As we head into summer, it’s time for barbecuing, swimming, and mourning the loss of TV shows that have been canceled. Yes, for you it may be Ghost Whisperer; for me, it’s Better Off Ted:
The fact that network television can cancel Ted and renew Rules of Engagement seems cruel, but then, if there’s one thing among many that Ted taught us it’s that life is cruel… well, that and it’s probably not a great idea to make up a language:
Here’s a little bit of holiday-weekend info that might cheer up you Ted fans: If the NBA finals don’t go to a seventh game, ABC is likely to air the remaining two unaired episodes of Better Off Ted on June 17, 8-9 p.m.
Which shows’ cancellations are you bummed about?
Follow: @kentucker
I would have to agree with u man, I loved this show and am stoked to hear that there’s 2 more unaired episodes left.
Legend of the Seeker
legend of the seeker for me too, even though it wasn’t as good as hercules and xena(by the same person too). but hopefully he’ll make another show like those! the time slot probably didn’t work for the show.
Legend of the Seeker for me too. It was on a roll, constantly improving throughout its second season. It’s a real shame when a show that is doing things right creatively gets cut short.
I have to say Legend of the Seeker is way better than Xena and Hercules. The production quality from the cinematography and score to the castings are much better in my opinion. By no mean I think the show is perfect, but I personally love that at times I feel like was watching a major motion picture because everything just looks so beautiful and polished.
Better Off Ted AND Legend of the Seeker.
These 2 shows= awesome.
mine would have to be 10 things i hate about you on abc family…great cast great stories, no viewers.
Did ten things get cancelled?
Legend got canceled. Bummed!!
Gotta be Legend of the Seeker for me as well. This was such a great show and I can’t believe we won’t have it around next year.
Legend of the Seeker.
Not only had it improved, but the total viewers would make it a hit on SyFy (where it would fit thematically,) or ABC Family (which could have picked it up since ABC Studios owns it.)
yea i hope syfy picks it up! i think it’d do well there and get some new viewers. like i said, the time slot and channel probably didn’t make it work.
Siffy thought about picking up “Seeker” and supposedly did a marathon to see if there was positive response, only they never advertised it and then ran it on a weekday when kids were in school and folks were working. Sounds like they didn’t REALLY want it. Too bad as most of their shows are crappy and unwatchable (Stargate Universe for example, yecch). Seeker would have paired nicely with Merlin, but. . .sigh. . . *reaches for kleenex*
Heard syfy is thinking about ghost whisperer pick up and chuck pick up if season 4 flops (Which it won’t cause it’s awesome)
Just thinking about LOTS makes me wanna cry. Not seeing Cara and Kahlan every week is gonna be so ridiculously hard and knowing they’ll never be back is gonna make it sooo much harder. Another amazing show that just wasn’t given a fair chance. Boo…
@ waya I agree Merlin and Seeker would be great. I DVR both and usually watch them one after the other and they fit perfectly.
Hope Syfy picks up Legend of the Seeker. The show got better and better. Then season finale (series finale?) was great.
10 Things I Hate About You. The crappy thing is that I never watched it until I heard it was getting canceled, and decided to give it a try after so many people seemed so upset. What can I say, I’m a masochist.
did the exact same thing.
I know! I started the show to mock it for insulting the memory of the movie. Then it turned out to be really effing good. And now it’s over on an epic cliffhanger. Lame sauce…
wow I didn’t even know 10 things was cancelled. I love that show. tear
same here. where am i gonna get my weekly fix of witty and angst-free teen show now?
Whaaaaaaaa? They STILL have two unaired episodes of BOT? I am hating ABC more and more by the second. I’d better mark my calendar, because my DVR is bound to not pick those up, since ABC always did such a great job of keeping Better Off Ted on schedule (ugh, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from when my DVR recorded The Bachelorette, when the schedule announced BOT – how can anyone watch that show without puking?)
Ken, could you some day explain just WHY they couldn’t give BOT more of a chance? Hadn’t these people heard of how Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond didn’t do so well on their first seasons, either? Was there something so wrong about this show they couldn’t keep it on a little longer?
Oh, and FlashForward also stings a little… but not as much as this one.
really? NBC is the one making me really mad!
I agree. Friends wasn’t Friends the first season either. Plus, I think it takes a little longer to warm to sitcom characters then dramatic characters. Plus the way ABC bounced BOT around the schedule didn’t help at all. I watched it whenever I could find it. I will miss FlashForward too. It just when it was getting good they cancel it-just like they did Invasion a few years back.
I completely agree! The first few seasons of Seinfeld were stink.. The first two seasons of Ted were comedic gold. I picked up the First Season DVD yesterday at Target for nine bucks. I nearly cried at how little they valued the show. It was truly funny AND amazingly intelligent.
