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 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.
- 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 teen finds new friends and trouble in high school.
- A family journeys back to prehistoric times as part of an experiment to save the human race.
- An Iraq war veteran uses his powers as a Finder to locate people and things law enforcement cannot.
- 10In an alternate history, superheroes are treated as outlaws.
- A teenage girl learns she is a witch with a dangerous destiny.
- Good battles evil in outer space.
- Cadavers appeal to a morgue worker for help.
- 14A comedy about three women altering their current paths through life.
- Fantasy adventure in an unusual town.
- Stephen helps genetically advanced teenagers hide from the paramilitary group hunting them down.
- Humanity must come to grips with individuals suddenly seeing their futures.
- 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
- 19Long dead former Alcatraz inmates reappear on the streets of San Francisco.
- 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
- An archivist takes a job restoring videotapes and gets pulled into a mystery involving the director.
- 22When mysterious wreckage falls from the sky, two agents must investigate each powerful fragment.
- A long-broken ham radio connects a detective with her father, who died on the job 20 years earlier.
- While looking into an epidemic, CDC investigator Abby Arcane discovers that swamps hold secrets.
- Emery and Roman struggle to have a relationship despite the animosity between their communities.
