The Best Shows Canceled After a Single Season
What are the best single-season canceled shows in television history? These shows were actually really great, but for whatever reason (usually ratings), they got the axe after just a handful of episodes. Without a doubt, many on this list of series canceled after one season deserved much longer runs and all these TV shows were canceled before their time. Vote for the shows you think didn't deserve just one season on the air and feel free to rerank this list your way, too.
It might surprise you to learn that despite their great successes, entertainment heavyweights like Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon didn't always come out on top. Whedon's Firefly remains one of the most unjust cancellations in TV history, as does Apatow's Freaks and Geeks (both are now among the all-time top cult TV shows). All of these single-season shows were canceled before they could have a sophomore season, much to our dismay. But this list also includes some more obscure shows. Even beloved stars like Matthew Perry and Jason Alexander couldn't get a second season on their own.
Add any one-season TV shows that might be missing because if you miss it, it qualifies. What single-season TV shows do you believe are the greatest ever? It's a safe bet that several of the 1 season TV shows listed here are also among the best TV shows in recent memory. Vote up the canceled single-season shows you think are the best and see where your favorites rank.
- The crew of a small transport ship experience a cosmic civil war.
- The lives of nerdy teenagers in a Michigan high school circa 1980.
- A 200-year-old but young-looking man is a medical examiner who hopes to understand his immortality.
- In the year 2048, a cop returns to work after surviving a catastrophic attack and a 17-month coma.
- A family journeys back to prehistoric times as part of an experiment to save the human race.
- Good battles evil in outer space.
- A teen finds new friends and trouble in high school.
- An Iraq war veteran uses his powers as a Finder to locate people and things law enforcement cannot.
- The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., often referred to as just Brisco or Brisco County, is an American Western/science fiction television series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. It ran for ...more
- A demon hunter and a girl with second sight travel the country fighting evil.
- A man with extraordinary, drug-induced cognitive powers solves complex cases for the FBI.
- Cadavers appeal to a morgue worker for help.
- Stephen helps genetically advanced teenagers hide from the paramilitary group hunting them down.
- Long dead former Alcatraz inmates reappear on the streets of San Francisco.
- A teenage girl learns she is a witch with a dangerous destiny.
- The Muppets (ABC, 2015), stylized as the muppets., is an American television comedy series co-created by Bill Prady and Bob Kushell. The series is set in Los Angeles and depicts the everyday personal ...more
- Humanity must come to grips with individuals suddenly seeing their futures.
- Fantasy adventure in an unusual town.
- While looking into an epidemic, CDC investigator Abby Arcane discovers that swamps hold secrets.
- In an update of Bram Stoker's iconic novel, Dracula travels to London, pretending to be an American entrepreneur with an interest in bringing modern science to Victorian England. The guise conceals ...more
- A long-broken ham radio connects a detective with her father, who died on the job 20 years earlier.
- A wizard and private detective uses his powers to solve crimes.
- Set nearly 60 years before the popular "Battlestar Galactica" series, this prequel traces the progress of two prominent families, the Greystones and the Adamas, in the peaceful world of the 12Â ...more
- Emery and Roman struggle to have a relationship despite the animosity between their communities.
- The exploits of a blue-clad superhero and his crimefighting cronies.