The Marlins Are So Bad, Showtime Canceled The Franchise Early

The profanity-filled televised examination of a miserable baseball season that was The Franchise: Miami Marlins will come to a premature end Wednesday as Showtime airs its final episode of the series, one producers hoped might show the ins and outs of a pennant contender but ended up being organizational ruin porn.

Not only will the Marlins decline an opportunity to continue the series past its eight-episode allotment, but they'll actually cut the series short at seven episodes according to the . MLB Productions and the Marlins agreed to count a preview episode aired in April as part of the series run in order to fulfill the contract.

Marlins president David Samson told the that "Given the state of our season, it was decided that the original 8 would suffice." We beg to differ; wouldn't the lame duck days of a disappointing season actually create more drama for the TV screen? It's easy to blame Showtime for being a distraction, though Samson told the Sun-Sentinel last month the program was a "non-factor."