Some of the best shows ever didn't stay on TV for as long as they should have.

That's just how it is in the cutthroat TV industry, where impatient network executives are focused only on last night's ratings. Indeed, some shows don't even make it to debut — recently NBC canceled its Will Ferrell-produced, Krysten Ritter sitcom "Mission Control" and Fox canceled the ambitious ancient Egyptian drama "Hieroglyph" before they even aired.

As new series make their way to the small screen this fall, we're looking over the best shows that were canceled before their time, ranked in order of increasing greatness.

17. CBS: "Jericho" fans pulled an incredible stunt that got the show back on the air for one final season.

Seasons: 2 (2006-2008)

What it's about: CBS' sci-fi actioner centers around the small town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on the country.

Why it shouldn't have been canceled: The show was so beloved after only one season that when news of its cancellation went public, fans sent more than 40,000 pounds of peanuts to the CBS offices in an effort to change executives' minds. The nuts were an ode to the final scene of season 1 in which Jake Green exclaims "nuts" when a neighboring community takes over the town and demands he surrender. The stunt worked, and the show was given one more season before taking the ax yet again after ratings didn't improve. "Jericho" ranks No. 11 on TV Guide's list of "Top Cult Shows Ever."

16. ABC: "Pushing Daisies" suffered from the writers strike.

Seasons: 2 (2007-2009)

What it's about: Bryan Fuller's quirky fantasy/comedy series stars Lee Pace ("Guardians of the Galaxy") as Ned, a piemaker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with a simple touch. 

Why it shouldn't have been canceled: "Pushing Daises" was unlike any other show on television, and that ultimately led to its downfall. The show was simply too out there for general audiences, and while critics and fans adored the series, it never gained a large enough audience to sustain life. "Daisies" also suffered from poor timing, as the infamous writers strike took place during production. The series won seven Emmys and a DGA award and received three Golden Globe nominations in just two years.

15. HBO: "Mr. Show" was funny but didn't connect with viewers.

Seasons: 4 (1995-1998)

What it's about: "Mr. Show" is a sketch comedy series that aired on HBO and starred Bob Odenkirk ("Breaking Bad") and David Cross ("Arrested Development") before they really hit it big. Many popular comedians and writers, like Paul F. Tompkins and Comedy Bang Bang's Scott Aukerman, got their start on the show. 

Why it shouldn't have been canceled:  "Mr. Show" stood out from the pack by being darker, more subversive, and well-rounded than its competition. The series felt like an American answer to "Monty Python" in a lot of ways, especially when seemingly unrelated sketches would connect to one another via goofy segues. "Mr. Show" was nominated for Emmys in both 1998 and 1999, and the AV Club loves it so much that its writers went back and reviewed the series in 2010.

The best utility apps are designed to make your hectic life a little bit easier, and maybe even more enjoyable.

From apps that makes budgeting beautiful to ones that let you know the exact minute it's going to rain, there's something for every lifestyle.

We've collected the best of the best in this unique mix, and we tossed in a few lesser-known surprises to show what modern apps can do.

Dark Sky tells you exactly when it's about to rain (or snow).

Dark Sky does one thing very well: It tells you exactly when inclement weather, like rain or snow, is going to happen. The app is beautifully designed and features a precipitation timeline that lets you know minute-by-minute predictions for when you can expect rain.

Price: $3.99 (iOS)

Level Money helps you budget your spending in an easy and elegant way.

Level Money links to your bank account to help you know how much you can spend today, meaning you never have to manually input your purchases. It takes into account your income, monthly spending habits, and how much you're trying to save. If you spend more than you should on a given day, the app will adjust and tell you to spend less the following day.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

FlyCleaners lets you choose when to have your laundry picked up and dropped off.

FlyCleaners is great for when you're just too busy to find time to do your laundry. The app lets you choose when to have you laundry picked up, and your first time they provide free bags. Your laundry is then whisked away, and you can set a time on the app to have it dropped off when it's finished.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Peyton Manning is one of the most likable athletes in professional sports so it is easy to overlook how insanely competitive he is both on and off the field.

