Gone Before Its Time

A few weeks ago I watched the entire series of  My So Called Life (God does love us and showed us by streaming Netflix through my Wii).  All 19 episodes.  How, the hell, did this show get cancelled and crap TV goes on forever (didn't Jersey Shore just film in Italy or some such nonsense?)???  Got me thinking that there are quite a few shows that were laid to rest long before they should have been.

1. MY SO-CALLED LIFE The above-mentioned drama that told it like it was.  In the 90's, with lots of flannel.  When the show was on I thought it was cool but watching it as an adult , it made me ache with nostalgia.  Oh my gosh, I loved me some grunge boys.  And overalls, YES!  They were so comfy and forgiving!  And Doc Martens.  But aside from the fashion of the show, Angela was every girl.  Every girl has felt that alienated in high school.  We've all felt the longing for the guy that is just so wrong for us.  Or the betrayal of the friend who stole that guy.  The absolute weariness of how uncool our parents were.  The disdain for the dorky guy that adores you.  19 episodes was not enough!  Please bring this back with all the original characters, especially Jordan Catalano, who's like,  a big time rock star now.  
2. BETTER OFF TED had such sharp wit and biting insults slung so rapidly that I can only guess it got cancelled because it was too smart.  From Portia de Rossi's aggressive boss lady to Ted himself, the cast was spot on crazy.  They had a whole episode where the motion sensors work off skin reflection so do not register for people with darker skin tones.  Hilarious when this leads to them having to hire white shadows for the black workers and then black shadows so they aren't considered discriminatory.  Genius infinite loop.  But some of the best parts were when you'd think it was going to commercial and it would be an ad for the TV company:   RIP Better Off Ted, you deserved more than two seasons!
3. PUSHING DAISIES I'm going to guess that the some of the same writers were involved in these two shows.  The concept for Pushing Daisies was so fantastical, the characters so quirky and caricature-like, the sets and costumes so Broadway-esque and with Kristin Chenoweth as a main character you can bet there were musical numbers (They Might Be Giants? for the love of God, it was PERFECT!)  I adored this show, couldn't wait for it to come on.  I was devastated when it got cancelled but I understand that it wasn't mainstream.  But that was why it was so good!  And I miss Lee Pace's hang dog face.
4. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT What can be said about a TV show that had a daughter named Maeby?  Or the VERY best-named lawyer, EVER:  Bob Loblaw!  A show that  made you fall in love the most dysfunctional family possible.  That brought us Jason Bateman (sigh) and Michael Cera and Will Arnett.  A show with the Fonz and narrated by Richie Cunningham.  Only that this show should still have remained on the air forever!  Not snuffed out after three seasons! There is talk of a movie and if Sex and the City can do it (twice) I'm hopeful these guys can get it together  (I also just realized that Portia de Rossi is in this too and quite brilliant, go Ellen!)
5. FLASH FORWARD Ok, this show didn't have sharp, witty dialogue.  In fact, it often bordered on cheesy and formulaic.  And the characters were not all that memorable or likable and a lot of them were left-overs from Lost so I got a little confused.  But what the show had going for it was a wickedly cool story that got more complicated the more it tried to provide answers (quantum entanglement anyone?).  I think JJ Abrams was involved or it felt like he was.  We'll never know if the whole world blacks out for another 137 seconds but it was entertaining while it lasted.  And Joseph Fiennes was in it.

Tweeps' honorable mentions:  Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty...