What TV Shows Should Netflix Resurrect?

Warming Glow has a list of 10 shows that they think Netflix should revive before Jericho, including Better Off Ted, Terriers, Awake, Lost, and Deadwood (please bring back Cusswood, er Deadwood!). 

It's been a whirlwind year for Netflix, as it attempts to stay well ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, most of CEO Reed Hastings' attempts have backfired, from raising the subscription cost to his attempt to spin off the mail-in DVD service. He also revealed that Netflix's ultimate goal is to become more like HBO, and that the service would like to be 60 percent original content at some point in the future. The first step toward that goal was smart: They made a deal to make 10 new episodes of "Arrested Development," paving the way toward a feature film. Since then? One boneheaded idea after another.

First they tossed around the idea of picking up the little seen, not very good series, "The River" after its cancellation, and this week it was reported that Netflix has approached CBS about reviving "Jericho," a series that has gained a decent following post-cancellation on CBS, but that wasn't that great to begin with (at least after a solid opening season).

What show do you want Neflix to resurrect?

Comments

[Joe]

"my name is earl" please!

they literally ended the show on a "to be continued" cliffhanger. weak.

[David P]

Does anyone remember the amazing show Dark Angel? There never was a third season to conclude the show...

[CordCutter]

Some of these shows are no-gos from the start. I seriously doubt a show like 'Firefly' could be brought back due to the commitment Nathan Fillion has with Castle (seems Firefly tops everyone's list). Same goes for Deadwood, Timmothy Olyphant is pretty busy with Justified. I'm not saying it's impossible, because it seems they are getting a lot of the very busy actors from AD to come back for the revival... but It just seems highly unlikely that would be the norm.

I'm gonna throw something out there, anybody want sports programming from Netflix? Reed loves to talk about HBO and then you also have Showtime. A staple of these networks are sports. From boxing, to Real Sports to Inside the NFL to MMA to Inside Nascar...

[slider121]

Firefly (obvious but highly unlikely), Stargate Universe (SyFy cares more about wrestling and reality shows than Sci-Fi), Nikita (if CW cancels it), Veronica Mars, Chicago Code (this should have been on FX not on FOX), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Defying Gravity

[George Isaacs]

Twin Peaks. I think it's getting close to Laura Palmer's "See you in 25 years." Then again, I think I'd rather have a movie than a series for this. I'd take either.

[JT]

Terriers, Life and the Sarah Conner chronicles. All 3 were pretty solid and enjoyed watching them.

[bobodod]

Terriers, hands down. I would love to see Deadwood come back, but I think there are just too many complications.

[Riggs]

Stargate Universe, Sarah Conner chronicles and firefly (in some form) top my list for the reasons above AND Netflix is a "tech" company. Tech loving people are its highest market. Seems to be a very smart place for SciFi shows to thrive. am i wrong?

[Mr. Syko]

Reaper, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Stargate Atlantis, SG1, Universe, & Command (never picked up for series)

In the comedy realm, King of the Hill, The Critic, Duckman, Dilbert, The Brak Show, My Name is Earl.

Oh, and I really wish they would reboot Married with Children into an animated show with all the talent on board. Same thing could be done with Malcolm in the Middle.

[Truck]

Every single one of these "Netflix might bring back" posts is basically bait for people to comment on their favorite cancelled show; do we really need another post dedicated to it? Just wait a week, I'm sure there will be another, and another after that, and another after that. It's kind of funny considering Netflix hasn't even started production on Arrested Development, so right now their track record is ZERO.

"First they tossed around the idea of picking up the little seen, not very good series, "The River" after its cancellation"

Sorry, blogger, but you're wrong there. These stupid rumors have been going on for years.

[MikeT]

I don't understand the math. If a show was cancelled because less than two million people liked it, how is Netflix supposed to get 20 million subscribers excited enough to pay for reviving it?

I would love to see more episodes of Stargate, Sarah Connor, or Firefly, but I don't want to see Netflix get into financial trouble trying to produce them. I don't think Netflix has the management or the acumen to turn these productions into profits. The company should stick with what it does best and not be in such a rush to throw away all its assets.

[Bruce L]

My pick would be "West Wing."

[Btoy]

Firefly
The Black Donnelys
Caprica
Stargate Universe
Sarah Connor Chronicles
The River

I hated how Sarah Connor and The Black Donnelys ended on cliffhangers. I could be happy with just a movie to wrap things up. Also if Syfy is going to pick up Battlestar Blood and Chrome it would be cool if Netflix gave it a look.

[Jack]

Why resurrect? Why not use this opportunity to make NEW series in genres that don't usually find their way to television?

It's hard as hell to get good science fiction (instead of science fantasy) on TV. Netflix could really show the networks a thing or two if they tried.

Westerns, too, are generally disliked by modern network executives. Produce a good spaghetti western TV series, and you'd see an audience form around it.

I'd also like to see some horror shows. REAL horror shows; Not like the watered-down crap that passes for horror on television now. Since censors and ratings aren't an issue, Netflix has a chance to make a series that really appeals to sophisticated horror fans.

[MasterRobyn]

FIREFLY!

