12 Cancelled Shows You Should Watch

Nothing is more frustrating than watching a quality show get taken off the airwaves while stale shows continue to garner millions of views and high ratings. So while your friends are watching boring by-the-numbers shows like Big Bang Theory or NCIS: Rancho Cucamonga, you can gloat how you're watching a critic darling, cry when you realize you won't get proper resolution, and then feel rage towards the networks for cancelling them.

Honorable Mentions: Obligatory Firefly submission.

12. Ben and Kate

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Ben and Kate debuted on FOX in September of 2012 to decent numbers before falling to lower numbers every single week. The show revolved around Kate (Dakota Johnson, “50 Shades of Grey”), a “do-gooder” who happened to get pregnant as a teenager, taking care of her daughter and her child-like brother Ben (Nat Faxon, Academy Award winner for “The Descendants”) who returns to live at her house, helping raise her child. Alongside Ben’s friend Tommy (Echo Kellum, UCB) and Kate’s friend BJ (Lucy Punch, Bad Teacher), the four characters get by in life and struggle with Ben’s mishaps.

11. The Pete Holmes Show

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The Pete Holmes Show debuted on TBS in October of 2013, being slotted after Conan, before being cancelled in it’s second season earlier this year. The Pete Holmes Show is a fantastic breath of fresh air in the talk show community. While other hosts such as Conan, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel and Fallon are hilarious in their own right and produce great shows night in and out, Pete Holmes brought something special with his show. At 30 minutes, Pete didn’t have much time to his disposal, but made sure he didn’t waste a moment. Creating sketches that always went viral, having a fun “off-script” feel to his monologue, and fun interviews with his friends led to a consistently fun show.

10. Go On

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Go On was a show that premiered on NBC in August of 2012 and was cancelled in April of 2013. This is one of the shows I was mostly disappointed in getting cancelled as not only showed promise to be a mainstay on NBC’s Thursday night Comedy Block, but it was a genuinely great show. Boasted by it’s eccentric cast and fantastic story, “Go On” followed Ryan King (Matthew Perry, Friends), a popular sports talk radio host, as he struggles to cope with his wife’s death. He is forced by his friend and boss Steven (John Cho, Harold and Kumar Series) to attend group therapy. There, Ryan must open up for the first time and allow others help him heal. Now despite the dramatic events happening in Ryan’s life, “Go On” still managed to find heart and humor with the group and their adventures together. I genuinely believe that this is one of the best comedic shows of the past five years. Seek out the show and give it a watch.

9. Freaks and Geeks

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Freaks and Geeks was a show created by Paul Feig with Judd Apatow as Executive Producer that premiered in September of 1999 and was cancelled in July of 2000. I’m sure you’re aware of this show to some degree, as it is credited to kick starting the careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel, Busy Phillips, John Francis Daley, Samm Levine, Linda Cardellini, and Martin Starr. If you haven’t seen this show, give it a watch on Netflix as it really is a fantastic show that focused on teenagers experiencing high school in a real way. The show was cancelled in it’s first season and despite Judd fighting for the show to return, it did not.

8. Better Off Ted

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Premiering in March of 2009 and cancelled in their second season on January 26 of 2010, Better Off Ted was critically acclaimed, but faltered due to it’s low ratings. The show revolves around Ted (Jay Harrington, American Reunion) who is the head of the research and development of a stereotypically evil company called Veridian Dynamics. Through out the show, Ted and his team attempt to neuter the company’s seemingly devious products, all while appeasing Ted’s boss Veronica Palmer (Portia de Rossi, Arrested Development). Better Off Ted is brilliant and definitely worth a watch.

7. Fear Itself

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Fear Itself was a horror anthology show that premiered in June of 2008 and would be cancelled a little over a month later at the end of July 2008. Created by Mick Garris (Writer of Hocus Pocus), Fear Itself was a major risk for a network channel as Horror typically doesn’t do well on the “big four” among general audiences. The 60 minute show would tell a new story every single week, similar to Goosebumps’ format. While some episodes were lacking, the idea of multiple directors telling a completely new story with new characters every single week is fantastic. I believe the main cause for it’s death was the time NBC released the show. Fear Itself is not a summer show by any degree. If released in October with proper advertising, one of NBC’s weaknesses, Fear Itself could have lasted a long while and could have potentially attracted big name directors and stars.

6. Party Down

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The Rob Thomas (Creator of Veronica Mars) and Paul Rudd (Mac and Me Enthusiast) created show, Party Down, debuted on Starz in March of 2009 before getting cancelled in June of 2010 as it’s second season concluded. Party Down focused on a catering team in Los Angeles, California, for a company named “Party Down”. The team (Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr, Ken Marino, and Ryan Hansen) consisted of a group of writers, actors, and hopeful business owner, who work catering to make ends meet while they strive for their dreams. Each episode would focus on a new party, generally hosted by a guest star, and the antics the crew would get each other in. The show was fantastic, but failed to build an audience. With Jane Lynch leaving the show to star in “Glee” and Adam Scott signing onto “Parks and Recreation”, Starz saw fit to end the show. The show has been getting some attention from audiences in it’s death and word is that a script is currently being written with a film to wrap up the series. All of the stars are expected to take part in the film, with the possible exception of Jane Lynch.

