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Missed short-lived genre shows?

post #1 of 93
Thread Starter 
I have been talking with my co-worker lately about obscure genre shows we may have heard about or enjoyed. Stuff that only ran for a season or 2 (WAR OF THE WORLDS series), then disappeared. Mostly stuff that's not on DVD Region 1.

5 I brought up:

SPECIAL UNIT 2 (AKA SU2)
Darwin was half right. Scientists think they have never found the missing link, when the truth has been staring at them in the face. The monsters of every child's nightmare are the missing links, which is why every culture has the same fairy tales about the same creatures such as baby eating ogres, virgin loving dragons, 200 hundred year-old trolls. They are all real except vampires; they are complete and total fiction. If it is not man or beast, it is known as a Link. If it is something the rest of the world, doesn't understand or acknowledge Special Unit 2 deals with it.

THE OTHERS
College student Marian Kitt is terrified to discover that she has the power to see into the "other side." Word of Marian's vision spreads to Professor Miles Ballard, a student of paranormal and psychic phenomena. He introduces Marian to "the others," a group of individuals with the ability to vicariously experience the feelings, thoughts and experiences of others, and to help them understand paranormal phenomena. Famed medium Elmer Greentree is their spiritual leader and a mentor figure for Marian, whose potential to see "all of the light" is strong. With Marian now among them, they will help each other understand their abilities as they encounter otherworldly, often frightening, alternative dimensions. And all the while, a dark force looms over them.

CLEOPATRA 2525
An exotic dancer, cryogenically frozen in the year 2001, is accidentaly thawed out in 2525 by two female warriors who are fighting against evil robots which have taken over the world. The three join forces and try to escape the underground caverns to which humanity has been banished, meeting up with all sorts of strange creatures along the way.

EARTH 2
In the future, the human race is living in space stations orbiting a dead Earth. Faced with a debilitating disease attacking her young son, Devon Adair and a band of non-conformists leave their artificial environment and travel to a distant planet, where they begin a new life for themselves.

HARSH REALM
Lt. Hobbes volunteers to test the army's newest tool, a virtual reality training machine code named "Harsh Realm." Once attached to the machine, Hobbes discovers that the VR world is controlled by the renegade soldier Omar Santiago. While Hobbes body remains in a coma, his mind lives on in the VR world, where he must join forces with an underground force in their attempt to overthrow Santiago.

3 he mentioned:

THE CHRONICLE (my co-worker countered with this one in response to my SU2 mention).
Tucker Burns is a qualified reporter who can't get a job. He applies for a job at the World Chronicle, where they are delighted to have an over-qualified (by their standards!) reporter on staff. It turns out that all the stories the Chronicle reports are true, but written as tabloid articles so that the public can slowly get acclimated to such things. Aided by photographer Wes and alien abductee/reporter Grace, and backed by his mysterious boss Donald Stern, Tucker investigates, ghosts, aliens, and other supernatural phenomena.

DARK SKIES
20th century history as we know it is a lie. Aliens have been among us since the 1940's, but a government cover-up has prevented the public from knowing this. As the series progresses, we follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers as they attempt to thwart numerous plans of the alien Hive, most of which are tied to historical events and figures. In addition, the pair must stay one step ahead of a covert government agency, Majestic-12, tasked with fighting the aliens while maintaining the conspiracy of silence.

SPACE: ABOVE & BEYOND
Earth is embroiled in a desperate war against invaders and this series focuses on one squad of marines involved in it.


Strangely, they were all from the late 90s early 00s (why was there a glut of these kind of shows then?), and 2 of the shows were created by X-FILES alum, Morgan & Wong. I predict SANCTUARY will end up like these (and the 2005 crop of INVASION, THRESHOLD, SURFACE, etc). Any old forgotten favorites out there?
post #2 of 93
DARK SKIES was the one with the most potential. It had George Bush as a Majestic-12 Director and Colin Powell fighting aliens. Also Jeri Ryan was ridiculously hot in this.

Props also to making one of the leads turn dark in the final episodes of the series.
post #3 of 93
Yeah, I merely have a recollection of Dark Skies. While the details are sketchy now I can tell that I was really hooked by the premise and the execution. I liked the way they blended an alternate history with secret societies and spider like aliens. It was quite a bummer to see it end with an intriguing cliffhanger without forewarning and any sense of resolution.

