What If Part 11

Show: Everwood
Network that cancelled it: The WB
Network interested in picking it up: The CW (picked One Tree Hill instead)
Potential Impact: Moderate
I chose to write about Everwood because I recently saw Hair on Broadway and the lead character in the film version of Hair was the star of Everwood. I covered Everwood’s cancellation back in 2005 when the CW was being formed. Everwood almost made the line-up but was beat out for the last spot on The CW’s roster by One Tree Hill. Everwood ended after four years with no proper finale. I don’t really think that either one should’ve been put on The CW even though I’m a fan of both of them. It’s hard to tell which one would’ve been more successful but One Tree Hill’s ratings really haven’t been that great so maybe Everwood could’ve done better.

Show: Clubhouse
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
I have a friend who knew one of the writer’s on Clubhouse and I’ve tivo'ed a few of the re-runs lately (yes an 11 episode show got syndicated). It’s actually a pretty good show. I really don’t think Clubhouse was a good fit for the procedural powered CBS. This show could’ve been a hit on a cable network. It was a feel good type of show that might have been a good fit for USA. The Bronx is Burning was great on ESPN so maybe they could’ve aired in the summer.

Show: The Jury
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: High
If I don’t get any fan submitted what-ifs I often look at the list for ideas. I came across The Jury, which aired in the summer of 04. Rich was right in his description for it as it really wasn’t given time to succeed (a common theme for Fox.) The Jury has an innovating concept and was well acted. It was unfortunately on in the summer and didn’t really have a shot. Fox has more shows in this section than any other network, though NBC could catch up. If you want a good laugh, watch the first episode of Family Guy when it was revived. They list every show that Fox cancelled between 2002 and 2005. Many of them have been in this section.

What If Part 10

Show: October Road
Network that cancelled it: ABC
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
October Road was one of the victims of the Writer’s Strike. It was part of the dramedy influx into ABC’s line-up and suffered the same fate as Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, and Pushing Daisies. October Road saw pretty decent ratings in its first season but its second season was a bomb. October Road aired at a bad time and it could’ve caught on if it had some momentum. I personally thought it was better than Men in Trees, Women’s Murder Club, or Brothers and Sisters, which is still on. ABC has tried hard to capitalize on the dramedy genre and they dropped the ball with October Road.

Show: Joan of Arcadia
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: None (large fan campaign)
Potential Impact: Low
Joan of Arcadia was cancelled during my first spring at TV Hell. I’ve thought about using it in previous "What Ifs" and was planning on saying that its potential impact was moderate. While it had great ratings in its first season, this is a classic example of why I like to wait a few years before including a show in this section. I’ve often opted against using fan submitted what ifs for shows that have just been cancelled because you can’t really tell what the impact was. In Joan of Arcadia’s case, there’s no real potential impact because CBS has done great without it. CBS has an excellent Friday night line-up and while I thought Joan of Arcadia was great, it didn’t have a future on CBS.

Show: Coupling (American version)
Network that cancelled it: ABC
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
This one was a tough one to analyze. I’m a fan of the British version of Coupling but I didn’t think much of the American version when it aired. The problem with Coupling was that it was a remake of a show that already borrowed from an American show. Coupling has been called the British version of Friends and anyone who has seen the show can see the resemblance. The problem with the U.S. version of Coupling was that it aired on the same night and the same network as Friends. The writers tried too hard to differentiate the two shows and it backfired. Since Friends ended just a year later, a remake of Coupling likely would’ve been more successful if it had aired a few years after Friends. We saw that remakes can be successful with The Office and the two of them could’ve aired together. Unfortunately this show was mishandled by NBC at a point where the network was starting to look like the disaster that it is today.

What If Part 9

Show: Sarah Connor Chronicles
Network that cancelled it: FOX
Network interested in picking it up: Fox, (Sci-Fi had some interest but the legitimacy is debatable)
Potential Impact: Moderate
Terminator is an interesting show to do a what-if for because it's one of the few to have a movie tied into its franchise while it's running. For months I said that it wasn't a surefire cancellation because of Terminator Salvation but Fox opted to cancel it instead of Dollhouse which had similar dismal ratings. I thought Terminator Salvation was terrible and obviously the people at Fox didn't think a movie that grossed close to 200 million dollars would help the struggling show. With that being said I think the show would've done a lot better if there had been a commercial for the show during the movie previews. The marketing was terrible and I think the show was robbed of a chance to succeed.

