It’s pretty rare that someone’s professional life is filled only with success stories. Actually, we’d argue that those people are not nearly as prepared for ‘real life’ or as well-rounded as our fellow failure-friendly creative professionals. So we shed light on these showrunner greats not to knock them down, but to show our reverence for their plights and hope only good things come from them in the future — for our sake as much as for theirs. No one wants to deal with another Selfie. And speaking of the devil…
Showrunner: Emily Kapnek
Known for: Three successful seasons of Suburgatory and nine of Nickelodeon’s As Told By Ginger.
Failed project: Selfie
When/how it died: That Urban Dictionary entry can’t hurt us anymore, folks — at least not through our televisions. While some praised the show for its interracial coupling between lead characters played by Karen Gillan and John Cho, the absolute social media lowest common denominator appeal couldn’t be denied. And plus, EW and its readers voted it most likely to be cancelled first. On November 7, ABC axed the show after six episodes, with 13 total to be aired. The rumor is that they’ll air the seventh and then fill its timeslot with holiday specials. #ouch
Showrunner: Shonda Rhimes
Known for: Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, and How to Get Away With Murder.
Failed project: Inside the Box
How/when it died: Set to star Hindu-Swiss-Italian beauty and talent Indira Varma (Rome, Bones, Luther), the Newsroom-esque pilot was never picked up in 2009. The drama boasted a female-centric ensemble set in a D.C. network bureau, surrounded by other strong female characters struggling to balance their personal problems with the world’s problems. (Love her or hate her shows, Shonda knows how we multitask.)
Showrunner: David E. Kelley
Known for: Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, The Practice
Failed Projects: Harry’s Law, The Crazy Ones
How/when it died: Three out of five isn’t half bad (actually, it’s 60 percent good). And although the Robin Williams-led Crazy Ones has a sad and sour tinge to its cancellation ever since his recent death, a decline from 15.6 to 5.8 million viewers in 22 episodes earlier this year was too much for CBS to stick with it. Harry’s Law managed to stay on the air for two seasons from 2011 to 2012, and despite its top ratings for NBC in the 7 to 11 million range, the coveted 18-49 demo wasn’t represented well enough and they pulled the plug. Kathy Bates notoriously gave her two cents on the whole ordeal, claiming NBC “kicked [them] to the curb.”
Showrunner: Ronald E. Moore
Known for: Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Outlander
Failed Projects: The Dragonriders of Pern
How/when it died: The Dragonriders of Pern is a series of sci-fi fantasy novels written by the Godmother of science fiction, Anne McCaffrey. In 2011, a week out from shooting, after sets were built and costumes were sewn, The WB (now CW) wanted a rewrite from venerable sci-fi showrunner Moore. They brought in another writer to perform a ‘polish,’ but who Moore felt made changes that went against the book’s MO. He threatened to pass on shooting it, they threatened to cancel, and he called their bluff. Or they, his. Either way, dragons (except for those crazy two on Game of Thrones) aren’t flying through our living rooms.
Showrunner: Ryan Murphy
Known for: Glee, American Horror Story, Nip/Tuck
Failed Projects: Pretty/Handsome
How/when it died: Perhaps 2008 was a little early for transgender and transsexuals to be portrayed on TV — and thank goodness American viewers have come to their senses (see Orange is the New Black and Transparent) but that didn’t stop Murphy and his longtime producing partner Brad Falchuk from bringing Pretty/Handsome to the table. The story followed a married father of two who tells his wife and teenage sons that he is transsexual, and was to star Joseph Fiennes and Carrie-Anne Moss. The pilot was a 20th Century Fox production, but never got picked up.
Showrunner: Chuck Lorre
Known for: The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Dharma and Greg (and many, many more)
Failed project: And for just as many as Mr. Lorre’s been successful at, there’s an entire article dedicated to his failed projects as well. The one we keep coming back to is Venus on the Hard Drive.
When/how it died: This 1997 pilot follows a couple of twentysomethings who discover a computer-generated woman named Venus. It’s like John Hughes’ Weird Science and, dare we say, Her mashed into one (although not nearly as sweet and clever as the latter). Men seem to have always been fascinated by a smarter, more beautiful woman than themselves who doesn’t actually have any agency and is trapped inside a machine. Fox made an excuse about wanting to update the technology, officially cancelling it a year later without airing any episodes.
Showrunner: Mitchell Hurwitz
Known for: Arrested Development
Failed project: Running Wilde
When/how it died: Who doesn’t love Will Arnett? Hurwitz and Fox did, and banked on his and TV vet Keri Russell’s talent for the show about a filthy rich billionaire who gets schooled by his longtime crush who happens to be an environmentalist. Regardless of the simplistic plotline (and the recent tanking of The Millers), we still love Arnett. As for Hurwtiz and Arrested Development — don’t even get us started on amazing TV shows that should never have been canceled.
Showrunner: Jack Orman
Known for: ER, Dr. Vegas, Men of a Certain Age (also canned long before its time)
Failed project: Pan Am
When/how it died: Those uniforms! That hair! (And we’re being equal among the sexes here.) Pan Am was described as a sexy soap set against the Jet Age. The plot revolved around the iconic Pan Am Airlines of the 1960s and its pilots and flight attendants who worked it. And we do mean, worked it. Jack Orman was a longtime showrunner on ER, but apparently the drama of the skies didn’t sit as well with viewers as the drama of a hospital. The show was cancelled in 2012 after its first full season aired.
Showrunner: Marta Kauffman and David Crane
Known for: Friends, Episodes
Failed project: Family Album
When/how it died: In 1993, a year before Friends hit our airwaves and changed millennials’ TV-viewing lives forever, Crane and Kauffman had their sophomore sitcom Family Album canned by CBS only six episodes in. Because of this very experience, the two began to reminisce about their 20s and how much more fun — if not easier — things were then. Thus Friends was born, originally titled Insomnia Cafe. (We’re glad that name didn’t work out.)
Showrunner: Vince Gilligan
Known for: Breaking Bad
Failed project: The Lone Gunmen
When/how it died: Seven years before we met Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, there were Byers, Frohike, and Langley aka The Lone Gunmen, three conspiracy theorists who occasionally made appearances in The X-Files, mostly as comic relief. The spin-off aired for only one season in 2001, and creepiest of all is that the pilot episode in March of that year dealt with a government conspiracy to crash a passenger airliner into the World Trade Center. Maybe it was fair game then that they were killed off of The X-Files only a year later.
