The curse of the cancelled TV show...

TV executives have no taste. Either that or I watch programs that have no commercial appeal, because the programs I like keep getting cancelled...

Case #1 - Firefly
Yes, the sci fi western may not have made any money, but it was so good! A wonderfully diverse and well cast group of characters, witty dialogue and a variety of entertaining storylines combined to bring a refreshing and different show. The most annoying thing was that the cancellation happened so early on - a lot of the early ground work for later storylines had been laid, but it was cancelled just as it was starting to get really interesting. Thank goodness for Serenity. Yes, it may not be a flawless film, but at least it answered some of the issues raised in the TV show, removing at least some of the frustration and leaving the door open for further films.

Case #2 - Arrested Development
I have to confess that I'm less upset over this one than some of the others. The story of the disfunctional Bluth family was very enjoyable and amusing and I think it was a shame that they cancelled it. However, at least it didn't leave any tantalising open storylines to nag at me (possibly due to the fact that they were aware of the impending end of the show)... There's been a lot of talk about bringing it back as a film, but I for one hope they don't to be honest - in my mind it's fairly done and dusted...

Case #3 - Veronica Mars
I knew when I started watching Veronica Mars that it got cancelled at the end of the third series, but decided to give it a go anyway. Murder mystery set in a high school? Hell yes! The first two series are brilliant - an intriguing overarching storyline stretching over the whole series, enjoyable episode based subplots, entertaining and amusing characters that develop beautifully over time... The third series is definately weaker, forgoing the series spanning storyline for some frankly baffling smaller storylines at times. The chemistry that is so intriguing between two of the main characters over the first two series gets pushed to one side, and the series ends in a pretty obscure and frustrating way. Again, there's been discussion about bringing the show back in a movie form, and while I'm not sure there's much new ground that can be covered, I'm definately pro this simply because of the ridiculous way that the third series ended...

Case #4 - Pushing Daisies
The story of the Pie Maker and his bring-back-the-dead-to-life abilities is entertaining, but I'm not too suprised it's not made it past a second season. Yes, I enjoy it and have seen all the episodes so far, but it's usually the bottom of my TV watching priority list. The problem with having the central two characters as nice people who are in love but can't touch each other is that there's not much you can do with it - in short, it's lacking a bit of disfunctionality from the central characters to make it a bit more... well... interesting. The episode length plots pass the time pleasantly enough, and there are a couple of longer length storylines, but nothing to really stretch interest much beyond the first series.

Case #5 - Eli Stone
Now this one I really am annoyed about. Mainly because I've only just discovered how awesome it is (thankyou Mr Walker). The story of a lawyer who begins having visions that are either caused by his inoperable brain tumour, or are messages from God. And by visions, I mean full on song and dance routines. With George Michael. The first series focuses on Eli's battle to cope with the effect the visions have on his life, while the second is less about Eli and more about the effect he has on those around him. The irritating thing about the cancellation of this show is not the fact that storylines probably won't be tied up, more that there is just so much potential in the show (similarly to Firefly) that is left unfulfilled... I'm not sure how many episodes are left to air, but this one I'm really going to miss...