Show: Surviving Suburbia
Network that cancelled it: ABC
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
Surviving Suburbia was another sitcom that ABC aired with minimal promotion and didn't succeed. The show starred Full House's Bob Saget and quite frankly wasn't anything special. I put it up here because longtime reader cydlone26 suggested it and I think it had some value to ABC. If you've read my network analysis you can see that ABC's Wednesday night line-up is made up entirely by new shows. Regardless of what I think of Surviving Suburbia it could've given that Wednesday night some credibility and I think ABC should've brought back at least one sitcom besides the new reboot of Scrubs (which I'm not looking forward to by the way)

Show: The Starter Wife
Network that cancelled it: USA
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Low
The Starter Wife was a mini-series that USA Network decided to make into a regular series, something they had done before with The 4400. The Starter Wife had a lot of promise and giving it another shot was a no-brainer. The results were less than spectacular and USA cancelled it. The truth is USA has raised the bar in terms of ratings standards. The 4400, The Dead Zone, and The Starter Wife all had solid cable ratings but USA has raised the bar with Psych, Monk, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The Starter Wife may have been a hit on a different network but none of them were interested leaving it with a very low shot at helping out USA.

What If Part 8

Show: Millennium
Network that cancelled it: FOX
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
Millennium is a classic example of how poorly Fox handles its shows that need some time to get going. Millennium starred Lance Henriksen and was created by Chris Carter, the man who created The X-Files. Millennium was much darker than The X-Files but had a cult following. Fox wasn’t very successful in the ratings in the 90s so a cult show like Millennium had an easier time surviving. Millennium aired in the Friday Night Death Slot and managed three seasons there, an impressive amount for a show on Fox. I usually think that shows that get cancelled after a few years have no real potential impact but I think if Millennium could’ve succeeded if it had a proper lead in and a good time slot. It wasn’t given a chance to succeed so it’s no surprise that it didn’t. There’s a sight called backtofrankblack.com, which is trying to get Millennium back on the air whether it is a movie or TV series. They have a impressive amount of support from the cast and crew of Millennium but we all know this is an uphill battle so if you’re interested in helping them in their campaign check out the site and see what you can do.

Show: Ed
Network that cancelled it: NBC
Network interested in picking it up: None (there was a big failed fan campaign)
Potential Impact: Low
Ed was one of the first shows that really fit the dramedy definition. The show starred Tom Cavanagh (of the recently cancelled Trust Me) and aired for four years. Unlike Millennium, Ed was given a chance to succeed. The show had several timeslots to work with but it struggled in the ratings throughout its whole run. NBC was also number one for most of Ed’s life so there aren’t that many things that could’ve been different to help Ed succeed. I do think Ed might have done well on a cable network like Showtime or USA where it could’ve done fine with its cult following.

Show: Fastlane
Network that cancelled it: FOX
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
Here’s another show that aired in Fox’s Friday Night Death Slot. Fastlane was a unique cop show, which focused more on unconventional camera angles and flashy action scenes than plot. Fastlane was doing ok in its Wednesday slot but was moved to Fridays to make room for Fox’s golden show American Idol. Relegating a show that at the time was one of the most expensive of television to the Death Slot was a terrible decision and while Fastlane was on the air for a full season it was essentially done the minute American Idol came back. I only saw Fastlane once when it was on Fox but I caught some episodes when it was airing on G4 and they were ok. Fastlane didn’t have a great first season but it was good enough that it should’ve been given a second chance. Fox hasn’t made a lot of great decisions with the way they handle their shows and Fastlane is just another example.

What If Part 7

Show: Joan of Arcadia
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: Networks that considered picking it up: None (critical hit and once popular in the ratings)
Potential Impact: High
I thank Tuchbynangel123 for sending this one in, as Joan of Arcadia was one of the most interesting shows of the past decade. Joan of Arcadia played by Amber Tamblyn was a high school girl who frequently had conversations with God who would offer her advice or ask her to do things for him (or her). Season one brought everything, great ratings, critical acclaim, and a rare best drama Emmy nomination. Something went horribly wrong in season two and Joan of Arcadia was burned at the stake. We’ll never really know why the ratings dropped so badly in season.

