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J.J. Abrams Shows Ranked
15. ROADIES
Despite Abrams assembling a dream team behind the scenes, the music-themed Showtime series was bogged down by bad notes and subsequently cancelled after one season.
14. ALMOST HUMAN
Take away all the very familiar futuristic bells and whistles and what you’re left with is a buddy cop procedural, and not a particularly chemistry-filled one.
13. BELIEVE
This 2014 clunker revolved around a little girl with special abilities who held the fate of the world in her hands. It fashioned itself as Terminator-esque, which is fitting since NBC extinguished it after 12 episodes.
12. ALCATRAZ
The provocative premise — 50 years after they vanished, some of Alcatraz’s most notorious prisoners reappear, un-aged, and start committing crime once again — was diverting but, ultimately, unsustainable.
11. SIX DEGREES
The gimmick — a half-dozen strangers in New York find their existences randomly interlinked — grew old fast, ultimately yielding what was essentially a beautifully packaged but boring soap opera.
10. UNDERCOVERS
This lighter, more romantic Alias (it was likened to a modern-day Hart to Hart) broke racial barriers when it launched in 2010 with Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the lead roles. But a gorgeously shot pilot, directed by Abrams himself, gave way to an unremarkable series and NBC cancelled it midway through Season 1.
9. REVOLUTION
The post-apocalyptic thriller, created by Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke, developed a rabid following during its two-year run. But the heavily serialized and creatively uneven series was ultimately felled by one momentum-crippling hiatus after another.
8. WHAT ABOUT BRIAN
One of Abrams’ blander stabs at TV success, this second-rate thirtysomething featured 7th Heaven‘s Barry Watson as a single guy searching for love in Los Angeles. The most surprising thing about the show was that ABC renewed it for a second season.
7. 11.22.63
Abrams teamed with Stephen King on this ambitious eight-episode, James Franco-fronted Hulu adaptation of the horror legend’s time-tripping, JFK assassination thriller. The series started off strong but lost a little momentum along the way. By the time Lee Harvey Oswald’s big moment arrived, we couldn’t help but think this bizarro tale would’ve been better served in a two-hour movie format.
6. PERSON OF INTEREST
Abrams and series creator Jonathan Nolan instantly elevated CBS’ somewhat rote (yet super-successful) procedural game with this wildly inventive drama that starred a post-Lost Michael Emerson and a pre-Empire Taraji P. Henson.
5. WESTWORLD
In its recently concluded first season, HBO’s sci-fi Western (based on the 1973 film of the same name) overcame some creative hiccups to emerge as one 2016’s most fascinating — and best — series. Here’s hoping the year-plus wait for Season 2 doesn’t slow any of the show’s momentum.
4. FRINGE
Equal parts X-Files and Twilight Zone with a touch of Lost thrown in for good measure, the impeccably cast sci-fi gem was, in any universe, stunningly original and relentlessly entertaining. Even when we were confused as hell we marveled at its ambition, not to mention the bursting chemistry of its three leads.
3. ALIAS
Although never a ratings smash, ABC’s spy thriller — with its sick production values and twisty narrative — nonetheless became a pop culture phenomenon, firmly establishing Abrams as a one-of-a-kind talent and propelling leading lady Jennifer Garner into superstardom. All that and Bradley Cooper, too!
2. LOST
The ABC drama’s two-part 2004 premiere, directed by Abrams and co-written by him and Damon Lindelof, remains one of the best television pilots ever made. And even though Abrams stepped away from the series midway through Season 1, the role he played in its phenomenal, game-changing success is inarguable.
1. Felicity
Go ahead, tell us we’re nuts for declaring the WB coming-of-age tale as Abrams’ greatest TV achievement to date. We defy you to find another J.J. offering with as much heart, romance, humor and relatability as this seminal drama. Cementing the show’s legacy: Abrams — and co-creator Matt Reeves — gave us the gift that is Keri Russell. Case closed.
Image: Courtesy of Showtime
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television
Image: Courtesy of Hulu
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of HBO
Image: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Image: Courtesy of Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Image: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television
