Murder One | ABC | 1995

September 1995 - May 1997

ABC | 41 episodes | Crime Drama

WATCH OPENING CREDITS | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Daniel Benzali, Mary McCormack, Michael Hayden, Stanley Tucci, Jason Gedrick.

SYNOPSIS: Murder One, from the mind of Steven Bocho, centers on a prominent defense attorney, Theodore "Teddy" Hoffman, and his associates. For the first season, when an arrogant young actor with a track record of drug-and-alcohol problems is accused and tried for murder, it's up to Teddy to save him, and not for the first time.

VERDICT: ★★★★☆

Inspired by the sensational O.J. Simpson murder trial of the mid-1990s, Murder One was high quality drama that was hindered by poor scheduling. Rather than letting the show pick up an audience in an unchallenged slot, Murder One was pitched against ER (which was then entering its second season). Due to the nature of the show - an extremely detailed view of one central case - it was important that viewers had seen the episode the week before. Despite retooling in its second season (focussing on several cases rather than the one season-long cases), and moving the show to a different night, the show was cancelled after 41 episodes.

CANCELLED TOO SOON? Yes definitely - will seek out more episodes! The show is available on DVD and on streaming. I think had the show been made in the 2020s, the issue of viewers not catching every episode on a weekly set timeslot would not be an issue. Another one of those shows that was groundbreaking at the time, but the TV market and viewership at the time just could not keep up.

The Monroes | ABC | 1995

September - October 1995

ABC | 13 episodes (7 unaired) | Prime time soap opera

WATCH OPENING CREDITS | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? William Devane, Susan Sullivan

SYNOPSIS: The planned run for Maryland governor by leading business magnate John Monroe is hampered by revelations of an affair he had 20 years earlier - with a a woman who turns out to be a foreign spy - while serving at the American embassy in Brussels.The admission not only knocks him out of the gubernatorial race but also creates tension for the millionaire with his wife who, in typical political matriarch fashion, vows to endure the indignity for the family’s sake.

VERDICT: ★★☆☆☆

From the start, The Monroes faced stiff competition against Seinfeld and was not expected to fare well. In the end, it didn't - the show was dumped after five episodes, leaving seven unaired. Who pits a show against Seinfeld and expects to win? Variety said the show wasn't "particularly compelling" and EW said fans of Dynasty "may find this potboiler amusing".

In response to the news breaking of his affair, William Devane's character, John Monroe, proclaims: “This is the 90s! Who cares what I do in my spare time?”. Meanwhile, with helicopters buzzing around her head, Susan Sullivan’s character, Kathryn, nonchalantly says: “Hang on a moment, I just want to make a statement to the press…” turning to aggressively flip the bird to the TV crew hanging out of the helicopter’s door.

Elsewhere in the episode, the family urge their astronaut son James -“the golden child” - to go back into space to give the family a bit of positive press. They have another son, Gabriel, who isn't so keen on the perks of being part of the family, with the episode's opening scenes of him urging a traffic cop to give him a ticket. He's in a coma by the end of the episode.

CANCELLED TOO SOON? Interesting in parts, but on the whole - boring. Wouldn't watch more.

Maybe This Time | ABC | 1995

September 1995 - February 1996

ABC | 18 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Marie Osmond, Betty White, Ashley Johnson, Amy Hill, Craig Ferguson

SYNOPSIS: The series stars Marie Osmond as Julia, a mother and recent divorcee running the family coffee shop/bakery with her mother Shirley (Betty White) while raising her 11-year-old daughter Gracie (Ashley Johnson). Rounding out the cast are Logan (Craig Ferguson), who works in the bakery of the coffee shop, and Kay (Hill), owner of the pawn shop down the street.

VERDICT: ★★★☆☆

Charming and witty at times, not too straitlaced - in the first episode, Betty White's character reveals how she's been able to get a good deal on her lease for the past how many years - acting out sexually fantasies with the landlord. The show debuted in the Top 20 but was soon lower down the ranks after a few episodes, so I'm guessing the jokes got tiresome fairly quickly?

