4 Shows That Suffered at the Hands of the Networks

\\ Monday, April 18, 2011

Let’s face it, shows get cancelled, and more often than not they’re great shows. So why do these shows die? Well, every so often, it’s because despite the fact that it’s their business, networks don’t get TV. They make simple mistakes that kill the shows and put everybody involved back into the unemployed crowd. The following list is of five shows that were beyond amazing, but died because somebody upstairs made either a mistake or a series of mistakes.

1. Dollhouse


Network: FOX
# of Seasons: 2
Dollhouse was a sexy science fiction drama starring Eliza Dushku as main protagonist, Echo. She was part of a secret organization known as the Dollhouse that rented people out to the very rich and powerful. These “actives” were people who had volunteered for a five-year term of service and had their own personalities wiped from their minds. This allowed the house to install new personalities into the actives and used them as hookers that didn’t just pretend to be in love, they were programmed to fall in love. The show ended with the house discovering a conspiracy within the corporation that funded it to rule the world by eliminating the idea of the individual and Echo managing to stop it.

What went wrong here? Sure the works of Joss Whedon haven’t had a successful history, but the advertising for Dollhouse was virtually non-existent, and none of it even made the plot clear. Viewers had a hard time learning of the show, not returning to watch it. The show was cancelled in 2010 after 2 seasons and FOX decided to burn through season 2 with weekly back-to-back episodes because the show was largely broken up into two-episode arcs anyway.

I didn’t even hear of the show through FOX itself! I found out about Dollhouse because the second to last episode was on the homepage of Hulu. After I got hooked on the show from that one episode, I did some Googling and found out it was already cancelled. Regardless, I downloaded the entire series and watched it religiously. It’s a true masterpiece of science fiction amongst the needless dramas of modern sci-fi.

2. Kings


Network: NBC
# of Seasons: 1
Kings was a drama on NBC that brought the story of David and Goliath into modern times. David Sheppard (Christopher Egan), an ordinary solider caught in an endless war, saves the prince of his country, Gilboa, from behind enemy lines, destroying a tank known as a “Goliath” in the process. He’s rushed out of obscurity and into the capital city of Shiloh alongside the royal family, rivaling the fame of even the great king, Silas (Ian McShane). David is revealed to be God’s choice to replace Silas, but the king has other plans, plotting to bring David down any way he can.

Now, it isn’t the typical case of advertising neglect here with Kings. There was plenty of advertising, even a Super Bowl ad (okay, pre-game show, but still). So what went wrong? Why didn’t people watch a show that was very God-centric, despite America’s population being largely Christian? Simple. The ads didn’t show any of the religious over-tones; they focused on making it look like a science fiction program, which it was not! No wonder no one in NBC’s audience didn’t show up for a “sci-fi” show, that’s what the Syfy network is for (or at least it used to be).

Kings was cancelled after 13 episodes and several schedule changes and some long breaks. Not only did no one show up for it, no one knew when it was on!