Canceled Too Soon

Shelley Duvall ruled cable television in the 1980s, with her award-winning kids show FAERIE TALE THEATRE, which adapted classic faerie tales with all-star casts, and warmed the hearts of an entire generation of kids. But a lot of those kids never knew about her short-lived spin-off series NIGHTMARE CLASSICS, which adapted timeless tales of terror like THE TURN OF THE SCREW, CARMILLA and THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE into hour-long shows for teen audiences. NIGHTMARE CLASSICS stars Amy Irving, David Hemmings, Roddy McDowell, Meg Tilly, Ione Sky, Laura Dern, Rue McClanahan, C. Thomas Howell, John Stockwell and Daphne Zuniga. But was it really CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore this forgotten horror series in the first installment of SCARYTOBER, a whole month dedicated to short-lived scary shows! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic

What happens when someone runs for public office as a publicity stunt and accidentally gets elected? You'll find out in... real life, but also in THE MAYOR, a short-lived sitcom starring Brandon Micheal Hall as a young hip hop artist who gets a crash course in civics when he ends up running a whole town all by himself... as well as his best friends, GLEE's Lea Michele, COMMUNITY's Yvette Nicole Brown, and David Spade (of David Spade fame). THE MAYOR was timely, maybe to a fault, but was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore a show that is atypically positive about politics, and why that makes for a good sitcom but may have been exactly the opposite of what audiences were interested in. It's the last episode of our SUDDENLY, LAST SEASON theme month, and it was selected by our Patrons! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page

It's the distant future, the year 1999, and BLOOD DRIVE is a hit television series starring real life serial killers who race across the country, in cars that run on human blood instead of gasoline. With post-apocalyptic monsters at every pit stop, can a goody two-shoes cop and his murderous partner hit the finish line before their heads blow up?  BLOOD DRIVE is the most GRINDHOUSE television series we've ever seen. But does it belong in the past, or was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the SyFy original series that nobody talked about, even though they should have, with episodes about sex zombies, 1950s diner cannibals, and an adorable little town called "Cronenburgh," as our SUDDENLY LAST SEASON month continues! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandi

A 21st century film critic decides to live his life 100% by The Bible in LIVING BIBLICALLY, a sitcom that tried to explore the complexities of Christianity in a clichéd sitcom format, complete with a doofus married to an implausible awesome wife, a pair of mismatched best friends (a priest and a rabbi), and a high-paid journalism job that normally would have been downsized years ago. LIVING BIBLICALLY was an odd and controversial series, but was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Actual film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore the best and worst ideas in this eccentric sitcom and decide once and for all just heavenly it is. It's the latest episode of our SUDDENLY LAST SEASON month, dedicated entirely to recently canceled shows! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCa

Our SUDDENLY, LAST SEASON month begins! Every week in September we're review recently canceled television shows, and we're starting with a doozy: WILL, about a hunky young William Shakespeare, who rises to fame in Elizabethan England while having sexy sex, doing druggy drugs and singing James Brown songs. It's wild! It's wacky! But was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review this failed TNT series and see how it stacks up against actual Shakespeare plays, actual history, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and ROMEO+JULIET. Why is it fun? Why is it laughable? And was it good, bad, or so bad it's wonderfully good?  Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follow Bibbs at @WilliamBi

From the writer of DIE HARD, 48 HOURS and COMMANDO comes the failed TV pilot for K-9000, starring Chris Mulkey (TWIN PEAKS) as a tough cop who accidentally gets a microchip shot into his brain which allows him to hear the thoughts of a cyborg dog. It's hard to imagine a TV show with that premise not being a big hit, but K-9000 got canceled immediately anyway. The question is, what it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold figure out what the heck happened, what went wrong, and why cops never seem to team up with crime-solving cats in this all-new episode of the podcast. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follow Bibbs at @WilliamBibbiani and follow Witney at @WitneySeibold, and head o

Everyone remembers GOOSEBUMPS, but let's take a moment to reflect on the popular kids horror novel series BONE CHILLERS, which inspired a one-season wonder television series on ABC, staring Charles Fleischer (WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT) and Linda Cardellini (FREAKS AND GEEKS). It's a spooky, kooky, and totally manic live-action series about teenagers who go to a horrifying high school where frog monsters, mummies, topiary animals, giant spiders and the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe roam the halls. Disney bought ABC and canceled BONE CHILLERS, even though the ratings were good. But was it really... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold marvel at this kids show's unexpectedly impressive cult movie credentials, and sink into the ominous morass of sugar-high kids television, where everything is ramped up to 11, and kids rule, frequently at the expense of adults, who drool.  Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts

