With the summer drought officially in full swing, I thought I’d take this time to pay tribute to some of my favorite shows which never made it past a single season and let you know how you can still watch them. These two shows not only should have never been cancelled, but they should’ve won awards. It’s hard to say why some great shows don’t make it (the WB might be one reason), but I do know that it hurts… badly… when they don’t. Fortunately, the Internet and Netflix help us remember.

Jack & Bobby

Jack & Bobby was a great show with a great premise. A story about single, intelligent, professor Grace McCallister (Christine Lahti, nominated for a Golden Globe for her role) raising her two sons, Jack (Matt Long), an athletic, popular high-schooler with a chip on his shoulder, and younger, sweeter Bobby (Logan Lerman), learning the trials and tribulations of adolescence. The hook? One of the boys is the President of the United States in the future which you learned through a series of flash-forward interviews shared throughout the season. It kept you guessing as to which brother it was, but along the way the storytelling was excellent. At times, the acting was mediocre and some of the characters were awful (cue Missy, the annoying girlfriend), but Lahti and Lerman were stand-outs and John Slattery and Bradley Cooper were excellent additions.  

Watch the entire first (and only) season of Jack & Bobby at The WB.

The Black Donnellys

The Black Donnellys was a dark drama about a family of brothers and their involvement in modern-day, organized crime in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York City. Think younger Sopranos, except Irish. In fact, part of the main story arc revealed a rivalry between the Irish and the Italians, and how the Donnellys worked together (and sometimes against each other) to protect themselves and their part of the city. The show had a great cast (mostly unknown), lead by Jonathan Tucker who played the level-headed, artistic, Tommy Donnelly, the only brother with a decent frame of mind. How this kid isn’t in many other major roles is mind-blowing. In fact, the only main actor that is recognizable is Olivia Wilde (who has been seen in The OC and House). The show was gritty, engaging, and down-right scary at times. Had it been on cable rather than network television (NBC), I think it might have made it. 

There are many ways to watch: You can stream it on TV.com, rent it on Netflix, or buy it on Amazon.com

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