Shark (2006 – 2008)

Shark was only given two seasons and fewer than forty episodes, and is another in the lengthy line of television shows that was cancelled far too early. I’m not saying that every new programme should be given half a dozen years on our screens before viewers decide whether they want to continue watching it – that is ridiculous – but some shows need a bit of a longer run up than others.

Shark was ostensibly another show about the machinations of a law firm and those who worked there, and it immediately became a part of perhaps the most crowded genre on television. The show probably didn’t do enough to distinguish itself from any other legal drama, and was really just a vehicle for James Woods to show that he could be an imposing dude on the small screen as well as at the movies, which – spoiler alert – he could.

I don’t know why Shark didn’t connect with audiences, but Woods was sixty years old at the time and TV is a young man’s game, so that may have had a little to do with it. The show was well written and acted, and it did showcase a younger supporting cast of characters (probably in an effort to balance out the demographic), but it was to no avail, and Shark quickly joined the list of those gone too soon.