Cancelled Too Soon: New Amsterdam (2008)

2008’s New Amsterdam (starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) had the potential to turn into a decent genre series, but FOX gave up on it before it aired.

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What Is It?

This blink-and-you-missed-it series  focused on Detective John Amsterdam (played by future Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who has been alive since the 17th century.  He was born in 1607 and came to New Amsterdam (now New York) in the New World when he was fourteen.  He was almost killed in 1642 when trying to save a Native American girl, but she cast a spell on him that would keep him alive until he found his true love.  In the present day, he works as a detective for the New York police department while also seeking a “cure” for his immortality.

Aired: FOX, 2008, 1 Season Totaling 8 Episodes

Starring:  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Alexie Gilmore, Stephen Henderson

Created By: Allan Loeb, Christian Taylor

Why Was It Cancelled?

This blink-and-you-missed-it series (not to be confused with the 2018 medical drama of the same name) was basically Highlander meets cop drama and in many ways it also laid the groundwork for 2014’s Forever (which was also cancelled after one season, more on that one at this link).  But it definitely had a charm about it (probably in part due to the always-welcome presence of Coster-Waldau) and transcended its limitations to suggest it could have turned into a decent series.  Unfortunately, that never happened because its network had apparently given up on it before it even aired.

Originally intended for the Fall 2007 season, FOX stopped production on the show after only eight episodes had been produced and gave all indications that it was dead in the water and would never be broadcast. It only managed to make it to the airwaves when the 2007 writers’ strike left the networks with little in the way of original programming available for the second half of the 2007-08 season. It debuted on a Tuesday in March of 2008 and ranked as the sixth most-watched show for the week. Its numbers dropped after that when it moved to its regular Thursday timeslot and had to contend with other shows coming back from their extended hiatus caused by the strike, but not by too much.

Still, the FOX executives had apparently only considered it an emergency fill-in and let the show fade into Television Wasteland after it had aired its eight produced episodes. It may never have counted as a classic genre entry, but it had some potential (as did Forever), and could have developed into a sleeper series.  Interestingly enough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would also star in the failed sci-fi pilot Virtuality which aired on FOX the following year (more on that one at this link).  Of course he then went on to greater fame playing Jamie Lannister GoT.

Should It Be Rebooted?

The concept of an immortal detective was explored again with Forever in 2014, but that show only lasted one season, so the networks and streaming services are probably not that interested in retreading that territory again. A revival with Coster-Waldau could be challenging because the character John Amsterdam was supposed to be immortal, and it would be difficult to explain how he aged. But perhaps it could happen and maybe a revival would draw some interest if the former Game of Thrones star expressed an interest in returning to the property. But beyond that, it seems unlikely that we will ever get more than the eight episodes originally produced for this series.

Where Can You Watch It?

This show has never received a DVD or Blu-ray release, and it is also not available for streaming on any of the the major services. You may be able to find episodes on YouTube from time-to-time, or seek out a bootleg DVD release of the series.

Read about more Sci Fi TV shows cancelled too soon at this link.

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