Fox’s decision to pull the low-rated Lone Star after just two episodes isn’t that surprising. Jace Lacob takes a look at 10 TV mercy killings from the last 10 years. 
 
 Fox’s decision to pull the woefully rated Texas-based drama Lone Star after just two episodes shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone following the ratings game. 
 
 Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and an expensive promotional campaign, the Kyle Killen-created series—which revolved around a second-generation con man with a double life—premiered with just 4.1 million viewers tuning in, a sizable drop-off from the 10.5 million who tuned in to the show’s lead-in House an hour earlier. 
 
 Gallery: 10 Shows That Died Young 
 
 Killen took to the Internet, writing an open letter on his blog begging for audiences to deliver a “stunning upset” and save the show from premature cancellation. He also wrote a piece on The Daily Beast, in which he interviewed himself about Lone Star. Killen’s pleading and Fox’s repeated promotional support this week didn’t bring about a stay of execution for Lone Star, which dropped 23 percent in its second outing, luring just 3.2 million viewers. Understandably, the network opted to pull the show from the schedule immediately. 
 
 While that might seem harsh, it also underpins just how cutthroat the broadcast network business has become of late. Unlike cable, there is no significant opportunity to find an audience if a show doesn’t click with the public in the first week. After all, if positive critical notices and ad money can’t lure audiences to your show, the network can’t be in the business of carting around a wounded horse. The only sensible thing is to put the beast out of its misery. 
 
 Last season, the networks axed quite a few shows early on in their runs: ABC pink-slipped Kelsey Grammer comedy Hank after five episodes; Fox sent Past Life to an early grave after three episodes (and then later burned off a few more); and CBS decided Canadian import The Bridge was, well, a bridge too far after just three installments. 
 
 But those shows, while they didn’t charm the American public, at least made it past the all-important second episode, which is something that Lone Star and the 10 shows on our list of the most quickly canceled TV shows of the last 15 years weren’t able to do. 
 
 Plus: Check out more of the latest entertainment, fashion, and culture coverage on Sexy Beast—photos, videos, features, and Tweets. 
 
 Jace Lacob is the writer/editor of Televisionary, a website devoted to television news, criticism, and interviews. Jace resides in Los Angeles. He is a contributor to several entertainment Web sites and can be found on Twitter and Facebook. 
 
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 For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com. ||||| Last week was the big un’ when it comes to fall television. Sixteen new shows premiered—some of them seeming like instant classics while others flopped. Perhaps one of the biggest stories to come out of last week was that “Lone Star,” expected to be a big hit, just didn’t draw in very many viewers. Rumors circulated that it is already in danger of being canceled. 
 
 I watched the premiere episode of “Lone Star” and wasn’t sold. However, last night’s second episode was nothing short of stellar television. Here’s why I’m hoping “Lone Star” can pick up steam and make it. 
 
 Here is the basic premise of the show: Bob Allen (James Wolk) and his dad are con men who scoot in and out of Texas towns, running scams. They’re currently running two—a property buy-in in a small town and a shakedown of a large oil company in Dallas. To run these scams, Bob has ingratiated himself to two marks—a stunning single mother named Cat (Adrianne Palicki), who happens to be the daughter of an oil magnate (played by Jon Voight), and a school teacher named Lindsay (Eloise Mumford) who gives him cred in the local community. In the premiere, Bob is married to Cat and also proposes to Lindsay. He is actually in love with both women. 
 
 What makes the show so interesting is that Bob, our protagonist, wants out of the con game. In the first episode, he sets a plan in motion to leave the scamming behind without either woman, or the web of people surrounding them, finding out. So in some ways, he’s a good guy. But in another way, he’s morally effed-up—after all, his vision of “doing the right thing” is establishing a life with both women and traveling between them. In the opening scene of last night’s episode, Bob tells Lindsay that he wants to plan a wedding so that she will have a day with everyone she loves around her. What prompts this realization? A daydream he has of his wedding to Cat. 
 
