This is an exciting week for me because this week’s theme is so much fun! I share shows, that managed to crawl under my skin with just one season, only to be ripped away from me. I’m talking about shows that weren’t that bad, but decent enough. Shows that should have been given a second season. Shows, that I still sometimes wonder about. And I still don’t get how they were cancelled because they weren’t that bad!
1. STAR-CROSSED (2014)
Here’s the thing. I’m not saying Matt Lanter is the best actor out there, but for some reason, I really like him. I discovered him in 90210, and when that ended, Lanter went on to Star-Crossed also on CW. It was pretty much a Rosewell meets Romeo and Juliet. An alien and a human should never fall in love, but they did! And hey, I’m not saying Star-Crossed was top notch TV, okay, I’m just saying it deserved much more than just 13 episodes. But I think maybe the timing of the show was wrong. Considering Shadowhunters is still on air, and is horrible, Star-Crossed could be a fan favourite at this very moment. They had action, they had romance, they had drama! Greg Finley looked hot! So all I’m saying is that Star-Crossed should have ran for longer than a season. Good thing Lanter bounced back though, and is now in Timeless.
2. THE SECRET CIRCLE (2011)
A CW supernatural show (there are tons of shows that network launched without success) that didn’t live longer than a season because The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural were way better. CW was too crowded, even though The Secret Circle wasn’t half as bad as its one season run might indicate. This show focuses on witches, and particularly on Britt Robertson’s character Cassie. In the beginning of the show she moves in with her grandmother because her mother has just died. The mysteries start to pile up. Cassie runs in heels a lot. It actually starts to become funny, because by episode 5 you would think Cassie opts for trainers. Anyway, the show was good, it had lots of female characters and I only had fun with it.
3. ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (2010)
Last but not least, the one that hurts the most. Accidentally On Purpose was a show about a woman in her 30’s, who accidentally got pregnant by a guy in his 20’s. Oh and here’s the awesome part, the woman is a film critic! I mean, I couldn’t write this better if I tried. The always charismatic Jenna Elfman plays the lead Billie, and Jon Foster, who reminds me of Bryan Greenberg, plays the guy Zack. Oh, and Zack’s friends! My god, Nicholas Wright and Pooch Hall provided so much comic relief all on their own. In other words, it’s funny, it’s weird, it’s sweet, it’s… well, it’s a one season wonder, that’s what it is!
THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
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I have a suspicion I’ll be saying this a lot this week but I haven’t seen any of these. I heard of both Accidentally and Star-Crossed but never managed to catch up with them and then they were gone.
What you said in your opening paragraph holds for me and these are three I watched faithfully and then they were gone.
Awake (2012)-LAPD Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is involved in a serious car accident with his family and when he awakes finds himself in two different realities. In the first his wife Hannah has survived the crash, in the second his son Rex but Michael can’t tell which is his true waking life. To try and help him place himself he wears a red wristband in the first and a green in the second and consults a different therapist in each. They are the only ones aware of his problems which leads to issues with his team at work. But Michael has become extraordinarily good at solving crimes since he is able to use details and clues he gleans from both realities. Complex, sometimes disorienting (there are times where Michael is dreaming within a dream and so forth) series had a great performance by Isaacs in the lead but required an attention investment that might have been too much for viewers.
Forever (2014)-In 1814 35 year old Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is killed while trying to free slaves from a slave ship but something happens whilst he’s in the water and he reemerges alive, unharmed, naked and immortal-a pattern that is repeated whenever he dies. Jump forward 200 years and Henry is now a New York City medical examiner who uses his centuries of accrued knowledge to help solve crimes while he searches for the key to his immorality. A widower he lives over an antique shop owned by his 80 year old “son” Abraham (Judd Hirsch) who he and his late wife rescued from a concentration camp as a child. But Henry has an enemy-Adam (Burn Gorman) a 2000 year old immortal who thinks he might have found an answer to releasing them from their plight and tries to force Henry to help him. Not as complicated as it sounds this was a fun show full of quirky characters and a fantastic team in Gruffudd and Hirsch who played off each other so well.
Rake (2014)-Keegan Deane (Greg Kinnear) is a criminal defense lawyer and reprobate whose self-destructive behavior cause him no end of troubles leading to him battling wits and owing money to everyone he knows, including his ex-wife, judges, an assistant district attorney, his bookie, a brothel owner, and the IRS. His saving grace is that when he gets around to it he’s a very good attorney. Ramshackle comedy/drama was driven by the charismatic Kinnear who obviously was having a hell of a good time. Had the misfortune to air on Fox who moved it around too many times.
OOOH FOREVER! I had forgotten about that one, and now I’m disappointed I didn’t add that one to my list. That was a very good show, damn it. I’m now disappointed in its cancellation all over again.
Awake was a pretty good one too.
So nice and bittersweet picks!
I haven’t seen any of these. Star-Crossed doesn’t sound bad at all.
It was alright, like sure, it had it’s flaws but I enjoyed it a lot!
I haven’t seen any of these but I agree about the Sci-Fi shows usually not making it. I have heard about the last one but never watched it.
Poor Britt Robinson, that girl is TV poison. How many shows has she had that were cancelled? lol. I’ve heard of all of these but I never watched them. I can’t remember the last time I watched a show on CW (if ever) I never think to turn that network on.
Haven’t seen any of these either, but I suppose that’s why they got cancelled – not enough ratings, always the same issue.
Oh man reminds you of Bryan Greenberg SAY NO MORE. 😂 I’ve had a ridiculous crush on him for years.
Star-Crossed – I tried watching an episode, I just couldn’t. I thought all the actors look way too old to play teenagers. Anyway Shadowhunters probably has all the book fans still watching. I gave that up after first episode.
The Secret Circle, did not get a chance to see it. Am a little curious since it’s by the same author of The Vampire Diaries.