There are still some one season shows that I am waiting to come out on DVD. Aliens in America, for example...not all the canceled recent shows get put on DVD. I wonder what the criteria is?

I have no problem with Deadwood not having an "ending" because it's 3 seasons of perfection.

Sports Night, another classic of mine, was discovered on DVD after it was canceled.

I just bought Men behaving Badly(with Rob Schneider) on dvd, it only lasted a season and a half, what a great show. Surprised no one has mentioned Freaks and Geeks in this thread.

It doesn't broadcast "suckage", it broadcasts "lack of mainstream popularity".

As others have mentioned, shows like Freaks & Geeks and Firefly are proof that shows that are cancelled after one season doesn't mean they were of bad quality.

I love The Riches so much that I bought the miserable second season dvd release. It contained 7 tantalizing, beautifully written and acted episodes with a cliffhanger ending. And then it ended.

You can't blame the creators here, it's not their fault. They produced great work, and it's worth owning, even if it doesn't wrap itself neatly in a bow.

i recently finished off carnivale dvd (possibly a blind buy), and was shocked that it was cancelled after two seasons. i wiki wikied it up, and it seems it died because of financial reasons. meh.

Shows that go out quick sometimes benefit from it because they become self-contained before they become all drawn-out and jumping the shark.

Another example of a good one-season show is MY SO CALLED LIFE. It leaves you wanting more, but ending after one season is perfect. Loose ends, sure, but life has loose ends.

I think all of us who like collecting TV series have favorite "orphaned" shows that have never been released to official DVDs. (Mine include: The Rogues, Seeing Things, Max Headroom, Moon Over Miami, Buddy Faro, & Special Unit 2.)

What I've always wondered is what does it cost to issue a basic DVD set of a TV series season? To obtain rights? To make transfers? To master the DVDs? To design the graphics and packaging? To produce however many thousand copies? To put it into the distribution channel? To promote it? To get it shelf space?

And how many sales have to take place to make the profit that you need?

I think the simple answers to the title line question are: Yes, if the producers feel there's a reasonable profit in it. No, if not.

I suspect the reason we see so many current orphaned series on DVD is because there's still some marketing/promotion "halo" still in effect from the show's aborted run. To not put out a set would be wasting the original marketing effort. It's still in the minds of a lot of people. Older shows don't have that marketing halo effect--they've been mostly forgotten, except for a few geeks like yours truly. Therefore, no DVD sets. It's too bad, but business is business.

<-- still waiting for Robbery Homicide Division to make it to DVD.

This.

With shows like Freaks & Geeks, Sports Night, Arrested Development, Firefly, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Police Squad, & Undeclared*, that all fall under the "canceled before their prime" header, I would argue some of the BEST TV on DVD are the canceled shows.

*I hope to hell I don't have to add Chuck to this list in a few weeks. (knock on wood)

I love One Season shows. Great to watch on a weekend. I've done Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Wonderfalls numerous times.

Futurama too (kind of).

Boomtown is a perfect example of a market for cancelled shows. It lasted one season and only had 6 season two episodes before it got cancelled and it didn't do well in the ratings but sold a lot of DVDs. The 6 season two episodes haven't been released but the season finale of the first season didn't have a cliffhanger.

yes!

I'm sort of the same way about Carnivale. I rented it and loved, but the lack of closure would make it too depressing to own and re-watch very often.

Most TV on DVD is for canceled shows, as every show eventually gets canceled one way or another, and it's a big market.

Robbery Homicide Division

Another one here.

It wasn't solely on DVD sales, it was also because the reruns on Adult Swim were getting great ratings.

At the rate the networks are going. Most of the dvd releases are going to be one season "complete series" releases. I am definitely a target audience for these dvd sets because I'd rather own 1-2 seasons of incredible tv than something average that ran for a long time. The only extended completes I own are Seinfeld, Friends, Buffy, Angel and 1-10 of the Simpsons.

If I recall correctly, EW magazine gave the series a solid "B" when they reviewed it.

I bought the DVD Tuesday based on that rating.

AS others have said, there are many good shows that were cancelled early.

I enjoy certain series like "Wonderfalls" and "Firefly" and realize that in this day & age of "Instant HIT" or not, lots of shows may not achieve broadcast viability immediately.

I did not enjoy Chris Carter's "Harsh Realm" but am currently enjoying "Andy Richter Controls The Universe".

i want season 2 of The War At Home damn it!

How about the old Tony Randall show or John Laraquette?

Perhaps I should finally pick up Firefly and see what all the fuss is about. I should watch Wonderfalls again too, and I still haven't gotten around to watching my new Bionic Woman DVD.

I really wish Fox would hurry up and release John Doe though. It has a rather big cliffhanger that's never resolved, but I want it anyway.