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Just when they had us hooked, the networks pulled the plug! Join us as we explore the most abrupt TV show cancellations that left fans reeling. From unresolved cliffhangers to sudden corporate decisions, these beloved series were unexpectedly cut short despite strong ratings and loyal audiences. Which premature finale left you most outraged?
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most abrupt and unexpected cancellations of
00:09shows that seem to have plenty of life left in them. But it's the end of the late show on CBS.
00:15I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away. This will entail some spoilers.
00:20iCarly. One of Nickelodeon's most popular programs during its heyday,
00:25iCarly returned almost a decade later as a Paramount Plus series.
00:28After years of doing iCarly with Sam, and then hosting Italian QVC,
00:33and then my brief stint in college radio, I'm finally going to be back online where I belong.
00:38The revival's third season left us with two major bombshells. First,
00:42Carly and Spencer's mother returns, crashing the former's impromptu wedding.
00:46Oh my god. Mom?
00:53You got a mom?
00:55Then, shortly after this cliffhanger, it was confirmed that the show had been canceled.
00:59Pulling the plug on one of Nickelodeon's most beloved brands was one thing,
01:03but leaving fans on this unresolved note was a real Neville move.
01:07Please, do you really think I'd stage a fake wedding? Ask Freddie to be my best man to make
01:12sure you'd be here, even though I can't stand him and never could. Hey! Invite all your closest friends
01:17in family, pay actors to fill out the guest list, all so you'd go mad with jealousy and realize you
01:23and I were meant to be together all along? Oh my god, Neville, did you do that? Would it be so wrong
01:29if I did? Thankfully, Miranda Cosgrove revealed in 2025 that a script for a finale film was nearly
01:35finished and production would soon commence. While Carly would get closure, the show's cancellation
01:40was confounding nonetheless, especially since it was a selling point for some Paramount Plus
01:44subscribers. Is it true that maybe a movie because the show left on a big cliffhanger? Yeah. And is
01:51it true that maybe there's a movie in the world? Yes, I'm excited. We're gonna film a movie early
01:56next year. Glow. A strong ensemble piece led by Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin, this fictionalized look
02:03at the Real Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling organization was a consistent critical success
02:07for Netflix. Sorry, are you hiring actors to play wrestlers or are we the wrestlers? Yes. Which one?
02:15The first season even got an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. The show was set to wrap
02:20up with a fourth season. The first episode was finished in early 2020. That said, COVID naturally
02:26shut down production. But surely filming would resume after the pandemic, right? I hope your secret
02:31Santa gets you that, or maybe a gift that's really thoughtful and cheers you up and reminds you that
02:37there's still some good and beauty in humanity. Unfortunately, Netflix canceled Glow, unsure how a
02:43show requiring close physical contact could function under new mandates. Had the final season been
02:48completed, it wouldn't have come out until 2022. Delayed, of course. Netflix wasn't willing to wait
02:54almost three years, although shows like Wednesday had a similarly lengthy gap between seasons.
02:59This is the first time you've ever willingly returned to a school. How does it feel?
03:05Like returning to the scene of the crime. I already know where the bodies are buried.
03:09My name is Earl. Doing well in the ratings and winning a few Emmys, it was hard to imagine NBC
03:14canceling the series without allowing Earl to cross off the final entry on his list.
03:19Earl's like, holy, he has a list too. Where'd you, how'd you figure out the list? And the guy says,
03:24well, I talked to, this guy told me about it, so I learned it from this guy. And Earl goes back and
03:29finds all these people who have lists who are out there trying to do good, and it all comes back to
03:36him. Not only did the network deny Earl the chance to get on karma's good side, but the final episode
03:41bowed out on the craziest surprise. Earl is the biological father of Joy's firstborn son, Dodge,
03:47and Darnell isn't really Earl Jr.'s father.
03:49I'm Dodge's father.
03:52That explains why Dodge's mustache is starting to come in already.
03:56We've got another problem.
03:58What?
04:01These three DNAs match. That means it's you and the boys,
04:05which makes this one mine and it doesn't match any of those.
04:09What does that mean?
04:10It means I'm not Earl Jr.'s father.
04:12According to actor Ethan Supley, this sudden ending was due to a clash between NBC,
04:17which licensed the show, and Fox, which produced it. Fox wanted more money. NBC didn't respond,
04:23and by the time Fox was willing to accept their deal, the network told them, too late. That is bad
04:28karma.
