One Season Wonders

There are very few TV shows that hook you in the first episode of the first season. The commercials for a “series premiere” of a new show can peak our interest, helping us decide whether or not we want to watch the first episode. Once we’re hooked, we have got to be willing to invest the time to see how these characters develop and how the storyline evolves.

Some shows last five, six, even ten seasons; however, there are some good TV shows that only lasted one season. Here are a few of my favorite “one season wonders.”

1. Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) aired 18 episodes. It was about about two unique groups of teenagers, the “freaks” and the “geeks”, dealing with life in high school during the 80’s.

This show gave us executive producer Judd Apatow, as well as Seth Rogen, James Franco, Busy Philipps, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, John Frances Daley, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr.

Several of the actors featured in Freaks and Geeks appeared in another Judd Apatow show call Undeclared, however, Seth Rogan was the only series regular. Undeclared also starred Jay Baruchel and Charlie Hunnam (now starring as Jax of Sons of Anarchy). Reruns of both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared were picked up by IFC in June 2010 and then joined TeenNick’s line-up as of June 2011.

2. Jack and Bobby (2004-2005) aired on the CW Network and aired a total of 22 episodes.

It was a “faux documentary series from 2049 about Bobby McCallister, the US president elected eight years earlier, and his older brother Jack. Talking head interviews with Bobby’s staff are combined with reenactment footage of the McCallisters’ teenage years, dealing with a pot smoking mother and typical high school drama. Also explored is Jack’s tentative romance with Courtney Benedict, who would eventually become Bobby’s first lady.” (written by rmlohner in IMDb)

This engaging drama starred Matt Long as Jack and Logan Lerman as Bobby, “brothers who are destined for political careers, but who in the show are presented primarily as complicated teens. Without coming right out and saying it, this show implied that these boys might be the Kennedy brothers.”

The supporting cast was also great. Christine Lahti played Grace McCallister, their pot-smoking mother; John Slattery played Peter Benedict, President of the university where Grace worked; and Jessica Parre played Courtney Benedict, Jack’s love interest. The show was was co-created by Greg Berlanti (No Ordinary Family) and bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer. Check out Meltzer’s website on Jack and Bobby: http://www.jackandbobby.net/

3. Kings (2009) was loosely based on the biblical story of King David. It was “a modern day, alternate-reality drama about a hero who rises to become the King of his nation, but set in a kingdom that culturally and technologically resembles the present-day United States.”

Christopher Egan played Captain David Shepherd and Ian McShane played Silas Benjamin, King of Gilboa.

“The intervening episodes continue to use symbolism and images to add depth to the basic story line, such as casting shadows in the shape of a cross on David and other characters, historical and biblical stories being intertwined in the plot (David defeating the seemingly invincible Goliath tank), return of a prodigal son (or nephew, in this case), and King Silas making promises and pleas directly to God that are answered, but not always as he had hoped. There also are references to more modern themes, such as the Cold War, encroachment of technology in our lives, companies that perpetuate wars to make money, and national policy being influenced by the holding of the nation’s treasury hostage.”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_(U.S._TV_series)

4. The Philanthropist (2009) was inspired by the hands-on philanthropy of Bobby Sager. It aired on NBC and only had eight episodes for the entire season.

NBC called it “a global adventure that will take you to the ends of the earth and will also inspire you.” It starred James Purefoy as philanthropist Teddy Rist, and Neve Campbell and Jessie L. Martin as Olivia and Philip Maidstone. (Official website: http://www.nbc.com/the-philanthropist/)

5. Rubicon (2010) aired only 13 episodes on AMC, and “was influenced by conspiracy films of the 1970s such as Three Days of the Condor and The Parallax View, in which an innocent character is caught up in, and slowly unravels, a major conspiracy.”

“Will Travers is an analyst at a New York City-based federal intelligence agency who is thrown into a story where nothing is as it appears to be. A knotty conspiracy thriller starring James Badge Dale (The Pacific) as a government-agency data analyst. Medium‘s Arliss Howard was his boss. The show developed an interesting workplace family of dysfunctional analysts sifting through documents and Internet sites for possible terrorist plots. To the disappointment of its growing cult following, Rubicon was canceled by AMC after its 13-episode first season. (www.ew.com)

This next TV shows lasted two seasons. Even though it was still short-lived, in my opinion, it was still a great show.

6. Life (2007-2009) aired a total of 32 episodes during its two seasons. It starred Damien Lewis as “a former police officer Charlie Crews, who returns to the force after having been wrongly imprisoned for years.” (IMDb)

Brilliant LAPD detective Charlie Crews has survived the extreme abuse befalling an innocent cop in prison, and was exonerated for the murders and released after 12 years of hell in jail. He could retire on his settlement, but chooses to resume police work. Nevertheless, the grim experience has made him more philosophical and tempted to put justice – especially for the innocent – above chasing the presumably guilty and legally by-the-book, as his new partner Dani Reese, played by Sarah Shahi, must experience and learn to cope with. (Written by KGF Vissers on IMDb)

What are some of your favorite “one season wonders”? I’d love to hear from you!

Have a great day!

(*Note: The above quotes were either taken from IMDb, Wikipedia, or Entertainment Weekly.)