Some of my favourite TV series have recently been cancelled and I’m not happy about it. The Shannara Chronicles, Quarry and Dirk Gently were all gutted after only one and two seasons…
The Top 3 Recently Cancelled TV Shows That Deserve another Shot
#3. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Network: BBC America
Length: Two seasons/ 18 episodes.
Created by Max Landis and starring Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood, Hannah Marks, Fiona Dourif, Jade Eshete and more.
Dirk Gently is one weird as hell TV series that feels like Dr. Who on acid and I’m really mad that they decided to cancel the damn thing before I had a chance to even dive into the newly released second season. Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood had such great onscreen chemistry and even though I was totally lost most of the time, I had a blast every single episode thanks to the sharp and hilarious writing by Max Landis. You don’t have to be a fan of the books in which this show was based on (or a sequel to the novels really) and it’s a shame they decided to pull the plug on such a fascinating show when oddball TV shows like Happy! and Future Man are still alive and kicking despite being incredibly strange themselves.
#2. The Shannara Chronicles
Network: The Paramount Network
Length: Two seasons/ 20 episodes.
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and starring Manu Bennett, Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, Ivana Baquero, Aaron Jakubenko and more.
The Paramount Network blew a massive opportunity to continue building a fresh and exciting fantasy world when they killed Terry Brooks’ Shannara Chronicles… After getting ditched by MTV and then traded to Spike, which then became the Paramount Network, I feel like someone just forgot to push the renew button somewhere along the way. I realise that the series had its fair share of teen drama but it also had demons, Manu Bennett kicking ass, demons and… Manu Bennett kicking more ass. The special effects were wonderful, the action was exciting and the writing was damn good and packed a punch from creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (at least they get to focus on Into The Badlands now… until it gets canned as well for being too cool).
#1. Quarry
Network: Cinemax
Length: One season/ 8 episodes.
Created by Greg Yaitanes and starring Logan Marshall-Green, Jodie Balfour, Peter Mullan, Damon Herriman, Edoardo Ballerini and more.
From Banshee co-creator Greg Yaitanes and based on the novels by Max Allan Collins, Quarry was in my opinion the strongest TV drama since the first season of True Detective. Logan Marshall-Green plays a former war veteran who is forced into the world of contract killers in order to pay off a friend’s debt and the results are astonishing. The slow burn and incredible performances by a stellar cast were unrivalled in 2016 when the show dropped it’s stellar debut season. Then 2017 came and nothing… I saw Logan Marshall-Green pop up in Spider-Man Homecoming as Shocker #1 but… No Quarry… Then I find out — the damn show was cancelled and nobody really bothered to say anything about it. I’m not taking this in stride.. No way dude — Greg Yaitanes and crew delivered some of the most incredible one-take action sequences I’ve ever seen on TV and a story with so many amazing eclectic characters in it that it’s a crime not bringing this show back for a second season. I’m getting so pissed off just thinking about what could have been. This one stings more than any other series cancellation that I can think of in recent memory… It was that good. At least… The first season (and now only season) in a way has a self-contained story arc that is supremely satisfying. Nobody is left dangling off a cliff or something stupid, so even if Quarry never returns, I still say you should go out and buy the Blu-ray. You won’t regret it.