- yesterday
Sometimes the TV executioners get it right! Join us as we count down the television cancellations that shocked absolutely no one. From failed reboots to bizarre adaptations, these shows rightfully got the axe due to lackluster writing, tone-deaf concepts, or just plain awful execution. Which of these televised train wrecks do you remember?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I mean, okay, I'll go first. I mean, it's not happening. It's not.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the TV cancellations that shocked absolutely no one.
00:11We can clean up, get everyone to pitch in, and we'll have to...
00:14What's the point?
00:16Number 10. Skins.
00:18Hey, it's Stanley. I'm probably too bored to speak to you, or I probably just hate you, so leave a message.
00:24For seven series, British audiences were scandalized by the very mature shenanigans the young ensemble of Skins got up to.
00:32The original show helped launch the careers of Nicholas Holt, Dev Patel, and Daniel Kaluuya, revolutionizing the way youth culture could be captured on television.
00:42The MTV adaptation couldn't even hang on for a second season.
00:46There. Skins.
00:47Dude! Oh my God!
00:49Oh my God!
00:50Holy shit!
00:51Oh my God!
00:54While it did attract heavy criticism for its content, it lost sponsors while failing to earn any fans.
01:01It somehow managed to be too controversial and not hard-hitting enough, focusing on shock over character development.
01:08After eight episodes, MTV pulled the plug.
01:11No, no, no, no. Him. Not me. Not me. Him, you idiot.
01:15Number 9. Mullaney.
01:19I have been very anxious lately that I'm almost 30 and I've never had a real job in comedy,
01:23and if you give me the chance to work for you, sir, I promise I can do an excellent job.
01:30That sincerity will take you right to the middle.
01:33After spending five years as a writer on SNL and producing two stand-up specials,
01:38John Mullaney tried to pull a Seinfeld.
01:41In his self-titled sitcom, he stars as a fictionalized version of himself.
01:45But something was missing.
01:46Oh, there's nothing here for me. Goodbye, Lou.
01:51Mullaney later said the show was supposed to include his own experiences getting sober,
01:56but he let network reps convince him to produce a more sanitized paint-by-numbers sitcom.
02:02This turned out to be a fatal mistake.
02:04Hey, I need that lapel mic back.
02:06I can't remember the last time I've been this humiliated.
02:08Undo your belt a little and bend over?
02:09Sure thing.
02:10Out on your hands, on your elbows.
02:13Now I can remember.
02:14Uninspired doesn't even begin to cover it.
02:1713 episodes later, the show was over and all but forgotten.
02:21Luckily, Mullaney's sensibility has continued to be successful on stage and in other forms,
02:26such as his bizarrely watchable Netflix talk show.
02:29Each week we explore something really important.
02:31This week our topic is getting fired.
02:34Okay? Yes.
02:38It's fun. It's relatable. It gets you talking.
02:42Number eight. How I Met Your Father.
02:44Hilary Duff headlines this bloodless, gender-swapped spin-off.
02:48Unfortunately, it takes more than Lizzie McGuire and some cameos from original cast members
02:53to make a How I Met Your Mother reboot worthwhile.
02:57Back in the day, my friends and I wasted years in this very bar talking about our stupid love lives.
03:02I stop in here whenever I'm in the neighborhood.
03:06So, please, tell me your stupid love story.
03:10Bring me back to the good old days.
03:12The parts just never came together.
03:14Random, unsatisfying cameos from Neil Patrick Harris and Kobe Smulders,
03:19reprising their roles as Barney and Robin, respectively,
03:22just reminded us how much it paled in comparison.
03:26So my friend and I, we went to this party.
03:28Came?
03:29And I met a chef.
03:30Yeah, you did.
03:30Come on!
03:36It managed to hang on for a second season before getting a well-deserved axe.
03:41If How I Met Your Father proves one thing,
03:43it's that nostalgia isn't always a recipe for success.
03:47You want to know why you freaked out, Sophie?
03:49Because you're the coward.
03:50Not me.
03:51You.
03:53But I've moved on, okay?
03:54And you should too.
03:55We don't know what's going to happen to them on the night of a full moon.
