From Success to Failure: TV Shows that Flopped in 1995 

Do You Remember any of these?

My So Called Life was a cultural phenomenon, it was obviously far ahead of it's time

I was a frequent background actor on My So-Called Life. It deserved so much more attention!

MANTIS was way ahead of the curve even back in the 90s

My So Called Life should never be canceled in the first place. 😀👍

Man, I LOVED My So-Called Life. I remember hearing that not only ABC didn't want to continue it, but they also didn't want to sell it to MTV, so it could be continued there.

There ought to be a category of One-Season Wonders, shows which never got renewed but had a huge impact. My So-Called Life definitely qualifies, Freaks & Geeks , Firefly...

Yep.. flat out angry about My So Called Life. One of the best television shows ever aired, and I was a young adult when it came out so it hit more than just the target demographic. So much acting and writing talent, and every character was deep and complex. It was too real for network television at the time, that was the problem... especially with a teen main character who was gay. They got scared and pulled the plug.

My so called life holds up shockingly well. I always wanted to see it when it aired (i didnt have the network, it was Wisconsin in the 90's) so i didnt get to see it until about 9 years ago. Shockingly good

Never forget that MANTIS fights an invisible tyrannosaurus and blows himself up to kill it in the last episode. RIP Mantis.

"My So-Called Life" definitely still has a following.

My so called life is likely the most remembered show that only lasted one season. I actually did not know it was set in suburban Pittsburgh until years later.

Aaron spelling probably has the record of the largest number of successful programs as well as failures due to the quantity of shows he worked on.

I had the soundtrack to "My so- called Life" ,good soundtrack captures the life of mind 90's life!😃

I was too young for My So Called Life but i still remember the name

I remember the first episode of “My So Called Life” airing and the mother of Claire Danes’ character was eating Chinese food. It became a short-lived tradition for me to get Chinese food every time it was on and I was ticked off when it just abruptly stopped. And back then the general public didn’t really know like they do today if a show had been cancelled or was still in production so I was just left hanging for so long.

Fun fact: MANTIS starred both Carl Lumbley and Gina Torres who would later voice characters Martian Manhunter and Vixen on the Justice League cartoon.

Baseball never recovered from that strike to this day.

I'm probably one of the few people on here that remembers MANTIS and loved it. Sadly, I didn't have cable growing up so I never saw the final episodes. It just kind of ended one day without warning.

5:43 Steve Carell. I love it! He did some really obscure stuff before he got his big break, including voice-overs in video games

I was a freshman in college when My So Called Life came out. It was such an amazing show. I got the novelization when it came out. Loved Claire Danes.

Linda Purl was my first crush; as an eight year old in the 1980’s watching Matlock with my grandmother, I fell head over heels for Linda. I had no idea about “Robin’s Hoods.”

I remember the baseball strike. TV shows based on baseball usually don't last long. I think the only reason why Corbin Bernsen was on that show was because of the Major League movies.

I loved M.A.N.T.I.S. as a kid, and my sister loved My So-Called Life, so this video was a nice nostalgia hit 😁

Don't remember the baseball show. I remember kids watching My So Called Life, but never watched. Nice touch with the "commercial break." The rest I never heard of. Oh man Mantis looks beautifully cheesy. Omg Robin's Hood 😂

M.A.N.T.I.S. was a great concept, he was a black Iron Man, the world just wasn't ready.

This time, I can honestly say that I have never heard of any of these. Found My So Called Life on another site, and looks like I may have found the full series of Mantis on RU-vid. The rest, just about 1 episode of them I could find on RU-vid, except Robin's Hoods which I found the 4 Rick Springfield and a Linda Blair episode on RU-vid, so slightly more of those. Anyways, enjoyed the video, thank you.

I adored My So-Called Life. I bought 2, 3 tape box sets and the day it was released on dvd I bought the entire series. Years later I sold my original box set and bought the newer released one. This was only the second show in my childhood my mom and I watched together & related to the other show was The original Wonder Years. To this day the cancellation of this show sorta ruined a part of my innocence cuz it was the first show cancelled in my lifetime I actually enjoyed and it seemed so unfair to lose this gem.

“You’ll likely find many fans in the comments below” was amazing. I was literally reading a comment about My So Called Life deserving a second episode as you said that! I’m new to your channel and I’m loving it here.

i remember hearing great things about 'My So Called Life'. I had no idea it was only a one season show. I remember Claire Danes from one of the Terminator movies i think. Shes pretty good.

