TV shows that should have been good but weren't

Picket Fences is a tricky one. It had lots of good moments, and the cast was A-list and no one mailed it in (Fyvush Finkel and Ray Walston were my particular favorites, and Holly Marie Combs was much better in this show than in Charmed). But the tone would change so radically from season to season, and the writing would fall too often into the "let's all talk about a meta issue" camp that SVU falls into. Plus putting all the energy in Marlee Matlin in the last season, turning a deaf bank robber into Rome's mayor sent it flying over the shark.

 

My vote: The Nine.

Started watching it because of Kim Raver, who was on 24 before leaving FOX for ABC. Watched the first two shows, and then thought the show started sucking.

 

Take that back! Newsradio was awesome.

Nice to hear Dana Delany is still working - I loved China Beach.

 

Good call. That had potential, but it went nowhere. Like FlashForward. Thought Harper's Island might be something, too, but it was crap.