3

The Spectacular Spider-Man Was All About Problems With Balance

Disney

When it comes to having awesome shows cancelled before their time, Greg Weisman is the David Milch of animation. Gargoyles, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Young Justice were all instant classics, but only one of them was on for more than two seasons. (Gargoyles, coming in at a mighty three).

The Spectacular Spider-Man was axed after only two seasons, and is the purest example of "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long" that I can think of. If only it had more time, it could have been on par with Batman: The Animated Series. It chronicled Peter Parker's high school struggle as he balanced his life between trying to make out with girls and fighting a vaguely Eastern European man named after a cephalopod with a doctorate.

Disney
It's a PhD in philosophy, hence the life the crime.

2

Twin Peaks Was Canceled Before David Lynch Had The Chance To Ruin It

CBS

By now, everyone knows that Twin Peaks is being revived for a nine-episode miniseries in 2016. If you don't? Hi. This is Earth. Welcome.

A sizable portion of the original run of Twin Peaks was based around the murder of Laura Palmer. Lynch wanted to hold onto that card for as long as possible. When ratings declined, ABC pressed for the identity of Palmer's killer to be revealed. The killer's identity was revealed in the second season, after the network pressured Lynch to at least pretend the show was going somewhere. It was a letdown, and the show ended soon after. Not an ideal way to go.

CBS
The face of millions of fans as they watched the subpar final episodes, trying to convince themselves it was still good.

1

My Name Is Earl Never Needed To Finish The List

NBC

The eponymous Earl from My Name Is Earl was a dimwit on an epic quest to collect good karma. He had a list of every person that he'd wronged. He'd find them and fumble his way into doing something nice for them to atone, hoping to wipe clean his spiritual slate.

As My Name Is Earl went on, Earl became a better person, and doing nice things for the people around him became easier. He was less concerned with the -1/+1 karma equation, and more concerned with trying not to ruin anyone else's life. Finishing the list doesn't matter in the long term, because it eventually becomes unnecessary. By the end of it, the show wasn't about a list as much as it was about Earl's journey towards positive morality. The final episode ends with a "To Be Continued ..." because the showrunners thought they were a lock for another season. But it doesn't matter. The show's dangling central question, it turns out, didn't need to be answered. Can Earl, in a moment of self-reflection of his accomplishments, look at his path of goodwill and feel redeemed? No, and that's fine.

NBC
Not that the character could have come to that conclusion on his own, anyway.

Being kind rarely counts when you get all quantitative about it, and it's not something that you do with the singular hope that it will pay off later. The world has far too many variables to worry about leaning luck on the side of those who open doors for people. You just do it because it comes naturally to you. For it to become a habit, you have to work at it a bit, as Earl did. Waiting for it to loop back around is a waste of time. Be good because the act is the reward itself. That's the ending to a show Siddhartha would love.

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