I am in 100% agreement. They take off shows that get decent but not great ratings like they only want to air things that will be #1 — which is not possible!!! it makes me tentative to watch anything since there is so little chance it will stay on. I also love love love New Adventures of Old Christine — not sure if another network picked that up.
Nicole – Nine bucks? I’ll go after work to get mine then!
Flashforward
I agree, Gareth! I was really disappointed that they cancelled FlashForward. It had some really neat actors in it (I love Dominic Monaghan’s performance! And John Cho is fabulous).
I was sooo hoping that someone besides me would miss FlashForward. I agree that it wasn’t perfect, but it could have been something really special, and now we’ll never know.
I wish they had renewed “FlashForward. Also Heroes, although I know its ratings had sunk. I just wanted one more season to see if they could’ve gotten it right finally.
Yep, FlashForward. It was just starting to find its mojo! Dominic Monaghan was kicking butt and it had some cool ideas. Once again, the dreaded 4 month break… Lost was on to something, people!
This. That was on hell of a cliffhanger at the end of the season finale.
I know! I wasn’t the biggest fan of Flash before it went on hiatus but I figured I’d give it one more chance when it came back and it got sooooo good and it really found what it was missing! I was so bummed out when I heard it was finally cancelled. The finale was just plain Amazing! Great actors and great plot, they should have given it one more chance. Long hiatuses kill starting out serialized shows! I wish networks would realize that and premiere them in Jan.
YES! I’m absolutely bummed about FlashForward.
The worst thing is that the uneven start for Flashforward gave way to an excellent last ten episodes; it just got better and now it’s gone.
Flashforward
So much potential only to be left hanging…
Yep, the Finale was really good too. Hopefully the creators will give us some good stuff when they release it on DVD. That’s my only hope towards a resolution.
Agreed, I will miss FlashForward the most. Still mad at ABC for pulling “Defying Gravity” just when it got good, too.
I’ll miss FlashForward, too. I liked it before, but after these last few episodes I REALLY liked it.
Absolutely! That cliffhanger was awesome and it bothers me that so much stuff is left untold and unresolved.
I am SO rooting for the Lakers to sweep (I suppose I could root for the Celtics, too, but I live in Southern California and it’s a cultural thing…) just to see two more episodes of Better Off Ted!
loved this show too, tbs likes funny shows, maybe they will pick it up? see what you can do ken!
Melrose Place. It was never given a chance and was getting so good.
I agree.MP was getting really interesting. The casts were coming into their own and I would have liked to see where the storyline was going.
Is there another network out there that would consider picking up Better Off Ted? Please?!!!!!!
Save Better off Ted!!! This show is gold. Give it a good time slot and the promotion it deserves and network will get viewers.
Every time I see shows cancelled I just can never forgive Fox for cancelling Reunion, a show that really just needed 10 more episodes ever!
Totally forgot about that show…it was really good!
Instead of saying what I thought was a heartbreaking cancellation, I’m going to say what is a heartbreaking renewal. Why would they renew One Tree Hill or Smallville? They have run their course and now are reaching the point where good shows go drastically bad. It also only gives the CW two slots to pick up shows. A true travesty.
The cancellation that got me depressed almost a decade ago was “Dark Angel” (people, can I get an amen?). I mean, Jessica Alba as a genetically enhanced super soldier kicking serious ass, while clad in tight leather pants! Canceled after 2 seasons. Bring it back!!!
Better Off Ted
Ugly Betty
I was stunned about cancelling Ugly Betty! No more Marc, Willie, Justin, well just all of them, it’s cruel and unusual punishment to cancel Betty but keep all of these crappy “so-called-reality shows” on. This is just another dumbing down of america that corporate media thrives on. Yuk!
Are you kidding? Ugly Betty ceased being amusing by the end of the second season. They started with a great concept and a spectacular star, but how long can you listen to the same joke over and over again before you just stop listening?
Ugly Betty fell off in quality for a while but the final season got really good again. Those final episodes were as good as the early days and it was sort of sad to see it go.
Wrong – the show got hysterical again this season, and all the actors were so talented. There’s a reason they’re getting good offers now. Ken Tucker is so wrong to ignore Ugly Betty just because it ended a little while ago. It was heads and tails above these other, middling shows. Better Off Ted? Better off dead, I say. Ok, maybe that’s too harsh for a show I’ve never even seen, but come on, it’s not like it was ever that big of a deal. At least Old Christine had Julia Louis-Dreyfus in it.
unfortunately, that writers strike from a few years back illuminated two very exciting for TV execs: not only are horrible reality shows really cheap to make, no matter how dumb the concept people will watch.
