Image Credit: Andrew Eccles/The WBIf you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I spent my entire weekend marathon-ing episodes of the WB’s ill-fated show Jack & Bobby. Please, don’t judge me.
For the past month, I had been watching an episode a week, testing my interest and keeping in mind that it only lasted one season. If I ended up enjoying it, I wanted to prolong the joy as much as possible.
The series, as you might recall, told the story of two teenage brothers, one of which would grow up to be president. It took me a while to get into the show, but I soldiered on because my weakness for good-looking men rendered me unable to do otherwise (Hello, Matt Long). By the time I wrapped up the fourth episode last week, I was invested in the characters, the actors, and the story in a way that transcended Jack’s good looks. From Grace’s love affair with her TA (played by Bradley Cooper) to the never-ending high school drama that Jack and Bobby encountered, I was hooked. Soon after, I decided slow-mo TV watching was for someone much more patient than I and set off on my ambitious quest to finish the series in a weekend. Destination: Hermitville.
I watched the remaining 20 episodes on Fancast in a marathon that left me bleary-eyed, lacking sleep, and completely devastated. How could I not be? [If you need a spoiler alert for a show that's been off the air for five years, here it is. But, seriously, come on now.] Bobby had found a father figure in Peter Benedict (John Slattery). We finally saw Jack get together with Courtney and found out that he had died young after being shot in a robbery, which was ironic because (as we also found out in the end) the boys’ father was in prison for killing a man during a robbery. Heartbreaking!
Despite my haggard appearance, I was totally content with having spent an entire weekend consuming damn good TV. Then it set in: I’d just wasted an awesome show. In my television gluttony, I had blown through a great series. And not just any series, one that was long gone with absolutely no hope of revival.
I’m still pretty upset about it. Had I known about this show in 2004, perhaps I could have done something to save it. Where was I in 2004 when it was slipping through the cracks during a highly competitive premiere season that bore the fruit of Lost and Veronica Mars? I was a stupid senior in high school wasting my life on some other show that I can’t even remember now. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, Jack & Bobby. Sigh. I guess I’ll just watch Long on Mad Men this season [three happy claps].
What about you, PopWatchers? Which shows did you discover too late to save from the TV graveyard? Memorialize them below.
I LOVED Jack & Bobby and still mourn it. What a wonderful show with amazing characters and writing. Sandra, thanks for the blog and the memories. I’m still crossing my fingers that it will come out on DVD someday. Until then, I might just need to rewatch again.
i love jack and bobby as well. it took me a LONG time to delete the pilot from my tivo…recently, i discovered it again on demand with cable.
The last few episodes of Jack and Bobby were all kinds of awesome, though the show did take a long time to get going. Sandra, sorry to say, but I don’t think your discovery of J&B in 2004 when it originally aired would have saved it from cancellation.
i LOVED this show…such a talented cast, interesting writing, characters with depth. i still feel so sad that jack is doomed, i don’t like to think about that or the show’s cancellation.
“Jack & Bobby” was a wonderful show, and I actually need to catch up on it because life got in the way and I didn’t get a chance to see the entire season before it got cancelled. (I did hear about the ending, but I haven’t actually seen it – YET.) I’m thrilled that Matt Long is on “Mad Men” now, but he was also really good in ABC’s legal drama “The Deep End,” which I also loved, so of course it got cancelled after only 1 season. Logan Lerman was great in the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale remake of “3:10 to Yuma,” by the way.
Yeah, Matt Long is cute and has been in a few tv shows, and obviously Cooper is pretty big right now, but how can you not mention that the little brother is the very talented Logan Lerman, who has since gone on to star in movies?
percy jackson is my guilty pleasure.
After Jack and Bobby got cancelled I wrote a scathing letter to Dawn calling her out on cancelling a wonderful show. It was the first time I did that, but I was sooo upset that such a wonderful show was cancelled! I vowed never to watch a show on the WB channel. But I kind of ended my ban when the WB joined forces with UPN to become CW…
Buuttt I probably would have banned CW if I had discovered Veronica Mars a few years earlier! I watched all of S1 and 2 last summer but I could not watch S3 until this summer as I was sooo upset there would not be any more tv shows.
ohhhh, is bobby the same character as rob lowe’s robert mcallister on brothers and sisters?! greg berlanti had his hands in both shows…that presidency thing didn’t turn out right then however.
You were a senior in high school in 2004?!?! Wow…wow…
I know…I feel old now and I only graduated 11 years earlier
ONLY 11 yrs prior. That is a much longer time ago. Ancient. Class of 04 woot woot!
Got you beat. I graduated 23 years ago.