Felix, do I recall correctly that the first and final season ended with the revelation that (swipe) the aliens are residing on the dark side of the moon and are ready to initiate the attack?
post #4 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
I have been talking with my co-worker lately about obscure genre shows we may have heard about or enjoyed. Stuff that only ran for a season or 2 (WAR OF THE WORLDS series), then disappeared.
Mostly stuff that's not on DVD Region 1.
The first season of the War of the Worlds series is on disc and can be had for around $20. Don't think the second season is but as I recall from my youth the second season was awful and didn't have Poncho from PREDATOR in it like the first season so who cares about it?

A show I'd like to revisit is Time Trax. That was on for a couple years when syndicated sci-fi televsion was all over the place in the early 90's. Fun combination of Quantum Leap and TIMECOP.
post #5 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by felix natalya View Post
DARK SKIES was the one with the most potential. It had George Bush as a Majestic-12 Director and Colin Powell fighting aliens. Also Jeri Ryan was ridiculously hot in this.

Props also to making one of the leads turn dark in the final episodes of the series.
One episode I remember vividly was when the two of them team up with Jim Morrison who was a UCLA film student and they delt with an invasion at the beach.

Another great example of a short-lived genre show: Now and Again, featuring Dennis Hasybert.

There was Viper, Brimstone, Freaky Links, and there was this prime-time show that dealt with virtual reality. I can't remember the name.
post #6 of 93
VR.5.

SeaQuest was dicked in the 3rd season, but it began pretty solidly. Which is still longer than some of these were on air.

Wasn't there a supernatural cop drama called Third World on NBC?
post #7 of 93
Oh shit, it was VR-5. I kept thinking that was the name of the Power Rangers knockoff.

As for Seaquest, I tried watching some of the first season eps. I get the concept but it was dull.

There was also Werewolf, but be advised I'm not saying I liked any of this crap. I'm just running it off the top of my head
post #8 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
There was Viper, Brimstone, Freaky Links, and there was this prime-time show that dealt with virtual reality. I can't remember the name.
Good call. I guess you are referring to VR.5.

.....and beaten by neoolong.
post #9 of 93
VR.5 was good. It's got Giles from Buffy and Robert McCallum in it.

VIPER on the other hand was incredibly shitty. It lasted 4 seasons. And don't get me started on MANTIS or NIGHT MAN.

MITSFITS OF SCIENCE should have lasted longer though.
post #10 of 93
It went on way too long and it was low-budget:

Earth: Final Conflict

It was low-budget and shit:

Mutant X
post #11 of 93
DJ Caruso also directed an episode of VR.5.

I liked SeaQuest, and I can understand that it could be dull, but what they did wasn't a big help. Same thing happened for Sliders.

Night Man was bad. I remember it mainly for shitty transitions and being an ad for jazz/blues by white people and the Plymouth Prowler.

Ed, the knockoff of Power Rangers in question was VR Troopers.
post #12 of 93
Thread Starter 

She's bold. She's beautiful. Her sting is deadly.

BLACK SCORPION
The City of Angels is falling apart, and crime pervades the city to the core. The mayor is corrupt, the police are inept, the city needs a figure to take control of the situation. Then in the light of day Darcy Walker is a cop, but in the dark of night she becomes the Black Scorpion. She does with a mash what she can't do with a badge. This is vigilante justice, old school style.

Joan Severance apparently was not the last word on this character. Roger Corman should have produced more shows. Or not.

EDIT: This post is no way an endorsement. Just amused to find out it had a show at all.
post #13 of 93
I saw Black Scorpion and it was sheeeeeeittttttt.

There was also The Invisible Man, featuring Paul Ben-Victor.

Now for something that was short live and I found to be cool. Mind you I saw it when I was 14.

Invasion America: A five part animated mini-series on the WB involving aliens and Lorenzo Llamas and Leonard Nimoy as aliens. Shame they never continued that or it being on dvd for that matter.
post #14 of 93
Brimstone was definitely smarter than a show with that premise (dead police officer released from hell to help the devil round up a bunch of escaped souls) ought to have been. Plus, y'know, John Glover.

I remember, as a kid, having my heart repeatedly broken by a series of (seemingly) better-than-average shows in the pre-X-Files timeslot getting cancelled, starting with Brisco County, Jr. In retrospect, a lot of those shows were probably not that great, but still.
post #15 of 93
Why is there no "Firefly" in here yet? I mean, I am not even a browncoat, but hell... CHUDs gotta live up to the rep here.

