10 TV Shows That Should Never Have Made It Past The Pilot

Homeboys In Outer Space TV is a complicated and fickle business. It can be hard, at times, to judge what shows will and won't succeed. Sometimes the networks air something that's sure to be a flop, only to have it succeed wildly. I mean, who would have thought that a cartoon about yellow-skinned people would go twenty-five plus seasons? But there are some shows... certain shows... ones that are clearly a bad idea from start to finish. Shows that were doomed to cancellation the moment they were conceived of. Shows that should have never made it past the pilot stage. This is a list of 10. Now it's important to note that all of these actually aired in the real world. One of them, creatively bankrupt though it was, actually got several seasons. Most died after a handful of episodes or, indeed, just one. Let's have a look...

10. Small Wonder (1985 - 1989), 94 episodes

Small Wonder The exception that proves the rule. Most of the shows on here were cancelled after one season, and in one case, after one episode. Everything about the premise to this show is horrible. In brief, a scientist makes an android and decides to take it home and "raise" it as a child. Because there's no way that could ever go horribly wrong. The next 93 episodes were variations on "How can she be more human?" and "Will the nosy neighbours find out she isn't?" Yet despite the stupid premise (and a really horrible theme song that exemplifies everything wrong about mid 1980s television), the show dragged on for four seasons. I have no idea how this happened, and it speaks very poorly of American TV show audiences. On the other hand, I suppose that it does prove that, despite all wisdom to the contrary, sometimes it is worth taking a stupid premise and making a TV show out of it. You never know when you might hit gold.
Contributor

Chris Swanson is a freelance writer and blogger based in Phoenix, Arizona, where winter happens to other people. His blog is at wilybadger.wordpress.com