When Good TV Show Potential Drowns (or: Saddle Shoe Shows)

Too many TV shows get canceled unfairly. And, for the sake of whatever sanity we all have, I think we should talk about that. This is our therapy session. But don’t lay on the couch, that’s not what people usually really do in therapy. Plus, the couch is covered in cat fur. That’s probably not a look you should go for.

I want to hear your frustrations about the shows you loved and had taken away. And if I don’t mention a show you feel deserves a nod, comment with that as well. These are like, the Oscars for the shows canceled unfairly. (I can guarantee you that would be a much more fun show.)

First, I must tell you a story. In third grade there was this girl in my class named Hayley. She was sort of an oddball. I remember that she had really straight blonde hair that she wore in perfectly parted pigtails. And she wore saddle shoes. No one else wore saddle shoes. No one else was as peculiar as her. If she knew she was viewed as peculiar, she didn’t seem to care.

Or maybe she did. But I thought she was very cool. Not like ‘wow, if I can befriend her I’ll get to sit at the cool lunch table’ (and who’s to say I wasn’t already sitting there, punk) but more like ‘here’s someone who is actually really interesting and different.’ She didn’t seem to have a lot of friends. By the end of the year, I had started to be friendly to her - which has always been difficult for me as I’ve always been a shy person. But we weren’t really friends. We didn’t talk over the summer.

The next year, she had transfered to another school. Gone forever, but memorable. She was interesting in a way that captured attention. (Get ready for the awesome segue!) This seems like a (questionably good) metaphor for TV shows that were great and then canceled before they got a real chance.

What shows in particular might I be talking about? Here’s a list from the top of my head: Miss Match, Firefly, Dead Like Me (kind of got a chance but not really), Veronica Mars (ditto), Joan of Arcadia, Wonderfalls, and Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane (ZDJJ).

ZDJJ is what I’d like to talk about. It began in 1999. This is a show that is essentially gone. There are no DVDs you can buy of it. I had two episodes taped, which I faithfully watched far too many times until I lost them.

The show had five main characters: Zoe (Selma Blair), Duncan (David Moscow), Jack (Michael Rosenbaum), Jane (Azura Skye), and Mrs, Bean (Mary Page Keller) as Zoe’s Mom. The first four were, as you can guess, all friends. This was like Friends, for younger people.

IMDB says there were two seasons, but I only remember one, and I only remember there being like seven episodes being aired. But I was not as faithful of a TV viewer back then, so maybe I missed them. Should I flog myself? Maybe I should go look up what ‘flog’ means, first….

I think ZDJJ had huge potential to be a long-running show. The main cast has gone on to have success, at least. Selma Blair has been in countless movies (Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy), Azura Skye has been in movies but also been on several big-name TV shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, Bones), Michael Rosenbaum has had great success with the role of Lex Luthor on the TV show Smallville (Azura guest-starred in an episode with him), and some of the minor cast/guests like Scott Foley and Sara Rue have gone on to well-received projects, too.

However. I am not pleased! And that is what matters. At least, in this post, for this minute. The characters on ZDJJ were hilariously quirky. Azura Skye, especially. I think deserves a show of her own, or to be as one a regular. Unless she doesn’t want to. Azura, please call me and let me know.

And while a legion of fangirls may want to kill me for saying this, and I am RISKING MY VERY LIFE IN TELLING YOU THIS — Michael Rosenbaum was cuter with hair, and I don’t like Smallville or Lex Luthor. (Aside - Michael always seems to play jerks well, what is that about?! Hmmm? Azura, when you call me please tell me if Michael is actually nice. Does anyone remember the movie Urban Legends with Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayhart, Joshua Jackson and Tara Reid? I actually love this movie.)

So, for anyone who has a TV show they loved but no one even remembers - I salute you.

TV networks - give the saddle shoe shows a chance, please. Don’t cancel something great and give us something generic that can get you good ratings but no one even likes very much. It’s just not cool. And you should be cool.

Until later,

Jessica Rae

P.S. I did eventually get a pair of saddle shoes.

Comment and tell me what shows you loved that were stolen away in the middle of the night!

And don’t forget, you get an (invisible) piece of red velvet cake when you subscribe to Sofachip, which you can do via the main page. Mmmm, no calories!

Thank goodness some of the saddle shoe shows do have DVDs:

Veronica Mars - The Complete First Season

Firefly - The Complete Series

Urban Legend - OMG — watch it

Images from azura-skye.com