Friday Night Lights, My beloved Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies.... Arrested Development! What do all these shows have in common? For whatever reason we didn't watch them (I mean we the public. Not me, personally, of course. I watched all these bitches!) and they were cancelled.

All the shows listed above, however,  ran for at least two seasons. So at least their networks gave them a chance. But there are shows out there that were never even given the chance... Shows that if perhaps the powers that be threw a little more money behind, could've really taken off. Shows that the cancellation of is nothing less than an egregious error, a blight on television history that cannot be rectified! I count down for you now:

The Top Five Shows That Were Cancelled Before Their Time!

5. Wonderfalls. I can't lie. This is the only show on this list that I did not watch as it aired. Why? Because I never heard of it! I think you really dropped the ball, advertising wise, Fox. Boo! But thanks to the wonderful invention of Netflix, I found this little gem and can include it in this list!

Wonderfalls, created byBryan Fuller and executive produced by Tim Minear, tells the story of Jaye, a recent Brown University graduate who now works a dead-end job in a Niagra Falls gift shop where she is surrounded by inanimate objects that communicate with her. Sounds crazy, I know. But it's typical Bryan Fuller genius (he also created Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me and the first – and best – season of Heroes) and the show was fabulous! Check out a classic scene below:

4. Undeclared. This is the show that actually inspired this list! I find that a story helps distract from the misery I am experiencing when at the gym. Instead of hip-hop or electronica- inspired playlists, I opt to stream comedies on my iPhone and Undeclared fits the bill perfectly! I've been watching it the past two weeks.

Created by the now revered Judd Apatow, Undeclared follows six freshman at an unnamed California university. The series features writing (and acting) by the uber-funny Seth Rogen, Apatow favorites Jay Baruchel and Jason Segel, and who is that playing English cutie Lloyd? Oh, that's right! It's the devastatingly sexy star of Sons of Anarchy (and my dreams), Charlie Hunnam! Every episode of this show has me laughing out loud – the one where Adam Sandler visits, or the one where Ron (Rogen) gets a free keg from the multi-cultural department and demands his roomies help him drink it all – but episode 6... Episode 6 had me cracking up on the elliptical yesterday! Marshall has a cold. He doesn't want to go to the school's health clinic though. He'd rather have the very pretty Rachel take care of him. But Ron knows he needs help. So he pulls Marshall from his bed under the guise of going to get fake IDs made from their student ID card, when the following hijinks occurs. You dropped the ball again, Fox. Dropped. The. Ball!

3. Freaks and Geeks. What can I say about this show that hasn't already been said? It's a critic's darling, yet nobody watched it! Why, people???

Freaks aired for one season on NBC before being dropped for low ratings. But I still to this day don't understand why no one watched it! Hello? James Franco, Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, Busy Phillips, JAMES FRANCO!!! The series made Time magazine's 100 Greatest Shows of All Time list, as well as TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever and Entertainment Weekly named it #13 among the best shows of the last 25 years! The show deserves every one of these accolades and more! Created by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, the series focused on a bunch of teenagers growing up in the 80s. My crowd would've called them burnouts, but watch the show and you will fall in love with each and every one of them. Busy Phillips, anyone who watched one episode of this series knew you were bound for stardom! Feast your eyes on Freaks and Geeks!

2. Firefly. Many have theorized about why this series didn't catch on. I'm still flummoxed. Brought to us by the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and more recently Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and The Avengers, Joss Whedon, Firefly is part science fiction, part western and all brilliant!

Set in the year 2517, Firefly follows the crew of starship Serenity, captained by the charming, yet crass, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds. Mal and his first mate, Zoe, are veterans of the Browncoat Rebellion. They currently work as smugglers, trolling the galaxy looking for their next score. The series has a hard core following. They call themselves, of all things, Browncoats! Stop by Comic Con, Dragon Con, Anachro Con, any kind of con, and you're likely to find a Browncoat roaming the halls. In fact, Firefly fans are so vocal, they managed to make enough noise that Whedon got funding to finish up the story with the film, Serenity. Alas, their love was not enough to save the show and it was cancelled after just one season. To blame? What do you know...Fox! You suck, Fox!

I love all members of the Firefly cast, including Nathan Fillion as Mal (Swoon), Gina Torres as Zoe, the hilarious Alan Tudyk as Zoe's husband and Serenity pilot Wash, kick ass Summer Glau as River, the lovely Morena Baccarin as Inara, Chuck's awesome Adam Baldwin as Jayne and the uber-adorable and likable Jewel Staite as ship's mechanic Kaylee.

I couldn't find a good clip of Firefly to share, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's fabulous. But it on Blu ray, yo!

1. My So-Called Life. I cannot think of my teen years without thinking of My So-Called Life, for nothing summed up what it felt like to be a teenager in the 90s like this show did. And few shows have achieved such cult status as this show either! ABC did this little show a real disservice but putting it on opposite ratings juggernaut, Friends. The show was doomed before it started. 

Nevertheless, the show from the creators of Thirtysomething, never ceased to break new ground. I thank them for their offerings. We should all be thanking them for introducing us to Claire Danes, then 15 but already a little dramatic power house! Who could resist those longing looks she'd throw at high school cutie, Jordan Catalano (pretty, pretty Jared Leto)? I'm pretty sure that every woman my age fell in love with Jordan Catalano. Not because he was worthy but because Claire Danes loved him and she could make us feel anything. 

I miss this show. I miss Jordan and Angela, Ricky and crazy Rayanne! Thanks to Netflix and Hulu, I can relive my youth any time I choose!

Who knows what would've happened to these shows if they aired today? TBS saved Cougar Town from extinction, as Direct TV did for Friday Night Lights. And Netflix is reviving Arrested Development this Spring! Alas, it's too late for these little gems. Thank goodness for the Internet, so brilliant series such as these, though may be gone, will never be forgotten!