The new TV season starts in earnest this week, and as usual it brings with it the promise of all kinds of new sci-fi, fantasy and horror treats for us to watch. And all too soon it will also bring with it an inevitable round of cancelations as shows that seemed like they were just getting going get cut short when the ratings take a sudden downturn (or maybe a slow decline).
Before we fall in love with too many new darlings only to lose them too soon, we thought it was a good time to look back over some of the most promising new network shows in the last 10 years that also seemed fresh and young ... only to flame out spectacularly.
The list could go well past 20 of course, but all of these stood out in some way during their brief time in the sun, either because so many viewers tuned in at first that cancelation seemed impossible, or because creatively they seemed a cut above the average TV fare.
None of what follows is a comment on quality. These shows may have been some of the best and brightest, but without the huge ratings network show need to survive, even good shows can quickly find themselves on the wrong side channel changer:
source
Before we fall in love with too many new darlings only to lose them too soon, we thought it was a good time to look back over some of the most promising new network shows in the last 10 years that also seemed fresh and young ... only to flame out spectacularly.
The list could go well past 20 of course, but all of these stood out in some way during their brief time in the sun, either because so many viewers tuned in at first that cancelation seemed impossible, or because creatively they seemed a cut above the average TV fare.
None of what follows is a comment on quality. These shows may have been some of the best and brightest, but without the huge ratings network show need to survive, even good shows can quickly find themselves on the wrong side channel changer:
source