04:29And no other network decided they wanted to come in.
04:31There was almost going to be like a 10 episode thing on TBS, and then that fell apart.
04:38Paula's Best Dishes
04:39Between Paula's Home Cooking, Paula's Party, and Paula's Best Dishes,
04:44the poster chef for Southern Hospitality was a Food Network staple for over a decade.
04:48Y'all come on in, pick you out an easy chair.
04:51We got the fire going, and we're just going to entertain y'all today with these wonderful recipes.
04:56Paula Deen also gained several lucrative endorsement deals,
04:59but her empire and reputation came crashing down in June 2013.
05:03Lisa Jackson, who managed Dean's restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House,
05:08accused the owner's brother of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
05:12The judge threw out the latter part of Jackson's lawsuit, as the plaintiff was white,
05:16although the sexual misconduct claim stayed.
05:19The U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. threw the case out,
05:23saying that the racially offensive comments were not directed at the plaintiff,
05:27nor were they intended to harass her.
05:29While a settlement was reportedly reached, Dean torpedoed her career
05:32when she casually admitted to using racial slurs and telling racist jokes.
05:36This promptly ended Dean's relationship with the network,
05:40which canceled her remaining show in due course.
05:42I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done.
05:50I want to learn and grow from this.
05:53In each, Dean offers no explanation for her comments.
05:57Westworld.
05:57When Westworld premiered on HBO in 2016, it wasn't just a hit.
06:02It was a phenomenon, invading pop culture and sparking numerous theories online.
06:07A place with unlimited possibilities.
06:10Oh God, it's incredible.
06:12Better be for what we're paying.
06:14As the plot grew increasingly complicated, even the most diehard fans lost interest.
06:19This was reflected in the ratings dropped during seasons three and especially four.
06:23Since the first season set a viewership record for HBO,
06:26many felt Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy had built up enough goodwill to end things on their own terms.
06:32You pull one character, the overall story adjusts.
06:35You pull 200 at once, and it's a f***ing disaster.
06:38I mean, what do you propose we do?
06:40Close down?
06:41Although a fifth and final season was negotiated, HBO passed.
06:45We're not sure what's more shocking, that Westworld ended on such an unceremonious note,
06:50or that as of 2025, you can't even stream it on HBO Max.
06:54It's like the show's existence was merely a dream.
06:57Hosts and humans were given the gift of intelligent life.
07:01And we used it to usher in our own annihilation.
07:11Angel.
07:11Although Buffy the Vampire Slayer had ended,
07:14it appeared the franchise would live on through the spin-off Angel,
07:17which was entering its fifth season.
07:18We're all one big happy Manson family.
07:20Angel was still among the highest rated shows on the WB,
07:24making it all the more logic-defying when news leaked that it wouldn't be getting a sixth season.
07:28Creator Joss Whedon was caught off guard,
07:30comparing it to a healthy person enduring a fatal heart attack.
07:33I'm telling you, our fearless leader has fearlessly lost it.
07:37There's no part of this that makes any sense.
07:38I mean, we could be next.
07:39Meanwhile, head writer David Fury blamed Whedon,
07:42who supposedly pushed for an early season renewal.
07:45Fury believes that if Whedon had been patient, season six would have been guaranteed.
07:49In any case, Whedon reworked the season five finale into a series finale,
07:53yet the show concludes on an open-ended note, which some found fitting for Angel.
07:58The last ten minutes are best.
08:02And let's make them memorable.
08:06And in terms of a plan, we fight.
08:09A bit more specific.
08:12Well, personally, I kind of want to slay the dragon.
08:16Law & Order.
08:17Law & Order originally ran on NBC for almost two decades,
08:21launching one of the network's most prominent franchises.
08:24You don't really think you're going to fill that bank.
08:26I got three checks in here.
08:27One's from the people in my office, the other's from the police commissioner,
08:30and the third one's from the mayor.
08:32You got a lot of friends, Lieutenant.
08:33In 2010, the network renewed the spinoff Law & Order SVU
08:37and moved forward with Law & Order LA, which would only last one season.
08:41However, NBC canceled the crime drama that started it all.
08:45Creator Dick Wolf was reportedly infuriated,
08:47under the impression that Law & Order would at least get one more season.
08:51What are you offering?
08:52We can't offer anything.
08:54He's under federal jurisdiction.
08:55Despite attempts to have TNT pick up the series, it never materialized.
