TV Flops From The 2000s That Are Actually Worth Watching
Just because a TV show doesn't last doesn't mean it's not great. Over the years, in fact, there have been plenty of failed TV shows that were even better than the ones that wound up lasting for years — and the 2000s were full of them. The turn of the millenium, after all, was a period of upheaval in the television industry, as the internet became a real threat to the medium and streaming services grew into legitimate competition by the end of the decade.
But no matter the reason, the 2000s were the home of some truly fantastic television that sadly didn't succeed. Whether it be a gritty crime drama, a fantastical sci-fi adventure, an animated romp, or a wild sitcom, these shows deserved more attention — and ratings — than they ultimately received.
Some were killed off too soon because the ratings just weren't there, despite the show itself being strong and critically acclaimed, while others may have earned mixed reviews that didn't seem to appreciate their greatness. Well, we're here to set things right, and bring attention to TV show flops from the 2000s that are worth watching.
The Tick
Originally a black and white underground indie comic book from writer-artist Ben Edlund, "The Tick" is all about a colorful and somewhat delusional superhero patterned after the blood-drinking insect. It became a Saturday morning cartoon in the mid-'90s, where the titular hero and his sidekick Arthur protect the city from colorful criminals like Chairface Chippendale and Multiple Santa. The 'toon lasted three seasons, and perhaps thanks to the success of superheroes at the movies in the late '90s and early 2000s, it became a live-action series on Fox in 2001.
"Seinfeld" actor Patrick Warburton snagged the title role, perfectly portraying the blue-hued hero's goofy charm, bombastic attitude, and childlike naivete. David Burke from "Party of Five" and Liz Vassey from "CSI" played Arthur and Captain Liberty, while "Lost" alumnus Nestor Carbonell played Batmanuel and future "Hellboy" actor Ron Perlman took the role of flamethrowing hero Fiery Blaze. Co-written by Edlund and produced by "Men in Black" director Barry Sonnenfeld, the show was flashy, funny, and a pitch-perfect send-up of superhero tropes.
Perhaps it was a little too ahead of its time, since the show didn't last beyond its first season despite some rave reviews. But thanks to the show's cult following, "The Tick" has never quite been forgotten. In 2016, as part of Amazon's "pilot" program, the series was rebooted, with Peter Serafinowicz taking over the role from Warburton, plus Edlund and Sonnenfeld also involved. But for many, nothing quite beats the 2001 version.
The Dresden Files
Mixing fantasy with other genres is a tried-and-true formula these days, but it wasn't as common in the 2000s, which may be why "The Dresden Files" failed to take off. It aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (before it was rebranded as SyFy) and was adapted from a series of novels by Jim Butcher, developed for TV by "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" producers Hans Beimler and Robert Hewitt Wolfe.
The series stars Paul Blackthorne as Harry Dresden, a wizard turned private detective who lends a hand to the police on their toughest cases. He's often partnered with Chicago P.D. officer Connie Murphy (Valerie Cruz) and is accompanied by an ancient spirit (Terrence Mann) who has been owned by the Dresden family for years, and who acts as both his advisor and confidante. The series exposes a secret world of wizards run by the High Council, a draconian authority that is constantly at odds with Dresden for recklessly flouting the rules.
An intriguing blend of cop drama and fantasy, "The Dresden Files" might be seen as a more grown-up version of "Harry Potter." But while it has its weak spots and is far from perfect, it's also so much more than a copycat: It's a gritty — but also surprisingly tongue-in-cheek — police procedural that's better than critics gave it credit for at the time.
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot
"Sin City," "The Dark Knight Returns," and "300" aren't the only graphic novels by comic book creator Frank Miller to make it to the screen. There's also 1995's "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot," a family-friendly adventure illustrated by Geof Darrow, which became a Saturday morning cartoon several years later. Debuting its first six-episode season on Fox in 1999, "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot" returned in 2001 for a full second season that wound up being its last.
While the series may not have remained in the minds of audiences, it's one of the 2000s' most underrated cartoons, featuring some excellent animation and a strong voice cast that included Jim Hanks (brother of Tom) as Dwayne Hunter — the pilot of a giant robot suit named Big Guy — and "King of the Hill" voice actor Pamela Adlon as the diminutive, childlike android named Rusty. Each episode, the pair would fend off all manner of alien threats and monstrous villains.
The central conceit of the show is that nobody knows that Big Guy has a pilot, while Rusty — a highly advanced android — is planned to replace him, before the two become fast friends and hero partners. Though it's hard to track down these days on streaming, it can be found on DVD, and is more than worth a watch.
Firefly
"Firefly" might be the quintessential TV flop of the 2000s that should never have ended so abruptly. It was a wildly inventive, first-rate science fiction adventure, with a superstar creator in Joss Whedon and one of the finest casts the genre had ever seen, led by the effortlessly charismatic Nathan Fillion, along with the likes of Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, and Summer Glau.
