The Best of the Best II

The best cult favorites, the shows that never were; the best television shows to ever grace your television that no one ever watched (in no particular order):

1. Keen Eddie – An American transplant show, NYPD cop gets thrown over to the Scotland Yard after a very public snafu. Part cop show, part comedy, the show was never shown in chronological order. Watch out for ‘Ms. Moneypenny’.
2. Eyes – A private eye show with a very good cast, this was the show that was thrown out to make way for that little known show called Grey’s Anatomy. It was good, it was very good and it is likely the best private eye show ever made, well except for number 10 on the list.
3. Wonderfalls – Campy, ridiculous, a critical darling; all of these things were certainly Wonderfalls. But after all that it was still an awesomely great television show and those that haven’t seen it are poorer for it.
4. My So Called Life – I am convinced this show is the reason why I love, Claire Danes. Certainly she’s been good on the big screen and the small screen since then, lately Homeland has some serious buzz. But MTV’s early efforts at television are some of its best non-reality TV, even if there’s way too much teen-angst-emo nonsense.
5. Dead Like Me – Simply marvelous television. Only two short seasons and a TV movie to mark its grave, Dead Like Me made death funny. The oftentimes irreverent and clueless bunch of individual characters were brought together by one thing, they worked for Death.
6. Legend of the Seeker – Before the Game of Thrones lets kill everybody mess there was Legend of the Seeker. TV doesn’t do fantasy, basically ever; Seeker was a lighter fantasy show that was a classic proof of greater than the sum of its parts.
7. Joan of Arcadia – A show that made God interesting to people again. Joan of Arcadia is a modern retelling of the historical figure; who has to try to satisfy God as well and be a teenage girl in the modern world.
8. Tin Man – The best of the Syfy Network’s reworking of classic stories before that became popular. Tin Man is the best Wizard of Oz adaptation you’ve never seen. Powerful, poignant, and noteworthy in its own regard Tin Man is fantastic.
9. Pushing Daisies – A wonderful fairytale show that is both quirkily charming and deviously dark at the same time. A show about a man who can’t touch the woman he loves or she’ll die and stay dead this time.
10. Veronica Mars – The best show on a failing network. Veronica Mars was sharp, funny, dark, charming, and masterfully written and acted. The eponymous lead character was the best friend you never wanted and the worst enemy you ever faced.
11. Flash Forward – A single season is enough to cement Flash Forward as not only a great science fiction show, but a brilliant show in its own right. A must be seen to believe it cast of TV veterans is helped by a good script writing team and a brilliant premise; what if everyone in the world saw their future.
12.  Human Target - The new version was a good season one but an even better season two. Fox gave it a fair chance but it never really caught on. A shame to be sure. Mark Valley's second show on the list, his version of the legendary Christopher Chance was something to see, and the season two cast was fantastic.
13. Band of Brothers – If you haven’t watched this then the question is simple, when do you have a day to sit down and watch some of the greatest television ever made.

Honorable Mentions:

Stargate Universe – It tried to hard to be Stargate: Battlestar Galactica. Enough said.
The Nine – The second Tim Daly show on the list, the Nine was a show about a heist gone wrong from the view of the nine innocent survivors. An explosively good pilot episode was not enough to make people watch and the show quickly fizzled and died.
Awake – Stunning show about a detective living two lives after a car accident left a family member dead, thing is he can’t tell which life is the reality and which is the dream. Which family member and which reality is real is the premise of the series.