Show: Dead Like Me
Network that cancelled it: Showtime
Network interested in picking it up: Sci-fi, Showtime cancelled the show under dubious circumstances leading some to believe it was going to come back.
Potential Impact: High
With the release of Dead Like Me: Life after Death I felt I had to do a what-if for Dead Like Me. Dead Like Me was a dramedy that starred Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin and was about Grim Reapers operating amongst humans in Seattle. Critics loved the quirky nature of the show and it was an early hit for an up and coming Showtime. I don’t really have an explanation for why it was cancelled other than Showtime was trying to distance itself from the sci-fi genre. Fans never forgot Dead Like Me and it was brought back as a DVD movie. We can what-if all we want but I can tell you one thing, if Dead Like Me continued as a series, Criminal Minds probably would not be a show right now. I don’t mean that as a good thing or a bad thing just something interesting to consider. I think Dead Like Me’s cancellation was a bad idea and that it would’ve been a perfect lead in to Weeds. Fortunately if DVD sales are good there’s a chance it still can be.

Show: Cane
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: None, considered a victim of the Writer’s Strike.
Potential Impact: High
No that wasn’t a mistake I did put high for potential impact. Cane was about a Cuban family that operated a rum and sugar (hence the “cane”) business in Florida. Cane had a pretty good cast that consisted of Jimmy Smits, Nestor Carbonell, and Rito Moreno amongst others. Ratings were on a consistent downward slide from its 11 million-viewer premiere and when the Writer’s Strike (or plague as I think I’m start calling it) hit Cane was caught in the crossfire. Cane had some promise but its cancellation led to two very important events. Nestor Carbonell had a recurring guest stint as the ageless Richard Alpert on Lost and Jimmy Smits would have a season long stint on Dexter the following year. It’s pretty safe to say that Smits and Carbonell weren’t going anywhere had Cane been renewed. I’m sure fans of Cane aren’t going to be consoled by this information but since I’m a big fan of both Lost and Dexter I’m pretty glad Cane got the boot. Lost has more unanswered questions then there are cancelled shows in TV Hell but I wouldn’t be a happy camper if the mystery of the immortal Richard Alpert went unsolved. Not exactly the high potential impact we’re used to but a high impact nonetheless.

What If Part 6

Show: John Doe
Network that cancelled it: FOX
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Moderate
I thank Cydlone for e-mailing me this one. John Doe was a sci-fi show starring Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell that aired during the 2002-2003 season. John Doe as you can probably guess revolved around a man who doesn’t know who he is, but he seems to know everything else there is to know about the world. John Doe aired on Fridays so its no surprise that it was cancelled. I remember watching it a few times because it was partnered with Fastlane but since it was before I have Tivo I never really watched it with any consistency (hence why Friday is the death slot). While Fastlane wasn’t the worst choice to air with John Doe, I think this is a case of a show that would’ve greatly benefited from having a lead in like The X-Files or Lost. It has potential and it’s a shame that it only lasted a season.

Show: Roar
Network that cancelled it: FOX
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: High
Roar isn’t listed on TV Hell. No we didn’t forget it. Roar aired in 1997, the year before the list was started. Roar is remembered today for its star, the late Heath Ledger. Roar was Fox’s attempt to cash in on the success of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. What Fox didn’t realize was that the success of Hercules and Xena was attributed to the fact that it was very popular overseas, and since they were syndicated they could afford to have a smaller fan base in North America than a broadcast network show could get away with. I liked Roar a lot and Heath Ledger was certainly a better actor than Kevin Sorbo is so I think Roar could’ve been a big hit if it was syndicated. I guess its failure was a good thing because Heath Ledger probably wouldn’t have been the star he was if it had lasted six or seven years but then again that’s what the What-If page is here for.

Show: The Raven
Network that cancelled it: Syndicated, aired on USA Network in America
Network interested in picking it up: None
Potential Impact: Low
Highlander: The Raven was a spinoff of Highlander: The Series and aired during the 1998-1999 season. The Raven followed the adventures of long time HTS character Amanda who is nearly 1000 years old. Highlander: The Raven was criticized from the get go for the lack of chemistry among the cast members as well as the poor writing. Personally I think Highlander: The Series final season did The Raven in. Season six of Highlander was borderline unwatchable due to star Adrian Paul’s desire to leave the show. The mess that was Highlander’s final season probably lost The Raven a lot of fans. Very few spinoffs only last one season and Highlander deserved another chance. Sci-fi shows rarely take off in their first season and its predecessor didn’t reach its prime until season two or three anyway. While The Raven probably wouldn’t have done much for USA, it deserved a chance to make an impact.