Space: Above and Beyond even ran in germany twice, and was pretty successful. I ll have to find out what made them cancel it.
post #16 of 93
A list like this should always begin with American Gothic. Firefly is just a given.
post #17 of 93
The Middleman gets my vote. It might be the best thing that ABC Family has ever produced. (And, yes, I realize that isn't saying much.) Thankfully, it is suppose to get released on dvd this summer.
post #18 of 93
I really liked Earth 2 until the exiled prisoners showed up. I was much more interested in exploring the planet than some government conspiracy.
post #19 of 93
I don't know if you guys remember this but there was a supernatural detective series named Matrix that starred Nick Mancuso and Carrie Ann Moss (?).

About an Ex-Hitman guided by spirits from "A City From Beyond" seeking redemption. This had potential I though.

Also The Crow: Stairway To Heaven with Mark Dacascos.
post #20 of 93
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Khaunshar View Post
Why is there no "Firefly" in here yet? I mean, I am not even a browncoat, but hell... CHUDs gotta live up to the rep here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post
Firefly is just a given.
Yeah, really. I loved the show, but it's too well known (even got a movie) to ever be forgotten.

I'm talking shows that you can only remember if someone showed you a promo. Series that disappeared into the ether.

THE DRESDEN FILES may qualify some day.
post #21 of 93
I miss quite a few short lived series. Street Hawk, Blue Thunder, The Master, Highwaymen, The Flash, Automan, Strike Force, S.W.A.T., Wanted, and The Phoenix.
post #22 of 93
My Secret Identity with Jerry O'Connell.
post #23 of 93
Night Gallery
Tales of the Gold Monkey
Otherworld
The Wizard



None of that new sci-fi channel style nonsense...
post #24 of 93
Andrew C, I knew I forgot one. Tales Of The Gold Monkey is another team up of epic proportions of Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson. DPB and GAL also co-produced Battlestar Galactica and Magnum P.I.
post #25 of 93
Tales of the Gold Monkey gets my vote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Gold_Monkey
post #26 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by JudgeSmails View Post
Tales of the Gold Monkey gets my vote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Gold_Monkey
Plus it co-starred Roddy McDowell,
everyone's favorite monkey.
post #27 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by duke fleed View Post
Andrew C, I knew I forgot one. Tales Of The Gold Monkey is another team up of epic proportions of Donald P. Bellisaro and Glen A. Larson. DPB and GAL also co-produced Battlestar Galactica and Magnum P.I.
I used to love that show when I was a kid. That and Automan.
post #28 of 93
Anyone else remember Strange Luck with D.B. Sweeney? I absolutely loved this show and it's premise, and was really disappointed when it got the can (especially after alluding to an X-Files crossover). I still hope it gets the DVD treatment someday.
post #29 of 93
I loved GOOD VS. EVIL when I was in high school. (Also known as G vs. E in it's first season on usa). Not sure how it holds up now.
post #30 of 93
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.
American Gothic
Brimstone
Carnivàle
Dark Angel
Day Break
Dead Like Me
Drive
Firefly
John Doe
John From Cincinnati
Journeyman
The Lone Gunmen
The Lost Room
The Middleman
Miracles
Now And Again
Nowhere Man
Pushing Daisies
Strange Luck
Strange World
The Tick (Live Action)
Tru Calling
Twin Peaks
Wonderfalls
post #31 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPL View Post
The Middleman gets my vote. It might be the best thing that ABC Family has ever produced. (And, yes, I realize that isn't saying much.) Thankfully, it is suppose to get released on dvd this summer.
Aren't they still officially 'on hiatus'? (checks Middleblog) Hrmmmm... Less promising than I'd hoped. Crap.


'Surface' and 'Journeyman' are my big picks.

I'd include Farscape on the basis that it was cancelled before the writers expected to be, but it still had a pretty solid four season run, so 'short-lived' doesn't precisely apply.

'S:AaB' and 'The Invisible Man' gets a firm second (I still need to pick up that Season 1 DVD set. I wish they'd release the other seasons already).

Also 'Prey,' the really odd and scientifically dubious show about a new species of human appearing and waging a secret war against regular Homo Sapiens.

I think SeaQuest stumbled most significantly in Season 2, where it got bogged down with multiple alien episodes (with three different alien races), and the utterly ridiculous Medusa-Poseidon-Athena episode, and the show seemed to forget that it was supposed to be about the ocean. Season 3 actually had some life injected into it by Michael Ironside and the idea of an ongoing armed conflict for ocean based resources.
post #32 of 93
Salvage I
A junk dealer puts together a team to build a rocket ship to go to the moon and salvage all the left behind Apollo equipment. They later go on other salvage missions around the globe.

The Fantastic Journey
A scientific expedition in the Atlantic Ocean becomes lost in the Bermuda Triangle and washes up on an uncharted island. They meet up with travelers from other times, planets and dimensions who have also become trapped, and together they "slide" through portals from one dimension to the next hoping to find the one that leads home.

