12 Awful TV Shows That Were Cancelled Before You Even Saw Them

10. Manimal

You could call this Animorphs for grown-ups, but upon further reflection, Animorphs is a vastly superior television show to Manimal. The show ran on NBC for about 8 episodes in the fall of 1983, and centered around a man who used his ability to shape-shift into any animal to help the police solve crimes. It's a marvellously entertaining idea, but ludicrous at the same time, given that it seemed to suggest that all crimes could be solved if only there was an intelligent wildebeest or something hanging around. No one was ever going to be able to take a show called Manimal seriously, and the show was an unmitigated disaster in the ratings department. Of course, it didn't help that it was scheduled against CBS's megahit Dallas; few shows could have even hoped to take on that colossus, never mind to take it down. Interestingly enough, Sony Pictures Animation announced in 2012 that they would be making a live-action/animated film adaptation of the show, produced by the creator of the original series. - though quite whether we will actually see it released is a matter for debate. After all, you know what they say about history: we're doomed to repeat it.