Best Of 2008: 5 Shows That Shouldn’t Have Said Goodbye

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

2008 was a terrible year to launch a television show. Just as the 2007-08 season achieved lift-off, the writers’ strike sent it crashing to the ground. Many promising shows ran out of episodes just as they were gaining a following. When the strike ended, some shows rushed back into production. Networks opted to relaunch others this fall. That turned out to be a bad move for shows with cult followings like “Pushing Daisies.” After disappearing from the screen for eight months, it could have used its protagonist’s powers of resurrection. Other shows were doomed by networks misreading the cultural mood. (Hint: vampires are in.) Several other shows merit honorable mentions in this category including “My Own Worst Enemy” and “Dirty Sexy Money”. Here are Fancast’s top five picks for shows that died before their time.

1. Moonlight

CBS’s series about the vampire detective followed in the footsteps of “Angel” and “Forever Knight”. Like its predecessors, it immediately developed a passionate following. Very passionate. If you don’t believe me, mention the show on a website – even a website that has nothing to do with television. Its fans will hunt you down. Unfortunately hardcore fans did not translate to huge ratings. CBS opted not to bring it back for a second season. Its replacement, The Ex List did far worse and has already been canceled. Meanwhile, HBO has a hit with its vampire show “True Blood”, the Twilight movie earned $70 million its opening weekend and the books are runaway bestsellers. 2008 is the year of the vampire, except on CBS.

2. Men In Trees

This series was television chick-lit, filled with beautiful men, quirky characters and romance. Anne Heche staged a comeback as Marin, a Manhattan relationship expert who relocates to a small Alaskan town where men outnumber women. Marin’s star crossed romance with hot biologist Jack (James Tupper) was so hot that that Heche and Tupper left their spouses and moved in together. The show had the potential to become the next “Grey’s Anatomy”. Instead, it bounced around the schedule until ABC unceremoniously dumped it in May 2008, without a proper finale. Marin and Jack fans deserved better.

3. Aliens In America

This CW series was the rare comedy that managed to be both funny and thought provoking. The sweet-natured story of a Pakistani exchange student living with a typical Wisconsin family gently mocked American stereotypes about Muslims. The show seemed like the perfect companion piece to “Everybody Hates Chris,” but critical acclaim wasn’t enough to overcome minimal promotion. Few people knew this gem even existed, and it was canceled after one season due to poor ratings.

4. Jericho

This CBS series was the show that launched a million boxes of peanuts. The sci-fi drama about a small Kansas town coping with the aftermath of a nuclear war had a strong cult following, due in no small part to the sex appeal of its star, Skeet Ulrich, who played reluctant hero Jake. When it was canceled after its first season, fans protested by sending 20 tons of nuts to CBS, a reference to Jake’s line , “Nuts!” in the season finale. CBS reconsidered its decision and brought the show back as a midseason replacement, but unfortunately, Nielsen doesn’t measure peanuts. The ratings were terrible, and the show was canceled again, for good.

Watch a full episode of “Pushing Daisies” right now.

5. Pushing Daisies

This show was hailed as the best, most original new series of the 2007-08 season. This quirky fairytale of a show employed extensive special effects and third person narration to tell the story of a pie maker named Ned who has the ability to temporarily raise the dead. Both a procedural (Ned uses his powers to solve murder mysteries) and a tragic romance (Ned can never touch the lifelong love that he resurrected, Chuck, because it will kill her), it may have been the oddest show to ever appear on a broadcast network. The show managed to build an audience of loyal fans and turned star Lee Pace into an unconventional sex symbol. It even won an Emmy for Barry Sonnenfeld’s direction of the pilot. But ABC’s decision to delay the return of the show following the writers’ strike doomed it. Its second season garnered poor ratings, and that, coupled with its high production costs, killed the show. Unfortunately, Ned’s powers of resurrection do not extend to television series.