OT: The best TV show nobody watched

[Forbush-Man]

I don't know about "best" show, but two short-lived series I enjoyed on UPN (don't laugh), were Legend and Seven Days.

 

Legend starred Richard Dean Anderson and John DeLancie, and was a Sci-Fi/MacGyverish Western. Seven Days was basically a Quantum Leap clone. Both shows were very formulaic, but I enjoyed the actors and characters in them. Nothing too deep, but just fun stuff...

 

I watched Seven Days a few times and liked it.

 

Anyone remember Earth2? I thought that was a really great SciFi show. I think it only went one season.

[dzminn]

Wiseguy - sadly Ken Wahl had difficulty handling fame.

 

Time Tunnel - fun 1960's Irwin Allen production.

[tth2]

Wiseguy - sadly Ken Wahl had difficulty handling fame.

Great show, and an early star turn for Kevin Spacey. I wouldn't blame it all on Ken Wahl, though. The first arc was great, but you could already see the show had run out of ideas with the second arc and its "expose" of the music business.

[dzminn]

Wiseguy - sadly Ken Wahl had difficulty handling fame.

Great show, and an early star turn for Kevin Spacey. I wouldn't blame it all on Ken Wahl, though. The first arc was great, but you could already see the show had run out of ideas with the second arc and its "expose" of the music business.

 

No blame, just what it was. I dunno, I think more could have been done with the character and theme. Of course, Ken did have some health issues.

 

Ken Spacey as Mel Profitt - great stuff, not to mention Joan Severance.

[tth2]

not to mention Joan Severance.

 

This has always bugged me: at the very end of the first arc, was she really pregnant or was it a hysterical pregnancy?

[Genesis Comics]

I liked Good Morning Miami and was suprised when it was cancelled...

[sckao]

 

Recently, I got into the habit of watching "Over There," a show about soldiers in Iraq. It wasn't renewed.

[Norrin_Radd]

Wiseguy

 

That doesn't fit the category. For a time, it was THE must-see show. Everybody watched it.

[sledgehammer]

Wiseguy - sadly Ken Wahl had difficulty handling fame.

Great show, and an early star turn for Kevin Spacey. I wouldn't blame it all on Ken Wahl, though. The first arc was great, but you could already see the show had run out of ideas with the second arc and its "expose" of the music business.

 

There were three or four arcs before that Glenn Frey, Debbie Harry one.

 

Remember the Jerry Lewis one??........yikes.

 

Started with Ray Sharkey, then the Kevin Spacey one, and by the start of season four....Steven Bauer had taken over the lead, looking for disappeared Vinnie, or the soon to be "movie star" Ken Wahl.

[dzminn]

not to mention Joan Severance.

 

This has always bugged me: at the very end of the first arc, was she really pregnant or was it a hysterical pregnancy?

 

Well if doing your brother doesn't make you a little hysterical

 

I miss that show. There were just so many layers to it and the characters were interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of interesting, does anybody remember Paperboy with Chris Elliot?

[tth2]

There were three or four arcs before that Glenn Frey, Debbie Harry one.

 

Remember the Jerry Lewis one??........yikes.

 

Started with Ray Sharkey, then the Kevin Spacey one, and by the start of season four....Steven Bauer had taken over the lead, looking for disappeared Vinnie, or the soon to be "movie star" Ken Wahl.

Wow, you're absolutely right. I'd completely forgotten about those other arcs. Amazing how quickly the memory goes.

[namisgr]

Several shows I liked have been mentioned already: White Shadow, Wiseguy, and Time Tunnel, but the latter was big enough to spawn a Gold Key comic. Also loved The Prisoner ("You are number six..."). Currently enjoy watching Monk (wins awards, but does anyone but me actually see it?).

 

Just about anything from PBS must qualify as something almost nobody watched: I enjoyed the cheap fun of "Are You Being Served", a silly British comedy show, and the pseudohistorical fun of "I Claudius" on Masterpiece Theatre.

[underthebigw]

I don't know about "best" show, but two short-lived series I enjoyed on UPN (don't laugh), were Legend and Seven Days.

 

Legend starred Richard Dean Anderson and John DeLancie, and was a Sci-Fi/MacGyverish Western. Seven Days was basically a Quantum Leap clone. Both shows were very formulaic, but I enjoyed the actors and characters in them. Nothing too deep, but just fun stuff...

 

Man, Legend was so underappreciated it was ridiculous. It always amazed me how it didn't catch on with comic fans. The premise was fantastic--the writer of dime novels (Anderson) constantly becomes confused with his main hero, who was implied to be very much a combo of Doc Savage/MacGyver type. People everywhere expected him to live up to his creation, and he and his partner (DeLancie) utilize this persona, combined with the partner's scientific genius, to get him to fulfill these expections, creating this larger than life persona that travels through the post-bellum American West . The show actually had a touch of Wild, Wild West in it. Great stuff and only one season.

 

Another hysterical show---Stark Raving Mad, with Tony Shaloob and Neal Patrick Harris. Kind of an Odd Couple take off, with one truly debilitated phobic publisher, and one sadist, manipulative horror writer. Gut-wrenchingly funny.

 

Man, I liked TV. Then I had kids.

[underthebigw]

Homicide: Life on the Streets was frequently brilliant, but it ran for almost a decade didn't it? Hardly a show nobody watched.

 

Sports Night is a great choice.

 

I'll add Frank's Place, the New Orleans based show featuring Tim (Venus Flytrap) Reid.

 

Homicide was fantastic. Always on the verge of cancellation, but the best thing on television for a long time.

 

Frank's Place is a great choice--what was that '87-'88? Great cast, great acting, and funny in an understated way. Definitely deserved more of an audience.

 

How about some truly crappy shows that didn't deserve the success they got. I'll vote Night Court-cheap rip-off of Barney Miller that I don't think I ever even genuinely chuckled at.

[FlyingDonut]

I'll go old skool: NBC News Overnight with Lloyd Dobbins and Linda Ellerbee. So far ahead of its time it was stunning.

 

[Davenport]

This 'best TV show nobody watched' thread had me digging through boxes looking for an old bootleg vhs tape I bought years ago at a Con.

Found it.

 

"Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own.

Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net...

Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves...

And now, a professional bodyguard - primitive, savage...in love with danger -" T.H.E. CAT!

 

Robert Loggia as T. Hewitt Edward Cat. Sort of a sixties jazzy-cool Paladin-type character. Got canceled after one season (I think). Still holds up well considering it came out of that "Man From U.N.C.L.E." time period. Great music score and well written, no cheese.

With all the old TV show big screen remakes I'm surprised someone hasn't optioned this show. Writers could have a field day with this character.

 

[sledgehammer]

I'll go old skool: NBC News Overnight with Lloyd Dobbins and Linda Ellerbee. So far ahead of its time it was stunning.

 

 

Tell me more. Not ringing any bells, and I'm 50.

[mar-vell]

The Prisoner! -actually i guess some people did watch that one!

[CJ]

I always enjoyed watching The Master

 

Ninja tv show with Lee Van Clef, Tim Van Patton, and Shô Kosugi (real ninja)

 

Demi Moore was even in the 1st episode

 

 

ANd although it lasted a few seasons. The Pretender has got my vote for one of the top 5 tv shows in my generation (I have a born on date of 1970

[rjpb]

I'll go old skool: NBC News Overnight with Lloyd Dobbins and Linda Ellerbee. So far ahead of its time it was stunning.

 

 

Tell me more. Not ringing any bells, and I'm 50.

 

I have a vague memory of that show - mid-late 80s right?