Heather Graham stars in EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT, a heavily promoted sitcom that was going to be one of ABC's flagship TV shows in 2006... until it was canceled, after only one episode. What the heck? How do you get canceled after only one episode, when the network spent millions on marketing? What did you do, EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT? And were you truly CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into one of the most notorious TV failures in history, and figure out why the pilot episode scared off the network, why the remaining episodes weren't any better, and why EMILY'S REASONS WHY NOT has the exact same problems as the hit series SEINFELD. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follo

Either Amy and Raquel are mentally ill, or there really are demons possessing people in England, and they really do need to be beaten up with sticks. That's the plot of CRAZYHEAD, a horror-comedy series from the producer of MERLIN and FUTURE MAN, and it's got a lot of promise. Does CRAZYHEAD live up to that promise? Was it really... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold dissect the short-lived Netflix/E4 production and figure out what makes the show distinctive, what makes it just like every other horror-comedy series, and why the show is so obsessed with demon butts. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follow Bibbs at @WilliamBibbiani and follow Witney at @WitneySeibold, and head o

A hunky time traveler accidentally kidnaps a history-obsessed young kid and takes him on a never-ending adventure through time in VOYAGERS! The ambitious but short-lived primetime series starred the dashing John-Erik Hexum and the precocious Meeno Peluce, and a host of guest stars playing famous figures, like Jonathan Frakes (as Charles Lindbergh), Gregg Henry (as Teddy Roosevelt) and Julia Duffy (as Nellie Bly). It's adventurous! It's educational! But was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Join film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold on an adventure across space and time as they review every episode of VOYAGERS!, a.k.a. America's answer to DOCTOR WHO, and explain why John-Erik Hexum should have been one of the biggest stars in the world (and why, tragically, that never came to pass). Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other

Rodney Dangerfield was one of the most beloved standup comedians in history, a master jokester whose self-deprecating persona was practically tailor-made for sitcoms. But when the time came to make one, for some reason it was all about teenaged Rodney Dangerfield fan who had the power to summon (and teleport) Dangerfield from wherever he happened to be at the moment, to give him relationship advice. Believe it or not, with a premise like that, WHERE'S RODNEY never made it past the pilot episode. But was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold walk you through this baffling episode of television and suss out how it fits into Rodney Dangerfield's legendary career and why nothing about it works, except for a single, solitary moment of perfection. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting m

After he was MACGYVER, but before he was STARGATE SG-1, Richard Dean Anderson was a LEGEND. In this short-lived steampunk western series, Anderson played a hard-drinking coward who writes books about Nicodemus Legend, a saintly hero who wields extraordinary technology, courtesy of a sci-fi scientist inspired by Nikola Tesla, played by John de Lancie from STAR TREK. LEGEND was overshadowed by the overall failure of its network, UPN, and from the more popular one-season steampunk western series THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., which had left the air only a year earlier. But was it actually... CANCELED TOO TOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold guide you through this charming adventure series to figure out what worked, what went wrong, and whether LEGEND would succeed or fail if it came out today. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shi

Everyone was trying to cash in on the MIGHTY MORPHIN' POWER RANGERS boom in the late 1990s, and one of the weirdest imitators was VAN-PIRES, a live-action/CGI hybrid about human teenagers who turn into vampire cars to fight other vampire cars and make terrible, TERRIBLE car puns.  Oh yeah, and somehow it had an original soundtrack by John Entwistle from THE WHO.  Crazy, right? So maybe it's possible that VAN-PIRES was... CANCELED TOO SOON! Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into the bizarre mythology of VAN-PIRES, the confusing conspiracy theories about who played "Van He'll Sing," and a heck of lot more in the latest episode. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follow Bibbs at @W

Reese Witherspoon took the world by storm in LEGALLY BLONDE, a blockbuster feel-good comedy about a Beverly Hills sorority girl, clad entirely in pink, who goes to Harvard Law School and proves all her naysayers wrong. Two years later we got a sequel everyone remembers, and a failed TV pilot that nobody heard of, starring Jennifer Hall (UP ALL NIGHT) as Elle Woods! It only lasted one episode, but was the LEGALLY BLONDE television series... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into what works about the movies, what transfers perfectly to the show, and what seems missing from this TV obscurity. (And if you want to hear us talk about all three of the LEGALLY BLONDE movies, check out the latest episode of CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED!) Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on

