Most Underrated TV Shows

[foxfire]

I recently bought "Birds of Prey: The Complete Series" on DVD and I'm three episodes in and I'm remember how great a show it was. It originally aired in 2002 on the WB and was based off of a number of DC Comics. It's basically set in the same universe as Smallville (at least it's hinted at) and for the life of me I don't know why they cancelled the show!! For one, it's more interesting that Smallville in the fact that we have three heroes... not just one. And it was very "Girl Power-y".

So this got me thinking... what do you all think are television shows that got cancelled way too soon?

My votes go to the WB shows "Birds of Prey" and "Popular". I think the WB was one of the worst managed television stations but had some of the best shows. Personally, "Popular" ended with the biggest cliffhanger leaving absolutely no closure to the series (it was a satire on teen drama shows like 90210) and even though "Birds of Prey" ended with closure... it was a series that only last 13 episodes. WTF?! It got ratings in the 7 million mark and rather than cancelling it they should have stuck with wherever Charmed was scheduled... they could make "Charmed" nights girl power nights to feature all their female-led shows. Besides... they cancelled the show before they could even show Batman.

[The Original P3]

I've definitely heard great things about "Birds of Prey" but I never watched it. "Popular" on the other hand I watched from day 1 and I was devastated when that was cancelled with no closure what-so-ever. IMO, The WB never wanted the show to succeed. I believe Ryan Murphy had some risque ideas for the series (though I'm not 100% positive if The WB were fully aware of these ideas at the time). Moving it from Thursday to Friday nights was basically the nail in it's coffin (and only in the second season!) Once they did that, I'm shocked it made it a complete full second season. Either way, I thought it was highly disrespectful of The WB to leave the creators hanging on the shows future and not allow the creators to offer the fans closure.

Speaking of closure and proper notice..now I get to rant about another show that suffered the same fate, "Veronica Mars". VM was a BRILLIANT show that never stood a chance or was even given a chance. Personally I think starting it on UPN was what damaged the show to begin with. While the first 2 seasons on UPN were beyond amazing compared to the more average 3rd season it received on The CW, because of it being on UPN, no one even knew the show existed. I only learned of its existance in the second season when I found out Lucy Lawless would be guest starring in an episode. Then I caught the second season finale and I was floored by how amazing the show was and I couldn't believe I was only just discovering it. The CW is probably worse than The WB ever was with how poorly their network is run. The fact that they kept interupting VM's airings with the Pussycat Doll crap, the long breaks and the hugely uncertain future, VM wasn't given the courtesy of a proper finale at all and I'm sure to this day, people aren't even aware Veronica Mars existed. What a shame.

Considering Kristen Bell went on to "Heroes", Jason Dohring went on to "Moonlight" and Rob Thomas (VM creator) is now behind the new 90210 spin-off..they lost a real treasure in VM.

[foxfire]

What is it with the WB? Why do they treat their sheer genius shows like crap? I loved watching "Popular" re-runs on Family Channel over here in Canada and I thought it was one of the most refreshing shows I'd ever seen. It was hilarious, dark, and completely original. It didn't have this fake pretense that a lot of teen shows had of this melodramatic "Woa is me" kind of thing. It was different too in the fact that they tackled a lot of heavy issues (eating disorders, cancer, teen marriage...)

I've heard Veronica Mars is a really good show... but I didn't learn about it until it was too late. I know Charisma Carpenter was a guest star on the show for a while (was she any good?)... its premise seems promising though.

You MUST check out Birds of Prey... try renting it. Despite its rather short list of episodes... it's definitely got a Smallville vibe to it but it feels a little like a darker version of Charmed.

[The Original P3]

Aug 3, 2008 22:08:34 GMT -5 foxfire said:

I've heard Veronica Mars is a really good show... but I didn't learn about it until it was too late. I know Charisma Carpenter was a guest star on the show for a while (was she any good?)... its premise seems promising though.

You MUST check out Birds of Prey... try renting it. Despite its rather short list of episodes... it's definitely got a Smallville vibe to it but it feels a little like a darker version of Charmed.

Since you're a Charisma fan I do highly recommend checking out the show. She's somewhat of a early Cordy b!tchy type attitude..only all grown up. =) She's pretty much in her marriage for the money. She's a great character and one that many people love to hate. But in a good way. She's pretty much in all of season 2 and Alyson Hannigan is a guest star in it as well as Joss Whedon guest stars in an ep. After I saw the finale I just bought seasons 1 and 2 because I could just tell it was a show I'd really enjoy and I wasn't wrong. I watched season 3 as it was airing and was one of those fans pissed off they were dragging out the fate of VM by not announcing if it was cancelled or not.

And I'll definitely give Birds of Prey a try. I recently started Smallville so since it's by the creators of that show I might enjoy it.

[foxfire]

I'll definitely give Veronica Mars a try. Anything with Charisma Carpenter just has to be good. Not too sure of the return of that mean Cordy attitude seeing as I thought she kicked those kinds of roles. Was VM getting decent ratings? Because the WB (and CW it seems) has been known to cancel female-led shows when ratings take a sudden and minor drop. I'm also very angry at Warner Brothers because I heard that they won't even touch any female-led programming or film scripts.

