- 21 hours ago
Some of these need to come back ASAP.
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00:00Television might seem like a factory of dreams for us who watch it, but in reality it's a cold and unforgiving business.
00:06Dozens of pilots are written and pitched on a weekly basis, and only a small percentage of them actually makes their way to the screen.
00:13And even when the pilot makes it, there's no guarantee that the series will be its success, or even that it will have any sort of a meaningful run.
00:20Ratings dictate the destinies of all shows, and they can sometimes be cruel even to the most talented and creative artists.
00:26So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, and here are 10 great TV shows that got cancelled after just one season.
00:3410. Invasion
00:35Invasion was a science fiction show created for ABC by Sean Cassidy, a veteran TV producer most notable for his work on American Gothic and Cold Case.
00:45Featuring an ensemble cast led by William Fickner, Eddie Cibrian and Kari Matchett, the show focused on the inhabitants of a small Florida town,
00:53who get invaded by parasitical aliens in the aftermath of a big hurricane.
00:58It was well received by critics at the time, but it never really got the viewership it deserved.
01:02Partly because of the unfavourable time slot, it aired right after Lost.
01:07And partly because of the hurricane themes that were maybe a bit too much too soon after the Katrina events in New Orleans.
01:14Looking back on it now, it's easy to understand why the critics loved it.
01:17The concept was fairly simple, but it was well written, it had a great cast of interesting and layered characters.
01:23It also had a great feeling of mystery.
01:25Watching it felt like you were slowly peeling off the layers of the story episode by episode.
01:30It was initially planned to have five seasons, but it ended up with 22 episodes in total.
01:35And with 16 years now gone, it's highly unlikely we'll see more of it.
01:399. Good Girl's Revolt
01:41Based on the 2013 Lynn Povich book, Good Girl's Revolt tells the real-life inspired story of female employees of a New York magazine in the 1960s.
01:51The show was created by Dana Calvo for Amazon Prime Video, and it starred Genevieve Angelson, Anna Camp and Erin Dark, among others.
01:58Because of the time period and the general aesthetic of the series, it was often compared to Mad Men by critics.
02:04However, in the 10 episodes that made it to the screen, Good Girl's Revolt never really reached the polished look or the nuanced delivery of the Matthew Weiner classic.
02:12But the foundations were good, and there was potential for the series to go up a level, but it never got the time to.
02:18The folks at Amazon were impatient and ultimately cancelled it in December 2016, citing low viewership figures as the reason.
02:25One glimmer of hope for its revival lies in the fact that the rights are owned by Sony, and there have been reports that they are trying to sell it elsewhere.
02:32Number 8. The Black Donnellys
02:35This drama debuted on NBC in 2007, but it never really took off, despite having some serious name recognition behind the camera, and a very talented cast.
02:45It was conceived by Paul Haggis and Robert Maresco, the duo who won an Academy Award for Crash.
02:51It was about four young Irish-American brothers who get involved with organised crime while living in present-day New York City.
02:57It was a subject very close to Haggis, as he grew up in London, Ontario, where the original Donnelly family is from.
03:04Serious themes like racism, classism, and crime were explored without much filter, and that made for a very immersive viewing experience.
03:11While it sounds like something that could find its home on HBO or Netflix,
03:15The Black Donnellys was unusually graphic and violent for network television, especially for the time, and that was probably what doomed it from the start.
03:23NBC gave up on it after just six episodes, opting to pull it from their programming and release the remaining seven on their website on a weekly basis.
03:32Needless to say, that put the final nail in the coffin.
03:35Number 7. Almost Human
03:37This promising cyberpunk cop drama was created by sci-fi veteran J.H. Wyman, and starred the dynamic duo of Carl Urban and Michael Ely,
03:47and even had J.J. Abrams attached to an executive producer.
03:51However, that still wasn't enough to help it reach more than a single season.
03:55The premise of Almost Human is this.
03:57In the year 2048, the crime rate has risen so much that there was no way for the police to stay on top of it,
04:03so they decide to pair each of their human officers with an android one.
04:07The plot was thin and exposition heavy at first, but there was enough action and excitement to keep you entertained,
04:13and kickstart the series until it found its footing.
04:15That was unfortunately never the case, as Fox cancelled it after only 13 episodes.
04:20Since the episodes were largely self-contained, Almost Human still has a high rewatchability value.
04:25The interplay between the two main characters is very entertaining,
04:28and even now, nine years after it debuted, the visual effects look stunning.
04:33Number 6. Everything sucks
04:35This parody of classic teen dramas was authored by Ben York Jones and Michael Mohan,
04:41and its only season was released on Netflix in February 2018.
04:45The story is set in a town fittingly called Boring, a real place by the way, in 1996,
04:51and it follows a group of high school students as they navigate the issues of sexuality, identity and belonging.
04:57On the surface, it might seem like a typical coming-of-age drama,
05:00but its intentional overuse of genre tropes and clichés hints that the show is not taking itself too seriously.
05:06Ironically, even though it's supposed to be a parody,
05:09the characters come off as more believable and realistic than they normally do in shows like this,
05:13and that's where the main strength of Everything Sucks lies.
05:17Unfortunately, the characters were never given enough of a chance to be fully fleshed out,
05:20so after just 10 episodes, some of them seemed more like sketches than actually developed characters.
05:26This is especially true for the supporting roles.
05:28In the end, Netflix decided to cancel any further production just two months after it was first streamed,
05:34stating that not a lot of people watched it beyond the first episode.
05:38Number 5. Awake
05:39Kyle Killen created this police drama with a fantasy twist that features the brilliant Jason Isaacs in the leading role.
