Canceled, But Not Forgotten: Popular

Popular



This was the first show where cancellation shook me to my core. I was obsessed with this show for the two seasons it was on The WB.

A synopsis: Sam is a journalist outsider whose enemy of choice is Brooke, the popular cheerleader. Their competing factions in their high school lead to dramarama...which is only heightened when Sam and Brooke's mom and dad, respectively, get engaged.

Which, when you read it, is a fairly standard plot. But what was great about Popular was that it was a completely ridiculous satire/comedy.

Seriously. Will we ever again see a Staying Alive John Travolta Club presidential election dance-off? A mullet movement? Mary Cherry? But, especially, will we see these glorious comedic bits tied into really relevant issues of family? I spent half the time watching this show laughing and half the time crying, man. It was great.

It remains to this day to have the best It's a Wonderful Life episode of any show I've ever watched. Harrison, dying of cancer, sees what the world would be like if he weren't born. Essentially, the world ends.

Start here:



But the most infuriating thing about its cancellation was, as with most cancellations, the cliff-hanger. Harrison (played by my lover, Christopher Gorham) was forced to choose between life-long crush Brooke and best friend (and maybe something more) Sam. Without finding out who he chose, we see Brooke storming out of the restaurant only to be hit by Nicole, her psycho-bitch former bestie who was drinking and driving after having an unsettling encounter with her mother.

Thankfully, the most of the cast moved on to bigger (although possibly not arguably better) things. Christopher Gorham, Leslie Bibb, and Sara Rue all managed to breakthrough the mess and come out successful. Even Tammy Lynn Michaels married Melissa Etheridge. Plus, as with all these wonderful WB shows, there are great cameos by soon-to-be-hit actors: Wentworth Miller as a cheerleader wannabe, Anthony Montgomery (truly splendid before Enterprise took away any purpose) as Sam's boyfriend!

Perhaps the only thing that bums we out is that the creator said that the ending was going to be Harrison/Brooke (LAME!) instead of Harrison/Sam had it not been canceled. But whatever. The two seasons it was on still stand as a testament to a truly unique piece of TV that you really wouldn't be able to find now on regular broadcast. It was quirky and fun and moving.

Canceled, But Not Forgotten: Part 2

By the request of arianrhod, we delve into another TV show canceled before its time.

Jack and Bobby


This show was actually much further down on my list of shows to cover because unlike most of my "Canceled, But Not Forgotten" shows, this one actually had a very fulfilling finale. In fact, its one season on the air is pretty much perfection.

There were so many reasons to love this show.

One of which was the hotness of Matt Long. But there were lots more reasons that actually speak to the quality of the show outside of its WB demographic.

The Plot: The series is framed with a documentary about the future President McCallister. In each episode, those close to the President talk about his principles and milestones from his career; the actual show then has teenage brothers Jack (Matt Long) and Bobby (Logan Lerman) learn the same thematical lessons that will help one of them grow into a future President.


Okay, so you find out in the pilot that Bobby is destined to become President. But the strange thing is--since that was a major risk in the story-telling--that you still can't stop watching it.

Yes, you want to know about how Bobby grows into one of the greatest American presidents, but at the same time, you care about the here-and-now: Will Jack and Courtney hook up, despite the fact that she becomes Bobby's first lady? Will Jack come out from the death of his former girlfriend unscathed? Will Grace (the mom) get in trouble for sexing up hot, virile Bradley Cooper before settling down with Courtney's dad Peter (played by John Slattery, in the role that made him my in-his-forties-yet-still-smoking crush of choice, before he did Desperate Housewives or Mad Men)? Or does anyone else remember Bobby's goth girlfriend?