It's that competitiveness that has Manning on the verge of breaking the record for most touchdown passes in NFL history. It has also helped him remain one of the best players in the NFL despite being 38 and having been through multiple neck surgeries.

The intense anecdotes include what he went through to keep playing after neck surgery, his sneaky first quarterbacks meeting in college, and his crazy work-ethic in high school.

Even when he gets a day off from practice to rest his ankle he still wears a helmet to listen to play calls and watches game film in the ice tub.

via DenverBroncos.com

In high school, Peyton would practice at 4:30 or 5:00 every morning with his father, Archie Manning, and his brothers, Eli and Cooper.

via TheMMQB.com

He once showed up to the Colts practice facility at 4:00 am after a night game because he wanted to get work in before an 8:30 am charity engagement.

via ESPN.com

Two former McDonald's executives are trying to make kale, quinoa, and other upscale foods mainstream with a restaurant chain called LYFE Kitchen.

The chain, which calls itself "fresh casual," has 12 locations and ambitious plans to open another 250 within the next five years.

Every dish on the menu is under 600 calories with less than 1,000 milligrams of sodium, and the average check size is $4 to $14, according to the company.

Butter, trans fats, white sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and other food additives are barred from the menu, and locally sourced ingredients are used when available.

Jason Barell, a friend of the site, shared pictures of one of LYFE Kitchen's Colorado locations with us.

Mike Roberts, the former global president of McDonald's, teamed up with Stephen Sidwell, who helped found the meat substitute Gardein, and Mike Donahue, McDonald's USA's former chief of corporate communications, to launch LYFE Kitchen three years ago.

Inside, the seating includes a mix of padded benches, standalone chairs, and couches. Small pots of herbs and pepper grinders are arranged on the tables. "The ambiance is modern, welcoming, and clean," Barell says.

This wall of herbs is central to all LYFE Kitchen locations. It displays basil, bay leaves, lavender, chives, oregano, and a variety of other herbs used on the menu.

Museums provide the unique experience of seeing some of the greatest masterpieces of all time close up. Walking the halls of some of the famed museums allow the chance to learn about different societies, ideas, and values. 

To celebrate some of the most incredible museums in the world, we have rounded up the winners of the TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice awards for 2014. 

From Bogota to Chicago, here are the top 25 museums in the world. 

No. 25 The Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia, has the largest collection of pre-Hispanic gold.

Calle 16 # 588, Bogotá, Colombia

The Museo del Oro in Bogota, Colombia, has more than 33,000 items of gold and emeralds crafted in pre-Hispanic times. 

The collection includes bracelets, earrings, necklaces, breast plates, masks, figurines, and rings created from 500 B.C. until the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. 

No. 24 The Museum of New Zealand is called Te Papa Tongarewa, which means "the place of treasures of this land."

55 Cable St, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, is located in Wellington. The national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa allows visitors to explore the treasures and stories of New Zealand. It has collections on art, history, Pacific, Māori — the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand — and natural environment.

No. 23 The Inhotim is a giant art gallery set amid 500,000 acres of botanical gardens in southeast Brazil.

Rua B 20, Brumadinho, State of Minas Gerais 35460-000, Brazil

The Inhotim is a contemporary art museum in southeast Brazil. Founded by the mining billionaire Bernardo Paz, the contemporary art museum was once his own personal ranch. Paz converted the garden into a contemporary art space, and it opened to the public in 2006. 

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is the tallest tower in the world at 2,722 feet tall with 160 floors.

And now it also has the highest observation deck on level 148— a stunning 1,821 feet above the ground. It beat out the previous world record holder Canton Tower with its 1,601 foot high observation deck in Guangzhou, China.

This makes the fourth Guinness World Records title for the Burj Khalifa, including the tallest building, tallest man-made structure, and highest restaurant.

