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14 TV series that should be canceled

By Vinnie Penn
Special to MSN TV

As a child of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and with just so many television channels to choose from, it is difficult for me to witness the litany of shows these days that not only wouldn't have gotten the green light back in the day, but also surely wouldn't have gotten past the pilot. I am talking far enough back that the closest thing to reality television was, well, "Good Morning America."
 
I am also going far enough back to when, say, "Happy Days" happened to be on. This is actually the perfect case in point.

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To be clear, I loved "Happy Days," the venerable ABC sitcom that offered Ron Howard a TV victory lap and gave the world The Fonz (Henry Winkler). The series ran from 1975 to 1985 and, admittedly, probably should have called it a day when Richie moved out and his cousin Roger moved into the Cunningham house. That's when the series jumped the shark, not when Fonzie literally jumped a shark. But there was money to be made and the ratings were still strong. This was all long before the trend of going out on top, something the gang from "Friends" and "Seinfeld" were so keen on.

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It doesn't take a mathematician to deduce that with so many more channels offering original programming (using the term oh so loosely), and with so many big stars leaving while still in the top spot, there will be a wealth of mediocre-at-best fare with an expiration date of two years ago on it. Here are 14 shows that can go.

(NBC/CBS/FOX)