 What also makes the show so interesting is the fact that this guy is living on a card house. I’ve seen shows where a character has to deceive one person. Here, he has to deceive two simultaneously. And there are already serious dents in his armor: Lindsay realized last night that he didn’t go to the high school he said he did. Meanwhile, Cat’s brother is skeptical of Bob. And his father is going against his wishes and escalating the oil company scam. It’s great drama with so many possibilities for how it could unfold. 
 
 Tone-wise, the show reminds me of one of my all-time favorites, “Friday Night Lights.” It’s quiet and beautifully shot with low-key music. Not to mention the fact that it has that same gritty, Texas vibe. 
 
 The creator of the show, Kyle Killen, went on The Daily Beast yesterday and wrote a hilarious appeal trying to convince folks to watch the show. A sample moment: 
 
 Is it true that the numbers were so bad they’re making you mop floors at Fox? Apparently I failed to read all the clauses in my contract. And now you’ve written a letter to the Internet begging people to tune in. Have you no self-respect? I wasn’t begging. I wrote a letter arguing that despite the soft start and the tide of television history against us, we might pull off a stunning upset and grow our audience in our second week. Sort of a Miracle On Ice thing where we’re America and Dancing With the Stars is the Soviet Union. I also offered to mow lawns. 
 
 So let’s start watching. ||||| Talk about a major television show FAIL. How pissed would you be if your show got cancelled after two episodes? FOX doesn't play around. They pulled the plug on Lone Star, a show that, in theory, actually sounded good. I never watched it, but how could you go wrong with something that's been described as "a little bit Mad Men, a little bit Dallas, a sprinkling of Profit, plus a lot of Sopranos"? 
 
 Apparently, the show's creators didn't do something right, and they now have a place in the short-lived television show graveyard. Let's take a stroll and check out the tombstones of seven other short-lived shows: 
 
 Love Monkey: Debuting in 2006, CBS pulled the rug out from underneath this comedy after just three episodes. The remaining episodes went on to air on VH1, where, as we all know, television shows go to die. 
 
 Police Squad: It's amazing that this 1982 series, which spawned the incredibly successful Naked Gun movie trilogy, only lasted six episodes. Short-lived because of short-sightedness. Bet someone got fired over that one. 
 
 Do Not Disturb: Starring Jerry O'Connell, directed by Jason Bateman, created by the same folks who did The Office, Ugly Betty, and The Tudors ... one would think it'd be a success, but it got the pink slip after three episodes in '08. 
 
 Tuesday Night Book Club: CBS's version of Bravo's Real Housewives series was cancelled immediately following the second episode. 
 
 Turn-On: What's been said to be one of the biggest flops in television history, Turn-On was a comedy sketch that aired on ABC in 1969 and was cancelled immediately after the first episode aired. It was raunchy, it only had a white background for the set, and it used a synthesizer -- surely that'd be a recipe for success? 
 
 The Return of Jezebel James: One put-together sister is infertile while the flighty other sister can have a baby -- hmm, groundbreaking. FOX cancelled this predictable series in 2008 after just three episodes. 
 
 Bob Patterson: After Seinfield ended (ugh, worst finale ever), Jason Alexander attempted his own gig called Bob Patterson about a guy who was a hugely successful motivational speaker. Needless to say, the show was not as it was cancelled after five episodes. 
 
 Did you ever watch a television series that you felt was cut too soon? What's your favorite short-lived show? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Image via FOX.com 
 
 
 

– After just two episodes, Fox’s Lone Star has been canceled—but that’s nowhere near surprising, writes Jace Lacob on the Daily Beast. The broadcast network business has become increasingly “cutthroat,” and Lone Star was severely ratings-challenged (although people seemed to like it). “Unlike cable, there is no significant opportunity to find an audience if a show doesn’t click with the public in the first week,” he writes, and lists 10 other shows from the past 15 years that have been put out of their misery after one or two episodes. View clips in the gallery, or for the complete list, click here.