05:46Even though it received nearly universal critical acclaim,
05:49its low ratings meant that NBC pulled the plug after a single 13-episode season.
05:54Awake has a very unique and interesting premise.
05:57In the first episode, Michael Britton, a detective, gets into a car accident with his wife and son.
06:02After the accident, he keeps jumping between a reality in which his wife died and one in which his son died.
06:08Utterly confused by this, he tries to piece it all together and figure out which one of those is the actual reality.
06:14The series is carried by an excellent performance from Isaacs,
06:17and if it wasn't for that, it probably wouldn't even make this list.
06:20He manages to strike the perfect balance between a heartbroken family man dealing with his pain
06:25and a detective who gets lost in his work.
06:27However, the clever writing and great acting were not enough to attract a significant audience,
06:32and Awake went off the air in 2012.
06:35Number 4. Freaks and Geeks
06:37Freaks and Geeks has now become a staple of every Cancel Too Soon list.
06:42Created in 1999 by Paul Feig and more famously executive produced by Judd Apatow,
06:47this cult classic lasted only 18 episodes, but it created a legacy that is still going strong.
06:53A textbook example of a good coming-of-age story, Freaks and Geeks brings the perfect combination of comedy and drama.
07:00Its characters seem like genuine people who you might have gone to high school with,
07:03and the show leverages that nostalgia to get you invested in the storylines.
07:08Apart from great writing, the characters benefit from a very talented cast who breathe life into them.
07:14People like James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel were virtual unknowns at the time,
07:20but used the show as a springboard for their careers.
07:22Sadly, the production was notorious for constant creative differences and conflicts between the creators and the network,
07:28and that culminated in its cancellation halfway through the first season.
07:33However, that wasn't the death of the Freaks and Geeks' legacy.
07:36Far from it.
07:37Just a couple of years later, Apatow would create Undeclared,
07:40a spiritual successor to it that featured some of the same cast and followed the characters through their college life.
07:46Number 3. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
07:49Aaron Sork impenned this comedy-drama for NBC in 2007,
07:54but despite having a lot of talent both behind and in front of the camera, it only lived for one season.
08:00Studio 60 depicted a behind-the-scenes look at the production of a sketch comedy show,
08:05and had an intriguing combination of drama, comedy and meta-comedy.
08:08The pilot was incredibly well-received, with critics praising the directing and the performance of Matthew Perry in particular.
08:15But after the pilot, things started going downhill.
08:17The writing would start to fluctuate in quality, often going from satire to self-satire,
08:22and losing that self-awareness that is crucial in a show like this.
08:25The ratings would drop with every episode, and soon enough the writing was on the wall.
08:30NBC would shift it around in different time slots, eventually deciding to not pick it up for a second season.
08:36Despite this, Studio 60 ranked so high on our list for a simple reason.
08:40When it was good, it was really good.
08:42The talent involved was so bright that it would shine through, even when the direction of the show was unclear.
08:48And in those instances when everything clicked and everything was on the same page,
08:52Studio 60 was a hell of a watch.
08:55We can only regret that it wasn't given more time to define its direction and plant its feet firmly on the ground.
09:012. Trophy Wife
09:03Released on ABC in 2013, this delightful comedy from the minds of Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins
09:09was a revelation of refreshing humour in a genre that had been stale for a long time.
09:14Trophy Wife follows Kate Harrison, played by the wonderful Marlin Ackerman,
09:18as she leaves her party girl lifestyle behind after falling in love with and marrying a middle-aged man.
09:23Parallels with the modern family were obviously drawn, but Trophy Wife had an identity of its own,
09:28largely based on goofy but believable characters, clever irony, and great chemistry.
09:33It was a sitcom in format, but it avoided falling into the usual tropes by respecting its audience and not underestimating it.
09:40It was intelligent but not conceited. It was funny but not over the top.
09:44Its only major flaw is its unfortunate title, which undersells the plot and reduces Ackerman's character and performance to something it's not.
09:52For whatever reason, the folks at ABC didn't seem to appreciate Trophy Wife enough,
09:55and kept putting it in the least attractive time slots,
09:58which kept it from reaching a greater audience and practically doomed it.
10:01Number 1. Firefly
10:03Not sure what you expected, but Number 1 was always going to be reserved for Firefly.
10:09Joss Whedon's cult classic premiered on Fox in September 2002,
10:13and despite only lasting for 14 episodes,
10:15it fostered a devoted audience that would help it expand its legacy beyond television.
10:20For those who are unfamiliar with the plot,
10:23Firefly follows a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft 500 years in the future,
10:28travelling the unknown parts of the galaxy,
10:30trying their hardest to avoid different warring factions as well as the authorities.
10:35The crew is played by a hugely talented ensemble cast that includes Nathan Billion, Gina Torres and Alan Tudyk.
10:41Weirden originally intended the show to have a seven-season run,
10:44but Fox executives were not happy with the low ratings and binned it after only 11 of the 14 episodes had aired.
10:51Despite this, Firefly went on to enjoy a second life post-cancellation,
10:55first developing a fandom after being released on DVD.
10:58An entire Firefly media franchise would later be developed by Weirden & Co.
11:03Its highlight was the 2005 feature film Serenity,
11:06but beyond that, numerous comic books, video games and novels were produced.
11:10There probably isn't a better example in history of a show being able to create an entire universe
11:15based solely on the support of its fans, with no help from the network that first aired it.
11:21And that concludes our list.
11:22If there are any you think we missed, then do let us know in the comments below,
11:25and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:29Also head over to Twitter and follow us there,
11:31and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:35I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.
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