I found out about Firefly after it had been canceled. I would have watched.
Ha, I got YOU beat, I graduated 27 years ago….oh god, I think I’m going to be sick………
Got you all beat. I’m old enough to have had a crush on Barnabas Collins in “Dark Shadows” when I was a kid.
Don’t forget Quentin. The original vampire/werewolf pairing
Me too! My girlfriends and I would run home from school to watch Dark Shadows, what an awesome show!!!
How did this child Sandra get such a plum job at such a young age? Must be nice to have connections.
Writing little bloggy columns for no money? Yes, plush.
Little pay? I’m sure that’s the case. However, for someone interested in entertainment journalism, writing “little bloggy columns” for Entertainment Weekly, believe it or not, IS a plum job at that age. I’d certainly take it.
I know! I graduated high school in 2008, but now I feel like such a failure if she got a job at Entertainment Weekly already being only four years older than me.
It is possible for people to bust their ass to get somewhere. Don’t be bitter.
I too was a senior in ’04. Hehe! I found Life too late. I didn’t discover it until it was off the air but the eps were still on Hulu.
Wow, now I feel really old because I was a senior in 1992…..
Alas, the beautiful “Pushing Daisies.”
I second the Pushing Daisies call. I found out about that show much to late. And now I have to struggle to find my Lee Pace fix elsewhere
(
Word up. I watched The Fall and Miss Pettigrew, but it’s not quite the same.
same here, my friend let me borrow the dvd’s though
I keep rewatching Wonderfalls for my Lee Pace fix. Although he’s not in a lot of the early episodes, by the end he definitely takes up some screen time.
Pushing Daisies was incredible! Not your predictable TV series!
The one I wished I had watched from the beginning and came acrossed too late was Samantha Who?
I watched Pushing Daisies from the start and did everything in my power to save the show – sent letters, posted comments, etc. But sadly, it did no good. A precious gem of a show cancelled waaaaay too soon.
Oh yeah, definitely Pushing Daisies, loved the show from the start! I wish it was stil on!
Third. My husband and I began watching it at the beginning of its second (and sadly final) season. Loved it! So loveably quirky and colorful. (sigh) I still miss it.
I second Pushing Daisies. Also, Firefly, and Veronica Mars. All show I discovered well after their cancellations
Pushing Daisies first season was all kinds of awesome…but I ended up understaning why it was cancelled…..it just got completely monotenous. It was basically the same thing every episode…nothing new was happening…It was my favorite show for one season but once the last episode aired..I thought to myself….”Thank goodness its over”
Yeah, Firefly too.
Firefly….. *sob*
it was wrongly canceled, but i did watch it (even when they aired it on saturday night) because i wanted to save it. i will never forgive ABC
I agree totally with your sentiment about ABC. And because of my dissatifaction with that network I don’t even bother to get interested in any of their new shows, because fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one holding a grudge against ABC. Canceling Pushing Daisies was the last straw for me.
Yes, Pushing Daisies for me as well.
Legend of the Seeker. A fun show and EVERY actor is incredibly hot.
Even Zedd?
My 12 year old granddaughter is totally in love with Zedd. I have no clue why! lol
YES!!!! Still so upset about LOTS
Crap…I take it the show was cancelled? Only watched it online, but loved the show.
call me silly but I thought you meant you were upset about LOST
Oh i loved that show. Craig Horner is delish and even though i’m straight, I have a total crush on Bridget Regan.
Got hooked on LOTS thanks to Netflix/Xbox. The kids were devastated to learn that the second season is the last one!
I saw the last season of Veronica Mars after hearing many positive reviews of it and was hooked. I bought the entire series on DVD and was really sad the show was canceled so soon.
I definitely agree with Veronica Mars! It took me four days to get through all three seasons on Netflix and it is one of my favorite shows now. Ugghh it ended too soon!
Veronica Mars was one of those shows I’d heard great things about but never got around to watching. I’ve been watching it on Netflix and am hooked. So sad that I’m almost done with it.
Veronica Mars. Discovered it via Netflix shortly after its cancellation. I thought S1 & S2 were awesome, but the third was a disappointment.
Veronica Mars. I just finished watching it a month ago. And i couldn’t stop myself from watching it again! It’s definitely one of my favorite shows now. I’m still in denial about its cancellation
I am watching it right now on Netflix… as soon as I read this article I immediately thought of VM… I miss it soooooo much!!
Started watching Veronica Mars after watching the first 2 seasons on dvd, and was devastated when they canceled the third season without letting them really wrap things up. Why is it completely lame, badly written shows stick around for years but the really smart, funny ones often die a quick death?
