12. Jericho (2006-?)
The fall '06 TV schedule saw the utter collapse of serialized dramas, but CBS' Jericho was the exception that proved the rule. Over its first 11 episodes, Jericho's story of a small Kansas town and a mysterious apocalyptic event drew a strong, steady viewership, and ended 2006 as one of the TV year's surprise success stories. But the back half of the first season didn't air until the end of February, nearly three months after the final episode of the first half. In the tide of returning and replacement shows—including buzz-gatherers like American Idol, Lost, and The Sopranos—interest in Jericho washed away, and the show ended the season 48th in the overall ratings. CBS gave Jericho a backdoor cancellation by not announcing it as part of the fall '07 schedule, and fans responded by campaigning the network to bring the show back. CBS responded with a limited midseason run this coming year, but whether it'll be an epilogue or a second act remains to be seen.
13. The O.C. (2003-2007)
The O.C. made a deep and immediate impact when it debuted in 2003, generating equal amounts of adulation and loathing for its portrayal of snarky, privileged SoCal teenagers with unusually marketable tastes in music, and a proclivity for getting into fistfights. But shortly after the show's first season injected ephemera like "Chrismukkah" and the band Rooney into the pop-culture universe, The O.C. took a ratings nosedive, losing 26 percent of its audience for season two. Season three saw another 15-percent drop (in spite of the kinda-unexpected death of principal character Marissa Cooper), followed by an abysmal fourth and final season, which saw only 3.63 million viewers tuning into the series finale—just over a third of the show's average first-season viewership. Crippled by increasingly unwieldy and ridiculous storylines (Homicidal surfers! Cage-fighting!) and scheduling missteps, The O.C. never managed to capitalize on the zeitgeist heralded by its first season.
14. Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (2006)
The rapid demise of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip was prime fodder for television bloggers and critics, who delighted in debating the various merits and flaws of Aaron Sorkin's lumbering behemoth. The show's creators (and viewers) never seemed to figure out whether to approach it as a drama or comedy, a conundrum amplified by the obvious—though superficial—similarities to that other NBC series about a sketch-comedy show. The ample pre-season buzz and promising pilot, didn't keep the show from rapidly devolving into heavy-handed Sorkin-isms and huh?-inducing escapades, such as the notorious snakes-are-loose-in-the-studio debacle. In spite of the immediate post-pilot ratings drop-off, Studio 60 received enough positive reviews and favorable demographics (rich people apparently loved it) that NBC ordered a full season. After limping through the remainder of that season, Studio 60 finally bit it, yet still managed to gather a handful of 2007 Emmy nods.
15. Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
David Lynch's attempt to infuse a sprawling prime-time soap opera with cinematic quality and gravity, plus his own professional obsession with dark secrets, odd behavior, and vague supernatural forces, sparked a rabid following: The entertainment media of the time eagerly tracked the rise of "Peaks Parties," where fans would assemble over coffee, pie, and doughnuts (all heavily fetishized in the show) to watch the latest installment and debate over all the cryptic images and rationed information. But where media hype and critical praise drew in hordes of viewers, the slow pacing and intentional strangeness drove them away just as quickly, and the ratings rapidly dropped. Lynch largely left the show to work on Wild At Heart, and the series spun its wheels, burying itself in the character-driven minutiae of its weird little mountain community, and losing any sense of forward momentum. In part as a ratings stunt, ABC pushed for a resolution to the show's central murder mystery, and briefly lured back a lot of viewers for the much-advertised big-reveal episode. But with the series' most tangible, approachable question answered, impatient viewers had even less reason to hang around for backward-talking dwarves and a crazy-acting cast. ABC suspended the show, but under pressure from fans, brought it back briefly, adding an ill-conceived, off-tone romance for protagonist Kyle MacLachlan. When that failed, the network killed the show for good, leaving Lynch to bitterly launch On The Air, a satirical follow-up series about the stupidities of network television. Unlike Twin Peaks, though, that show wasn't even briefly popular.
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