Zach, the big deal is that it was really funny and really different from everything else out there. If you only watch shows because they have someone famous in them, that’s sad. When Seinfeld started, the cast was four nobodies. It is pretty dumb to knock down a show you have never seen just to build up your case for a different show. Do you go to funerals and say “The lady in the coffin? I never met her, but she sounds stupid. My uncle who died last month, though, now that was a guy. Let’s make this service about him instead!”
Old Christine sucked Julia Louis-Dreyfus is like way past her prime and still she wasn’t that good better off ted was fun in a new and better way Old Christine was just a bunch of rehashed joke that sucked back when they were new
Stunned about Ugly Betty? LOL… It was only good through the 2nd season, and it had a good, proper ending too.
@ MO LOVED your comments, they are so spot on. Thanks for the laugh. By the way, I loved both BOT AND Old Christine and am sad about them both but I have to admit, more sad about BOT.
Ugly Betty (Wonderful ending! Albeit, a biiit rushed…)
Legend of the Seeker
Better off Ted
AFAIC that’s the best anwsre so far!
Those are the two that I will miss most, too. UB made me laugh and cry pretty much every week, and I had to rewind BOT to catch all of the funny lines because I was usually busy laughing.
You were just reminded of Ugly Betty by Taye Diggs and white people in the second clip, weren’t you?
The New Adventures of Old Christine.
I KNOW! I’m devastated about this one. I took it for granted.
Yeah, this one is probably a little higher on my list than Better Off Ted, mainly because I wasn’t expecting Old Christine to get cancelled. I loved Ted, but I could tell it was doomed.
NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE!!!! I just bought seasons 3-5 on itunes. Best show by far of all the ones that were cancelled
.
I’m going to miss Christine too!
HHIS I shudol have thought of that!
SAVE CHRISTINE! (but maybe not her couch that smells like farts.)
AFAIC that’s the best asnwer so far!
Couldn’t agree more. “The New Adventures of Old Christine” was consistently among the funniest television created. How it can meet its maker while drivel like “Rules of Engagement” lives on is beyond me…
I agree, will very much miss New Christine!
Dear TV, please make new adventures of New Adventures of Old Christine! Do it or I kill your dog!
New Adventures of Old Christine was such a funny show.
Yes, I did. However, that’s not how it hnaeeppd and as it turns out – I’m pretty good at this Mothering stuff. I’ve compromised a bit, but I do NOT regret it.
Amen to this. Great writing and great comic timing gets you thrown all around ABC’s schedule, rather than seamlessly tucked into the Wednesday night comedy block. Unlike any other cancelled show, this one never got the care it deserved.
completely agree!
Absolutely.
I do not understand why ABC did not ad BOT to Wednesday.
BOT was the funniest show to come along in years and it was not given much of a chance.
Heroes
I’m sorry,but I watched every episode of Heroes and it had become a sick dog that need to be put down… I mean sent to a farm in the country where Sylar can play and frolic and kill a farmhand once a day if wants to.
@ Jeff I agree that Heroes had gotten bad but I just wanted one more season to see if they could get it back on track. I kept hoping they would, even after the hold carnival mess.
Heroes ended three years ago. It was replaced with a show I like to call “guess who didn’t die when you thought they did!” I enjoyed the first season but everything afterwards was just plain ludicrous.
I think a few things threw off Heroes. Time travel just pretty much sucks and should be avoided. Yes, that includes Lost.
This show changed from the first season, where it had some strong points. The best episode was Company Man, which focused on a single family where only a single person had an ability. The show became a show about (everyone having) fantastic abilities. Instead, it should have been a show about people, some of whom just happened to have different abilities.
Bring this show back!
24
Eh. The show had many of years and will be given a movie. Not so sad as those that were not given a proper chance.
As much as I LOVED 24 I think the writers were running out of ideas. I guess there’s only so much you can do with a real time format. I’m looking forward to the movies!!
Ugly Betty. My husband would say Legend of the Seeker.
Ugly Betty had it’s moments and didn’t really think it could really create more plotlines. A spinoff would be nice. Vanessa would continue to woo us. Hmm.
“Cold Case” – I loved how the stories were set in different decades combined with the personal stories of the detectives. I’m still hoping that another network will pick up the show. Same thing happened to “JAG” and it ended up running 10 seasons! (keeps fingers crossed)
Yes! I’m sorry to say I am laste to the “Cold Case” party, but just started getting into it and appreciating what a great show it is. Creative stories, good characters that are well-acted, and most of all amazing soundtracks each ep to take you right back to the era. I hope another network will pick it up!