I’m with you! That stupid show with Jim Belushi was on FOREVER, but we lose smart, interesting shows. I love anything by Joss Whedon and whoever it was that created Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me.
4400, The Dead Zone, Battlestar Galactica. At least the 4400 had a novel follow-up to end it (I read that somewhere but haven’t actually read it). Does anyone know if the other series have any novels to continue or wrap up (better) the stories?
Battlestar Galactica? that was not cancelled, it has a good full run.
There were actually two novels wrapping up the 4400 saga: PROMISES BROKEN by Dave Mack and WELCOME TO PROMISE CITY by, er, me.
I believe there were a couple of novels wrapping up ROSWELL as well.
Greg – I’m going to get your book tomorrow – thanks for the information. I loved that show!
Quantum Leap had a good run of stories in book form , including a prequel/ ending. And I read the Alien Nation books that were writtn by Peter David based on later produced movie scripts.
QUANTUM LEAP!! oh how i loved that show. yet, so few people my age know it :/ …i once was barf (from spaceballs) for halloween in college and very few people got it. i hate my generation.
Moi aussi on Quantum Leap-watched sporadically, but got big into it late. One of the best finales of all time.
ani – you just need geekier friends. barf and quantum leap are known to my friends and I, spanning 15 years in age. Long live the Geek!
Loved Quantum Leap! Such a cool premise for a show.
I second the 4400. I just started watching Scifi reruns out of nowhere and got really into it.
Ed, which I started watching during it’s last season and Everwood, which I fell in love with when they showed it on ABC Family.
Yes, Everwood! Gosh, I forgot how many wonderful shows there were on the WB and a couple other networks earlier this decade and late last that were neglected because they weren’t showy (and a majority of Hollywood just ignores cause they can’t see past the directed-towards-teens things).
I grew up on Party of Five, Gilmore Girls, Buffy, Veronica Mars, the OC, Everwood, and I loved that single season of Jack & Bobby.
What does it say about what Hollywood expects from teenagers today, and what does it say about teens today, with the type of shows on now? It seems like the only shows on now have to either dazzle the audience with flashy, shallow fantasy (yes, I mean Vampire Diaries), or are composed of superficial, b****y characters who I have no sympathies for.
don’t trash vampire diaries! its a great show. loved everwood, started rewatching old episodes they had on thewb.com
Ed
It was just so good but I was just too late.
Firefly and Arrested Development. If only I had discovered them while they were still on the air…
Arrested Development for me too.
Arrested Development here. Saw only one episode during it’s run. Watched all 3 seasons on DVD within 2 weeks about 2 years after it was gone. Ah memories
Arrested Development, Deadwood and Farscape. Watching them now through Netflix.
Deadwood. Loved it, miss it.
Love Farscape. Watching it now and flying through it. It will be over too soon.
definitely arrested development
which is why i’m dragging out the seasons on netflix instant streaming at the moment…but i’m sure it will be over all too soon just the same.
Same for me too. I’m sorry I failed you, FF and AD!
Firefly. That’s all I have to say
=(
YES to Firefly. That show was phenomenal. As for AD, I started watching it in season 2 and obviously got my heart broken. I will curse Fox to my dying day for canceling that show. Still kinda makes me sad.
Firefly premiered during my senior year in college so I totally missed it. I didn’t see it until well after Serenity was out on DVD. I also missed Arrested Development and just finished blowing through all 3 seasons of Veronica Mars on NetFlix in less than a week.
same here w/ Firefly, although I remember seeing an episode of it once when it aired, but I hated the intro music so much I wrongly judged the show. I didn’t give it a chace.
Freaks & Geeks I missed completely, but it was the first series I devoured on DVD.
I, too missed Firefly because I was in my last year of uni in London! I started watching it about two years ago. But I have yet to finish it – such a good show and I will be just more upset if I don’t have anymore Firefly epis to watch!
I almost missed Arrested Development but a friend told me about it and I watched it in the last season!
I didn’t think I had any, but I watched Arrested Development after it was canceled and I loved it. I don’t know why I never watched it when it was on the air, there was probably a scheduling conflict.
I was thinking Firefly too. Love that show, have all the episodes on DVD. It’s great that at least we can watch Nathon Fillion on Castle now, and I have seen Jewel Staite and the guy who played Simon Tam on Warehouse 13 recently, it was great. Now if I could just see Alan Tudyk or Adam Baldwin in something else lately……….
Adam Baldwin is on Chuck! And you can catch Alan Tudyk on the now cancelled Dollhouse… and the first few episodes of V.
Adam Baldwin is on “Chuck” on NBC. But I sure do miss Firefly!!
Adam Baldwin has been on Chuck the last 3 seasons, and is AWESOME!