I don't believe that I've seen Marie Osmond act in anything before, but she's not bad, and she plays off Betty White fairly well. Betty meanwhile is completely the opposite of her character in Golden Girls. I guess that was intentional. Ashley Johnson is just awful. Thankfully she has improved in the last 25 years, but here she's insufferable. Amy Hill giving her typical OTT Asian portrayal, while Craig Ferguson over plays his Scottish-ness.

CANCELLED TOO SOON? Yes, it's on par with a lot of shows that had several seasons.

Hudson Street | ABC | 1995

September 1995 - June 1996

ABC | 22 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Tony Danza, Lori Loughlin, Jerry Adler, Christine Dunford

SYNOPSIS: Tony Danza starred as Tony Canetti, a divorced detective in Hoboken, New Jersey, who shares custody of his son Mickey with his ex-wife. In between work and raising his son, Tony also starts a romance with crime reporter/obituary writer, Melanie (Lori Loughlin).

The series received good reviews and initially placed in the top 10 (partly due to its placement between Roseanne and Home Improvement), but was canceled after one season.

VERDICT: This is the 3rd of four series that Danza plays a character called Tony. All Tony's, no matter the job, are pretty much the same person.

The first episode is set a year after Tony's divorce. Although he's keen to get himself out there, he feels that he's not lacking in any female attention. His colleague comments: "Arresting a hooker and driving her downtown does not consist of a date!". He later goes on a date with Lori Loughlin's character, Melanie, but Tony's pigheadedness ruins any possibilities, leading to Melanie giving a scene stealing speech and running out of the door. The next day, Melanie turns up at the station to apologise and to drop the news that she has been promoted to crime reporter, meaning that Tony will be seeing a lot more of her. He welcomes her by telling her: "I think you're gonna make a rotten crime reporter. You're not tough enough!" and gives her a false tip off.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? It feels like it would be one of those "will they, won't they" kind of shows. Nothing too special.

High Incident | ABC | 1996

March 1996 - May 1997

ABC | 32 episodes | Drama

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Matt Beck, Matt Craven, Cole Hauser, David Keith, Louis Mustillo, et. al.

SYNOPSIS: High Incident, created by Steven Spielberg and apparently set within the same fictional universe and neighbourhood as "E.T." (Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster), takes a gritty look at life for the officers of the El Camino Police Department where the war on crime is being fought, one criminal at a time, and the casualties are mounting up. 

The show returned for a 2nd season, but for some reason it went out at 8pm on Thursday nights - this was opposite Friends, which was already in its third season, so High Incident didn't stand a chance.

VERDICT: Typical routine police fare, but done well. I can see why it didn't experience success, though - this type of show isn't really suited for an 8pm time slot. A lot of the action takes place in the police cars - radio chatter in the background, officers engaged in conversation - the scene then quickly jumps to a high action incident; chasing a suspect across the road, pulling up to an all-out brawl between residents of an apartment building, or attending to a routine traffic stop that ends with the the fatal shooting of one of their own officers.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME?  Yes, I would watch more episodes (and it has a great theme tune).

Charlie Grace | ABC | 1995

September - October 1995

ABC | 9 episodes | Drama

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Mark Harmon, Leelee Sobieski

SYNOPSIS: Charlie Grace is a former LA cop turned private eye raising a 12-year-old daughter. In the first episode, Charlie finds out that "Mad Dog", a con he put away eight years ago, is out of prison and seeking revenge. To crack the case, Charlie needs to rely on the cops that he blew the whistle on.

Nine episodes of the show were produced, but only six were broadcast.

VERDICT: "I'm Charlie Grace, and I'm a private detective..." opens the show, with Mark Harmon in the midst of a back alley fist fight with a bunch of thugs (who later turn out to be Police officers). The narration continues throughout and adds enough without being annoying.  It's from 1995 but feels older, but then again, it is from 25 years ago. 

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? The story had a few twists and turns. I'd watch more episodes. More the kind of show you would watch on Sunday night.

Champs | ABC | 1996

January 1996 - August 1996

ABC | 12 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? I don't recognise anyone.

