Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

In the world of television a show that goes on for the exact right amount of time is a rare occurrence, more often than not the show goes on too long and loses its way or it's actually good and gets canceled way too soon. Here we discuss the shows that were pulled before their prime. In this list we aren’t even touching the shows that were attempted and canceled by streaming services, these were forgotten and beloved shows from the network days of TV.

FIREFLY

First we start with a show that is universally agreed upon as one of the best single season shows in existence. Hardly anyone would argue that Firefly deserved more time on the air. Now network TV was known to be finicky and fickle but canceling Firefly after a single season was a travesty. Funny, adventurous and Nathan Fillion, what more could you want out of a TV show?

SMASH

Now if you were a theater kid, the canceling of this show was a double edged sword, on the one hand it was very upsetting because the show was full of Broadway royalty and the story left us on a cliffhanger. On the other hand most of that Broadway royalty returned to the stage that very season and we are getting a real life Broadway version of the show. As musical TV shows go, SMASH kicked Glee’s ass and we didn’t even get to see it grow into its fullest potential. Sidenote as someone who completely adores Marilyn Monroe, the show had my whole heart.

RINGER

So this one is a little more underground then the previous two but if you are like me and follow all of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s life work then you know about the brilliance that was Ringer. Apparently the producers and the network had already pushed it by making it a full TV show as it was originally intended to be a mini-series with only a few, set amount of episodes. But of course the network wanted a chance to pull in more money so they tried to make a second season as well but the love of our lives Sarah Michelle decided that the story had run its course and told them no. And while I could have watched that show forever and as a writer there were many places to go with the story I have an incredible amount of respect for her for standing her ground and dictating her career.

THE CRAZY ONES

Okay, yes this is another Sarah Michelle Gellar project but it also includes Robin Williams and it was canceled after a single season despite being sweet, funny and playful. The chemistry between Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle was heartfelt and beautiful and I re-watch this so often it is the perfect comfort show.

There are so many more but this is a personal list because I can…what pretty much all of these have in common is network interference. They didn’t have the ratings or the projected income to stay on the air and networks decided that it wasn’t worth a temporary loss. Now in the world of streaming services I’m not sure shows like this would get made, but I do know that if they were they would have a chance to grow into themselves without risk of cancellation. I’ve been very vocal about the fact that streaming services have saved screenwriting but more than that it saves creative teams from trying to please the producers and the ratings. Shows are no longer in jeopardy based on initial reception, they have a chance to grow.