TV shows that should have been good but weren't

First season was awesome, and that was it.

 

Twin Peaks was originally going to be a six episode series. It got picked up for the rest of the season and then a second season, but they didn't have anywhere else to go with it.

The original episodes were brilliant. After that, not so much.

 

Sports Night.

Many of those cast members went on to better things (Six Feet Under, West Wing, Desperate Housewives, etc.).

The local Barnes & Nobles has it on DVD for $60. Not sure it's worth that much, but I liked that show.

 

Star Trek: Enterprise

Thought it would be interesting to explore an era that was only rarely discussed in other shows. I could relate better to the idea that the Enterprise wouldn't be the most advanced ship out there.

However, it was mostly epic suck with brief smatterings of interesting storyline.

 

the magic hour

 

Predictably, this has turned into a "Which shows were canceled too soon?" thread.

 

The Dennis Miller Show, back in the early 1990s, was just tremendous.

 

I liked it, but it was made better when he went to HBO and could cuss up a blue streak.

 

Completely agree. When his syndication show was canceled, Miller was the first to go out and rip Leno, who had been telling people they couldn't be on The Tonight Show if they did any other show first.

I know he and Leno are friends now. Leno was on Miller's radio show a few weeks back.

 

amazon has the complete series in a 10-year anniversary box set for 54.99 -- and TOTALLY worthwhile, and must-have for sorkin fans: http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Night-Complete-10th-Anniversary/dp/B001B187BQ.

 

Class of '96

Good show on Fox, of all networks, trying to ride the coattails of 90210, of college kids dealing with the pressures of being away from home for the first time.

Lisa Dean Ryan (the girlfriend on Doogie Howser) had earned some critical praise for her role. Too bad the show only lasted about half a season.

 

That Was Then...a two-episode run on ABC in 2002, I believe. Guy goes back in time to fix his life.

In my mind, you should not be able to mess up a show where a character goes back in time. I can watch any episode of the Twilight Zone or Quantum Leap over and over and never get sick of the concept.

And yet that ABC show found a way to make it suck.