Worst network/cable TV program cancellations of all time

[onairb]

and IMHO, Gilligan's Island. Could have run two more years, then the cast get rescued and the series comes to an end. NBC ended up banking on the GI reunion movies to put a closure on the lost castaways.

Sherwood Schwartz planned for at least two more seasons of 'Gilligan', if CBS wanted it.
Season 4 would have written Tina Louise/Ginger off the show by having her 'drift out to sea' and be rescued by a cruise ship...although she would have bumped her head and, naturally, lost her memory. Schwartz planned to replace Ginger with two new characters, similar to the two secretaries who were in the unaired pilot from 1963.
At the end of the fourth season, Schwartz would have finally had the castaways rescued...but if CBS STILL wanted the show, then he would have used the premise that eventually was used in the 'Castaways on Gilligan's Island' TV-movie in 1979-the gang would return to the island to run a resort.

 

[WMC2006]

I hope The Harlem GlobeTrotters visiting GI wasn't Sherwood's idea. Whomever came up with THAT should be shot. :

 

[rnigma1]

The Associates on ABC. Great show starring a very young Martin Short -although he didn't really do much in it. It was from the producers of Taxi. I think if it had lasted a little longer it would have clicked. Although it is hard to believe the premise of funny lawyers. The writing was excellent at times.

It was based on a novel by John Jay Osborn Jr., author of "The Paper Chase." In fact, one episode had John Houseman guest starring as Prof. Kingsfield. The theme song was B.B. King's "Wall Street Blues."

 

[cspotrun]

there was a short lived show on abc about 20 years ago, that was about the rise of Elvis in the 50's & early 60's & i can't remember the name of the show but it was VERY WELL DONE, and lasted for maybe a dozen half hour episodes before they pulled it.

 

[rnigma1]

there was a short lived show on abc about 20 years ago, that was about the rise of Elvis in the 50's & early 60's & i can't remember the name of the show but it was VERY WELL DONE, and lasted for maybe a dozen half hour episodes before they pulled it.

It was simply called "Elvis."
Narrated by Priscilla Presley, it dramatized Elvis' beginnings before the fame, and was filmed on location in Memphis. Good cast, with Michael St. Gerard as the future King (Ronnie McDowell dubbed his singing), Millie Perkins and Billy Green Bush as his parents, Jesse Dabson as Scotty Moore, and Blake Gibbons as Bill Black. It was canceled before Elvis got to meet the Colonel...

 

[Bob1370]

"1. malcom In The Middle - should have had 2 more seasons...
4. Wonder Years - another season maybe
5. What's Happening - one more season or two - it was reinstated in first run as What's Happening Now but that was just not the same"

The problem with all these shows, and the reason they disappear while they still seem to have some life in them, is that they're based on kid or teen stars who grow up quickly enough that you can't maintain the premise effectively. Frankie Muniz, Fred Savage and the 'What's Happening" cast all grew into adults by the time their respective shows ended, and unless you found a way to keep the adult characters credible AS young adults, the premise of each show is shot once the actors obviously are no longer kids.

And even if you did, a lot of kid and teen stars don't maintain audience appeal as adult performers. Those that have, from Judy Garland to Ron Howard to Jodie Foster, are rare and they usually wind up in major theatrical films as either stars or directors or both.

 

[trusty]

Cop Rock.

 

[KyDXIn]

and IMHO, Gilligan's Island. Could have run two more years, then the cast get rescued and the series comes to an end. NBC ended up banking on the GI reunion movies to put a closure on the lost castaways.

Ratings for "Gilligan's Island" were improving in its third season, and "Gunsmoke" was set to be cancelled. At the last second, William Paley of CBS pressured executives to move "Gunsmoke" to Mondays therefore taking "Gilligan" out of the CBS line-up.

Check wikipedia for more information on this.

 

[KyDXIn]

It was simply called "Elvis."
Narrated by Priscilla Presley, it dramatized Elvis' beginnings before the fame, and was filmed on location in Memphis. Good cast, with Michael St. Gerard as the future King (Ronnie McDowell dubbed his singing), Millie Perkins and Billy Green Bush as his parents, Jesse Dabson as Scotty Moore, and Blake Gibbons as Bill Black. It was canceled before Elvis got to meet the Colonel...