The year was 1995, and virtual reality was going to unlock all the mysteries of the universe. Or at least, it was going to be the subject of endless sci-fi movies and TV shows like VR.5, a post X-FILES knockoff about a secret society who employs hacker Sydney Bloom (Lori Singer) to drag criminals into virtual reality and unlock their deepest secrets. Over a dial-up phone line. VR.5 may be a little hilarious now that we know more about computers, the internet and, well, virtual reality... but was it CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold unlock the secrets of VR.5 to reveal what works, what doesn't, how we know Christopher Nolan was probably a big fan, and you should never, EVER do a parallel reality episode in your very first season. Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow

Jim Varney was a comedy sensation, thanks to his beloved character Ernest P. Worrell, who starred in TV commercials, hit movies and - for one short season - HEY VERN, IT'S ERNEST! It's a sketch comedy series for children that aired after GARFIELD AND FRIENDS, and won two Emmy Awards, including one for Varney himself. It's remembered fondly by fans of Ernest P. Worrell, so is it possible that HEY VERN, IT'S ERNEST was... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold look back at the history of Ernest, what made the character so popular, and what works about his award-winning television series (and what definitely doesn't), before trying to come up with their very own episode of the show! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "L

You know her name, you know her dolls, but you probably don't know that Barbie had her own animated series in 1987... because it only lasted two episodes. It's called BARBIE AND THE ROCKERS, it emerged from the short-lived toy line that Mattel invented to compete with JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS, and it's a time travel adventure in which - somehow - almost nothing happens. BARBIE AND THE ROCKERS burned out quickly, but could it be that it was... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review both episodes of the television series, which eventually went straight to video, to figure out what happened, why Barbie dances so weird, and why Ken desperately needs to shut up. Whether you're joining us in a trip down memory lane, or just finding out what you've been missing, this is a must-listen episode of CANCELED TOO SOON! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit ou

It's the series that jumpstarted the careers of Judd Apatow, Paul Feig, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Samm Levine, John Francis Daley, Samm Levine, Martin Starr and Busy Philipps. It's FREAKS AND GEEKS, and it's one of the most acclaimed television shows of all time. Indeed, (almost) everyone agrees that FREAKS AND GEEKS was... CANCELED TOO SOON! And this week, William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are joined by FREAKS AND GEEKS co-star Samm Levine to talk about what made this cult favorite series so special, where the show would have gone had it stayed on the air, and more! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/CanceledTooSoon, follow Bibbs at @WilliamBibbiani and follow Witney at @WitneySeibold, and

Since the creation of CANCELED TOO SOON, one sitcom has been requested more than any other. That show is SELFIE, starring John Cho and Karen Gillan as updated versions of Henry Higgins and Eliza Dolittle from MY FAIR LADY and PYGMALION, in an eccentric comedy about the pros and cons of living on social media! It's got a dedicated cult following, but it couldn't find an audience in its original run. Was SELFIE really... canceled too soon? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold are joined this week by actor Samm Levine, the co-star of SELFIE, who reveals behind the scenes stories from the series, tells us where the story might have gone if it hadn't been canceled, and more! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting rewards, like bonus episodes, exclusive videos, Google Hangouts and much, much more! And visit our TeePublic page to buy CANCELED TOO SOON shirts, mugs and other exciting merchandise!  Follow us on Twitter at @CanceledCast, "Like" us at Facebook.com/Cancele

Television visionary Steven Bochco produced the iconic legal shows HILL STREET BLUES, L.A. LAW and NYPD BLUE, but he also produced one of the most notorious TV failures in history. It's called COP ROCK, it's a serious, hardboiled social issue series with confrontational storylines about racism, sexism and police corruption, and it's also a weekly musical with songs by Randy Newman! It's become one of the biggest punchlines in pop culture history, but is it possible that COP ROCK was... canceled too soon? Film critic April Wolfe joins our regular hosts William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold to unearth this bizarre piece of TV ephemera, analyze the best and worst songs, and consider the possibility that this supposedly embarrassing series is extremely underrated, and decades ahead of its time. Follow April Wolfe on Twitter at @AWolfeful, and make sure you listen and subscribe to her amazing podcasts Switchblade Sisters and Who Shot Ya?! Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive content and exciting reward