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Canceled Too Soon #136 - Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince (1983) Feb 17, 2019

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The lovable dog BENJI starred in a series of hit films across multiple decades, but he only had one TV show, and it was a bizarre hybrid of STAR WARS, THE FUGITIVE and GUMMO. It was called BENJI, ZAX & THE ALIEN PRINCE, it aired Saturday mornings in 1983, and it's one weird watch, we gotta tell ya.

BENJI, ZAX & THE ALIEN PRINCE is one of the weirdest shows we've reviewed all year, but was it... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold look back at this cheap, depressing, almost completely forgotten TV show to give you the answer.

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Do you have a suggestion for a TV show that was "canceled too soon" (i.e. lasted only one season or less)? You can email us at canceledtoosoon@gmail.com, or you can head over to our Amazon Wish List to send us more exciting one season wonders that we can review on the show!

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Canceled Too Soon #135 - Evel Knievel (1974) Feb 07, 2019

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Forty-five years before Sam Elliott (and his amazing hair) finally earned an Academy Awards nomination for A STAR IS BORN, he (and his hair) was stuntman extraordinaire EVEL KNIEVEL in a failed TV pilot! He jumped cars on a motorcycle, he fought crime, he ripped off THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES... and he didn't go series.

Was the EVEL KNIEVEL television series... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold take you back to the 1970s to remember the age of celebrity stunt persons, the early days of Sam Elliott's illustrious career, and marvel at his unerringly fabulous coif!

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Canceled Too Soon #134 - Pan Am (2011-2012) Feb 03, 2019

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In the spirit of MAD MEN comes the glossy soap opera PAN AM, starring Margot Robbie, Christina Ricci and more great cast members as the flight crew of a 707 in the early 1960s. Over the course of the series they'll find themselves spying for the CIA, dating congressmen, selling their nude photos to Andy Warhol and making emergency landings in war-torn countries!

It was big, it was romantic, it was unbelievably melodramatic, but was PAN AM really... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold look back at the series that gave future Oscar nominee and Harley Quinn DCEU star Margot Robbie her big break, reveal which relatively unknown actor steals the show from Robbie and Ricci, and much, much more!

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Canceled Too Soon #133 - Kitchen Confidential (2005) Jan 27, 2019

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Anthony Bourdain's best-selling exposé of the world of fine dining became a failed sitcom starring Bradley Cooper in 2005! KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL also starred John Cho, Nicholas Brendon, John Francis Daley, Jaime King, Bonnie Somerville and Sam Pancake, and only aired for four measly episodes on Fox.

It had the stars, it had the cuisine, but was KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL really... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold break down this failed series that went on to build a large fanbase, to see what worked, what was so problematic that Anthony Bourdain eventually apologized for it, and how difficult it is to do an episode of this show without making any Star Trek references.

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Ep. 132 - The Edge (1992-1993) Jan 17, 2019

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Julie Brown, Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight co-starred in THE EDGE, the most violent sketch comedy show ever made, in which the whole cast gets killed at the beginning of each episode! It's a lost artifact from the early 1990s, we finally found it, and we can't wait to share it with you.

But was THE EDGE really, truly, one hundred percent...CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold crack open the pop culture vault to figure out what was considered topical back in 1992 and which jokes would never EVER be allowed on television today!

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Canceled Too Soon #131 - Tagteam (1991) Jan 06, 2019

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Professional wrestlers Jesse "The Body" Ventura and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper starred in several action hits in the 1980s, like THEY LIVE and PREDATOR, but their big TV team-up never made it past the pilot stage! TAGTEAM stars Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper as lovable wrestlers who get banned from the ring and become cops instead.

It's big, it's goofy, and there's a scene where a piano falls out a window and onto a totally different piano. But was TAGTEAM... canceled too soon? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold look back at the days when WWF/WWE wrestlers first entered the acting world, how times have changed, and why TAGTEAM might have actually been a huge hit if it weren't for behind the scenes shenanigans.

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Canceled Too Soon #130 - Tarzan (2003) Dec 28, 2018

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Tarzan is one of the most popular characters in the history of popular culture... but not this time. The WB version of TARZAN stars Travis Fimmel (VIKINGS) and Sarah Wayne Callies (THE WALKING DEAD) as Tarzan and Jane, whose modern day adventures take place in New York City, against the backdrop of corporate conspiracies by Tarzan's uncle, played by Mitch Pileggi, and his aunt, played by Lucy Lawless.

It's a shirtless, shoeless, bodice-ripping vigilante love story from Eric Kripke, who would go on to create the cult shows SUPERNATURAL and TIMELESS. But was this particular version of TARZAN... canceled too soon? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold explore this failed TV show to figure out how Tarzan's story could work today, and why it usually doesn't.

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Canceled Too Soon #129 - Christmas in Tattertown (1988) Dec 23, 2018

Show notes

Ralph Bakshi became a legend by directing animation for adults, like LORD OF THE RINGS and FRITZ THE CAT, but in 1988 he also directed the pilot episode for a Nickelodeon television series about a little girl trapped in a magical land. Everything everyone ever lost comes to life in Tattertown, including Debbie's doll Muffet, who rebels against her owner and tries to destroy Christmas!

It's a chaotic and seedy anecdote in Ralph Bakshi's career, but was CHRISTMAS IN TATTERTOWN really... CANCELED TOO SOON? Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold guide you through Bakshi's career and this strange TV show, which became a Christmas special after the network passed on it, and in which the villain is quite obviously the moral superior to the hero.

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Canceled Too Soon #128 - Star Command (1996) Dec 16, 2018

Show notes

STAR TREK was all the rage in the late 1990s, and a lot of other shows were eager to rip off the classic sci-fi show's formula, with interstellar exploration, major moral conundrums, old-fashioned naval wars in space and a bit of sexual tension. Hence, we got a pilot like STAR COMMAND, in which gorgeous 20-somethings take over their vessel when the captains die, and wage war against the bad guys all by themselves.

It's got lasers! It's got Morgan Fairchild! It's got virtual reality porn! But was STAR COMMAND really... CANCELED TOO SOON?

Film critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold delve into this forgotten sci-fi pilot to dissect the whole STAR TREK knockoff genre, share their favorite TREK-themed memories, and explain why STAR COMMAND should have been called SPACE SHOW: THE SHOW.

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Canceled Too Soon #127 - Silver Surfer (1998) Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

The Silver Surfer is one of the strangest Marvel superheroes (and that's really saying something). He's a nearly omnipotent shiny space guy who holds himself responsible for the death of billions, who now wanders the cosmos pondering enormous philosophical questions and trying, and often failing, to redeem himself. And somehow he got his own Saturday morning cartoon series, with all of those lofty ideas and depressing themes intact.

SILVER SURFER lasted only one season, but was it really... CANCELED TOO SOON? William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold review the 1998 animated series, marvel at its mythic ambition, and try to make some kind of sense out of Marvel's mind-boggling theology, as our MARVELOUS MONTH OF MARVELS concludes!

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