Canceled TV Shows (A Rundown)
As networks have been announcing their fall schedules, we've been
bringing you news of the highlights (Chuck! Dollhouse! Sarah Connor!).
But for those who don't watch any of those three shows, here's a list
of what's just been axed. Let's mourn the passing of the following (and catch them on DVD):
ABC:
In the Motherhood
The Unusuals
According to Jim
Cupid
Samantha Who?
CBS:
Harper's Island
Without a Trace
Eleventh Hour
The Unit
Worst Week
CW:
Privileged
FOX:
King of the Hill
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
NBC
Kath & Kim
Kings
Knight Rider
Life
Lipstick Jungle
My Name is Earl (may get picked up by Fox or ABC)
Medium (may move to CBS)
Which shows are you saying "good riddance" to? Which are you sad to see go? --Ellen
Paul on May 20, 2009 at 02:27 AM
Although marketed badly, I really liked Kings.
Mel on May 20, 2009 at 02:48 AM
Really hate to see "Life" go.. it was interestingly entertaining. Also, hope to see "Medium" somewhere, anywhere.
Arlene on May 20, 2009 at 04:41 AM
Disappointed about 'Terminator' and 'Privileged', but infuriated 'The Unit' was canceled, & that 'Medium', tho maybe picked up by CBS, will be cut down to a mere 12 episodes, I read.
rdasher on May 20, 2009 at 05:53 AM
Don't watch much network TV, but Castle, Dollhouse, and Sarah Conner were regulars to DVR and watch on weekends. Will miss Sarah Conner, though it did get a little weird at times.
Right now Castle is at the top of my must watch list.
Ernesto on May 20, 2009 at 05:53 AM
I am sorry to see The Unit and Without a trace go, the rest, no problem.
Rick on May 20, 2009 at 06:00 AM
Life was a great show, I can't understand it being cut except that one of the stars was pregnant last season and I think that hurt the flow of things. Still, unless she outright decided to not come back... they should be able to pick it up again.
And Terminator... what can you say, scifi never survives these cuts. But Terminator was better than Dollhouse!
Medium was watchable, glad it got picked up to whatever extent.
Brendon Carr on May 20, 2009 at 06:03 AM
I too am infuriated at the cancellation of The Unit, despite the deterioration of the show in its fourth season. NBC, which can't find a watchable show with both hands and a flashlight, ought to pick it up. But I'm afraid the politics of the show would be altered by the NBC "braintrust" and The Unit, too, would be unwatchable in their hands.
Sherry on May 20, 2009 at 06:05 AM
I really hate to see Eleventh Hour and Life go. These were two of the most intriguing shows I've seen in years. Clever, well written, interesting/quirky characters and great story lines.
Peg C. on May 20, 2009 at 06:10 AM
"The Unit," "Medium" and "Without a Trace" are huge favorites and we are hopping mad. "Sarah Connor" in our opinion jumped the shark this year. We loved "Chuck" but it kind of ran out of steam this season. "Eleventh Hour" was quirky and interesting.
All the "CSI"'s have either lost enough good cast to be useless, or are so gory or so badly written that they deserve to go. Instead our family will be watching "Fringe," "The Mentalist," "N.C.I.S." and probably nothing else. I hope the networks all go out of business, actually. Them and newspapers.
TheAbstractor on May 20, 2009 at 06:13 AM
Jeez, a ton of bloodletting over at NBC. Way to put your Super Bowl/Olympics ad space to good use overhyping these shows for the last few years.
They'd make a good move just by taking the whole USA network lineup and move over to the network. (Psych and Burn Notice for the win.)
Jane on May 20, 2009 at 06:15 AM
Medium is my favorite show ever. Please pick it up CBS
JD on May 20, 2009 at 06:15 AM
I hate that the Unit is gone, but it was a shell of itself last season as it became more and more PC (Ronnie from The Shield as the terrorist mastermind...). When this show first came on I thought it was too good to be true: a show about the American military kicking terrorist's butt week in and week out. Turns out it was too good to be true.
Hollywood/network TV just cannot figure it out. Worst Week and Kings were good shows. I'm really surprised Kings didn't make it, given how heavily they marketed it. Then again, it was on NBC, so it was only about half as good as it could have been.
