It’s weird to think that a show can have millions of avid fans and still be seen as a loser to the TV execs. While things that make our eyes bleed like “What I Like About You” or that Dawson’s River show (river, stream, creek, whatever) seemed to run on forever, here’s our countdown of shows that should still be on the air today.

6. Daybreak (13 Episodes)

Taye Diggs wakes up and every day is the same day. And we know what you’re thinking, yes Bill Murray already did that and they called it Groundhog Day…so it’s not a new idea…but like a good cover song (see: Ryan Adams Wonderwall), they took something old and made it their own. Because the day Taye had to relive is the day his girlfriend gets killed and he gets set up for it.

Why it should still be on the air: We liked tuning in each week to see Taye get a little closer…sure, this series couldn’t have lasted forever, but if Prison Break got 4 seasons, we’re pretty sure this could go on just as long. (And any show starring a guy with Digg in his name gets extra awesome points.)

5. Committed (13 Episodes)

It’s the classic story of boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy tries not to screw up so badly that girl leaves. Only in this story, the girl is insane and has a dying clown living in her closet. And the boy is a Ph.D.-having-super-nerd who comes from a family of people who all cross the thin line between genius and insanity, so he works in a record store. This show should have been called “When Crazy People Find Each Other.”

Why it should still be on the air: Did we mention she had a dying clown living in her closet?

4. Off Centre (28 Episodes)

You take John Cho (from the Harold & Kumar movies) and put him in an apartment with Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch from the American Pie movies) and Sean Maguire (Kyle from “The Class” - another show we wish didn’t get canceled). It was low-brow humor…but it was awesome low-brow humor.

Why it should still be on the air: John Cho is so funny, we peed a little.

3. Jericho (29 Episodes)

Post-apocalyptic movies are awesome. We’re pretty big fans of the idea as a TV show as well (we even liked Showtime’s “Jeremiah” despite it starring Luke Perry). Someone sets nuclear bombs off all over the United States and the small town of Jericho tries to rebuild without any modern infrastructure and lots of looting.

Why it should still be on the air: The most loyal fan-base a show could have. When Jericho got canceled after its first season, the fans united. They started sending peanuts to the CBS building in New York…thousands of pounds every day…after 20 tons of nuts, CBS un-canceled the show and issued a press release saying “we’re pleased to announce the renewal of Jericho for a second season…please stop sending us nuts now.” Due to poor planning from CBS, season 2 debuted almost a year after the first season ended. Coupled with half the second season being leaked onto the Internet several months before they actually aired (and ratings that were never good to begin with), Jericho got canceled twice in less than a year.
2. Arrested Development (53 Episodes)

Arrested Development should have joined shows like The Office and 30 Rock for being on a list of shows that were so funny they caused world peace to break out. But Arrested Development never found an audience. We can’t explain why Arrested Development was funny…either you already know or you need to add the entire series to the top of your Netflix queue right now. If you don’t fall off the couch laughing, you can go ahead and start hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, because you’ve got nothing up there.

Why it should still be on the air: There are two dominant theories to why Arrested Development was canceled. One is that the marketing done by Fox was so bad that they could have gotten more viewers if they had just spray painted “Arrested Development” on the side of a chicken and let it loose in Times Square. The other theory is that it was a smart show and there are just too many dumb people out there. All that we know for sure is that if you don’t think Arrested Development is funny, we will send someone to your house to fight you.

1. Firefly (14 Episodes)

There was a lot of debate about which show deserved the top spot, Arrested Development or Firefly, as they are both so awesome that we would gladly let the TV studios stab us in the face for another season of either. Created by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Firefly was one of the best sci-fi shows of all time. We liked Summer Glau so much that she’s about 89% of the reason we watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Sadly, Firefly came and went so quickly that we’re not really sure it was ever on TV at all

Why it should still be on the air: Firefly was so good that not only did they put out the entire series on DVD, but word spread so rapidly that every single copy sold out, every copy they had in warehouses sold out, and eventually some exec thought “hey, we should make a movie” and then “Serenity” got a theatrical release. TV shows that get canceled part of the way through their first season don’t get made into big-screen movies…it just doesn’t happen. Firefly broke the mold though and now we’re all hoping that the rumors of an Arrested Development movie are true as well.

Watch them now: Most of these shows are now on DVD. Do yourself a favor, sign up for a free Netflix trial and add these shows to the top of your queue. You can thank us later.
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