12 TV Shows That Don't Live Up To Great Premises

It’s about the most Kiefer Sutherland concept you could ever imagine: after a major terrorist attack, minor politician Thomas Kirkman is next in the line of succession to the presidency, and must lead the country through crazy, action-packed times. It’s convoluted, sure, but right in Sutherland’s wheelhouse.

Fans’ patience wore thin pretty quickly, though. The initial concept was killer – but where do you go from there? The creators piled on the usual thriller tropes – there were double crosses and moles, folks were shot dead only to reappear a few episodes later. Kiefer Sutherland kept things going gamely, but the writing was on the wall from Season 2.

The show kept going for an abridged third season, centring around Kirkman’s re-election campaign, but this was about enough for everyone watching. No one came to Designated Survivor for a nail-biting race for the White House.

It was a neat idea to start with, but never one to sustain one season of TV, let alone three. We came to Designated Survivor for the kind of high-octane action we got from Sutherland’s previous banger 24; once that fizzled out, there wasn’t all that much left.