CANCELLED TOO SOON #1: Cupid

This is a recurring feature that I just made up. TV shows that never got the chance they should've had, and fell under the axe before their time. Up first: Cupid. Also, this entry has more IMDb links than you can shake a stick at. Well, it would have to be a very large stick, anyway.

Cupid, which aired 14 episodes from 1998-99, was the story of Trevor Hale (Jeremy Piven), a man who may be, or may only think he is, Cupid, the god of love, and Dr. Claire Allen (Paula Marshall, whose streak of cancelled TV shows rivals the king of series-killers, Ted McGinley), the psychologist who takes on his case. Trevor/Cupid claims he has been exiled from Mt. Olympus, and the only way to win back the favor of Zeus and return home is to unite 100 couples in true love -- without the help of his legendary bow and arrows.

While I loved the show at the time, the "100 couples" thing struck me as hubris -- 100 episodes being the magic number to achieve syndication. As it turns out, he fell about 85 couples/episodes short. (Funnily enough, another show that debuted at the same time, Brimstone, had a similarly overreaching premise -- Peter Horton, a cop sent to hell, was returned to earth in order to recapture 113 escaped damned souls. In its defense, it did feature John Glover as the Devil, which is the best Satanic casting since Gary Cole in the also cancelled too soon American Gothic. Hmm, I think I've gotten off track here.)

The charm of the show was almost entirely dependent on Piven's vast comedic charisma, which he utilized in crashing Marshall's group therapy sessions, picking out the likeliest prospects and finding them romance. He was all constant motion and unquenchable positivity, machine-gunning quips and come-ons faster than Bruce Willis in Moonlighting. Marshall did her best to keep up, and I'll admit, her success was closer to Cybill Shepherd's than Pam Dawber's. She's very attractive, and an able comedic actress, and she gave almost as good as she got. But the show was all about Piven, and its success or failure depended on him. I thought he succeeded by a mile. America disagreed. Stupid America.

The show also had one of the best theme songs ever: "Human," by the Pretenders (listening to which is what got me started on this entry). The show came out almost a year before the album on which the song was featured, which makes me think the song was written specifically for the show, as do the lyrics:

If love was a war, it's you who has won
While I was confessing it, you held your tongue
Now the damage is done
Well, there's blood in these veins
And I cry when in pain
I'm only human on the inside
And if looks could deceive
Make it hard to believe
I'm only human on the inside

The true shame of Cupid's cancellation is that I think this was Piven's best opportunity to become a real star. He's a highly visible actor, but generally relegated to small roles either opposite real-life best friend John Cusack, or as a raging douchebag, as in Old School, or both, as in One Crazy Summer. He can and should be carrying romantic comedies as the lead, as he did in Cupid, and if there's any justice in Hollywood (which there isn't), he will someday. In something better than PCU, hopefully.