And because it’s not enough just to see the view, the Burj Khalifa put together an entire experience called At the Top, Burj Khalifa SKY.

First, it takes visitors from the ground level of The Dubai Mall to level 125. Not even the elevator ride is boring — the elevators travel at 33 feet per second with special projections that make it appear as though you’re soaring above other global landmarks. 

Once you reach Level 125, you have 360-degree views of the city plus more interactive features. You can then get back on another high-speed elevator and shoot up to the 148th floor — the SKY level — for the highest outdoor terrace in the world. The entire experience lasts over an hour.

Tickets are not even that pricey, ranging from $34 to $40 for an adult (AED 125 to 150) and $25 to $32 for a child (AED 95 to AED 120) at today’s conversion rates, with prices depending on the time of day. Fast track tickets cost roughly $81 or AED 300.

Even though it opened only two days ago on Wednesday, already there are plenty of Instagram shots of what it looks like. Take a look below.

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SEE ALSO: The Best New Buildings On The Planet

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Jerry Jones' 1989 purchase of the Dallas Cowboys is one of the great investments in American sports history.

The team is now a behemoth, raking in hundreds of millions per year in revenue while playing in the country's most opulent stadium, and Jones is the primary beneficiary.

That has allowed him to live a lavish lifestyle when he's away from the field. He owns a mansion in one of the country's richest zip codes, collects modern art, and has all sorts of other toys.

Jones bought the Cowboys for $151 million in 1989.

Source: ESPN

The team is now worth $3.2 billion — more than every team in the world except Real Madrid.

Source: Forbes

He makes a ton of money from the team and his $1.25 billion stadium.

Few things are more telling than Halloween costumes. Though there are costume choices that consistently top lists each year — princesses, pirates, and sexy nurses are always popular — pop culture tends to make things a little more interesting.

We've rounded up the most iconic Halloween costumes from the last 20 years, using a helpful infographic from Spirit Halloween and other sites that measured Twitter mentions and Google searches.

They tell us what mattered most in pop culture at that point in time, whether it was a particular character from a movie or television show or an outrageous musician who had everyone talking. 

So here they are, from 1994 to present day.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were huge in 1994. Twenty years later, "Power Rangers Megaforce" is still on TV, but it's the Mighty Morphins that are the most recognizable breed of Power Rangers to this day.

Star Trek costumes became popular once again when the first season of "Star Trek: Voyager" premiered in 1995.

Middle schoolers everywhere dressed up as serial killer Ghostface in 1996, the year the first "Scream" movie premiered.

The beauty of Ubisoft's open-world "Assassin's Creed" series isn't necessarily the gameplay or the characters. 

It's how amazingly real the settings look. 

The games are historically accurate and so full of rich detail, you almost feel like you're visiting the locations in real life. 

Previous games have taken place in 15th-century Florence, Venice, and most recently, America during the Revolution, and on the high seas during the 18th century. But with the next next iteration, called "Assassin's Creed: Unity," Ubisoft decided to go back to the franchise's roots and set the game back in a densely populated European city: Paris. 

"When we started 'Unity,' we knew that this was going to be the first fully 'next-gen' title of 'Assassin's Creed,'" Ubisoft Montreal creative director Alexandre Amancio told Business Insider.

"Because we knew this, we also knew this was probably a good time to go back to the roots. Any franchise, be it video game or movie, especially those that rely on rich narratives, tend to start becoming bogged down by the weight of their own mythology. So we knew that this was going to be a sort of new start."

When the first "Assassin's Creed" game came out in 2007, it introduced something called "social stealth," where you could blend in with the crowds.

The idea of interactive crowds was new to the video game industry at the time. And back then, Ubisoft boasted that there were 200 nonplayable characters loaded at once.

With "Unity," that number has been boosted to thousands. 

The team looked at several different timelines in Paris' history and landed on setting it during the French Revolution.