What If Part 5 – CBS Friday Edition

Show: Judging Amy
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: CBS was considering brining it back
Potential Impact: Low
Judging Amy was a victim of CBS’s powerhouse 04-05 line-up that didn’t have enough room for its new pilots. Judging Amy was one of the few shows to survive in the Friday death slot but part of this was due to Judging Amy’s relatively old fan base. That plus increasing production costs lead to Judging Amy’s cancellation. Amy was one of the few cancelled shows in the new millennium to average above ten million viewers but I don’t necessarily blame CBS for cancelling it. The eye network was in first place and had very little to improve on.

Show: Close to Home
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: CBS
Potential Impact: Low
Enter Judging Amy’s replacement, Close to Home another legal drama with a female lead. The results were similar to Judging Amy’s moderate success and it was certainly cheaper to produce. Close to Home wasn’t a bad show by any means, but it’s ratings were slightly above ten million. CBS once again decided to shake up a line-up that by 2007 had Ghost Whisperer and NUMB3RS brining in good numbers. Two years of so so ratings weren’t enough for CBS to tolerate on its very successful line-up.

Show: Moonlight
Network that cancelled it: CBS
Network interested in picking it up: CBS, Sci-Fi Network
Potential Impact: High
If there’s one show from last year that should’ve been renewed it’s Moonlight. I say this for two reasons. One, a lot of Sci-Fi shows don’t pick up until their second season and after the movie Twilight came out, everyone wants to see more vampires. Moonlight may have shamelessly stolen from Angel but that didn’t change the fact that the show had a lot of promise.

What If Part 4 – The Critically Acclaimed Edition

Show: Boomtown
Network that cancelled it: NBC
Network interested in picking it up: None (critics loved it)
Potential Impact: High
Boomtown on paper seemed like a big gimmick. The “see the crime through everyone’s eyes” promotions brought the show’s quality into question right off the bat. That is until you watched it. Boomtown was a great drama that was well acted and critically acclaimed. If it hadn’t have aired on Fridays I think it had the potential to be a big hit for the now struggling NBC and I think they made a big mistake cancelling it because it couldn’t make it in the death slot.

Show: Wonderfalls
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Network interested in picking it up: The WB, UPN
Potential Impact: Moderate
Wondefalls was another show that actually got out of the death slot. Fox started airing it on Fridays and then moved it to Thursdays though the fact that it was axed by its fourth episode defeats the purpose of the move anyway. Critics loved Wonderfalls, I was never impressed with the pilot though I can name more than a few shows that I didn’t get hooked on until the second season. Fox butchers most shows that aren’t instant hits so I think it’s safe to say that it could only have a big impact if it was moved to The WB. It was airing in 2004 and I think Gilmore Girls or Everwood could’ve been paired well with it.

Show: Huff
Network that cancelled it: Showtime
Network interested in picking it up: None (would you pick a Showtime show up?)
Potential Impact: Low
I was browsing page 3 of TVHell trying to find a show to use for the third one that I could legitimately call critically acclaimed. I stumbled upon the 711th show on the list, the Emmy winning 'Huff' which starred Hank Azaria and Blythe Danner. Believe it or not Showtime wasn’t all that big in 2005 when Huff premiered. I wrote an article for the site back in 2006 about Showtime where I stated that Huff was the true beginning of the Showtime we know and love today. Dead Like Me, Stargate SG-1, The L Word, and Queer as Folk are all older, but Huff was their first drama not involving science fiction, or centered on homosexuals. While Huff wasn’t a big draw for Showtime, I think it could’ve been a big hit for them if it premiered today.

What If Part 3

Show: The O.C.
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Network interested in picking it up: The C.W.
Potential Impact: High
In Fox’s defense, they made the right call cancelling The O.C. The O.C. had seen declining ratings since it’s spectacular first season and the overall quality was a bit lacking. The move to Thursday night didn’t help either. But you can’t deny the fact that The C.W. needed a hit show to add to it’s line-up and quite frankly, The O.C.’s consistent 4-5 million viewers were basically guaranteed to come to the new network. The O.C. fit perfectly with the 90’s teen dramas that built The WB and it would’ve been a perfect show to pair the upcoming 90210 with. The O.C. won’t soon be forgotten by anyone but it had some juice left in it.

