Not Enough Of A Good Thing

It's the beginning of the end for Prison Break, which begins airing the first of its last six episodes tonight. And it's a bittersweet ending, because, while no one likes to see a good show go off the air, Prison Break has been nearly unwatchable since its first two brilliant seasons.

Prison Break has been lucky, a great show that was allowed to run its course and continue on until it got really awful, much like Happy Days did in its last five seasons. And other not-so-great shows, like Survivor, currently airing its 18th season (!?!), continue on, even though they ran out of ideas years ago.

But others have not been so lucky, brilliant shows cut down in their prime before they managed to hit their strides. Television, after all, is not about creativity, but about ratings, and shows that aren't blockbuster hits, regardless of creativity or brilliance, are shown the door post-haste.

So, in deference to Prison Break, which should have been canceled two seasons ago, here's a list of some of my favorite shows that never got their own chances to wear out their welcomes:

Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
Oddly enough, a show that did wear out its welcome, but for different reasons. When the show first debuted, it was a ratings hit. Everyone wanted to know who killed Laura Palmer. But show creator David Lynch had no intention of telling us. Lynch was more interested in the characters of Twin Peaks, and Laura Palmer's murder was merely a clever plot device that allowed them to exist. (CBS is currently attempting something similar with Harper's Island, and doing very poorly with it, I might add.) ABC wasn't interested with this tactic and pushed Lynch to resolve the show's murder plot and move onto something else. He begrudgingly obliged and proceeded to lose interest, having very little to do with the show afterwards. Once the question of "Who Killed Laura Palmer" was answered, the rest of America lost interest in the show as well, and the show was canceled at the conclusion of its second season.

Profit (1996)
A show years ahead of its time, Profit was the story of a ruthless corporate VP who had his own twisted reasons for climbing the corporate ladder. TV was happy happy, joy joy in those days, and the story of a psychotic anti-hero who slept in a cardboard box just didn't sit well with anyone. Fox pulled the plug after four episodes.

Action! (1999)
Another groundbreaking show that was waaay too racy for network TV. It aired eight episodes before Fox canceled this biting Hollywood satire.

Clerks: The Animated Series (2000)
Clerks was a breakout hit for Miramax and Disney when it came out in 1994. I'm sure that when Kevin Smith pitched a TV version of the show that Miramax and Disney jumped at the chance to catch lightning in a bottle again. But this animated version, which featured a then-unheard of comedic turn by Alec Baldwin, was so wildly different from the live-action version that ABC canceled it after two episodes.

Robbery Homicide Division (2002)
Every since CSI became a hit for CBS, the network has become lousy with police procedural shows, most stretching the term "police procedural" to its breaking point. But this show, the brainchild of Michael Mann, was as gritty and realistic as they come, making the Crime Shows of today seem like fairy tales by comparison. One of the first shows shot in HD video, CBS canceled it after 10 episodes.

Arrested Development (2003-2006)
The patron saint of canceled shows, having been beatified by legions of loyal fans. But those legions weren't enough to keep it from being canceled after three ever-shortened seasons. Fans, rejoice, as a feature film is very likely on the way.

Invasion (2005)
A very well-produced and written show about long-dormant aliens being stirred up by a hurricane. And what happens to a town when a majority of their population is overtaken by alien replicas? We'll never know, as ABC canceled it after its single season.

Reunion (2005)
Six high school friends reunite at their 20-year reunion and one of them is murdered. As the police questioned the survivors, the show flashed back to what led them to this point, with each episode chronicling a year's worth of events. Whodunit? It's still a mystery, as the show never made it past 1994.

Justice (2006)
Of all the garbage shows that Jerry Bruckheimer has put on the airwaves, the only one I've enjoyed was the one that lasted the least amount of time, airing only its original order of episodes.

Thief (2006)
A great show in which Andre Braugher was the mastermind of a high-tech heist gone wrong. (Remember when Braugher left Homicide because he wanted to pursue a movie career? He's starred in four TV series since. Some movie career, huh.) FX canceled it after a season, which is odd, since they'll let a boring, meandering show like the Ri¢hes go on for years, but kill a good one like this when it's just getting interesting.

Shark (2006-2008)
James Woods' first foray into TV was a return of the old Jimmy Woods, the coked-up, manic psychopath that made him a star in the '90s, and we were all happy to see him back. But, alas, sagging ratings and a production shutdown due to the Writers Strike caused CBS to cancel it after it ran out of episodes in Season 2.

Journeyman (2007)
Kevin McKidd becomes unstuck in time, and is forced to help people whenever he ends up. What caused this middle-mannered reporter to become a time-traveler? We never found out, because NBC chose not to order anymore episodes after the Writers Strike.

My Own Worst Enemy (2008)
Christian Slater is a secret agent who leads a double life, unbeknownest to his "off-duty" alter ego. NBC let it run out its initial order with no re-up, but the exact same plot has been picked up by Fox's Dollhouse, which I hope lasts longer than the 13 episodes they've got in the can.

Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
The best show to come on since the the cancellation of Arrested Development. Writing, production, casting: all perfect. But the show comes from the twisted mind of Bryan Fuller, whom the networks like in theory, but really hate once his shows hit the air. ABC canceled it before it finished its second season. But (again), fans, rejoice, as ABC has promised to air the remaining unaired episodes at the end of May.

Hopefully, they'll keep some of the shows I like on the air. I wouldn't count on it, though; nothing I seem to like sticks around for long.