10 Famous Shows Canceled Before Their First Season Ended

We all have those shows that got away, canceled by their home network or streaming service before we were ready to say goodbye. Most of these shows get at least a few seasons to try to find an audience of dedicated viewers before their time is up, amassing a small but mighty fanbase willing to post angrily on social media when their fave gets the inevitable axe. Others only stay for a season, accidental miniseries with endless potential we’ll never get to see, alas.

Some of these unintended single season shows don’t even get that much. What’s worse than not getting renewed for a second stab at it? Getting canceled before your first season has even finished airing. It’s rare, but not that rare, and it’s happened to more than a few shows that critics and audiences later agreed deserved more than they got. It can happen to a quality high-concept story from a celebrated auteur as easily as it can happen to an ill-conceived spinoff of something better, especially when a network expects big audience numbers and gets the opposite.

Beyond the standard “ratings” excuse, these shows were canceled for a wide range of reasons, from networks and showrunners refusing to see eye to eye on certain themes to something as simple as episodes being aired out of order, thus confusing would-be fans. And sometimes, let’s face it, the show is just bad! Whatever the reason, these shows barely got a shot at being shows before their dreams were dashed. Maybe they’ll get a streaming reboot in a few years.