Top 10 Shows Cancelled Before Their First Season Ended

This ABC sitcom starred Malin Åkerman as (you guessed it) a trophy wife to lawyer Pete, played by Bradley Whitford. However, with two ex-wives and three kids, it made for some engaging situational comedy. While the premise isn’t groundbreaking, the show was a positive and heartwarming display of an unusual family dynamic. And it was elevated by terrific performances from Åkerman and Whitford, as well as the ex-wives played by Marcia Gay Harden and Michaela Watkins. Despite glowing reviews and an ardent fanbase, the viewership numbers just weren’t high enough, and ABC cancelled the series mere days before the Season 1 finale aired.

A family crime story from Paul Haggis, Oscar-winning writer of “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash,” seems like it should have been destined for greatness. But that sadly wasn’t the case. The series follows the four Irish-American Donnelly brothers and their criminal misdeeds in Hell’s Kitchen. While its dark themes and violence may have been more at home on HBO, the NBC drama still offered compelling characters and great performances from Jonathan Tucker and Olivia Wilde. Unfortunately, NBC cancelled the series halfway through its first season, with the remaining episodes airing online. Even more unfortunate is that it ends on a tantalizing cliffhanger.

Single-camera comedies are a dime a dozen, but “Enlisted” showed great promise. It follows an Army staff sergeant who returns from Afghanistan and must look after a misfit platoon at a Florida base. Only, two of those misfits are his younger brothers. The bond between the three brothers, played by Geoff Stults, Parker Young, and Chris Lowell, always felt genuine and hilarious. The show received fantastic reviews, but couldn’t draw in viewers before Fox canned it nine episodes in. And giving the new comedy a Friday night time slot and airing episodes out of order probably didn’t help. This wasn’t the first time Fox fumbled a show’s schedule, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

This ABC comedy spy series followed an FBI agent and CIA operative spearheading a team in various missions around the world. Leads Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan had great chemistry, and it was such fun seeing the group galavant through beautiful locations each episode. The performances and the fact that the show didn’t take itself too seriously made it an enjoyable romp. But that didn’t lead to a high viewer count. And ABC cancelled the show with two episodes left to air. Although a fan campaign to see the show continue did give the network pause, it was unfortunately unsuccessful.

With “Lost” coming to a close, it seemed as if this ABC sci-fi drama would take its place. It seemingly tried to pull in the same viewers with a similarly high concept and even some of the same actors. It began with an event that saw everyone on Earth pass out for two minutes and seventeen seconds, witnessing a vision of their lives six months into the future. Performances from John Cho, Joseph Fiennes, Dominic Monaghan, and many others brought the grand plans to life. However, despite a few Emmy noms and one win, “FlashForward” sadly didn’t bring in enough viewers. It was cancelled two weeks before its finale aired, which had characters experience another vision, one we never got to see come to fruition.

With only four of its six episodes airing on TV, “Police Squad!” definitely had the shortest lifespan of any show on this list. But you’d be mistaken if you think that speaks to its quality. The series came from the creators of “Airplane!” and starred Leslie Nielsen as a detective lieutenant in a hilarious spoof of police procedurals. The humor was top notch, leading to excellent reviews. But ABC still cancelled it, with then-entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos stating the humor demanded the viewer to pay too close attention. However, Nielsen and the creators collaborated later on the beloved spin-off film trilogy, “The Naked Gun.” All’s well that ends well.

Aaron Sorkin writes incredible dialogue, as evidenced by shows like “The West Wing.” But not all of his projects have been successful. This NBC dramedy starred Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford (appearing on our list a second time) as the writer and showrunner respectively of a floundering late night sketch comedy show. The cast was fantastic and the writing was spectacular, and it was a delight seeing the spirited characters interact with one another. It was nominated for five Emmys. But as we’ve seen many times already, critical darlings don’t always draw in the views. This was the fate of “Studio 60,” which NBC cancelled over a month before its finale aired.

It’s no secret that DC has struggled with many live-action adaptations. But one of its best in recent memory should have gotten more love. “Swamp Thing” follows a scientist who’s killed in a Louisiana swamp and his memories are transferred into the titular elemental creature. The series featured tremendous effects and horror elements. But it also aired on DC Universe, a streaming platform that was inevitably doomed. “Swamp Thing” was cancelled one episode into its ten-episode season. While the CW did pick up the broadcast rights, we’ve yet to hear anything about a revival. And while other like shows have grown stronger on HBO Max, it seems this one might be left behind.

In 1999, now comedic heavyweights Paul Feig and Judd Apatow created a high school show that chronicled the lives of normal students (i.e. the “unpopular” kids). The creators reportedly had frequent clashes over what the show should be like with NBC, which changed its schedule and gave it poor time slots. Low viewership numbers followed, as did cancellation twelve episodes into the season. Now, “Freaks and Geeks” is considered one of the best teen dramedies of all time. Its storylines were a perfect balance of heartfelt and humorous, its characters felt entirely real, and its soundtrack was packed with awesome classic rock. Almost everyone who worked on the show went on to have dynamite careers, but we’ll always miss the students of McKinley High.

Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” is frequently cited as undergoing one of the most tragic TV cancellations ever, and for good reason. The space Western follows the highs and lows of the Serenity crew as they run from the law and make a living any way they can. It was unlike anything on TV at the time and it was bolstered by wonderfully quotable dialogue delivered by rich characters, led by Nathan Fillion’s Malcolm Reynolds. It should have flourished over a long run. But Fox aired the episodes out of order, including the two-hour pilot that explained its characters and world. It was canceled after eleven episodes, but its supportive fanbase helped “Firefly” grow into a multimedia franchise with a movie, comics, novels, and board games.