Ditto to Firefly. Alan Tudyk had a recurring role on Dollhouse and was on V. And Morena Baccarin is a main character on V now too.
Oh yeah, I caught the whole run of Arrested Development, uncut, on IFC last year, and loved it. Now they are showing Freaks and Geeks, and I am adoring every second of it. My husband and I also caught Rome on DVD, and are really really looking forward to that movie that may or may not ever be made.
I don’t know, it’s sad to know that these brilliant shows were cancelled, but it isn’t like my watching any show helps it. We are not a Nielsen family. I watch most of my shows on DVR. I have watched “At the Movies” religiously every week for years, and there are only three episodes of that left. At least, watching these cancelled shows, I have the bittersweet knowledge that this is it and there’s no more. I know I am watching the whole thing, which gives it a wonderful sense of completion. No suffering over whether I will miss the show because they are suddenly switching the night that they show it. No wondering what else I can do to save it, and to how many more people I must insist that they should be watching this wonderful show now, and no more slowly sinking feeling as I hear of the stars of the show signing on for other projects while the one I love hangs in the balance (sigh, bye bye, Better Off Ted… I hope some people catch up with you now that you’re cancelled and get the same feeling I’m getting out of those other two.)
Oh how I miss Arrested Development! That show was hilarious and obviously above the heads of the people who decided to cancel this well written show.
Arrested Development!! I discovered that one way too late
Definitely Arrested Development! My husband and I just started watching it via Netflix, and we have gotten through the first season already–which is a testament to the addictive quality of the show when you consider that we have a 1 year old, a 3 year old, and a puppy.
Firefly. Never heard of it until it was already off the air.
I just watched all of Firefly last week, then went out this weekend and bought Serenity. Where was I in 2002? I’m disgusted with myself.
I like to think of myself as a Whedon fanatic, and I didn’t watch Firefly until a few years after it was canceled. I tried to watch when it aired, but I was a Senior in high school & it was on Friday nights, so I had better things to do at the time.
Also the whole Fox airing the episodes out of order didn’t help matters. I tried it again a few years later & talk about being disgusted with yourself….
Other shows would be Veronica Mars which I didn’t start watching till the third season, and Freaks & Geeks that I only just watched for the first time a few years ago.
I had the exact same experience with firefly. I own the series and the movie. I am still mad that I don’t get to know what happens on Freaks & Geeks. That show was amazing!
Ditto Firefly, just recently watched the whole series and Serenity. Don’t understand how I had never heard of it before. Tear.
Worse. I knew of it and didn’t watch it. What kind of Whedonite am I?
LAJackie, me, too! Such a shame!
I found Firefly two years ago on Hulu and after watching the final episode and borrowing Serenity from the library I was mad that there were no more new episodes to watch. Not much you can do when you find it 6 years after its cancellation except be mad at yourself for not watching it when it was fresh.
I too tried to watch Firefly when it was on. The problem was I don’t think it ever aired the same night 2 weeks in a row. Plus it was during the baseball playoffs and kept getting bumped. About 5 years ago I found the DVD set for $40 and decided to get it. (It is now avaialbe at Walmart for $20)My son, My wife and I were floored at the awesomeness that is Firefly. To this day we all consider it the best TV series in history. I can’t name one other series that the first, and in Firefly’s case last, 14 episodes were all great. No duds in the bunch. If any Firefly stars ever appear in anything we all make sure we don’t miss it. Needless to say we watch “Castle” Nathan Fillion, “V” Morena Baccarin, “Stargate Atlantis” when Jewel Staite was on, just caught an episode of “Warehouse 13″ with Sean Maher and Jewel Staite. And “Mad Men” has the best villian in the history of the show Christina Hendricks aka Yo-Saf-Bridge. If you han’t seen it spend $20 and check it out. You won’t regret it.
I kick myself every day for not having watched Firefly when it was on. I would have loved to see if Mal & Inara got together. Curse FOX for cancelling that show!
Firefly and Dead Like Me.
Firefly really was great, I only discovered it a year ago.
Pushing Daisies. Saw one ep, loved it, couldn’t wait until the writer’s strike was over and I could watch more. Then I hear it’s cancelled. It was like having a bite of the best dessert ever, then someone snatching the rest of it away.
Better Off Ted
This one still hurts.
Agreed, hurts to the core.
Absolutely. Lem and Phil were simply BRILLIANT together. I have the Season 1 DVD, and am axiously awaiting the Season 2 DVD. I was surprised when ABC decided to give FOX some competition for the title of Idiot Network Most Willing to Kill Off a Good Series Way Too Soon. (The Fox credentials for that award were once listed on an episode “Family Guy” after it too had been cancelled, but then miraculously resucitated.)
