One Season Wonders (or Blunders)

Post by **eddievalient** » November 29th, 2007, 1:08 pm

Don't you hate it when a show you like only runs for one season? I've watched so many shows that either didn't make it past that or did, but only the first season was any good. Murder One, Vengeance Unlimited, The Lone Gunmen, Blade The Series, Miracles, Traveler and the original Battlestar Galactica are all excellent examples of what I'm talking about (and I've just started to watch Birds of Prey). What are your picks for best (or worst) one-season show?

Post by **Whippet Angel** » November 29th, 2007, 10:27 pm

Clone High!

I really wish they'd release it on DVD...

Post by **Ben** » December 1st, 2007, 7:21 pm

Wonder: The Wuzzles...can't get why that fun concept never worked out.

Wonder: Studio 60...I've yet to see how it ends here, but I've very much enjoyed this one off series.

Blunder: too many to mention, but Father Of The Pride could have been so, so, <I>so</I> much more!

Post by **Foxtale** » December 4th, 2007, 10:49 am

Freaks and Geeks, many people didn't like that show but I did ^.^ Lasting more than one season might have been problamatic though

Pirates of Dark water- that didn't seem like a bad cartoon, they could have given it a chance

Post by **droosan** » December 4th, 2007, 11:47 am

I like several anime TV series which were designed to be 'one season'; that is to say, a single story (or at least an 'arc') .. with a beginning, a middle, and a definite end (usually with an enormously 'rewarding' climax).

I actually wish more 'western' cartoon series would take this approach. After all, it's not as though every cartoon concept has 'limitless' episodic potential .. and some stories are 'bigger' than a mere 2-hour film or DTV could allow. :idea:

A few of my favorites include:

Nadia of the Mysterious Seas: The Secret of Blue Water (39 episodes)
.. a fantastic adventure series, liberally mixing the works of Jules Verne with legends of Atlantis and ancient astronauts!

Super-Dimension Fortress Macross (36 episodes)
.. an epic space saga featuring robot space battles and a 'dizzying' love triangle.

Conan: The Boy in the Future (26 episodes)
.. post-apocalyptic 'high-adventure' from Hayao Miyazaki. (creator of My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, etc)

Post by **Whippet Angel** » December 4th, 2007, 6:40 pm

If we're including anime, I'd have loved to see a continuation of Outlaw Star.
I suppose it only lasted a season because in the end, they had already done everything that they could with the characters and the story. It was a very good story though... And the characters were quite unforgettable. That's why I'd love to see more of 'em. ^__^

Pirates of Dark water- that didn't seem like a bad cartoon, they could have given it a chance

Did they even finish the first season??? I thought I had seen every episode, but I remember the story stopping dead in the middle when the show went off air.

Post by **Foxtale** » December 4th, 2007, 11:01 pm

Your right Whippet. They didn't actually finish the first season. I just included it because I thought we were talking about all shows that didn't last past 1 season.

Nadia is a good show. There are a lot of great animes that only last one season. the difference between most japanese series and american series is that most japanese series are planned out from start to finish. They have only a set number of episodes that cover a certain story. Some are so popular that they have sequel series to accompany them.

Post by **PixarVixen** » December 9th, 2007, 10:04 pm

The Critic lasted only 2 seasons, but it is worth mentioning.

One of my favorite animated TV series of all time showed promise of survival when it moved from ABC to FOX inbetween seasons. During its run, Jay Sherman even made a cameo appearance in an episode of The Simpsons. The writing, character design, voice casting, and music is brilliant, and Brad Bird was the executive consultant! So yeah, I wish I knew why it failed.

I would resurrect The Critic in a heartbeat.

~~=oP

Post by **Daniel** » December 10th, 2007, 4:18 am

Bah, The Critic will always be 3 seasons to me!

(Webisodes) Yeah, agreed completely, PV. Always felt Critic was a bit underated. One of my reasons for loving it, is it was created by Mike Reiss and Al Jean! (the current show runner for the Simpsons)

... And its because those two were show runners, that we actually got that 'cross-over' episode "A Star is Burns", which Matt loathed than and still does to this day. Shame, since he could've corrected everything for the DVD, but no...

Post by **PixarVixen** » December 10th, 2007, 5:29 am

Daniel wrote:Bah, The Critic will always be 3 seasons to me! (Webisodes)

Ahhh yes, the webisodes. I didn't know those existed until I searched for the complete series on DVD and saw the bonus features. It's the top item on my Christmas list this year!

~~=oP

Post by **Ben** » December 10th, 2007, 7:54 am

http://animated-views.com/2007/the-crit ... te-series/

Post by **eddievalient** » December 12th, 2007, 11:36 pm

I forgot to mention "God, The Devil, and Bob". Great concept, but from what I heard at the time, protests from certain groups (which I won't name) did it in. Too bad. At least we have the dvd (which I still need to get at some point).

Post by **Foxtale** » December 13th, 2007, 11:31 am

OH man I totally forgot about the Critic *put on list of things I need to watch*. I remember watching that show. Sadly I don't remember if I liked it or not, I just remember watching it. ^.^

I always thought it was awesome/strange that the character was on an episode of the Simpsons.

Post by **Daniel** » December 16th, 2007, 8:02 pm

Another show that hasn't been brought up yet, but deserves an honorable mention, is Baby Blues. It only lasted two seasons, I believe.

Everything about the show was great, but the viewership just wasn't there, sadly. Never was a big fan of the comic strip, but I loved the TV show. Hopefully one day they'll release the complete series on DVD.