Mantis should never been canceled in the first place. 😀👍

I watched a few episodes of MANTIS when I was a kid and remember loving it. Really sucks that it got canned so early.

I watched all the episodes of My So Called Life, such an amazing show!

My So Called Life was only on for one season? I can't be the only one who thought it had at least 3

Mantis looks like it would be a video game for the 3DO

My So-called Life is the Twin Peaks of teen dramas.

Is that the horse from horsing around? Bravo Vince!

I pretended to hate My So-called Life but secretly liked it. I don't know why I did that.

A+ video! LOVE IT! What a time to be watching tv!

Mantis was top tier. I vividly remember watching this show with my Dad in the 90s

I am flat out angry My So Called Life was canceled. It also ended on a sort of cliff hanger. My teenage self has never gotten over it.

I like Mantis. Was too young to remember it well now, but I do remember watching it.

Mantis sounds like a good concept just came out at the wrong time as everyone wasn't really ready for it just yet

A whole new ballgame. The last episode was shown once. It was the most crazy thing. In the episode, the last episode script was taped to the back of a painting of a mask. The 4th wall wasn't broken. It was set on fire. They really didn't care. At all. This may have been on a watch once tape or aired in my market. To be fair, Clerks the animated series went to commercial break and never came back in my area.

Sometimes it’s better to have had a good season and end the show then To drag it out.

I have My So Called Life on DVD. And I have some memories of watching M.A.N.T.I.S. back in the day.

The opening of Robin's Hoods is exactly what Too Many Cooks was parodying.

Half of the shows of 1995 I never heard of - Another Ball Game, If not for You

Very good.

More people need to subscribe to this channel, it's freaking awesome

M.A.N.T.I.S. was awesome! Plus the lead actor Carl Lumbly did the voice of Martian Manhunter on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

I recall my so called life, never actually watched it, but I remember it being huge... hard to believe it was short lived. I remember Mantis being hard to watch, as in I saw two episodes thought it was cool but just never knew when it was airing.

Never saw My So Called Life but I’ve heard of it.

My so- called Life brought us stars Claire Danes and Jared Leto! So Yes!

watching mantis gun down that rollerblader is some comedy gold

1995 was also the opening year for the channel UPN. As such it had more than one, 1 season wonder. Its strongest shows were WWE and Star Trek Voyager, but sandwiched between them you had shows like “Nowhere Man” and “7 Days”. I actually liked 7 days, about the agent who went back in time 7 days to prevent some disaster.

I was aware of My So-Called Life but never watched it. The only one of these I watched was M.A.N.T.I.S. which I enjoyed being a superhero/comic book fan..

I remember Clare Danes playing on an episode of Law & Order in the 90s.

I remember the name Mantis but not the show. It seems like it was way ahead of its time. It likely would have been more successful if released later than it was.

I actually remember 'M.A.N.T.I.S', and I enjoyed it! So glad glad to know I'm not the only one! =)

I was introduced to My So Called Life by my amazing Literature teacher in HS Literature an still today that was the Dumbest decisions not to do a 2nd season!!🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

My So Called Life - it was actually pretty controversial at the time. Just the fact that there was a gay kid on the show was a big talking point at the time. I was 15 in '95 and I remember thinking the show was just OK. I don't think the show really reflected what I was experiencing in HS at the time so I never really connected with it.

Definitely remember both My So Called Life and M.A.N.T.I.S. although I thought they were more 1994 than 1995. For whatever reason Fox just could never compete in the 8PM Friday night slot while X-Files became wildly successful in the 9PM slot. This wasn’t a Fox alone issue as really the Friday 8PM slot was bad timeslot for years at this point, the last hit being Dukes of Hazzard. Even both Knight Rider and Scarecrow & Mrs. King flopped in that timeslot. If not For you wasn’t CBS worst move in the fall of 1995 surprised it got mentioned ahead of Central Park West, New York News, that Nancy McKeon sitcom and that Andrew Dice Clay sitcom.

I'm one of the whitest girls you'll ever meet, and I LOVED Mantis. It was the definition of "must see TV" once it got rolling, every week just kept getting crazier and crazier with what has going on.

My So Called Life was such a good show!!

My So Called Life was my show back then… I was so mad when it didn’t come back for another season.

Me and my mom both liked MANTIS. I liked the superhero angle and my mother was already a fan of Carl Lumbly.

I liked M.A.N.T.I.S.. I didn't know it until later that it was created by Sam Raimi. I tuned in because I had liked Carl Lumbly on Cagney & Lacey.