Cold Case; but then again I would have kept Without A Trace on the air before rescuing Medium from NBC’s scrap heap. Therefore, I think that just about every cancelled CBS show was more deserving of renewal than Medium.
Anna please mourn the tv show u love without putting down others. I for one am sooooooooooo glad Medium is still on. The truth is that ur beloved Without a trace and Cold Case are part of a saturated genre (crime)so they were disposable. Deal with it. Not everyone who puts on the tv wants to see cops solving stuff.
Definitely Cold Case. Always loved the music. So glad TNT shows reruns every day!
I’m also bummed about “Cold Case”. I loved that show and the final season was so good!
SAVE COLD CASE!
Cold Case for me too. Unique and very well-done– it deserved a renewal.
Yep this one definitely hurts. Try and try to show your love, but the networks will never care about anything but numbers
Definitely “The New Adventures of Old Christine”. I’ll miss loopy, self-absorbed Christine, deadpanning Barb and the Meany Moms.
Agreed! And I also love Matthew’s character. Sooo screwed up by Mom and Christine, but still trying to grab some sanity amidst all the crazies. I thought Hamish Linklater captured that to perfection.
Nothing has ever been more raw and tearfully hilarious than OC on tv. There’s no reason for me to ever watch that channel again. However–
Hamish Linklater’s career should skyrocket after Old Christine — that voice… that comic timing…
Mmmm-la-la. I want him to be my sexy, neurotic man-child. LOL!
I began to find Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as Christine incredibly irritating, even more than how she played Elaine on “Seinfeld.” I hope she can find a new, different character the next time around.
I miss my Scrubs!!
This season was terrible. It should have ended last season like it was supposed to.
Wasn’t as bad as people would have you believe. Most of the people saying it was terrible never watched any episodes of it.
i watched every episode of it, and yeah, it was horrible. the main problem is lucy was a horrible actress and cole was one of the worst written characters on tv and was unbelievably annoying.
I watched every episode as well. It started slow but got better towards the end of the season (ironically after some of the former cast finished their guest stints).
Real problem was that this retooling would have worked a lot better had it happened one season earlier with the previous intern cast with Eliza Coupe as the central character.
I totally agree with Dave. The show had some growing pains early on. Sadly, it was JD’s presence that kept the show off-balance. Once he left, the new core cast started to gel nicely. I agree that Lucy was a bit of a weak link, especially as a new narrative focus. Drew and Denise were brilliant, however, and gave the show moments of brilliant comedy. If Eliza Coupe (Denise) doesn’t get paged for another sitcom stat then all of television may as well flatline.
Can we just give Lem and Phil their own spin off??? Because I LOVE THEM!!
YES! Phil and Lem forever!!!
Maybe CBS could give them a home and pair them with The Big Bang Theory. Nerd Night TV! I do wish Ken had added a Phil and Lem clip there. Tell me that the perfect-insult formula wasn’t great:
http://awealthofuselessinformation.blogspot.com/2010/02/perfect-insult-formula-better-off-ted.html
Huh? I posted earlier heartily agreeing with you, and saying CBS should pick that up and pair it with The Big Bang Theory, but it’s disappeared. It might be because I called it (a certain term for brainy people that starts with an N, which term I would call myself) Night. Or maybe that was the post where I added a link to a page that contained a transcript of the part where Phil was coming up with his genius perfect-insult formula. By the way, searching for that brought me to the (very) R-rated version of the episode’s insults on YouTube, which you should definitely check out if you don’t mind profanity. A LOT of profanity. It’s amazing they can keep their straight faces through those.
…And it came back in between starting to write my second post and posting it. Now I sound like an idiot. To make up for that, let me add a couple more I came across later (you add the www and the .com): betterofftedinsults (every time you refresh the page, a new one is generated), or search for Dirty Mouths Moment 1-12 – Better Off Ted on YouTube.
love them too! but they need the whole cast to make it work. CBS simply missed out on comic gold, that agreeably would have fit in very VERY nicely on Wed nights.
On the other hand, maybe we got the best of the best. Isn’t the comic tag line…. “Always leave ‘em wanting more?”
edit ABC not CBS.
CBS has like 2 comedies. It’s more the drama channel.
They were my favourite part of the show! And Veronica, cause Portia DeRossi (sp?) is genius in that role. (the bad part? I could take or leave the leads. Just my opinion, but always thought they were the weak link). Sad to see it go, just the same.
Better Off Ted was hilarious, I’m really going to miss it.
Legend of the Seeker (for my hubby too)
You are 12 and your husband is how old ?
That’s kind of uncalled for dude.
Really uncalled for…
BTW, I would be wary about letting my children watch LOTS, its definitely an adult themed show.