Space Rangers
Short-lived, futuristic science-fiction series about a rag-tag police force stationed in deep space on Planet Avalon's Fort Hope. They deal with all manner of criminals, aliens, technology and the more mundane problems of certain individuals trying to have them shut down.
post #33 of 93
FX's Lucky.

Not so much missed as happened. After commercials every five seconds during season 2 of The Shield, I was almost convinced this would be good.
post #34 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steerpike View Post
I loved GOOD VS. EVIL when I was in high school. (Also known as G vs. E in it's first season on usa). Not sure how it holds up now.
beat me to it. big fan of this show back when it was on as well. I saw some eps recently on a latenight rerun schedule on Sci Fi. it still holds up quite well.

Also, has anyone mentioned DAYBREAK. That short lived Taye Diggs groundhog day show? It finished off its run on abc.com. now that was one HELLUVA show.
post #35 of 93
I don't remember anything about it, and it may have very well been super-shitty but I really liked FOX's "Daughter-of-the-devil" show Point Pleasant that ran for like 6 episodes 4 or 5 years ago.
post #36 of 93
Kidnapped. There were plot holes because they had to shorten the season, but it seemed like there was an idea of what to do for a second season.
post #37 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Prankster View Post
Brimstone was definitely smarter than a show with that premise (dead police officer released from hell to help the devil round up a bunch of escaped souls) ought to have been. Plus, y'know, John Glover.
John Glover's Lucifer is still one of my favorites.
post #38 of 93
I second Nowhere Man.
post #39 of 93
Nowhere Man was THE SHIT. I'd kill to find out what was actually going on.
post #40 of 93
How about John Doe? That was the shit. Which kinda got ripped off by Kyle XY.
post #41 of 93
Another show I remember being kind of fun was Two about a pair of identical twin brothers, one good, the other evil - the problem being that nobody believes that the evil brother exists.
post #42 of 93
And coincidently, nobody is ever around to see them both at the same time.
post #43 of 93
Personally I was a huge fan of the John Wells crime show Smith. It was a serialized TV version of "Heat" which followed the criminals from small gigs to massive heists. The cast- Ray Liotta, Virgiina Madsen, Amy Smart and Simon Baker were all really good and the show deserved a better timeslot sandwiched between some of the successful CBS shows of its day.

When they pulled the plug, I wrote a letter to CBS to plead that the remaining episodes get put on iTunes so that fans could watch them. Nothing happened.
post #44 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler View Post
I don't remember anything about it, and it may have very well been super-shitty but I really liked FOX's "Daughter-of-the-devil" show Point Pleasant that ran for like 6 episodes 4 or 5 years ago.
Yeah, that was really cool. As an added bonus, it had Diz from Starship Troopers as an evil socialite.
post #45 of 93
Kudos on the mention of 'Brimstone'. That was a great, unjustly overlooked show. Julian Glover was FANTASTIC as Lucifer in that.

Anyone else remember 'Voyagers'? I loved this show when it was on in the early 80s. It was essentially a time travel show where they went around and corrected 'errors' in history.
post #46 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anakin's Dad View Post
Anyone else remember Strange Luck with D.B. Sweeney? I absolutely loved this show and it's premise, and was really disappointed when it got the can (especially after alluding to an X-Files crossover). I still hope it gets the DVD treatment someday.
I do, I remember watching that regularly. The guy would make pocket money by purchasing a few lottery tickets every day. And he would drive one helluva beaten up car.

And if we're expanding genre to crime shows, Great example of this is EZ STREETS. Perhaps the only Paul Haggis project worth liking.
post #47 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
Anyone else remember 'Voyagers'? I loved this show when it was on in the early 80s. It was essentially a time travel show where they went around and corrected 'errors' in history.
Ha! I loved that show. Didn't the guy playing Phineus Bogg kill himself by accidentally firing a blank into his head?
post #48 of 93
F/X: The Series

Only thing I remember about that show was that all the cop cars were Chrysler vehicles.
post #49 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattioli View Post
Ha! I loved that show. Didn't the guy playing Phineus Bogg kill himself by accidentally firing a blank into his head?
Yes. After 'Voyager's got cancelled, he starred in the show 'Cover Up'. While joking around on the set of the show, he put a prop gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The wadding from the gun killed him.
post #50 of 93
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattioli View Post
Ha! I loved that show. Didn't the guy playing Phineus Bogg kill himself by accidentally firing a blank into his head?
Yep, John Eric Hexum had a real "Hey ya'll, watch this!" moment.
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