Show: Angel
Network that cancelled it: The WB
Network interested in picking it up: UPN, The WB itself
Potential Impact: High
If UPN had picked up Angel it would’ve been the exact same thing that happened when UPN picked up Buffy after the WB axed it. I don’t necessarily think UPN should’ve picked Angel up but The WB made a big mistake sending the gloomy vampire and his band of lawyers away. Angel was one of the highest rated shows on The WB at the time and its 18-49 ratings were great. This might be a bold statement but if The WB hadn’t have bombed so badly with The Mountain and the other post-Angel shows, we wouldn’t be stuck with The C.W. The fans of Joss Whedon are pretty loyal to say the least and letting Angel fade away was a big mistake.

Show: Carnivale
Network that cancelled it: HBO
Networks interested in picking it up: None, HBO considered picking it back up.
Potential Impact: Moderate
This is another bold statement but I think Carnivale’s cancellation lead to Deadwood’s cancellation. The two were perfect to air together and while Carnivale was on the air Deadwood frequently hit nearly five million viewers. When Carnivale got sacked Deadwood’s ratings sank to the low three million areas. Now you can make the argument that that’s not a good enough reason to keep a show on the air but Carnivale had a large cult fan base not to mention strong critical support. Carnivale was not the next Sopranos but there’s not much else on HBO right now. Carnivale’s conception plan was for it to run for six years, which would’ve brought it to 2009. HBO had problems with its “historical” shows concerning their budgets but Rome, Deadwood, and Carnivale are all certainly missed on a network that now has no hit drama.

What If Part 2

Show: The Lone Gunmen
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Networks interested in picking it up: None, Fox was considering picking it up for another season
Potential Impact: Moderate
Question asked by Larry Escher

If this segment remains popular, Fox is going to keep showing up again and again. In the late 90’s to only about a couple years ago Fox was notorious for canceling shows after one season or a half season without giving them a chance to survive. The Lone Gunmen was one of them. The Lone Gunmen was a spin-off of The X-Files starring, you guessed it, The Lone Gunmen themselves. The show will go down in history for its pilot episode which showed a government agency attempting to crash a plane into the World Trade Center a mere two weeks before the events of 9/11. The show got off to a strong start but it was all downhill from there and by the end of the abbreviated first season ratings were less than half of what they started as. It’s hard to tell if the ratings would’ve picked back up but the show had a few things going for it. It was a spin-off of the most popular sci-fi show of the 90’s, it got good reviews, and it was a midseason reliever which meant that it should’ve had a bit more leeway in the ratings department. Whether or not The Lone Gunmen or the dozens of other shows Fox cancelled without giving chance would’ve been a success is up for debate but it certainly had a better chance than any other show I could think of.

Show: Veronica Mars
Network that cancelled it: The CW
Networks interested in picking it up: None, The CW considered re-vamping the show for a fourth season.
Potential Impact: Low
Question asked by Paul Connelly

Veronica Mars had just about everything going for it. The critics loved it; it had a great cast, great writers, and great storylines. What it lacked was the ratings and that would be a serious issue for Veronica Mars throughout its three year run. Parent network CBS even aired re-runs to try and get support. Veronica Mars started off on UPN and made the switch over to The CW mainly because it attracted the right demographics and was such a popular show amongst the critics who were constantly bashing the new network. Ratings for the third season were slightly better than season two but were nowhere near good enough to merit a fourth season. As much as it pains me to say this but the executives made the right call. Very few shows that place in the bottom twenty out of over a hundred a fifty in terms of ratings get another season let alone two more. Veronica Mars will go down as one of the best shows ever to air on UPN but there wasn’t much more that could be done to save it.

