TV has never been better. Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Homeland are setting increasingly high standards, and while some shows rise to the occasion, other less popular ones are dying a slow death. How many times do we become invested in a series only to hear that it's been cancelled? Reality TV shows are becoming more and more dominant every year, but what are we, as viewers, doing to stop their popularity? We might indeed be living through the golden age of television, but are we being spoiled? Is too much of a good thing bad? Year after year, excellent shows are being left on the scrapheap, unable to compete with the aforementioned ratings juggernaut Breaking Bad or the hugely popular The Walking Dead. Are studios, in their quest for the next big hit, missing out on some truly original shows? Fringe, in my opinion, is one of the best TV shows of all time, yet it was very nearly cancelled a few times. Every year, fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was renewed for an extra season. Some shows just need time to develop but in Hollywood, time means money. Poor ratings or negative reviews can destroy a series before it's even established itself and because of this, it's getting extremely difficult to create a new show that instantly mesmerises an audience. It makes it even more tragic when a show like that comes around, only for it to be cancelled after one lousy season. Here are 5 TV Shows that should have got a second season.
5. Awake
Awake had one of the coolest concepts ever for a TV series but it still managed to get cancelled. The story revolved around homicide detective Michael Britten, whose life is split into two alternate realities after he and his family are involved in a car accident. In one reality, only Britten and his teenage son survive the crash, while in the other, Britten and his wife Hannah are the survivors. In each reality, Britten is not only consciously aware of the other, but is struggling to maintain his grip upon both. I still can't understand how this wasn't a huge success, let alone it being cancelled after 13 episodes. It was basically Inception as a TV series! I will admit that the writers took their time in deciding which direction they wanted to take, but the potential of this show was immense. Jason Issacs was excellent as the leading character too. The ratings were fairly positive, but I think the main reason Awake failed was because it was too similar to Lost. Lost's finale divided fans and I don't think people wanted to invest in a similar program that was designed to add mysteries in every episode. The story did get a bit sloppy a few times, but it still deserved a second season based on the last few episodes alone.