JDW on May 20, 2009 at 06:18 AM
I couldn't stand "Kings", but Ian McShane is absolutely awesome! Someone needs to find a vehicle for McShane where he can shine as he did in Deadwood.
Rick Lee on May 20, 2009 at 06:20 AM
Sad about Life.
Bobby on May 20, 2009 at 06:31 AM
I really hate to see My Name is Earl go, it took me a while to get into this show, but I have really begun to look forward to it every week. Same thing with The Unit-though it really doesn't surprise me, it seems like the production values have dropped dramatically in this past season. Oh well, such is the nature of television.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on May 20, 2009 at 06:33 AM
I tried watching "Life" when it first came out, and it didn't engage me. The premise was intriguing, but the execution didn't match it. The main character, Charlie Crews, was just too weird and detached to be likable. After a full episode, I was so indifferent to Charlie that I didn't care if he solved the mystery of who set him up, quit the department and became a Roto-Rooter technician, or got eaten by giant snails. (Giant digitally-animated carnivorous snails would've been freakin' awesome, though.)
"Harper's Island" looked from the promos like one of those things that would either have been really, really good or really, really bad.
I'm a sucker for a good alternate universe, and I liked the idea behind "Kings," but I got a negative vibe from the promos and never watched it. Guess I wasn't alone.
John Webb on May 20, 2009 at 06:34 AM
I can't believe NBC cancelled Star Trek and kept that stupid "Daniel Boone". Not that the last season was anything to write home about, but it was worth keeping on the air.
NS on May 20, 2009 at 06:37 AM
Eleventh Hour..Loved that show, was different so it doesn't surprise me. I also thought it was getting better and better as the season went on. The first show didn't impress me much, after that the characters to really seemed to gel.
Hubby will miss the Unit
Dave S. on May 20, 2009 at 06:40 AM
Let me see if I've got this right: You're Fox, you've got a Terminator TV show, there's a hyped-up Christian Bale blockbuster Terminator movie coming to the theaters and basically giving you millions of dollars of free publicity for the franchise... and you cancel the show a week before the movie hits the theaters.
Makes perfect sense.
Rex on May 20, 2009 at 06:43 AM
The Unit is one of a handful of shows that we like: Bones, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, The Closer, NCIS, The Mentalist, Numbers, and sometimes House and Flashpoint. (Notice that we're talking CBS, USA, and Fox only here?)
We are severely upset that the Unit is being cancelled. Maybe USA could pick it up? Certainly none of the other networks would be willing!
wilky on May 20, 2009 at 06:45 AM
Hate to see Life, Medium and The Unit go.
Lets face it tho, moving The Unit to Sunday night was a killer, its not a Sunday night type show.
Dave S. on May 20, 2009 at 06:49 AM
Networks don't want you to watch their shows unless it's on DVD. Why else would they periodically stick distracting animated billboards for their other shows on about a quarter of the screen while you're trying to watch it?
That would be Step #3 of my plan if I ran a network and wanted to destroy it. Step #2 would be "Don't give shows a chance to grow and find an audience. Who needs the Next Cheers or Seinfeld?", and Step #1 would be "Don't have a full first-run season starting in the fall, with reruns in the summer, and an uninterrupted string of episodes showing at the same time and day. Run a few episodes, pre-empt for something else, follow with two back-to back episodes, move the show to another slot, show three random re-runs, then two more new episodes including a season finale. Then forget about the show for fifteen months."
Darren on May 20, 2009 at 06:55 AM
Life was great. Crews was weird, but his weirdness set off the quirks in all the 'normal' characters. Plus, whoever licensed their music did an awesome job. I'll miss that one.
Sarah Connor Chronicles was edgy as well, it finally had enough backstory to be good. Ah, well...
LaurieK on May 20, 2009 at 07:07 AM
What a shame about "Life." Damian Lewis was wonderful and the entire show was creative, clever, and had heart.
Ken on May 20, 2009 at 07:12 AM
Just goes to show how little network television impacts my life nowadays, I have only actually watched ONE of the shows listed (Medium). Well, technically I think I watched one episode of "Earl" a couple seasons ago with my son.