Show: Sliders
Network that cancelled it: Sci-Fi Channel had also been cancelled by Fox but the Sci-Fi Channel picked it up for its fourth and fifth seasons.
Networks that considered picking it up: None, Sci-Fi Channel could’ve green lit it for another season
Potential Impact: Low
Question asked by Larry Escher

Sliders was a show that aired first on Fox then on the Sci-Fi Channel in the late 90’s. The whole premise was similar to Quantum Leap in that the cast would visit parallel worlds. Sliders was cancelled a total of three times during it’s run, twice by Fox and once by the Sci-Fi Channel. The show’s biggest problem was its rotating cast which included Lord of the Rings’ John Rhys-Davies. Many of the cast members were fired after run ins with the executive producer who fired at least two of the main cast and possibly more depending on where you get your facts. Sliders aired for a grand total of five seasons and was so butchered by the end of it that I doubt anything more should’ve been done to save it. Sci-Fi Channel has had great success in recent years and I just don’t see how in any possible way that Sliders could’ve done any more than it already had.

The Impact of Cancelled Shows on Networks Part 1

If you haven’t noticed lately, the updates to the news section are not coming in as fast as they used to. That’s partially because there hasn’t been much going on in the TV world. With the summer coming there will be even less news to report on. The main thing we do here at TV Hell is we list every show that gets cancelled. What we haven’t done is take a look back and see how the networks have been impacted since the shows cancellation. This section takes a look back and sees what could’ve happened if a show wasn’t cancelled or if a different network picked it up. Feel free to submit any shows you want to appear in this section by hitting me up at ian@tvhell.net. I’ll do the first batch.

Show: Firefly
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Network’s that were interested in picking it up: UPN, Sci-fi Channel
Potential Impact: High

Firefly is arguably the most popular show of all time that didn’t last a full season. Firefly was a hit with critics but it’s poor timeslot and Fox’s handling of it in general led to its cancellation. Now we all know it got a feature film due to it’s incredibly high DVD sales but if you go back to when the show was initially cancelled, Joss Whedon tried to get it a new network. Among those interested were UPN and The Sci-Fi Channel. UPN reportedly passed on it due to the less than stellar performances of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (another Whedon show) and Roswell which were both picked up when The WB cancelled them, and to get rid of the reputation it was getting for taking other network’s junk. Sci-Fi Channel’s reasoning was a little more vague but reportedly had to do with the budget. Now it’s potential impact on UPN is probably minimal but Firefly could’ve been partnered perfectly on Sci-Fi channel along with Battlestar Galactica. In the long run Sci-Fi Channel still managed to get a ratings spike but Firefly definitely could’ve made that happen a lot quicker.

Show: Arrested Development
Network that cancelled it: Fox
Network that was interested in picking it up: Showtime
Potential Impact: Very High

Arrested Development is without a doubt one of the funniest comedies of the new millennium. However it was doomed to fail on network TV because it was one of those shows where if you missed an episode you were completely lost, a trait seen on almost every HBO or Showtime series ever. This however led to low ratings on network TV, despite Fox actually giving it a chance. Showtime for once confirmed that they were interested in picking it up but without Mitchell Hurwitz, the shows creator, on board it wasn’t picked up. Now even if you take Arrested Development’s worst ratings which were around 3 and a half million, that would be Showtime’s top rated show. Given the show’s cult fan base those three to four million would almost certainly have continued watching on Showtime. Even though there’s talk of a major motion picture in the works I still think Arrested Development could’ve easily put Showtime on the map. Partner it with Weeds and you have a comedy hour only in competition with The Office and 30 Rock. This decision will haunt Showtime for years to come.

Show: Law & Order Trial by Jury
Network that cancelled it: NBC
Network interested in picking it up: TNT, NBC possibly renewing it themselves
Potential Impact: Moderate

I only list TNT because they were somewhat interested; the odds of it actually going to TNT were about zero. The only reason Law & Order Criminal Intent went to cable was because USA is owned by NBC therefore the two networks chipped in and NBC got to air the re-runs and receive about the same ratings that the first run episodes were getting. Law & Order Trial by Jury however is a show that should never have been cancelled in the first place. NBC started off Law & Order SVU on Friday where it was not a success at first. While Trial by Jury was constantly beaten by NUMB3RS, you can’t deny the popularity of the Law & Order franchise. Jerry Orbach’s death was a big blow but the show’s ratings did not slip much from the initial 13 million or so that watched the pilot. If ratings were still bad after another full season I’d agree with the cancellation. Trial by Jury wasn’t given a fair chance by NBC and therefore the potential it could have had is basically endless. Shame on NBC for telling Dick Wolf is was coming back and then blindsided the entertainment business by cancelling a show with potential.

That’s all for this week. Send in any shows you think shouldn’t have been cancelled to ian@tvhell.net