At this point it might be hard to say anything new about the series that hasn't been said, but for those unfamiliar, the 2002 series focused on a band of interstellar outlaws in what amounts to an old-fashioned Western in outer space. Set in the 26th century, "Firefly" follows Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Fillion) and the crew of the starship Serenity, many of whom are survivors of a devastating cosmic civil war won by the Alliance. In the series opener they're hired by Simon (Sean Maher) to escort his sister — the mysterious River Tam (Glau) — out of Alliance-controlled space.
Canceled by Fox after airing just 11 episodes, despite an overwhelmingly positive response from fans, "Firefly" has been the focus of revival talk ever since. The closest we got was a feature film follow-up, 2005's "Serenity," that did its best to give closure to the story.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
A new comedy-drama from the creator of "The West Wing," starring Matthew Perry just two years after "Friends" left the air? How was "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" not a huge hit? Well, the consensus seems to be that it was overshadowed by the similarly-themed "30 Rock," another series about the goings-on behind the scenes of a late-night sketch comedy show that even aired on the same network (NBC). Created by Aaron Sorkin, "Studio 60" also featured Bradley Whitford and Amanda Peet, not to mention Steven Weber and D.L. Hughley.
Sure, "Studio 60" wasn't quite as good as "30 Rock" at its best, but it wasn't even all that similar, being a faster-paced series with a lot more drama at its heart. It's smart, hilarious, and its cast are all at the top of their game. Its only real sin was its premise, which was a little too close to the Tina Fey comedy to avoid obvious and poor comparisons. But it's unfortunate that those comparisons led to a handful of lackluster reviews, and eventually cancellation. Whether you're a fan of Sorkin, Perry, or just a good, well-written comedy, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" should be next up on your queue.
Freaks and Geeks
Given its short-lived tenure, one could consider "Freaks and Geeks" a '90s flop or a 2000s flop, but most of its 18 episodes aired on NBC after the turn of the millennium so we're putting it on this list. And what an entry it is, a cult classic high school sitcom from writer-director Paul Feig and a young Judd Apatow, with a cast packed with future comedy stars. This includes Jason Segel and Seth Rogen, as well as Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr.
While most school-centered teen TV shows followed the lives of the more popular types — the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the social butterflies — "Freaks and Geeks" went in the opposite direction, centering on the school's biggest misfits. With clever scripts, full of fresh comedy performed by an immensely talented cast, the show should have earned itself at least a few years on the air. But whether because of a lack of good promotion, bad timing that led to a number of awkward hiatuses, or simply missing the zeitgeist by a few years, "Freaks and Geeks" was quickly canceled after just one season due to low ratings.
Today the series is famous as one of the most underrated shows of the early 2000s, and frankly it's downright criminal that the show wasn't given the chance it needed to become the smash hit that it deserved to be.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
While streaming services have had a lot more success with them lately, the 2000s were awash in failed movie-based TV spin-offs. One of the best that didn't survive was "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." By the time it debuted in 2008, the franchise had been dead for five years following the critical dud "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." And while some may have expected that the lack of Arnold Schwarzenegger left audiences little to cling to, the series proved that it could succeed with thrilling stories and a bold new direction that didn't rely on a formulaic premise like the films.
Squarely centered on Sarah Connor, the Fox Network series starred Lena Headey in the title role, who must protect her teenage son John (Thomas Dekker) to ensure he'll grow into a revolutionary future leader who will safeguard mankind. Summer Glau of "Firefly" stars as Cameron, a female Terminator reprogrammed by John in the future and sent back in time to protect him and his mother. Garrett Dillahunt played a T-888 Terminator, while rocker-turned-actor Shirley Manson played a shapeshifting Terminator who took on the guise of a powerful tech mogul.
A thrilling sci-fi adventure that explored far more of the world of "The Terminator" than the films ever did, it's better than most of the movies in the franchise. While low ratings were blamed for its cancellation after its second season, the failure of 2009's "Terminator Salvation" certainly didn't help.
Wonderfalls
Producer, writer, and director Bryan Fuller remains one of the most highly regarded creators in TV, with cult favorites like "American Gods" and "Hannibal" under his belt and the "Friday the 13th" series "Crystal Lake" in the works. But he had mixed success when he was first starting out, with his first few shows not lasting very long. While the likes of "Pushing Daisies" and "Dead Like Me" almost made our list, we're instead recommending "Wonderfalls," a comedy-drama that lasted just one truncated season on Fox.
Always one for the avant-garde, Fuller tells the story of Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a student philosopher working in a gift shop at Niagara Falls who talks to various inanimate animal toys and trinkets. Are these conversations just in her head or is she somehow privy to another magical world? It doesn't really matter, because her talks with them push her to become a better person and help those in need.
Weird and quirky in all the right ways, "Wonderfalls" is also inspiring and hopeful. Fuller favorite and "Pushing Daisies" star Lee Pace is a standout as Aaron Tyler, Jaye's brother who helps her with her mystifying connection to the toy animals in her shop. Loved by critics and audiences who praised it for its deadpan humor, it sadly didn't earn more than 13 episodes in 2004.
Undeclared
Almost immediately after "Freaks and Geeks" was canceled, producer Judd Apatow tried again with the Fox series "Undeclared." He even brought back much of the same cast, including Jason Segel and Seth Rogen, who were joined by Jay Baruchel, Amy Poehler, Charlie Hunnam, Kevin Hart, Carla Gallo, Monica Keena, and Timm Sharp. This time, Apatow moved the action from high school to college, perhaps thinking the slight change in scenery could make it resonate more with audiences.