09:00At the time, Law & Order was just shy of surpassing Gunsmoke
09:03as the longest-running scripted primetime series in history.
09:06It took another 12 years, but NBC finally brought Law & Order back.
09:10I've been thinking about this for a while.
09:14It's time.
09:15It just is.
09:18Still, we think 30 Rock best summed up its initial cancellation.
09:21We have Anthony Anderson, the star of Law & Order, which is entering its 21st...
09:26What? Why did we cancel that? That doesn't make any sense.
09:30Gilligan's Island
09:31Given its lengthy lifespan and reruns,
09:34some might be surprised to learn that Gilligan's Island only ran for three seasons.
09:38No, Skipper, I'm very happy to be here.
09:39I'm so happy I could kiss the ground.
09:41I'm so happy I could kiss the ground.
09:45This island tastes terrible.
09:46Few were more shocked than the cast,
09:48who creator Sherwood Schwartz had led to believe that a fourth season was a done deal.
09:52Some of the actors even purchased property near the show's filming location.
09:56Now is no time to panic, Gilligan.
09:58It's as good a time as any.
09:59Although Gilligan's Island had seen a slight dip in the ratings,
10:02the show won its time slot.
10:04Regardless, CBS gave its lot to Gunsmoke,
10:06which network president William S. Paley and his wife Babe saved from cancellation.
10:10I'm writing this adventure up on our log.
10:12I wonder how you spelled King Kalawani.
10:16K-I-N-G, King.
10:18Thanks a lot, Gilligan.
10:20This came at the expense of Gilligan's Island, which was hastily set adrift.
10:24The story eventually continued in Rescue from Gilligan's Island,
10:28but only a ship of fools would cancel such an iconic show.
10:31Tell me, Gilligan, how does it feel to be found?
10:33I sure beats getting lost.
10:35Roseanne
10:35After more than two decades off the air,
10:38Roseanne returned for a tenth season that retconned its widely divisive series finale.
10:42What happened?
10:43I thought you were dead.
10:45I'm sleeping.
10:48How does everybody else think I'm dead?
10:51You looked happy.
10:53I thought maybe you moved on.
10:54The revival was an instant rating smash,
10:57quickly leading to an eleventh season renewal.
10:59It seemed nothing could go wrong until Roseanne Barr got in her own way.
11:04Days after the season finale,
11:06Barr made a racist comment about Valerie Jarrett on social media.
11:09Within hours, ABC pulled the plug on the show,
11:12saying Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values,
11:18and we've decided to cancel her show.
11:20Disney CEO Bob Iger had already advised Barr to, quote,
11:23stay off Twitter, but she didn't take his warning to heart.
11:26While Barr's behavior was unacceptable,
11:29it was surprising to see how swiftly ABC canceled the revival amid its massive success.
11:33The rest of the Connors would return in a spinoff series,
11:37but the family matriarch was killed off.
11:39Wish I would have known, you know?
11:41It wouldn't have mattered, baby.
11:43She was gonna do what she was gonna do.
11:45She never listened to a damn person in her life.
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12:04The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
12:05Whether David Letterman or Stephen Colbert was behind the desk,
12:09we assumed that The Late Show would always be a flagship franchise for CBS.
12:13That once Skydance gets CBS, the new owner's desire to please Trump
12:18could put pressure on late-night host and frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert.
12:22With Colbert's tenure having the highest viewership in late-night for almost a decade,
12:27it was beyond baffling when CBS announced the show would end in 2026.
12:31CBS wasn't merely replacing Colbert.
12:34The Late Show, a TV fixture since 1993, would cease to exist.
12:38Supposedly, this was because the show had been losing $40 million annually.
12:42$40 million is a big number.
12:44I could see us losing $24 million,
12:46but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million?
12:50Oh, yeah.
12:51Many found these claims suspicious,
12:53not only because it was number one in the ratings,
12:56but the cancellation coincided with Colbert
12:58accusing his parent company of bribing President Trump.
13:01This led critics to wonder if other late-night comics
13:04might be on the chopping block for criticizing the President of the United States.
13:07I never even imagined there would ever be a situation
13:10in which the President of our country
13:12was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs.
13:16But somebody who took pleasure in that,
13:18that to me is the absolute opposite
13:21of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.
13:24Which TV cancellation shocked you the most?
13:27Let us know in the comments.
13:28Let's do that.
13:31Let's see.
13:33Let's finish this.
13:34Let's finish this.
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