Now let me clarify before I get roasted from all sides for missing their choice, this is merely my opinion, this does not mean anything I haven’t put in isn’t worthy of being watched.
With that being said let’s get into it, my first pick (this is not in any type of order).
This TV series had a great concept, it followed the lives of people surviving in a small town called Jericho following a massive disaster that devastates what appears to be the entire United States. The show ran for two series with some great acting from a good cast including Lennie James as the ex-cop from St Louis (Snatch, The Walking Dead) and Skeet Ulrich as the Mayors black sheep of a son (Scream, The Craft).
I found the interlinking stories and backgrounds of the characters very believable, and intriguing. The whole show continually had you asking questions, but unlike some TV series I could mention, gave you answers as the show went on.
Persons Unknown was another with a fairly interesting premise to it, but unlike Jericho didn’t run long enough for a lot of viewers questions to be answered. Thankfully the creator Christopher McQuarrie upon learning of his brainchild’s demise gave an interview detailing what would have happened in the series had it been given more of a chance to succeed (If only Joss Whedon had done that to give us Brown Coats some closure when it happened to Firefly).
The cast was a motley crew of unknowns, most only having bit parts in TV Series before they made it to Persons Unknown. The most notable of whom would be Alan Ruck (Spin City, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) who plays Charlie Morse a man taken against his will to a deserted town with several others. This includes the main characters of this story, Joe Tucker an enigmatic man, who seems to know more than he lets on (Jason Wiles) and Janet Cooper (Daisy Betts) the leading lady of this drama, stolen away from her child and desperate to get back to her.
This series may have some bad CGI in places, but it has enough about it to keep watching and with the knowledge that you’ll be told what happens at the end despite it being cancelled you’d be foolish not to watch this.
A sharp and witty comedy set behind the scenes of a fictional late-night comedy sketch show. The cast was star studded with the likes of Matthew Perry (Friends) and Bradley Whitford (West Wing), the two bounce off each other as if they were born for these roles. The pair come back to Studio 60 as it’s crumbling in the ratings and take over as head writer and producer.
Despite being one of the most positively talked about TV series in 2006 and subject to a bidding war between NBC and CBS to obtain the rights it failed in the ratings. It never seemed possible after the pilot episode aired when 13.4 million viewers tuned in but it spiraled from there hitting their lowest at 4 million.
I couldn’t believe the drop in viewership if I’m being honest, in fact when it played in England on More4 I was mortified when they pulled it after the Christmas episode leaving me 11 shows light. Thankfully I managed to find the DVD boxset at Amazon quite cheaply and finally got my closure to a brilliantly written work of art.
Number four on the list, and you all must have known it was coming is
Joss Whedon may have become famous for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer but his name got burned into the dark recesses of my brain through the wonder that was Firefly. A show following the exploits of a rag-tag team of smugglers I thought I wouldn’t care for it one bit and yet it soared into my ‘Top 5’ TV series of all-time with ease.
Nathan Fillion plays Captain Malcolm Reynolds a man who loves his ship and his crew. Still holding a grudge against the Alliance as he fought against them for the Independent Army as a Platoon Sergeant it often gets him and his crew in trouble but it makes for great watching for the viewers.
Despite FOX screwing up completely by playing episodes out of order and confusing a lot of potential viewers, Firefly has garnered one of the biggest and most loyal fan-base of any TV Series I know. In fact it was down to the fans of the show and the DVD sales of this great Space Western that a film was made called ‘Serenity’, sadly however the film doesn’t answer all questions that come up in the series but it is well worth the watch after you’ve seen the series.
Finally on the list is
Yet another series cancelled by FOX, this list also includes The Cleveland Show, Firefly and Futurama, not that I’m holding a grudge or anything.
This series follows a family called the Shannon’s, it is originally set in the year 2149 where the earth can no longer support the population. Scientists find a temporal rift permitting humans to travel back in time 85 million years to a parallel ‘time stream’ resembling prehistoric earth. The family is sent back to a human colony already there named ‘Terra Nova’ and try to make humans second attempt at civilization a triumph.
Sadly the human condition seems to transcend time and space, as despite being given a second chance at the world the family arrive at a time of strife and violence. The colonists have separated, on the one side the original Terra Novians and the other a splinter group called the ‘Sixers’. All is not how it seems at either colony with secrets and half truths abound, this is another series that could have done with at least another season.