The show was relevant politically without being preachy, showing every side of an issue. Perhaps the best way it did that was in the religion episode where Bobby has a spiritual awakening, much to his liberal mother's chagrin, and she proceeds to show him a different religion every week. Grace's liberalism would fight over Peter's conservatism; the show famously shot two endings, depending on if Kerry or Bush won the 2004 election, the Bush ending resulting in a catty remark from Grace to Peter through Bobby about how all would change when Hillary was elected in 2008 (oh! the irony of now!). But really, it was about how vision and, more than anything, determination, can get one through any problem, from teenage dramas to international incidents.

Something that will soon become a theme bordering on whiny in these reminiscent posts will be how most of these shows were very high-concept, ended up on the WB or FOX, and then got their asses kicked. Jack and Bobby is just one more example of something outside of the WB's main demographic (why would teens watch "The West Wing for 18-49 Age Bracket" when they could watch the pure drama without political ramifications of Mr. Dawson and his creek?), and it failing.

I would highly recommend Jack and Bobby. While I'm not the beacon of class, I do generally know something great when I see it. Jack and Bobby was a phenomenal show with a fantastic season with a wonderful series finale that summed up everything perfectly, meaning no cliffhanger angst for you and your kiddies.

Canceled, But Not Forgotten: Part 1

My talk with Mr. Erwich has put me in the mood. The newest feature to my "will actually be updated" blog is Canceled, But Not Forgotten, which will take you on short adventures about shows that were canceled before they caught on, despite being made of awesome. (Or, they possibly sucked and I just didn't notice.) I will definitely delve into my world of FOX-hate, but to begin, I'd like to look at this year's TV season's two losers that make me make that sad pouty face that is adorable yet heartbreaking.

Aliens in America

The CW doesn't really do comedy. It's known for love triangles, booze, and product placement. So when they decided to produce a delightful new comedy about a Muslim foreign exchange student's crazy antics fitting into his new American family, everyone was a bit surprised. Surprised for a fewof reasons: the premise was actually good, the writing was heart-warming and funny without relying on stereotypes, and the show didn't fit into the CW line-up. Basically the biggest surprise? Why would the CW produce a show they knew wouldn't be embraced by their viewers and was bound to be canceled? The CW, like FOX, rarely cares about the praise of critics.

Has there been better comic gold than Justin and his mom playing Roger and Mimi in their community theatre production of Rent? Or Justin and Raja pretending a random woman in the hospital is Justin's mom in order to avoid being beaten up? Or, my personal favorite, when the town thinks Raja is a terrorist when he buys supplies for the Rocket Club? (Answer: No.)

Plus, Raja is totally my brother, in a totally awesome way.

I totally loved this show even though I knew it was dead before it aired. If you ever feel like having a good laugh, watch episode 3, "Rocket Club." Here's a taste (it starts slow; the end thirty seconds are classic):



Cashmere Mafia

Loved it for four simple reasons: Mirando Otto is a bitch and she knows it, Lucy Liu is disarmingly hilarious/poignant, Frances O'Connor is realer than dirt, and Bonnie Somerville is charmingly flustered. Of course, the title is ridiculous (yet catchy) and apparently Lipstick Jungle, despite an even more ridiculous title, is better, although I've never seen it. To me, Cashmere Mafia was the next generation of Sex and the City and not just merely a rip-off. These were actual working women, not just women who happened to work, who had actual lives outside of each other. Admittedly, it wasn't highbrow or high-concept, but the characters were well-fashioned, if the plots seemed a little flippant for a drama, although the angst was high (Juliet is out of a husband within five episodes; Mia and her ex-fiance are dating other people in less than that; Caitlin is gay with no prior history in her 30s?). In fact, the only plotline I truly loved was Zoe's work relationship with her male colleague at her firm who gave a promotion to his sex buddy to keep her quiet, asking the very real question of how can a woman who puts her serious self forward hope to be successful if other women are using their sexuality to do the same thing?

Additionally, the men were all insanely attractive. (Tom Everett Scott? Peter Hermann? Please give me a call.) The show had dramedy promise and it's a shame we won't get to see these four wonderful actresses work together again.