The cast of characters included Steven (Baruchel), a geek whose luck with the ladies is nil, and Lizzie (Gallo), a psychology major who winds up dating him. British import Lloyd (Hunnam) was Steven's theater major roommate, and Rogen played loud-mouthed friend Ron, a business major. Together, they get into all sorts of trouble, and with Apatow behind the camera, you can rest assured it's always a cut above the typical sitcom fare.
Every bit as whip-smart as "Freaks and Geeks," its ensemble cast was just as good, too, with the likes of Jenna Fischer, Tom Welling, Adam Sandler, Felicia Day, and Will Ferrell also popping up. While Apatow's previous effort may be more famous today, "Undeclared" isn't to be overlooked, offering up a hysterical chronicle of college campus life that's sure to bring back memories both good and bad.
Clone High
There is plenty of adult animated fare from the 2000s that deserved a longer run, but none quite as good as MTV's "Clone High," a series created by then-unknown writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The duo went on to find success at the movies with "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," several Lego films, and a pair of "Spider-Man" animated adventures. In 2002, though, their first creation was "Clone High," which introduced us to a high school where the entire student body is comprised of clones of famous historical faces.
Outside of Philip J. Farmer's "Riverworld," what other story could feature a main cast that includes the likes of Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Harriet Tubman, and Gandhi? Not many, we'd wager. And each week, other figures from the past would pop up in the halls, be it Vincent Van Gogh, Genghis Khan, or Martin Luther King, Jr. Hilarious, surreal, and downright bizarre, the stylized animation only made "Clone High" better. But thanks perhaps in part to a controversy over its treatment of Gandhi, as well as some lackluster early reviews, the show failed to catch on.
Since it was canned, however, "Clone High" has become something of a cult favorite, and in 2023 it returned on HBO Max (now Max) with a long-awaited second season, with much of the original cast returning.
The Unusuals
Producer Noah Hawley is currently working on a highly-anticipated TV series based on the "Alien" franchise, while in 2014 he created the FX show "Fargo" — which has won six Emmy Awards — and a few years later had a critical hit with the "X-Men"-based series "Legion." But before them all, Hawley created the short-lived ABC crime drama "The Unusuals," which has been all but forgotten today.
"The Unusuals" starred future superstar and "Avengers" stalwart Jeremy Renner as New York City Detective Jason Walsh, and "Lost" star Harold Perrineau as fellow cop Leo Banks. But the series' main focus was NYPD newcomer Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn), who is trying to escape the shadow of her socialite family and is assigned as Walsh's new partner. Together, the pair seek to solve the mystery of who killed Walsh's previous partner, who himself may have been deeply involved in police corruption.
While the series had the potential to be just another run-of-the-mill cop drama, Hawley's strong scripts and his penchant for offbeat characters elevated it. Early reviews were good, with praise given to its quirkiness, but without the ratings to sustain it, the network chose to dump it rather than allow it time to find an audience.
Gideon's Crossing
The medical drama is one of TV's biggest genres, and the 2000s were no exception, with the decade seeing the likes of "House" and "Grey's Anatomy" getting their start. But a handful of other worthy entries didn't last, and the best among them might be the short-lived "Gideon's Crossing." Debuting in 2000, the series saw Andre Braugher get his first leading role after the end of "Homicide: Life on the Street," playing Dr. Ben Gideon, the head of a cutting-edge oncology ward.
Set at a well-regarded New England hospital, the show finds Gideon and his staff working with terminally ill patients and using the latest research to treat them. Gideon is a remarkable man of kindness and empathy, partly because he's motivated in his work by his own tragedy, the death of his wife from cancer.
A serious, somewhat grim — but ultimately uplifting — series that didn't shy away from troubling stories, "Gideon's Crossing" attempted to be something more than the ordinary medical drama, and it succeeded. But it never was accepted by audiences, and ABC gave it the axe far too soon, producing just 20 episodes before it closed its doors.
The Black Donnellys
In 2007, filmmakers Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco — the duo responsible for the 2004 best picture Oscar-winner "Crash" — came to television with "The Black Donnellys." Most of its cast was lesser known at the time, but today we recognize many of its stars, including Olivia Wilde and Kirk Acevedo. The NBC series, which ran for just 13 episodes, starred Jonathan Tucker, Tom Guiry, Billy Lush, and Michael Stahl-David as four Irish-American brothers who get drawn into the Irish mob in New York City.
Looking back, the show has a lot in common with the BBC's "Peaky Blinders," but "The Black Donnellys" never achieved any of the success of that Cillian Murphy-led series. In fact, the show was pulled after just a handful of episodes had aired, with the remaining installments only viewable online. Ironically, the show had replaced the recently-canceled "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."
While the show may not be among the best in the genre, it's still a satisfying story of a fallen family who get caught up in the allure of crime in New York's infamous Hell's Kitchen. As with many of the shows on this list, don't let the early cancellation and bad reviews fool you.