"It's a period where not only is there political upheaval and a lot of interesting and famous historical characters, but there's huge crowds. And the crowds are not happy,"Amancio said. "It offered the proper fuel for our new narrative."

And much like in the games before it, the imagery is stunning. 

Here's Notre Dame in the game. It took the artist who created it close to a year to model it inside and out.

"Sometimes we actually do intentionally slip in some inconsistencies. For example the famous spire in the back of Notre Dame wasn't built until almost 100 years later," Amancio says. "We felt that when people saw Notre Dame, if that wasn't there, it wouldn't feel like Notre Dame. It's not done out of a mistake. Sometimes what feels real and what is real are two very different things."

This is what Notre Dame looks like in real life.

The retail industry is undergoing a dramatic shift: E-commerce is capturing a larger share of sales than ever before. 

We've created a slideshow highlighting the retail categories where e-commerce is having the most impact, and where there is still opportunity for disruption. The shift away from physical retail toward digital retail is happening faster than many observers expected. 

BI Intelligence is a research and analysis service focused on mobile computing, digital media, payments, and e-commerce. Only subscribers can download the individual charts and datasets in Excel, along with the PowerPoint and PDF versions of this deck. Please sign up for a free trial here.

The secret-sharing app Whisper faced some serious heat this week when two reporters from The Guardian wrote a scathing exposé that accused the startup of gathering information about users and violating their privacy. 

Whisper immediately fired back that The Guardian's story was full of "lousy falsehoods," and that it does not collect or store any personally identifiable information from users, insisting its service is completely anonymous. 

The Guardian has since responded, reiterating that Whisper does collect users' smartphone ID codes, their IP data, and, if people turn on their geolocation services, their location within 500 meters. 

So, what kinds of things are people sharing on Whisper anyway?

Their jobs:

Their relationships:

Body issues:

Cube farms with fluorescent lights may describe the majority of today's American offices, but increasingly savvy companies — especially those in tech — are creating newer, cooler, more innovative spaces for their employees.

"They understand it can help recruit talent and foster creativity among employees," says Scott Dobroski, a community expert at Glassdoor, a popular online career community. "Employees often feel more creative and innovative when they're in a physical workplace that supports this same sentiment."

Earlier this year, with help from Glassdoor, we published a slideshow of the 31 most inspiring offices. After sifting through the thousands of photos submitted to its site by employees, it discovered a few more to add to the list. 

Zappos introduced a UFO-shaped conference room in the center of its courtyard that can be booked for meetings.

More Zappos photos here.

Starbucks brings Seattle-based employees together with a homey, full-service cafeteria.

More Starbucks photos here.

Groupon uses themed spaces, such as a Tiki room, to spark creativity.

More Groupon photos here.

Audi announced this week that it will unleash one of its fire-breathing RS7 sports sedans upon the track at Germany's world-famous Hockenheimring race track.

But it gets better. The automaker has loaded the car up with a full complement of autonomous vehicle technology — it's a step toward the "self-driving car" than companies like Google have been working on. Except that instead of being a Prius going 30 miles around Silicon Valley, the RS7 will be flying around a race track breakneck speed.

And it's going to do it without the guidance of a driver. 

The demonstration event will happen at this weekend's DTM German Touring Car race at the track. Audi will broadcast the high speed driverless demonstration live this Sunday on Audi Media TV.

Many people in the auto industry believe driverless technology will be the wave of the future.

Unfortunately, most of the driverless cars introduced, Audi's included, have so far been fairly innocuous family cars.

Until now.

Mel Gibson just cannot find a buyer for his $30 million Costa Rican estate (via Curbed).

The home, which has been languishing on the market since 2010, was purchased by Gibson back in 2007 as a refuge from the paparazzi that dogged him.

And though you may not think of Costa Rica as a super exclusive retreat for millionaires, this piece of real estate may just change your mind.