5. Hello Ladies

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Stephen Merchant (Co-Creator of The Office) created and starred in this HBO comedy that premiered September of 2013 before being taken off the air in November of the same year. The show followed Stuart Pritchard, Merchant, as he continuously strikes out with women in Los Angeles. While some criticized it’s lack of story progression, it’s cringe-inducing humor is so self-torturing and unbearable to turn away from making it a must-watch. HBO has confirmed that a special episode is being filmed to wrap-up the series and will be airing at the end of 2014.

4. Raising Hope

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Raising Hope was a Fox Comedy that premiered in September of 2010 and was cancelled in early 2014. This show is not only the longest running show on this list, but it is also the only show that got to finish it’s story before being cancelled. The show believed that the fourth season would be it’s last as they were moved to Friday nights and their ratings continued to drop. Writing their season finale as their intended series finale worked in their favor as they were cancelled a month before their season was up. Fox continued to air the episodes, allowing the show to finish on it’s semi-own terms. Raising Hope focused on the Chance family raising Jimmy’s (Lucas Neff) daughter, Hope. Off the wall and charming, Raising Hope is a genuinely great show that can only be compared as a new-age Malcolm in the Middle. With a fantastic cast in Garrett Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men / Looper), Shannon Woodward (Girlfriend), and Emmy Nominated for their roles in Raising Hope, Martha Plimpton (The Goonies) and Cloris Leachman (Young Frankenstein), it’s a shame the show never gained a solid audience. It will definitely gain in popularity and possibly gain new life when the entire show is added to Netflix.

3. Suburgatory

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This ABC comedy premiered in September 2011 and was cancelled in May of 2014. Suburgatory was centered around Tessa Altman (Jane Levy, Evil Dead) as she and her father George Altman (Jeremy Sisto, Clueless) move out of New York City to a materialistic suburb named Chatswin. The town feels as if it were pulled from the world of The Stepford wives as everyone in town only cares the clothes you wear and how tan your skin is. Chatswin’s wackiness is enough to carry the show, however it’s exemplified trough terrific performances by Alan Tudyk (Tucker and Dale vs Evil), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Chris Parnell (SNL / Archer), Allie Grant (Weeds), Carly Chaikin (In A World…), and Ana Gasteyer (SNL / Mean Girls). The show may have struggled in it’s final season has it had to deal with ABC’s budget cuts, forcing them to remove multiple main characters, but it is still a fantastic and colorful show.

2. Pushing Daisies

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Pushing Daisies is easily one of the most imaginative shows of our time. Vibrant, odd, and musical, Pushing Daisies can only be compared and is possibly the closest we will come to emulating the art style of Dr. Suess. Pushing Daisies premiered on ABC in October of 2007 and ended in June of 2009. The story follows Ned (Lee Pace, Guardians of the Galaxy), a pie maker who as a child discovered his ability to bring the dead back to life. With a single touch, Ned can resurrect the deceased for only 60 seconds or else someone else in the near vicinity will die and take it’s place in the after-life. Growing up, Ned befriends a girl named Chuck (Anna Friel, Limitless), but loses contact with her after he accidentally brings his recently dead mother back to life thus causing the death of Chuck’s father after 60 seconds. Brought back together in the future, Chuck and Ned team together to solve mysterious deaths using Ned’s ability. I can not recommend this show enough. Find it. Watch it. Watch it again.

1. Happy Endings

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This cancellation still hurts. Another ABC production, Happy Endings premiered on April 13, 2011 and was cancelled on May 3, 2013. Happy Endings started off the way many sitcoms end their run: with a wedding. Dave Rose (Zachary Knighton, The Hitcher) is set to marry Alex Kerkovich (Eliza Coupe, The Girl Next Door), when Alex runs out on Dave in the middle of their wedding for a guy on roller-skates. The big issue from here on out is who gets to stay friends with one another among their group of friends as Dave and Alex go separate ways. After a few episodes, the idea is nixed and the friends continue to hang out despite the broken couple’s problem. From this, we really get to see our characters thrive as Brad Williams(Damon Wayan Jr., New Girl), Jane Kerkovich-Williams(Eliza Coupe, Scrubs), Max Blum (Adam Pally, Iron Man 3), and Penny Hartz (Casey Wilson, Julie & Julia) are allowed to expand into the limelight alongside Dave and Alex. The Chicago based show features brilliant writing, witty humor, and impeccable cast made this show an instant hit with critics. Despite it’s high praise however, the show couldn’t find a large enough audience for ABC and as the ratings continued to dip near the end of it’s third season, the company made to call to cancel the series. Rumors swirled online that Sony was looking to sell the show to another network, most notably to USA which looked to begin making their own comedy shows. After all the talking was through, USA passed on Happy Endings and the show died an early death. While many still wish for a revival of the show in the future, it looks unlikely as every single member of the cast have be signed on to new shows for the 2014-2015 season, most prominently Damon Wayans Jr. reprising his role from the pilot of “New Girl” and Adam Pally joining the cast of “The Mindy Project” last season. David Caspe, creator of Happy Endings, will be having a new show debut this season entitled “Marry Me” starring his wife and Happy Endings alum Casey Wilson and Ken Marino (Party Down / Bad Milo). If there’s any hope for a reunion for the cast members, it will most likely be on “Marry Me”, should that show be a success.

While these 12 shows were taken off the air too soon, all due to low ratings, hopefully they can continue to grow an audience in their death and entertain audiences with their creativity, writing, and fantastic concepts.