Emily’s Reasons Why Not was based on Carrie Gerlach’s novel of the same name. The story revolves around a successful career-driven woman, Emily Sanders, who has been unsuccessfully dating in Los Angeles. So she seeks advice from a therapist who recommends that she lists 10 reasons why each of her romantic relationships had failed. As she continues perusing love, she decides that if she can list 5 reasons to break up with a guy, then she does it. Doesn’t sound too outlandish, but the execution was poor, and the show was canceled by ABC, after airing just one episode on January 9, 2006. It literally only took them one episode for the network to realize that the show was a total failure.
Criticisms of the show stated that it was full of gay stereotypes and toxic homophobic behaviors, to others it was seen as a less risqué copycat of Sex and the City…one thing for sure it that it turned out to be yet another example of a series that should have remained a book.
2006: South Beach
Brought to us by Jennifer Lopez's production company Nuyorican Productions, South Beach had all of the glitz and glam to become the younger and more diverse version of The O.C. And with a cast starring legends like Vanessa L. Williams and Giancarlo Esposito, what could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, viewers didn't find much substance or anything else entertaining on South Beach, thus, the show survived for a month.
"A preposterous and pretentious drama series.", needless to say, the critics were far from kind, and the show was one of the lowest rated TV series of 2006. Better luck next time JLo.
2015: Truth Be Told
The show is said to have been loosely based on the life of its creator and executive producer D. J. Nash. It revolves around two multicultural couples, one Black, and the other White, and Asian, who are best friends and neighbors. They share their observations and perspectives about different matters, including race, education and socioeconomic gaps...but instead of really tackling those issues, they kind of just bouncing around them. The show had no edge and turned out to be a watered-down version of The Carmichael Show, which grated it generally unfavorable reviews and the opportunity to join the list of 1-season sitcoms.
A critic from Vulture said about the sitcom "Not a single scene feels authentic, even if we excuse the over-explanations we often see in comedy pilots. This show is not provocative. It is not a conversation-starter, it is not thoughtful, it is not sharp, it is not enlightening." Truth be told about Truth Be Told, it was just bad. As simple as that.
2016: Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, was a spinoff of CBS's hit police drama series “Criminal Minds”. It's premise followed an elite FBI team tasked with investigating crimes and rescuing Americans in danger while on international soil. The series never achieved the same high ratings of its parent program and was consequentially canceled after 2 seasons.
Among the negative criticisms the show received, it was heavily criticized for its inaccurate depictions of Singapore in the episode "Cinderella And The Dragon". It was also said that Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders promoted xenophobia. "Moving on from the prevalent misogyny of the original 'Criminal Minds,' CBS' new spinoff 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' is a pure distillation of xenophobia.". The theme of the spinoff seems to be 'you win some, you lose some'.
2006: Modern Men
Modern Men was a sitcom about three single men and lifelong friends. Unsuccessful romantically speaking, they decide to hire a life coach to help them with their love lives. The show seemed to cater to the young woman's fantasy that young men are just as deeply concerned about their love lives and future spouses as they are. While there are some humorous moments, just moments, the rest of the series was pretty dull and unimaginative, and the characters were more like stereotypes and caricatures of men than real men. (Not) surprisingly, the show's mediocrity wasn't enough to keep their 14-25 year old female audience engaged.
When the time came for The WB (its broadcaster) and UPN to merge and form The CW, Modern Men got booted after 7 episodes.