SYNOPSIS: Sitcom about five friends - Tom a chauvinist, Vince a womanizer, Herb a doctor, and Marty a dour divorcee - who played on a championship basketball team in high school 20 years earlier (that's it, that's the show).

This was the first TV series produced by DreamWorks SKG; 12 episodes were produced, but the show was pulled off the air after four episodes, five were then burned off over the summer, and three were left unaired.

VERDICT: In first episode, several characters delivered the line: "It was 20 years ago!". I'm guessing that was the show's catchphrase? It seemed to be a family sitcom, but then also buddies that hang out together, with sports puns thrown in: "I'm raising three boys myself, fatherhood is a contact sport!". Though, by the end of the first episode I was sick of hearing about THAT game 20 years ago!

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? No, and definitely not a forgotten gem. I can't even find cast photos from the show.

Buddies | ABC | 1996

March - April 1996

ABC | 13 episodes (8 unaired) | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Dave Chappelle, Christopher Gartin

SYNOPSIS: Buddies, which was touted as “the new comedy from the creators of Home Improvement” (as if that’s going to get people to watch), starred Dave Chappelle and Christopher Gartin as friends who start a film company against the protests of their elders, who worry about their racial differences more so than their ability to start a business.

VERDICT: ★☆☆☆☆

Following his hit appearance on Home Improvement alongside fellow comedian Jim Breuer, ABC executives fast tracked the series to capitalise on the chemistry between the two stars and Buddies became a reality almost one year to the day of that said appearance. At some point during rehearsals, ABC decided that the chemistry just wasn’t working and fired Breuer and replaced him with another comedian, Christopher Gartin, but still playing the same character. Apparently, Breuer just couldn’t act and hammed up every scene he was in. Chappelle and Breuer were real-life friends at the time and Chappelle was so upset over Breuer's firing that he wanted to quit the show. Thankfully he didn’t have to – the show was cancelled after five episodes had aired. Chappelle later commented about the show: “It was a bad show. It was bad. I mean when we were doing it, I could tell this was not gonna work.”

 

Watching the episode “A Room with a Pyew” it comes across as another one of those early days of FOX, UPN, WB, etc shows – just too forced and very much a sitcom by the numbers. In the episode, concerned that their neighbour “old man Ramsey” has died, Maureen, the trailer trash mother of Lorraine, John’s girlfriend, attempts to catch his attention by flashing at him through the window: “aww god bless him! He’s toast!”. Most of the episode is about how Maureen is excited to find an apartment so close to her daughter so she can make up for lost time, and of course that she’s finally able to move out of her trailer. Meanwhile, John and Lorraine try to find ways to put Lorraine off because they don’t want her to move in. Maureen has the apartment by the end of the episode, much to the chagrin of Dave’s father, Hank, the owner of the property: “You promised me that you had the perfect tenant! Are you telling me that this crazy bourbon-swilling white woman went to university?!”

 

The only thing I liked about the show was the main apartment set which had a kind of “Friends” vibe about it. Outside of their window was a small courtyard, with the “Buddies” using the window as an entrance. Would have been perfect on “Friends”!

CANCELLED TOO SOON? I'd say no - but all episodes were available on DVD, for some reason. Other episodes are on YouTube, linked above.

Aliens in the Family | ABC | 1996

March 1996 - August 1996

ABC | 8 episodes | Sitcom

WATCH EPISODE | MORE INFO

WHO'S IN IT? Nobody that I recognise? (in the first episode, anyway).

SYNOPSIS: The show was about single dad Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd), who is abducted by single alien mom Cookie (Margaret Trigg). The two fall in love, get married, and try to live a normal life on Earth as a mixed-species family. 

It seems it only lasted 8 episodes because they were made in advance. The show lasted two weeks in prime time and then was burned off over the summer on Saturday mornings.

VERDICT: Awful. 

The style of the show was odd: much of the humour was derived from gags involving the assimilation of the alien family into everyday life - despite being pink and having massive heads (puppetry provided by Jim Henson) everyone on Earth seems to accept their presence. You could see the setup of the gags a mile off, as it if was a spoof of sitcoms from the 50s.

CANCELLED BEFORE ITS TIME? No way!