The TV landscape is littered with failed or short-lived series that should have been given more time or promotion to find an audience. I refer to them as orphans – shows that were not loved by enough people. We all have a mental list of shows we hated to end so soon, or shows the networks ruined by trying to fix. I’ve written about these quickly cancelled shows before, but this is a revamped list. Here it is.
The Good Cop – Netflix, 10 episodes, 2018. Starring Tony Danza and Josh Groban. From the team behind Monk. “A disgraced former NYPD officer lives with his son, an earnest, obsessively honest NYPD detective.”
Battle Creek – 2015, 13 episodes. Starring Dean Winter, Josh Duhamel. “Two detectives with different views on the world team up and using cynicism, guile and deception, they clean up the streets of Battle Creek.”
Bearcats! – 1971, 13 episodes. Starring Rod Taylor, Dennis Cole and Henry Darrow. “Two honorable men-for-hire look for adventure in the pre-World War I American southwest in their fancy Stutz Bearcat.”
A.E.S. Hudson Street – 1977-1978, 6 episodes. Starring Gregory Sierra. From the team behind Barney Miller. “Madcap antics of the employees of an underfunded, understaffed and overworked New York City Adult Emergency Service hospital.”
Primus – 1971, 26 episodes. Starring Robert Brown. Syndicated. “Carter Primus is a deepwater troubleshooter called upon to solve a vast array of situations. He relies on a variety of devices including a robot, and on his curmudgeonly friend Charlie and the lovely Toni.”
Search – 1972-1973, 23 episodes. Starring Tony Franciosa, Doug McClure and Hugh O’Brien. “World Securities operatives aided by implants and micro-cams investigate international cases with political undertones, monitored by an expert team providing intelligence.”
When Things Were Rotten – 1975, 13 episodes. Starring Dick Gautier, Bernie Kopell and Dick Van Patton. From Mel Brooks. “Set in Sherwood Forest, in which Robin Hood, Maid Marian and Robin’s band of merry men fight heroically against their enemies, the nasty Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham.”
Toma – 1973-1974, 23 episodes. Tony Musante, Simon Oakland and Susan Strasberg. starred, the inspiration for Baretta, which followed when Musante quit the show. Offbeat police detectives were in vogue during the early 1970s.
Police Squad! – 1982, 6 episodes. Leslie Nielsen doing his Lt. Frank Drebin thing. From Zucker-Abrams-Zucker (Airplane!).
Nero Wolf – 1981, 14 episodes. Starring William Conrad and Lee Horsley. “adventures of portly detective Nero Wolfe, who would rather eat and tend to his orchids than hit the streets tracking down leads. That’s why he hired hunky Archie Goodwin, who provides the brawn that complements Wolfe’s brains.”
Kolchak: The Night Stalker – 1974-1975, 20 episodes. Starring Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland. “Carl Kolchak is a reporter for a Chicago newspaper. Through more accident than design he ends up investigating homicides, many of which involve supernatural forces. Ultimately, rather than reporting on the crimes, he solves them.”
Hawkins – 1973-1974, 8 episodes. Starring James Stewart and Strother Martin. “The cases of slow-talking West Virginia attorney Billy Jim Hawkins.”
Ellery Queen – 1975-1976, 23 episodes. Starring Jim Hutton and David Wayne. From Levinson & Link, creators of Columbo and Murder She Wrote. “The son of a police detective solves baffling crimes.”
Nowhere Man – 25 episodes on the UPN network. Starring Bruce Greenwood and Megan Gallagher. “Thomas Veil is a documentary photographer who, in the course of one evening, seemingly has his whole existence erased. It appears as if some mysterious and powerful entity has coerced Veil’s family and friends into cooperating in a clandestine plan to annul every trace of him.”
Bridget Loves Bernie – 1972-1973, 24 episodes. Starring David Birney and Meredith Baxter. “The daily struggles of two newlyweds: rich Catholic Bridget and Jewish cabbie Bernie.” One season, decent ratings, but too much pushback because of mixing religions.
Hec Ramsey – 1972-1974, 10 episodes. Starring Richard Boone. “Ex-marshal Hec Ramsey decided to settle down in New Prospect, Oklahoma, where he took a job as deputy to young Police Chief Stamp, a former school teacher.. Ramsey had become tired of settling disputes with his guns, so he began studying the new art of criminology, learning about fingerprints and ballistics and contemporary methods of solving crimes.”
Nichols – 1971-1972, 24 episodes. Starring James Garner and Margot Kidder. “In 1914, Nichols, a soldier, sick of killing, returns to his Arizona hometown, and is serving as Sheriff by the Ketcham clan, who run the area. Nichols, who doesn’t believe in toting a gun, scoots around via a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.”
Blacke’s Magic – 1986, 13 episodes. Starring Hal Lindon and Harry Morgan. From Levinson & Link, creators of Columbo and Murder She Wrote. “A magician and his con-man father solve mysteries using a combination of sleight of hand and con games.”
Longstreet – 1971-1972, 24 episodes. Starring James Franciscus. “The cases of a blind insurance investigator.”
City of Angels – 1976, 13 episodes. Starring Wayne Rogers and Clifton James. “Weekly adventures of hard-boiled ’30s detective Jake Axminster.”
The Betty White Show – 1977-1978 Starring Betty White, John Hillerman and Georgia Engle. Created by the team for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. “The exploits of hack TV actress Joyce Whitman, star of the fictitious Undercover Woman series.”
The Persuaders! – 1971-1972, 24 episodes. Starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. “Two worlds collide when Lord Brett Sinclair, a titled British man, and Danny Wilde, a Bronx-raised, self-made American, reluctantly join forces to right wrongs and protect the innocent.”
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Honorable Mention:
Firefly, Harry-O, Loudermilk, Banacek, Bret Maverick, The Tony Randall Show, Garrison’s Gorilla’s
Ticket 2 Ride 
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