The estate has over 500 acres of secluded jungle surrounding it, as well as three villas on the property.

This is the third time the forested compound has been listed for sale. The first was in 2010 for $32 million and the second in 2012 for $29.8 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Maybe the third time will be the charm for this $29.7 million slice of paradise.

Playa Barrigona is located on the Nicoya Peninsula, a completely secluded section off the western coast of Costa Rica.

The Spanish influence radiates through the home, evident in the entrance courtyard.

The main home, Casa Guanacaste, is a hacienda-style residence with two floors, 8 bedrooms, and 7 bathrooms.

Nextage, a robot envisioned by Kwanda Industries to work side by side with people, is terrible at making coffee. 

Kwanda Industries wanted to make a big impression at Japan Robot Week and presented a tech demo of its service robot making a Nespresso.

And while the robot itself is an incredibly impressive feat —a two armed robot that basically moves like a human— watching it make coffee is pretty painful. It takes the robot a whole three minutes to make a cup of instant coffee while elevator music plays softly in the background. 

Overall, Japan's Robot Week featured some pretty incredible products, according to Bloomberg News: a robot that can respond to you, one that will tell you the weather, and even machines that look after bedridden patients by helping them walk. 

Although Nextage was showcased as a ‘barista who will make you coffee,’ it was designed to do so much more.

Kwanda Industries is working towards building industrial robots that are not only used in manufacturing plans, but ones that will work alongside human laborers. The Japan Times reports that the Robot has cameras on each of its arms and can detect movement and doesn’t collide with people who enter its space.

The description for the product is actually pretty creepy: “Nextage liberates human beings from menial repetitive labor, allowing us to focus on areas that require creativity and generate added value, such as process management and improvement activities."

There has been a growing fear of robots replacing human workers, and Kwanda’s description of its goals does not help to alleviate those concerns. 

"Nextage coexists with human beings, at the same time it collaborates with conventional industrial robots and specialized equipment," the company said. "Industrial robots are now in the next phase of their evolution, from mere 'equipment' to becoming a 'partner.'"

What would be really impressive is if the robot could make latte art. 

SEE ALSO: Robots Are Starting To Take Over Fast Food Jobs

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On a patch of palm-tree-abundant land by the Bay, the small city of East Palo Alto is an often forgotten corner of the Silicon Valley landscape.

Click to skip ahead to CodeCamp »

Situated between the Google and Facebook campuses, the racially mixed city has seen rapid gentrification since the technology industry boom of the last decade. Tech workers in search of affordable housing have moved in, driving up rent and house prices and helping to level off an unemployment rate that is nearly triple that of the county.

Still, East Palo Alto can't manage to shed its reputation for once having the country's highest murder rate. Gang activity persists in the form of turf feuds and drug-vendetta-inspired violence, despite an overall drop in crime.

One issue deepening the divide between the tech industry and the city's locals is the lack of opportunities for East Palo Alto residents to get in on the success. There are very few places to learn computer science in the area.

Two students at Stanford University set out to change that.

Earlier this month, we featured Shadi Barhoumi and Rafael Cosman on our list of the 15 Incredibly Impressive Students At Stanford. The duo, who met and became friends as computer science majors, launched a learn-to-code program this summer called CodeCamp. More than 50 students, ages 14 to 23, who live in East Palo Alto learned to write and design software with the help of over 40 mentors from nearby high schools, universities, and tech companies.

At CodeCamp, students gather in the glow of a computer monitor, rather than around a campfire. Arts and crafts are replaced with coding sprints, and campers explore major tech company campuses instead of the woods.

Far from being your typical camp, CodeCamp gives these kids an outlet into the vibrant world of technology, which suddenly doesn't seem so off-limits.

In its inaugural summer, CodeCamp welcomed more than 50 middle school, high school, and college-aged students from East Palo Alto — all with little to no programming experience — who learned to write and design software.