I seriously felt physical pain when I heard this show was canceled. I didn’t discover it until season two and instantly fell in love. I now own the season 1 DVDs and re-watch them all the time.
This was one of my favorites! We are very upset that it wasn’t given a fighting chance.
This one’s KILLING me. Also “Life” and “Eli Stone”.
Eli Stone was great. I thought I was the only one watching.
Life was a hidden jewel in the wasteland of NBC.
Eli Stone was great! So was Dirty Sexy Money, Cashmere Mafia & Tell Me You Love Me!
Life was sooo good. Recently Netflixed those oh so brief two seasons. What made it even worse was Sarah Shahi MIA in season 2 due to her pregnancy. I want Life!
Dirty sexy money…..caught it as they burned off the last 6 eps. miss it very much.
Yeah, I’m kinda bitter about that one too. Eli Stone and Life are, rather were, great shows! I can’t wait to see Sarah Shahi in Facing Kate this fall season.
Life…What a great show that nobody heard about (NBC was too busy promoting franchise remakes like The Bionic Woman and Knight Rider), let alone watched. One of the best shows in the last five years wasted by NBC! If only it could have been saved…
Just started watching Better off Ted this weekend…love it!
Agreed!!
Bad promoting killed this show. I started watching when they were already burning off 2 episodes at a time. I laughed my @ss off!!!
Then I ran to the store to pick up the season 1 DVD
I am eagerly awaiting the season 2 DVD’s because I have watched season 1 all the way through like 4 times already.
A better show title would’ve helped, too. It should have simply been called Veridian Dynamics. Better Off Ted makes me think of an old John Cusack movie
I just discovered that this summer-sooo good
This is going to sound odd because it went on for 4 years and is part of a HUGE franchise, but…Enterprise. I grew up watching TNG as a kid, but thought I’d outgrown Star Trek by the time Enterprise came on. Plus…UPN. Ugh. Anyway, I’m marathoning it now and I’m loving it. So sad I wasn’t there when you needed me, Captain Archer! And Trip, T’Pol, Malcolm, Travis, Hoshi and Phlox!
You were a senior in high school in 2004? you are 4 years younger than me? and your job is so much cooler than mine? where did i go wrong…
Haha! May thoughts exactly!
“My So Called Life” and “Freaks and Geeks”. I discovered them AFTER they were canceled and still not sure why I didn’t watch them when they originally aired. However, they are wonderful shows, well acted and extremely well written. If you have never seen them than I would highly recommend you seek them out.
You’ve got GREAT taste in t.v. shows.
Two of the best examples of high school ever put on television!
Seconded. I too discovered Freaks & Geeks years after it was cancelled – I’ve now seen the entire series on dvd at least 3 times. And I did watch MSCL when it originally aired, and was heartbroken when it was canceled. Funny enough, I literally watched the last episode last night, capping off my re-watch of the entire series. Even 15 years later, it’s phenomenal and the diaglogue is 100% on point. Also, the beauty and allure of Jordan Catalano cannot be overstated, lol.
“Freaks and Geeks” is my #2 show of all time. It was maddening watching NBC treat it like crap, shifting it all over the schedule, even though critics were raving about it.
Agreed and Agreed! I 100% blame NBC’s lack of effort for that show’s failure.
Freaks and Geeks – watching it again on IFC and thinking that I should have fought for that show back in the day!
I am catching it now on IFC and loving it. I am thinking “hey, at least most of the cast is doing all right…” Oh, and laughing at seeing Dr. Sweets looking even younger than in Bones!
I don’t get IFC… I’m watching Freaks and Geeks online- so great! But what I love most is knowing that the cast members are still alive and well in the biz.
I was a late comer to both of those shows.
Agreed. I discovered “My So Called Life” a few years ago when “The N” replayed the only season. I was devastated knowing that we’d never know what actually happened to all of the characters.
And thanks to IFC, I started to watch “Freaks and Geeks” which is amazing! I’m always counting down until Friday so I can watch a new episode. But I know I’ll be supremely upset when the season (series) comes to an end.
I loved “My So Called Life”. I couldn’t belive it was canceled. Everyone I went to school watched so I actually thought it was a popular show. Oh Jordan….
Yeah…Claire Daines was a high school crush of mine because of this show. And then she became my first real example of the fickle hearts of the networks.
…and by “Claire Daines” I mean, of course, Claire Danes.
Yes! “My So-Called Life” crossed my radar too late to save it, and I’ve kicked myself ever since. The one small consolation is that they left us wanting more, rather than jumping the shark.