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The Five: Great UPN shows

by Bob Sassone, posted Sep 17th 2006 2:59PM

Nowhere ManUPN ended its broadcasting this past Friday. Now we'll have to get used to the new CW network and that awful logo.

More often than not, UPN had some terrible shows on the air (Homeboys in Outer Space, The Bad Girl's Guide, Shasta McNasty, Hitz, The Love Boat remake), but it also happened to have some gems in there (and, no, I'm not talking about either Star Trek: Voyager or Enterrprise). Here are five great UPN shows that we can all sit back and reminisce about.

1. Nowhere Man: Bruce Greenwood as a famed photographer who goes into the men's room of a restaurant one night, and when he comes out his wife claims not to know him, his credit cards no longer work, and people are trying to get him. This was a clever, moody show, sort of like The Fugitive (the great 60s show, not the terrible Harrison Ford flick), only with a conspiracy behind it. You can get the complete series on DVD.

2. Veronica Mars. To be honest? I've seen exactly two episodes of this series, but I'm trusting Keith on this one. This show has survived and will be seen on the new CW network.

3. Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Yeah, I know, this is cheating because it originally ran on the WB network. Still, it ran for a couple of series on UPN too, and it was a great show.

4. Jake 2.0. Why didn't this show do better? It was quite enjoyable and quirky. Sort of a goofy Six Million Dollar Man. I was really looking forward to a second season, but...oh well. The Sci-Fi Channel is going to start showing the show this fall/winter.

5. Home Movies. Animated show with an 8 year-old protagonist, odd animation and heavily improvised scripts. Sort of loses something in the explanation, but you really have to watch it. This show is available on DVD too.

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Rocko

Hello?? The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer? That show was robbed by the Emmys.

September 19 2006 at 2:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe

Hey, Mark!! Thanks from just north of Dallas btw...I loved Jake 2.0 and wish someone would have had a clue as to how good that show could have been...it made it partway through the second season I believe...spanning 03 and 04...I really appreciate you picking it up!

September 19 2006 at 12:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mark cuban

HDNet is available on Satellite and Cable. www.hd.net for more info. We are showing Jake, we just started tonight Starship Enterprise, last week Arrested Development and also air Dead Like Me and Joan of Arcadia.

We have tons of original content as well, from sports (NHL/MLS) to some great music shows and concerts (U2, eminem, Gorillaz, many more). check out the website or call your cable or sat company

September 18 2006 at 9:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason

I completely agree on Nowhere Man. I remember watching every episode, and after seeing the season finale I couldn't wait for the show to come back...and it just never did... So sad.

And I think putting Home Movies on the list is a bit of a stretch, since you're talking about a show that ran 52 episodes, but was cancelled by UPN after the first 5. Sure, it did air on UPN first...but I'd hate to give them any credit, since they didn't have the vision to see the show through like the [adult swim] people did.

September 18 2006 at 11:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brent McKee

I'll second "Legend" as one of the high points of UPN's first season ("Nowhere Man was actually a second season show), but I was also fond of "Live Shot" which was about TV news. The network tried a lot of odd ideas - remember "Marker" or "Deadly Games" - in that first season before settling down into what seemed like mediocrity punctuated by an occassional great idea that was often executed badly.

September 18 2006 at 4:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

Special Unit 2. I really liked that one.

September 18 2006 at 12:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pip

Uh...you forgot Dilbert. Animated and quite faithful to the comic strip. Too bad it got forgotten on UPN.

September 17 2006 at 10:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LC

Legend was a fantastic show. Richard Dean Anderson was extremely disappointed when it was cancelled and in interviews says it was his favorite show he ever worked on.

Nowhere Man was also great and I was praying another network would have picked it up.

I also liked 7 days

September 17 2006 at 8:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
R Poorman

To Jason above - HDNet has nothing to do with Dish Network except that Dish carries it. HDNet is owned by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

September 17 2006 at 6:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brett Love

MrAkai, I think the show you are looking for is Level 9.

September 17 2006 at 4:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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