Some shows just never quite make it happen. They get bounced around too much or they never really find an audience. Since the early 1990’s we have been living with what I call the “Seinfeld Effect”. Seinfeld was an instant hit. After only four episodes America had decided they wanted more. This is awesome. But the drawback is now if you are not hugely successful in just a handful of episodes the likelyhood of you succeeding past that point is slim to none. Here five of my favorite one season wonders.

5. Police Squad. This was a perfect mix of cop show satire and airplane style slapstick. It had the cheesy cop opening following the single light on the roof through a montage of streets and roads. It starred Leslie Nielsen, and O.J. Simpson. The best of the running gags was the special guest star that was killed off every week in the opening credits. Each episode had two titles. This was comedy at its best for the time period and should have been a success.

4. Flash Forward. This was an attempt to cash in on the whole series mystery like Lost. It was good I am not sure why this failed. I was in for every week of this show. Trying to find out what was going too happened next. The basics of this show were in the pilot everyone in the world blacked out for a two minutes and seventeen seconds. This occurs about a five minutes in. we get a brief set up with an FBI investigation then BAM! Everyone blacks out and the world crashes. We now live in a different world as we try to unravel the mysteries. They center mostly on the FBI looking into why this happened and will it happen again. The secondary stories that are interwoven show people moving towards their dreams or diving into the darkest depths of their soul. Is there free will? Is your destiny already predetermined? What happens when you know too much of your own future? What happens when you do not know enough of your own future? The finale set up season two with…you guessed it another black out. This one should be rapping its final season this year.

3. The Event. Very similar to Flash Forward in that you never really know what exactly is occurring. Aliens crash land on earth and break in to two groups. Some are imprisoned after being captured others are working and living among us. This is the show. Some want to return home others want to take control of our world and dominate us. Classic 1950’s sci-fi fare with its examination of the status quo and how we live. It really made us question things we do in our day to day lives. How we treat each other in our personal relationships. How we treat those we feel are threat, whether they are or not. I would have loved to see this show in its fifth season.

2. Action. This was an awesome comedy. This show was clearly developed for pay cable. Action follows the foul mouthed Hollywood mogul Peter Dragon as he attempts to get his movie made. A fun satirical look into the behind the scenes workings of television and how life sometimes, usually all the time, gets in the way of work. The show was funny and irreverent in its look at Hollywood. I have the entire season on DVD and it is by far funnier to watch it as though it were on network. The barrage of bleeps seem to add to the humor. This show was great in what it censored.

1. Life on mars. This was a British import. The show was excellent. From the opening theme to the final episode you ware continually wondering what was next. I spent my life that year waiting for the next episode to air. Detective Sam Tyler is hit by a car in 2008 and awakes to find himself in 1973. In what is probably one of the most powerful scenes ever put on television. This show was cut short and really should not have been. We look back at NY police force that is still a little corrupt. We look at the lack of common since and decency that no longer exist in our politically correct society. I think this show was just too good for American television. We have been conditioned to need a quick wrap up and sure ground to stand on. The fact that each episode seemed to leave you with more questions than answers tells me art has no place in prime-time. This makes me sad. Find this watch this and I am sure you will agree.

Did I miss a one season wonder you liked? Let me know in the comments.