Don’t you just love a good television show? They’re so hard to come by more often than not that when you find one and you find yourself so emotionally invested, the level of pisstivity you reach when it is canceled or has a finale is unparalleled. Here are just a few shows that we loved (for the most part) that made an exit when they were still in their prime! Oh, and feel free to add the shows you thought ended before their time so we can mourn together!
Roc
The bottom line was that this just didn’t do well in the ratings during the 90s. But it was one of the few shows about working class black people who also tackled the social issues of the community. It lasted three seasons before it was taken off the air but somehow, it should have been given more life.
Lipstick Jungle
UGH! I was so upset when this show was canceled. Lipstick Jungle was going to be my personal replacement for Girlfriends. The show focused on successful women who kept their fashion on point and their friendship as a focus. It gave me all the drama I needed. Then POOF! NBC felt like they needed to cancel it. Listen, women were flooding the NBC mail bins with tubes of lipstick hoping it would change the execs’ minds. But it wasn’t to be and I never got any closure.
Dirty S**y Money
This show is the main reason I have been trying really hard not to get attached to ABC shows. Dirty S**y Money was just one of those good, old money gossipy type shows (it almost gave a Dallas vibe) that sucked you in from the jump. Nick George was trying to find out why his father died and to do so, he joined the Darling family as their lawyer (his dad worked for them for many years) to see if he could get more information. It didn’t get canceled because of ratings; no, that would have been too much like right. ABC canceled the show because it was too expensive to produce. It was like they took a piece of me and for that reason, I’m trying really hard not to allow myself to stay too connected to Scandal. I mean, it has sucked me in but I’m watching my emotions!
New York Undercover
Part of the big Thursday night lineup on Fox (including Martin, Living Single), New York Undercover was EVERYTHING. We got to watch JC (Malik Yoba) and Eddie (Michael DeLorenzo) solve some of the “toughest” cases while almost always getting to see some of our favorite musical acts perform a song at Natalie’s. Then it happened. Eddie and Tommy (who came later in season three) were killed in the line of duty. All of a sudden, new characters were added and the writing took a turn for the worst. The show did have a series finale – one I didn’t watch because I couldn’t deal with season four at all – so I can’t be mad at that but had the show had better writers, it probably could have lasted one more season and a better one at that. But looking back (the show is syndicated on Centric), the acting wasn’t that good and the plots were suspect. We still loved it though.
Lincoln Heights
Now, this is not what I would have ever called “my show” but in asking around, this show came up quite often as a show people loved. What I do remember was that it was about a police officer moves his family to his old neighborhood and things aren’t as he remembered. The biggest thing was that there was a lot of crime and his family had somewhat of a hard time adjusting to their new lives. Also, Cassie (played by BET’s Let’s Stay Together star Erica Hubbard) falls for a guy named Charles who is white, which was kind of new in television to see teenaged kids in interracial relationships. This show also had four seasons and a proper finale but apparently, people still miss and thought the final season was more rushed than anything.
The Event
Just hear me out. I felt exactly like all of you who are about to skip this page until I gave it a real chance. I watched the first episode based on the sheer fact that fine Blair Underwood was playing the President. But by the end, I realized it was on some alien ish and I wasn’t interested. But one day, I was bored at home and decided to watch a few more episodes online. I was hooked! But by this time, I’d also learned that it was in danger of being canceled. By the end of the season, the show had gotten really good; the writing was better, the suspense was more intense…everything! Alas, it was not meant to be and NBC canceled it. I can’t say I was surprised by the move because those type of shows don’t usually last too long. There were rumors that one of the cable channels (TNT, TBS or USA) would pick it up but the talk quickly fizzled out.
Against The Wall
The beginning and end of this show actually came in 2011 on Lifetime. It follows the life of Abby, a cop who has finally passed her detective exam and takes the only job available in the Internal Affairs Bureau. Her family, which is full of cops, hates it but supports her. Her partner, a pregnant detective, is really lovable and tries to show Abby how to balance work and life. Abby eventually gets involved with her brother’s partner Brody, but also finds herself liking a state attorney named Danny. During the season finale, she opens the door to the man she’s chosen and the viewers are made to wait until season two to find out who she chose. Only…Lifetime quietly canceled it and we never found out! It takes a lot for me to like a new show so the fact that I instantly took to this one, it hurt a little that Lifetime was so sneaky and didn’t even tell us they gave it the axe. You win some, you lose some…I guess.
Tribes
If you remember this show, I need you to weight in. All I really remember is that it came out in like 1990 and it was a soap opera for teens. I know that I used to rush home to see it or set up my parents’ vcr to record it. My friend childhood friend Christina and I used to talk about it everyday in sheer excitement. Sadly, it only lasted one season and it totally disappeared. Talk about gone too soon; if you blinked, you missed it.
American Dreams
I get it: the ratings on this show weren’t that great. But in its defense, NBC put the show up against ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and CBS’ Cold Case. Those shows were pretty huge during the years American Dreams aired, which were 2002-2005. The show focused on two main characters, Meg, a young white girl, and Sam, a young black boy, who despite the turbulent racial issues in the 1960s, figured out a way to remain friends. One of the things that kept them connected was music and Meg was actually a dancer on American Bandstand. The show despite it being “just television,” did its best to show the racial tensions of the time as well as the opposition to the Vietnam War. Good show, bad timing.
My So-Called Life
Right…RIGHT?! I could have made this entire post about the love I had/have for this show but I will not go into stan mode. The bottom line is that MSCL was way before its time and people did not understand what Angela was going through! It wasn’t enough that tweens and teens watched; no, the network needed the adults to watch in order to take the ratings over the top. One season. We got one season to look at fine Jordan Catalano…even if he was one of the dumbest boys on television. Also, Claire Danes, who played the star character Angela Chase, didn’t want to return saying that the filming was too taxing. While ABC said they would have continued the show without her, the creator of the show said she was loyal to Danes and didn’t really feel “into” doing the show without her. I will never get over this show being cancelled. EVER.
