There are three things that are certain in life, death, taxes, and good TV shows being cancelled. We’ve all been there, watching our favourite show that just completed it’s first (or second) season only to be canned by the network. It’s a painful experience.
As part of Top Week, I’ll be going over my favourite TV shows that were unjustly cancelled.
Terra Nova
I’m still shocked this sci-fi show, with Stephen Spielberg as executive producer, failed to get past its first season. The show had a fantastically original concept. Earth is dying and in order to escape their bleak reality, humanity decides to go back in time 85 million years when dinosaurs were still roaming around.
It handled ideas like responsible consumption of natural resources in a way that wasn’t a dull lecture, but instead an engaging narrative that made me really think about the future of our planet. Sadly it was scrapped by Fox after its first season (13 episodes long) due to a poor critical reception, and low viewing figures.
Revolution
This show only made it through two seasons despite having J.J Abrams and Jon Favreua behind the camera. Similarly to Tera Nova’s look at our resource consumption, Revolution looked at what could happen if all our power suddenly went away and who would take control. The somewhat believable post-apocalyptic USA was split into six territories who would fight or ally with each-other in the powerless world they found themselves in.
The third season was set to be a ‘treasure hunt’ to find a stockpile of resources, which show-runner Eric Kripke showed a lot of excitement for. However, the show was panned by critics calling saying it had a ‘been-there-done-that’ feel, leading to it’s cancellation in 2013.
Arrested Development
This american sitcom often sits at the top of list like this, but after four critically praised seasons this show met its end in 2013. It saw the once rich Bluth family trying to retain their lavish lifestyle despite a change in circumstances, with the first season alone bringing back 6 Emmy’s and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
The cult following it attracted was not enough to balance out the low viewing figures and the show was cancelled in 2006. However, Netflix brought it back for one season in 2013 and the online platform has plans for a further 5th season this year.
Dirk Gently
I actually have to specify that I’m talking about the UK Dirk Gently TV show for this list, not the US one which by a strange coincidence has also just been cancelled (perhaps the show is cursed?). From Douglas Addams, writer of the world-famous Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, comes Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.
Starting out as a one-off special before getting an actual series, the show turned the detective genre on its head with bizarre storytelling involving time-travel and a mysterious AI. It’s original episode is still one of my favourite things to come out of the BBC, but sadly the show never came back after it’s full run in 2012 and it’s a huge shame to see that the american version met the same fate.
Pushing Daisies
Yet another clever TV show, which only got through two seasons, is the wonderful Pushing Daisies. It followed the main character, Ned the pie-maker, who has the ability to bring people (and animals) back to life but with deadly consequences if they remain alive for too long.
Despite this quite dark description, there was often an abundance of colour in every episode and it has been described by many as being a ‘forensic fairy-tail’. The show met its end after two seasons in 2009 and an attempt at a comic to round the show off would meet the same fate two years later when DC comics dropped the project.
Firefly
I can’t do a list of TV shows that were cancelled without mentioning the cult classic, Firefly. The show, made by Joss Whedon (a big name in the TV industry), didn’t even make it to the end of its first season before it was pulled off the air.
However, the show rose to become a classic as many fans praised its clever writing and sci-fi setting. In 2005, the movie Serenity was released which continues the story of the original TV show.
Heroes
Running for four years, Heroes has been one of the best superhero franchises we’ve ever had, even if it eventually declined in quality. Following the stories of several people across the world who suddenly acquire super-powers ranging from manipulating time and space, to being able fly, we saw how each person reacted differently to their abilities and how the world viewed them.
It was easily one of my favourite shows at the time and it did an excellent job of showing the powers of each character without being too ‘campy’ like the early Marvel and DC comics which influenced it. The series ended after four seasons, with the last one receiving very poor ratings due to its ‘grittier style’ putting fans and critics off. There was a revival show in 2015 titled Heroes Reborn, but that also failed to secure a second season after it got mixed reviews. It seems that despite having a promising start and great source material, this show was destined to fail.
Agent Carter
Expanding from the Marvel ‘One-Shot’ shorts, Agent Carter see’s Haley Atwell reprise her role as Peggy Carter in 1950’s America working for SHIELD in it’s early days. As a huge fan of the Agents of Shield TV show (which thankfully hasn’t been cancelled), I enjoyed seeing the department in its early days and how it operated. The show quite literally filled in gaps with Agents of Shield, as its second season showed during the off-season.
The clever writing, interesting setting and pretty great acting weren’t enough to secure the show a 3rd season when it ended in 2016. There’s hope for a future series as the Marvel Cinematic Universe progresses, but don’t hold your breath.
Futurama
I’m not sure if a show has been cancelled and brought back as many times as Futurama has. Created by Matt Groening of Simpsons fame, the show was a look into the future as it followed the bizarre adventures of the Planet Express delivery crew.
It has been heralded for it’s very witty writing, engaging story-lines and emotive moments that could make a grown man cry. With several Emmy’s under its belt, it seems the critics loved the show as much as the fans did. Despite this, Comedy Central ended the series in 2013, but stated that it is not all over and that it could return one day.
Limitless
I can’t think of another show that was more unfairly denied a second season than Limitless. Following on from the film of the same name, the show followed Brian Finch as he used the experimental NZT-48 drug to enhance his mind in order to solve crimes for the FBI.
There was such a well-defined style in the show which I couldn’t get enough of and I still can’t believe it wasn’t given a chance to give us more. I’d highly recommend watching the first season. Even though there are loose threads that will never be tied up, it’s still an absolute blast.
The drug I mentioned was sadly one of the reasons for its downfall, as many criticised the show for glamorising the taking of illegal drugs and as NZT is based on a real drug, there were concerns of people taking it to replicate what we saw on screen.
Did I miss any shows that got cancelled that you think should be on the list? Leave a comment below or tweet us @_logline!
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