I unfortunately, didn't discover my so called life, until it'd already been cancelled. I remember seeing the series finale, & not knowing it was gonna be the series finale, & waiting to see more episodes that never came! I then went online & read about there only being one season. That series ended on quite the cliffhanger! I remember Mantis, & am still greatly disappointed with it never getting a second season! That series was a big deal for us black folks, back then.

I honestly thought My So Called Life lasted longer. What a shameful waste of potential. Weird thing. I mostly remember the oddly haunting closing logo at the end. 🎶 And dance by the light of the Moon....

I really liked Mantis and even in the 90s I think it was well done at addressing corruption and such. I thunk they could have done better with setting up villians and showing the positive side of the cops. Wpuld have given a great complex since the Doc was upset at bad cops but has to come around to see there are good cops.

I loved watching MANTIS, VR5, The Visitor, and Strange Luck

You couldn't make a second season of my so called life. It would only disappoint. Everything that happened to her was at a pivotal stage that she would ultimately grow out of. And they were already playing with fire when dealing with teen issues realistically. The episode where her friend comes out was using a lot of inference and insinuation to fill in the blanks. That's style of storytelling would become overwhelming eventually

My so called life was great and ahead of its time for sure

I was a fan of the MANTIS series.

That was a young steve Carrell in that customer!

My brother and I loved MANTIS

5:43 of course it's Steve Carell

My So Called Life. That one I remember. What is impressive is Claire Danes. Most people would have disappeared, like other cast members from that show. The others... Let these shows be a reminder to those who claim that earlier times were always better times.

I loved M.A.N.T.I.S. I mean, what was not to like about a black superhero that's not attached to Marvel or DC Comics? Along with VR-5, and a lot of hour-long series FOX came up with in the early to mid-90s, I think this show suffered from not only cost overruns or being placed in poor time slots, but also simply because a general public was unwilling to give it a chance.

never heard of any of these shows... except my so called life

saw MANTIS when i was aboht 11-12 i loved it ! prolly cause i was hyped it was on TV friday night party time no school tomorrow !!!

My So Called Life is the best !!!!

I remember commercials for MANTIS where they made fun of Urkel to try to take away viewers from him. Obviously that didn't work

I remember My So Called Life, but never knew Jared Leto was on it

never heard of any of these shows

They should bring MANTIS back now that CGI has come so far!

Same year: Space: Above and Beyond. Still one of my favorite one-season shows.

2:17 Since we live in an age of modern revivals I think they should consider doing a revival of My So-Called Life. And before anyone says "that's stupid", hear me out. What if this revival was a sequel to My So-Called Life in which Claire Danes reprise her role as Angela who's an adult having a mid-life crisis. And as a result, has flashbacks to her teen life where an actress in her mid-to late teens (who looks very similar to a young Claire Danes) plays a teenage Angela. You can continue series while also pushing the story forward in the present day with a non-linear structure. It's not perfect idea but I think it's best way to bring the series back and still have it make sense.

mantis was awesome

I've never even heard of any of these shows except for My So-Called Life, which I had no interest in. I'm sure I now have angry fans at my door with torches and pitchforks just for saying that.

I was a big fan of MANTIS back in the day

My so called life only had one season??! Alot happetin that season

I guess me mentioning MANTIS a few hundred times got you to do it LOL , it was a weird show but way better then steel. If they would of kept the original idea going and just added the bad guys it would of been great show, but they should of hinted at it at the start. I still liked it anyway but I am a sucker for Superhero stuff =3 Besides MANTIS I really only heard of My So Called life, I never saw it tho @@ I heard it was good, what is weird is what they did back then is what all teenage shows do nowadays.

Mantis!

I only remember M.A.N.T.I.S.. I was 5-6years old and I thought it was the best show on tv at the time though I didn’t watch the Syfy episodes

The concept of MANTIS sounds really interesting, but it looks so cheesy and dated. If they rebooted it today, I’m sure certain people would complain about it being “woke” 🙄

My So Called Life was the equivalent of Euphoria nowadays. I wish it had more episodes, but maybe it's so good bc it didn't just keep going.

I was going to comment that I'd love a current continuation of "My So-Called Life", but the actor who played Rayanne Graff is married to a British aristocrat, a Lord, and living permanently in the UK. Then I see on IMDB that he has filed for divorce, so maybe it's not entirely impossible. Edit: One website says he wants to try to fix the marriage and filed to stop the divorce in February.

I wish they made a mantis toy. That would have been badass 😅🎉