While CodeCamp is far from being the first alternative summer camp, it's unique in that its value for attendees pays in dividends. East Palo Alto is a small, racially diverse city wedged between the Facebook and Google campuses. Once boasting the country's highest murder rate, the neighborhood is often characterized by its gang activity and high unemployment rate.

Source: U.S. Census, SFGate.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

But the city's desirable location in the heart of Silicon Valley has led to rapid gentrification, with tech workers moving into the area and pricing out longtime East Palo Alto residents. However, there are very few opportunities to actually learn computer science here, deepening the divide between these two communities.

It's been a tough few weeks for the stock market. 

Over the last three months, each of the major averages has lost ground, and as of Friday's close, the Dow turned negative for the year. Additionally, the Federal Reserve is set to wind down its quantitative easing program at end of the month, after which investors will prepare for the Fed's first interest rate increase since 2006. 

Also in the background are continued indications that Europe's economy is slowing down, as well as unrest in the Middle East and Ukraine. 

Here to help investors navigate these market factors is JPMorgan's quarterly market guide, compiled by David Kelly and the Global Market Insights Strategy Team. 

This 67-slide presentation gives investors an overview of what to watch out for in stocks, bonds, real estate, and the rest of the investable universe. 

Thanks to JPMorgan Asset Management for giving us permission to feature this presentation.

JPMorgan's Q4 Guide To The Markets

JPMorgan's Q4 Guide To The Markets

JPMorgan's Q4 Guide To The Markets

Gold is an incredibly expensive substance.

But many things are worth more than their weight in gold.

Ranging from foods to creams to gems to things the average person can't fathom, we pulled together a list of 19 of the most expensive items in the world.

Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments.

19. White Truffles

Cost: Up to $5 per gram or $2,000 per pound

What you do with it: This seasonal mushroom can be shaved over pasta, steak, eggs, and rice and infused in oil to sprinkle on almost anything.

18. Saffron

Cost: $11.13 per gram or $5,040 per pound

What you do with it: Saffron is a flowering plant that can be used in natural remedies for everything from depression to menstrual cycles.

17. Iranian Beluga Caviar

Cost: $35 per gram or $1,000 per ounce

What you do with it: Also known as "almas," these costly fish eggs are eaten cold and in small bites as an appetizer and on unsalted crackers or bread.

Artist Jon Rafman spends hours culling through Google's Street View images to find bizarre and stunning moments happening all over the world.

He created a Tumblr, 9-eyes — named after the 9 cameras Google Street View uses— where he curates the best images he finds.

Rafman says sometimes he picks a location and "just wanders," captivated by what he sees.

He also doesn't document where exactly the photos were taken. 

He told The New York Times in 2013: 

There’s also this excitement that potentially I was the first to ever look at this image because there’s no cameraman — it’s just a robot. There’s something inherently exciting knowing that you might be the first person to ever gaze upon a scene that happened in the past.

The photos are truly amazing.

A beautiful image of a forest covered in the purple shield plant.

A lone cabin in a forest.

This photo of a horseback rider.

A New York financier and his wife have listed their stunning Tribeca townhouse for $48 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The home belongs to financier Mark Zittman and his wife, the WSJ reports.

The 65-foot-wide mansion was created by real estate developer and entrepreneur Steven Schnall, who converted two older buildings into a singular townhouse to create the 11,300-square-foot home with a 65-foot-wide interior. 

The urban mansion has basically everything you could ever want out of a home: six floors, seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, four power rooms, two staircases, multiple skylights, a wood-paneled elevator, a media room, and a three-car garage. 

Oh, not to mention a 50-foot-long heated indoor swimming pool. Douglas Elliman Real Estate has the gorgeous listing. 

The townhouse is located in downtown Tribeca, one of the finest neighborhoods in Manhattan.

Designed by Wayne Turett, an award-winning architect, the townhouse is ideal for city living with huge windows and plenty of natural light.

It even has heated Walnut hardwood floors. Very luxurious.