Smallville for me tends to be at its best whenever Lois is around. She adds something to the series that just makes it all the more interesting. Once you get to watching Birds of Prey it becomes very sad because Dina Meyer (who portrays Oracle) is absolutely fabulous and has done the GREATEST rendition of the character. It's upsetting to know that there's only 13 episodes this version of the character. She's largely raved to be the best Barbara Gordon.

[The Original P3]

I believe on UPN it was one of their better shows, but on The CW it was anything but in the ratings. Then again, I really don't think they gave it a fair chance. I believe they were expecting much higher numbers than the network generated. This past year (The CW's second season) has shown that it's not the shows people aren't watching but the network itself. They aren't marketing well and as a result, their quality shows are taking a hit. As far as ratings go, even the highly anticipated Gossip Girl barely hits 3 million viewers. They even cancelled Gilmore Girls after only a season on The CW (though I never watched that show).

And I definitely love Lois. I just recently go to the season that introduces her and she's hilarious and definitely brings much needed comedy to the show.

[foxfire]

The CW sucks. I think its programs actually do fairly well in Canada because they're typically spread out through our own networks (CTV and City specifically) and there's more advertising up here. Typically when you see a show failing miserably in the States because of bad marketing or bad time slots... it thrives up here in Canada. Case and point: Sailor Moon. They stuck Sailor Moon on a 5:00 in the morning timeslot on Fox in the States but up here it was put on YTV during lunchtime so kids could watch it. And it had INSANE ratings. The WB certainly wasn't any better especially with how they managed Charmed. I find that they select programs they feel will be the better ones and ignore the rest. Question, did Girlfriends get moved over to the CW? Because I know it aired on UPN and that show was HILARIOUS. Unfortunately I only ever got to see it on BET.

Just a note about Lois in the later seasons, every single show she's in she gets knocked unconscious by a gun slap. Seriously, it's ridiculous how often she gets knocked unconscious.

[The Original P3]

Girlfriends did get moved over to The CW, though I'm not sure if it's coming back next season. Either this past season was its last or next season will be. I can't be too sure.

And The CW does a lot like The WB with picking the shows that will thrive. ALL their promotion goes towards shows such a Gossip Girl and the new 90210 and such shows like Supernatural and Smallville get ignored. I guess they think since they aren't new shows they aren't worthy of promotion.

[foxfire]

The funny story is that Smallville and Supernatural have bigger fanbases. The WB/CW seem to have something against supernatural-themed shows. But the thing about supernatural shows is that they're the shows that get cult followings... not rinky dink teen dramas. As for Birds of Prey, I read that the WB was actually looking to cancel the show so when the ratings dropped, it gave them a reason. Men must run the WB/CW. Grr. Stupid men. (I love how I hate on my own gender)

[Assassin Witch]

ECK! Surprisingly, Dawn Ostroff is the network president. (I love Gossip Girl. The Ostroff Center is like their rehab type place. LMAO! Smart people!)

VM! *cries* I started the show after it was cancelled. Last summer. *points to Britt* granted, I never thought twice about it (or really actually heard about it) until SHE started talking about it and I finally got curious. But too late. And that ending? no! Who became sheriff? Seriously! Not too mention LoVe! *cries*

WB/CW and ratings is silly. If they based their shows on their ratings, every show would probably be cancelled. Thankfully, GG was one of the first to get the OKAY from the heads up. Even though they can't even get THREE million. Though, GG gets like #1 on iTunes and the online attention is insane. So, I'm thankful that Gossip Girl is safe. (Plus, GG and it's cast just one SIX Teen Choice Awards, so, yeah. We're all good.)

Birds of Prey/Smallville never interested me, so I don't really care. My biggest was/is VM. I bet they're kicking themselves over KB's success. And thankfully, she's the VOICE of Gossip Girl herself. (KB has the BEST narrator voice, EVER!)

The network is going to end up worse than WB and UPN. It's only a matter of time.

[foxfire]

I find that a show's success can also depend upon international success. Like Gossip Girl I'm sure gets pretty high ratings over here in Canada. It plays on CTV which is basic cable (channel 8...) and most people watch that channel for drama. It's funny because we have a channel that typically displays sitcoms and comedies (CityTV plays Ugly Betty) and then CTV typically plays the dramas (like Law and Order).

Unfortunately for me... CW/WB/Cartoon Network have had a lot of good cartoons based off of comic book characters and it's hard to find out which networks they'd be played on over here. We have two "cartoon" channels and so it takes some browsing. For example, there's a new X-Men cartoon coming out that looks really good but it's fate for Canadian viewing is up in the air.

But the US is pretty weird with what they dub as "good" when it comes to any form of media. We all know Beyoncé is really popular and that she appears to be the most well-known of Destiny's Child but it just so happens that Kelly Rowland is VERY popular pretty much everywhere but the US.