04:01Nothing's ever happened to us on a full moon.
04:04I wouldn't say nothing.
04:05Teen wolf creator Jeff Davis came back with another drama series about lycanthropic teens.
04:11This one followed a group of teens bitten by werewolves during a deadly wildfire.
04:16Are you seeing this?
04:18Yeah, I see it.
04:20Look where your eyes are going.
04:22So are yours.
04:25This never happens to us.
04:29What never happens?
04:31Any of this.
04:33But it's happening now.
04:34Wolfpack starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar,
04:38in her first series, Regular Role, in several years.
04:42She played an arson investigator trying to uncover the truth behind the fire.
04:46But the truth here is that it's far from a worthy TV comeback for Gellar.
04:51Imagine our surprise and disappointment when the show just wasn't that good.
04:55Based on a popular book series,
04:57this single-season wonder doesn't have nearly as much bite as similar shows.
05:02There's no pulse.
05:03Start CPR.
05:04Me?
05:04Anyone?
05:06Number 6.
05:07Cruel Intentions.
05:08Sorry to interrupt whatever this is, but we have a small issue.
05:12How small?
05:13On a scale of small to substantial, it's closer to substantial.
05:16At least two attempts to adapt this classic story of two amoral prep school manipulators for TV
05:22resulted in failure.
05:23One was simply re-edited into a direct-to-video sequel.
05:27The other, with original star Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as a vicious socialite,
05:33never made it past the pilot stage.
05:35Amazon should have taken the hint.
05:37So what's this really about anyway?
05:40What everything's about?
05:41Power.
05:42Namely, my having it.
05:43This modernized and sanitized reboot shouldn't have even made it past the development stage.
05:48Related to the story in name only, Cruel Intentions is devoid of anything remotely taboo, erotic, or interesting.
05:56It trades in the uncomfortable mixture of cruelty and eroticism in the original,
06:01becoming just another teen drama without much to say.
06:05I know you, Lucian, and I assure you that there's nothing inside of you that's good,
06:10that's worth loving, by any or anyone else.
06:14You are a black hole.
06:17Number 5.
06:18Insatiable.
06:18Disney child star Debbie Ryan plays a woman who sheds nearly 100 pounds after a traumatic incident
06:25and tries to take revenge on those who mistreated her in the past.
06:29Maybe my pageant narrative could be like a fairy tale,
06:31where the vengeful maiden rejects the hero like he did to me.
06:35This Netflix offering and implicit messaging about overweight people saw it constantly criticized.
06:41Even beyond that, its lackadaisical, callous approach to serious issues and other identities
06:47under the guise of dark satire felt lazy at best, damn right hateful at worst.
06:52Maybe I do like it.
06:54Maybe that's why I couldn't stop reading.
06:57I was pushing down the truth.
06:59What truth?
07:01That nothing tastes as good as killing feels.
07:04The CW had the good sense to pass on this one before the streaming giant picked it up in 2018.
07:10Shockingly, it was picked up for a second season before Netflix put the final nail in its coffin.
07:16Maybe I still had my story all wrong.
07:19Maybe I did deserve all the bad things that happened to me.
07:22Not because I was a loser, but because I was just bad.
07:27Number 4.
07:28Blockbuster.
07:29There's room for a nostalgic story about the tactile pleasures of a video rental store.
07:34Blockbuster starring Randall Park and Melissa Fumaro did not fill that space.
07:39Isn't it ironic that the small business taking a stand against the big corporation in this scenario
07:44is actually a franchise of a once-huge corporation named after the exact type of big corporate movies
07:50that killed off smaller movies?
07:54Really, dude?
07:55Inspired by the real story of the last blockbuster store standing,
07:59this Netflix series is a workplace comedy that is the definition of outdated.
08:03Critics drew unflattering comparisons to better shows like Superstore
08:08and even Fumaro's previous series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
08:11That's why they say it's test time, so diaper up.
08:15They say that.
08:16I've never said that.
08:17I've never worn a diaper during a test.
08:18Who would wear a diaper during a test?
08:20It's ridiculous.
08:20Santiago.
08:21Sorry.