Parker or Sanders??

 

[onairb]

"1. malcom In The Middle - should have had 2 more seasons...
4. Wonder Years - another season maybe
5. What's Happening - one more season or two - it was reinstated in first run as What's Happening Now but that was just not the same"

The problem with all these shows, and the reason they disappear while they still seem to have some life in them, is that they're based on kid or teen stars who grow up quickly enough that you can't maintain the premise effectively. Frankie Muniz, Fred Savage and the 'What's Happening" cast all grew into adults by the time their respective shows ended, and unless you found a way to keep the adult characters credible AS young adults, the premise of each show is shot once the actors obviously are no longer kids.

And even if you did, a lot of kid and teen stars don't maintain audience appeal as adult performers. Those that have, from Judy Garland to Ron Howard to Jodie Foster, are rare and they usually wind up in major theatrical films as either stars or directors or both.

'70s sitcoms were especially bad at using early-20somethings as teens. 'Kotter' was the worst, especially by the end, when the remaining Sweathogs looked over 30!
Not having seen 'Chico and the Man', how old was 'Chico supposed to be? The replacement was a young boy.

 

[willdav713]

1. Drexel's Class 1991 FOX.
2. Trapper John could have made more back then
3. Wonder Years
4. Alice "kiss my grits" Diner
5. Pebbles and Bam Bam Show
6. Flintstones
7. Batman (the original not the animated series)
8. Beverly Hillbillies (they signed it off in return for more Urban programming)
9. In Living Color (probally due to Wayans getting busted)
10. Roc
11. King of the Hill (dropped in favor of the Cleveland Show same as #8 for reason)
12. Beavis and Butthead
13. Inspector Gadget

 

[Mario500]

1. Drexel's Class 1991 FOX.
2. Trapper John could have made more back then
3. Wonder Years
4. Alice "kiss my grits" Diner
5. Pebbles and Bam Bam Show
6. Flintstones
7. Batman (the original not the animated series)
8. Beverly Hillbillies (they signed it off in return for more Urban programming)
9. In Living Color ([probably] due to Wayans getting busted)
10. Roc
11. King of the Hill (dropped in favor of the Cleveland Show same as #8 for reason)
12. Beavis and Butthead
13. Inspector Gadget

Please explain this, as there was more than one person with the name Wayans involved with the program.

 

[ShawnHill1]

9. In Living Color ([probably] due to Wayans getting busted)

Please explain this, as there was more than one person with the name Wayans involved with the program.

I don't know about about a Wayans getting "busted", let alone which one you're referring to (Keenen, Damon, Kim, Shawn, or Marlon). The story of the Wayans siblings leaving In Living Color goes like this: Damon left the show first so he could pursue other opportunties (mostly movie work, of course, before getting back into TV with My Wife and Kids in the early 2000s), but still made sporadic appearances on the show for awhile. Keenen left the show because of too many creative constraints put on him by Fox, while the other siblings eventually joined their older brother by leaving...Kim was the last to leave, and that was by the end of season four.

 

[jwgreek8606]

Well, as stated in a previous post, The Wonder Years almost went to Kevin's senior year in high school. That's how they planned the show but a girl threw a sexual harrassment lawsuit at Fred Savage and Jason Hervey and purportedly threw it at ABC. ABC got tired of it so they pulled the plug early.

But two more shows

1. Just the Ten of Us-The spinoff of Growing Pains-had a lot going for them but it was cancelled not because of bad ratings but because of the idiot higher-ups at ABC.
2. Full House-was never given a proper series finale.
3. Married with Children-They were supposed to get a proper series finale but never did and the cast was very upset they didn't get it.

 

[willdav713]

9. In Living Color ([probably] due to Wayans getting busted)

Please explain this, as there was more than one person with the name Wayans involved with the program.

