Three More TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

I, like many writers of lists, have made one about TV shows that were cancelled too soon.  There are some shows that are a given for such lists like Firefly or Freaks and Geeks, the latter of which was on my list.  Other shows like Better Off Ted, (also one of mine) are common inclusions but don't have the same cult following.  Then there are these three, two shows too obscure for most listmakers and one that has just recently been canceled but could make the cut in the future.

The Middleman

In 2006 ABC Family had some modest success with Kyle XY, a sci-fi mystery entirely about a teenager with no bellybutton that had three seasons.  In 2008 they added another sci-fi series: The Middleman.  This show was a comedy that built on countless sci-fi tropes.  It centered on a young artist named Wendy Watson as she became the apprentice to the titular hero, a man of mystery who fights evil with the help of a sassy robot and an anonymous benefactor.  Kyle XY got three seasons off of the absence of bellybutton while The Middleman's first episode was the first and last appearance of a mad scientist with an army of apes who were really into gangster movies.  From there the show only got weirder, with zombie fish, vampire puppets, and a cursed tuba until it was cancelled after only one season.  The series was based on a comic book and was strongly influenced by the medium, so it is fitting that the plot has continued in the form of comics.  The creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach has written a comic based on the planned but unfilmed final episode and another in which the comic book Middleman meets the TV Middleman.

Kings

For some reason there aren't a lot of TV shows that are modernized versions of Biblical events.  Leftovers is kind of rapture-y but aside from that it's pretty much just Kings, which focuses on David, as in "and Goliath."  However, the Goliath story is just the beginning.  In the first episode the young soldier David singlehandedly takes down a tank, in the process saving King "Not Saul" Silas' son.  David moves to the capital and becomes intertwined in politics as the the king grows threatened by  David.  Kings only had one season due to divided reception and despite a good cast, including the always intimidating Ian McShane as King Silas and the then unknown Sebastian Stan as his son.

Selfie

This year network television bet a lot on romantic comedies.  Out of the half dozen or so new sitromcoms the one with the most promise was Selfie.  For some reason ABC has lost faith in the Pride and Prejudice adaptation and canceled it before all the episodes have aired despite or perhaps because of its stellar cast.  By  that I mean that both leads, Karen Gillan and John Cho, are terrific actors, but they are also blockbuster stars with roles in major sci-fi franchises.  I can only imagine the strain their paychecks put on the show's fate.  The actors aren't the only people on the series with impressive IMDB pages.  It was created by Emily Kapnek, who was also behind Suburgatory and Nickelodeon semi-classic As Told By Ginger.  Admittedly, Selfie isn't perfect.  It has a bit of a "Snapchat is the end of civilization" vibe but it's definitely better than Manhattan Love Story  and it's still,,, oh it's cancelled too?  What about A to Z?  Well, it's not better than Marry Me.  Close, but not quite.  Casey Wilson is just so great.