08:21Where those series had sharply written characters and found humanity in their sitcom contrivances,
08:27this one just rang false at every turn.
08:30One season and ten episodes later, it was mercifully cancelled.
08:34There's a reason over 9,000 blockbusters have closed.
08:37And I was an idiot to think this place would be any different.
08:43I'm done.
08:44Number 3.
08:45Inhumans
08:46We face an uncertain future, but we face it with hope.
08:54Not as a conquering army, but as friends who have come back to their birthplace after a very long time away.
09:03The MCU was a juggernaut, arguably approaching peak popularity when Inhumans premiered on ABC.
09:10So, when it landed with a major thud, it made a huge impact.
09:15Originally set to be a film in Marvel's third phase, the Inhuman Royal Family was given their own TV series instead.
09:23Starring Anson Mount and Surinder Swan, the series was cancelled after only eight episodes.
09:29We treated one danger for another.
09:34Critics and fans identified it as the MCU's worst project to date.
09:38For a franchise that was thought to do no wrong, it was a necessary wake-up call and a reminder that no IP can stay on top forever.
09:46Eventually the universe will grow darker until black holes dominate the cosmos, everyone, everything you've ever known.
09:53It is not to be taken...
09:54...will be sucked into the vast nothingness.
09:58But entered with great reverence...
09:59No one will be left to observe this, no one left to care.
10:03Vote for our past.
10:04This is why nobody invites you to do their birthday toasts.
10:07Number 2.
10:08Velma
10:08Velma, did you fall?
10:10No, I'm cool and graceful like a swan.
10:13Okay, because it really sounded like you fell.
10:15The narrative surrounding this Scooby-Doo spin-off got uncomfortable really fast.
10:20Even before the show premiered, many took issue with the show's portrayal of Velma Dinkley as Indian-American.
10:26That criticism was shared ironically by Scooby-Doo fans who wanted to preserve the original character's whiteness,
10:32and those who felt Velma's studious nature perpetuated Asian stereotypes.
10:37But few could defend the show once it hit for one very simple reason.
10:41It was terrible.
10:42And whose fault is that?
10:44Excuse me?
10:46Don't you raise your eyebrows at me, Steve Harvey.
10:49You know exactly what I'm talking about.
10:50Ugh, fine.
10:52Geared more toward darker, adult-oriented storylines, Velma was too self-aware and scatterbrained to be any fun.
10:59Things didn't improve in its second season, and it finally got the ending it deserved.
11:04A quick one.
11:04So now what?
11:06I just walk into the light and hope I'm judged on my actions and not the memes I liked?
11:11Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:17You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:21If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:25Number 1.
11:28The Idol
11:29Modern celebrity, self-help, and pop culture are put under the microscope in this disappointing HBO offering.
11:36The Idol follows Lily Rose Depp as a pop star who becomes entangled in a cult of artists being manipulated by a sleazy spiritual grifter.
11:45Yeah, I kind of like that about him.
11:48Joss.
11:49You working on it?
11:49No.
11:51Gross.
11:51Yes, I am.
11:52So disturbing.
11:54Conceived by Euphoria, creator Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye, more commonly known as The Weekend, the Idol is a lot of things at once, but one thing it's not is good.
12:06Plagued by production issues including the replacement of original director Amy Simons, it's a mess disguised as prestige television.
12:14That train has left the station, and whether you like it or not, you are going for that ride!
12:21Head-scratching and deliriously unpleasant, it's an exercise in style without a lick of substance.
12:27It very quickly earned a reputation as one of the worst shows ever, and was cancelled after its first season.
12:33I was wondering if Jocelyn left an artist's pass for me?
12:37Um, Tedros, that's T-E-D, R-O-S.
12:46R-O-S.
12:50So, yeah, there's nothing on R end. Could it be under a different name?
12:54Were any of these shows good? Actually, defend your choice in the comments.
12:59A big, famous reporter wants to hear about my stupid love life.
13:04Very, very much, actually.
Recommended
1:09
|
Up next
12:15
15:35
2:47:20
3:43:32
53:19
1:30:04
1:30:48
17:33
17:42
12:52
26:21