I don't know about about a Wayans getting "busted", let alone which one you're referring to (Keenen, Damon, Kim, Shawn, or Marlon). The story of the Wayans siblings leaving In Living Color goes like this: Damon left the show first so he could pursue other opportunties (mostly movie work, of course, before getting back into TV with My Wife and Kids in the early 2000s), but still made sporadic appearances on the show for awhile. Keenen left the show because of too many creative constraints put on him by Fox, while the other siblings eventually joined their older brother by leaving...Kim was the last to leave, and that was by the end of season four.

It was Damon I think, the one that played Homie D Clown. I remember hearing VH1 report that, I was only 12 back then so my memory is kind of fuzzy.

 

[hipman2]

re:
3. Wonder Years

One more season to wrap it up would have been welcome even if CBS or NBC had a chance to pick it up. Was it offered to them before
the writers had to write a hastily written explanation of how the season that never was would have happened?

4. Alice "kiss my grits" Diner

Five years was enough. Most of its run was forgettable. How they stretched it to 9 seasons I don't know.

5. Pebbles and Bam Bam Show

Well, I thought that CBS was going to do with P&BB what they did with The Archies when P&BB segued into The Flintstones Comedy Hour in 1972,
and I was expecting something like The Flintstones Fun House in 1973 (like Archie's Fun House was in 1970), then maybe Flintstones TV Funnies to see what the prehistoric comics would have been like, etc. I guess the networks were forced to come up with Archie clone toons during the late 60s and early 70s. Fred and Barney on NBC in 1979 was closer to what the producers intended when it wanted to continue The Flintstones franchise.

6. Flintstones

Ended too soon in 1966. Kazoo kind of killed the interest. Something like The Gruesomes would have been better as new characters.

9. In Living Color (probally due to Wayans getting busted)

Was showing some signs of wear.

10. Roc

Should have gotten a chance to go five seasons. Why couldn't it be continued on another network?

11. King of the Hill (dropped in favor of the Cleveland Show same as #8 for reason)

Nothing seems to work on Fox from 7-8 except for NFL overruns. Fox should just give the slot back to the affiliates
and move the block back one hour to 8-11pm ET/PT since Sunday nights are lucrative. While we're at it, Cleveland Show,
Bob's Burgers, and American Dad are just not working, Family Guy has its moments but few and far between, and Simpsons
are beyond finished. Fox could try some new action adventures and retire the animation domination idea.

1. Just the Ten of Us-The spinoff of Growing Pains-had a lot going for them but it was cancelled not because of bad ratings but because of the idiot higher-ups at ABC.

Could have worked on another night at 9:30 following Roseanne or another 9pm sitcom. Big mistake on ABC cancelling it.

3. Married with Children-They were supposed to get a proper series finale but never did and the cast was very upset they didn't get it.

My guess, Fox planned to get rid of MWC by first moving it to Saturday nights, a graveyard night, then to Sundays at 7:30, a low-rated
time slot. That was for the 1996-97 season when Fox moved The X-Files from Fridays to Sunday nights. Maybe the contracts were getting too expensive
and the viewers just quit watching after it moved to Saturday.

 

[bmasters1981]

TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, albeit it came back as Super Bloopers and New Practical Jokes and later simply Bloopers. Survivor and Big Brother don't even come close.

 

[onairb]

I liked the original (pre-1984)'Bloopers' specials with Dick Clark, but wasn't a fan of Ed McMahon's 'Practical Jokes' special(s?) which pre-dated the series. I still watched every week, because I liked the chemistry between Dick and Ed, but the elaborate 'Candid Camera'-style pranks on celebrities-who often seemed to be feigning surprise/annoyance/laughter, and seemed to be there just for a quick paycheck-took up to much time. Within a few months, they added even more recorded, non-blooper, material, including early 'funny home movies'(not yet 'home videos).
And, when even the actual bloopers started to look and sound a bit more staged and less spontaneous, the 'blooper' craze was over-for a while.
I never watched any of the post-McMahon specials(usually teaming Dick with various female hosts from NBC shows),but they started up around 1988(during the writer's strike), and hung around for the better part of the next decade.

 

[spencerkarter85]

My Two Bonus:

Harry's Law (NBC 2011-12)
PanAm (ABC 2011-12)

 

[jwgreek8606]

Eight is Enough he a rupt cancellation was so hard on the cast members from what I have heard.