'nuff said! (and I see 5 votes already)

[S]

Eureka seems like an obvious choice since it is still airing...

[Galagatron]

I can't believe no one said "Pushing Daisies" yet. Not only was the show original and with exceptional dialogue, but it ended with what could be considered a, to use the cliche, cliffhanger. It would also give Kristin Chenoweth something of quality to do because her work has gotten worse, yet apparently more popular, since.

[Galagatron]

As for LOST, the show obviously ended with so much unexplained to leave options open for some kind of new show or movie in that universe in the future.
Anyway, along these longs, I want to see Netflix make available more cancelled TV shows from the past. Life Goes On, It's Your Move, Homefront...I could go on and on.

[smitty]

Outcasts (recent one season BBC scifi), any version of Stargate, Caprica -- any decent SciFi (not fantasy) would be welcome.

[Judy__]

Firefly(obviously but unlikely); Caprica (focus on the Greystone family, 1st season plotline, and forget the Adama family entirely - they were boring), keep the Graystone butler and the house; Leverage(Timothy Hutton - hooray); Alcatraz(did Becca really die?); Outcasts(I want to know about that planet with conscousness); a remake/update of The Omega Factor.

[Judy__]

Oh, and Dead Like Me. I liked George and the bite of the satire. Bring her back!

[Judy__]

BTW, if Netflix wants to create content it makes all the sese in the world to choose TV shows that got cancelled but had a large active fan base. Most of the people at Netflix are people not happy with the decisions TV execs have been making for us.

Netflix is a niche market where one can chose what we like, not what is forced upon us. Well, at least it used to be when it was making money and growing in leaps and bounds.

[Jonathan]

What I would do to see more Better Off Ted!!! And, heck, the only actor from that show doing any regular work right now would also be doing it for Netflix as well, Portia de Rossi of Arrested Development...

Pushing Daisies would be awesome as well. Kristin's current show, GCB, is on borrowed time as it is, though that's not a show that I'd like to see saved.

[Pat]

Lots of good ones already listed. I wouldn't mind a second season of Flashforward.

[Nils]

Moonlight!!!
Better Off Ted!!!
Reaper
My Name is Earl

[MB]

Firefly & Babylon 5

[Jeremy]

Terra Nova. Got canceled and it had tremendous potential.

[Barb]

Everwood, Dawson's Creek

[Smy]

I'd rather they just keep buying Blu-Rays.

[Flabeo]

Twilight Zone Masters of horror Outer Limits style programming.

[Al]

I still believe that a CGI Firefly would work well, but, I don't think Netflix is going to do well by bringing back unpopular shows.

Take a page from HBO and look at the local bookstores. Grab the rights to some good books and work on getting them made into good TV. I'd suggest Terry Pratchett's work for starters. It hits a good demographic agewise, and has a loyal following worldwide.

[Max Parsons]

please god bring back Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe the two best shows ever.... its a totaly a bankable franchise

[Paul P..]

Stargate Universe would be fabulous. They really didn't give the show a chance. I want to know it they made it across the void!!!!!!!

[Dave]

Dead like me even though the wrap movie sucked it was a great weekly tv show

[Crow550]

There is a ton of shows I could list....

So whatever they can get. I'd say go for it.

[CMM]

I would love to see Firefly but agree with those who say it is unlikely with Fillion involved with Castle. But I think there was enough love for the show among the cast that they would take part in an animated/anime series, and their voice work for a 10-12 episode season could be done in a compressed time frame. And in that light it would be great to see an animated Buffy or Angel revival. No pesky issues like vampires aging!

Other dreams would be Moonlight (again highly unlikely since Alex O'Laughlin finally has hit with Hawaii 5-0) and the Dresden Files (haven't seen much of that cast since then). I agree with the possibility of acquiring popular properties and making original series based on them. Another suggestion would be to dig deeper into the wealth of foreign series out there like Korean or Spanish shows and do American versions. Or web series that haven proven poularity online like The Guild. Actually, just give Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton and Jon Scalzi a development office and buy anything they come up with, and have Jonathan Coulton do music.

[Hope]

Awake, New Amsterdam,Journeyman,Flash Forward, Leverage, Life.

I am not sure I would be interested in Netflix if it was all original content.

What I like best about Netflix is being able to find a long running series like Bones, Gray's Anatomy etc. and watch episode after episode without having to wait a week for the next one to come out.

[Paul_R]

Star Trek. It's my understanding that these combined series are extremely popular on the site, with many viewers working their way through hundreds of the episodes. Seems like a nice, long-term,a nd lucrative investment.

[David Grenier]

After M*A*S*H, Moonlighting, and Misfits of Science.

[Harry]

I agree with Paul. Were Netflix to dream up (with the right people) a new Star Trek series they would instantly have a following.

Sadly, the problems with Startrek, Firefly, or Sci-Fi in general is that they cost a tone of money to produce and make.

I very much enjoied Lillyhammer -- but I think we can all agree the production quality wasn't something you'd normally see on Network TV.

Still .. Startrek fans, like myself, have been screaming for a new series for a while now. If they go back to their intellectual roots in social commentary I believe they can hit a home run.