2013 was a big year for television shows coming to an end, culminating in September with the series finale of perhaps the best series of all time, as well as one of the worst series finales of all time, in Dexter (which is not included on this list). A lot of shows got their deserved endings (Whitney, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, Private Practice, 60 percent of the new falls shows), many were pulled long after they should’ve, and some were pulled way too soon. Below, however, are the ten shows we’ll miss the most in 2014.
The Client List (June 16th) — No, we’re not actually that sad, because The Client List was a terrible show, but the Lifetime series — which was cancelled after Jennifer Love Hewitt refused to continue unless Lifetime allowed her real-life husband to be a series regular — did keep Jennifer Love Hewitt in the news, and as long as Jennifer Love Hewitt was in the news, any random day could be greeted with Jennifer Love Hewitt GIFs.
Ben and Kate (January 22nd) — The incredibly low-rated show on Fox barely had a chance, but it was a sweet, amusing sitcom with a lot of heart, even if Nat Faxon could be occasionally grating. The good news, however, is that it freed Faxon to devote more time to writing and directing with his writing/directing partner, Jim Rash (Dean Pelton from Community), who gave us The Descendants and The Way Way Back, and hopefully many more smart, heartfelt movies in the future. The bad news is, it freed Dakota Johnson to take the lead in 50 Shades of Grey.
The Office (may 16th) — It was time, of course. Long past time, in fact, by around four seasons. However, The Office managed to find its groove again near the end and remind us of why we used to love this show, which made its near perfect series finale bittersweet. I won’t miss the show, but I will miss the characters.
Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23 (January 15th) — The ABC sitcom, which featured James Van Der Beek as himself (in the best bit of sitcom self-parody since Jennifer Grey played herself in It’s Like, You Know…) also introduced us widely to Dreama Walker and kept Krysten Ritter gainfully employed. It was a quirky, subversive sitcom, and really, it was just too good and unusual to last as long as it id. We’ll always have those 26 delightful episodes.
Fringe (January 18th) — Another show that unfortunately stayed past its expiration date, Fringe kicked it up a notch in its penultimate season four before something of a letdown season five that took us into a dystopian future. Still, there’s very little good sci-fi on network television, and we’ll miss the creative alt-universe mythos of Fringe. Most of all, however, we will miss Walter Bishop.
Bunheads (February 25th) — Not enough people saw Bunheads to make it widely missed (hence, its cancellation), but those of us who did tune in to see an another version of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Stars Hollow (from Gilmore Girls) took the cancellation hard. It was a bright, fast-talking, clever — and sometimes heartbreaking — coming-of-age dramedy with an immensely talented cast that deserved another four seasons, at least.
30 Rock (January 31st) — After seven season and a 138 episodes, 30 Rock still managed to go out on top. Some of the characters (Kenneth) may have worn out their welcome, but Tina Fey still managed to turn in hilarious 22-minute episodes nearly every single week, featuring some of the best cameos in all of television. We’ll miss Liz Lemon, and we’ll miss Jack Donaghy, but perhaps we’ll miss Jon Hamm’s occasional cameos the most.
Southland (April 17th) — One of the best dramas on television for five seasons (the last three over on TNT), Southland was sorely underappreciated, provided maybe the truest, most genuine glimpse into the life of a police officer on television, and broke our hearts nearly weekly. The show gave us a devestating, though fitting finale, but it made its cancellation all the more difficult to swallow. This is pretty much how fans of the show felt after TNT announced it would not be returning:
Happy Endings (May 3rd) — To be honest, once it began to bounce around the television schedule, we could already feel one of our favorite sitcoms on network television slipping away. It was manic, hilariously mean-spirited, clever as hell, and jam-packed with pop culture references. The fact that USA Network jumped in and nearly saved Happy Endings made its demise all the more painful when it could not be resurrected.
Breaking Bad (September 29th) — Duh. Breaking Bad left a aching, gaping hole in our souls that will never be refilled.
