30 TV Series That Were Canceled Too Soon Without Giving Closure To Their Fans
If you don't live under a rock, you've likely enjoyed a TV show at least once in your life. Captivating stories and interesting characters – what's not to enjoy, right?
Well, sometimes no matter how many viewers enjoy a certain TV show, it still gets canceled. This happens so often that plenty of people have at least one show that got away. And so when someone asked folks online what they are, many didn't hold back. That's how we ended up with this list. So, let's dive in, shall we?
More info: Reddit
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Firefly. Such potential, cut too soon. Still bitter. 💔😢✈️.
It was such a cool show and the actors/actresses were great at their parts.
We watch everything that Joss Whedon has done. We follow all the actors too. Love seeing their careers grow.
Given what happened I'm that movie, I'm not calling it closure.
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Dead Like Me.
There is a 2009 movie, Dead Like Me: Life After Death, that attempted to give some closure.
I watched the whole thing and it was...fine... I liked it well enough, but I can't tell you a single thing that happened and I was bored for most of it. But I stayed to the end so that also says something.
Pushing Daisies. An amazing production, a fabulous cast, an adorable story, and we didn’t get an ending.
So much this one. It was obviously doomed from the start though. Too unconventional to survive on a broadcast network. I console myself with the thought that’s it’s better that we got a couple dozen really good episodes, and it didn’t last long enough to jump the shark and become painful to watch. Because I would have stuck that one out to the bitter end. Available on DVD.
But I really wanted to know the mystery of the father....
Load More Replies...This is what killed tv watching for me. I knew starting it that it was not going to make it. It just proved how network television cannot do art. What's the point of starting a show with ambition if the network won't honor that ambition for even 1 lousy complete season. Instead we got a half 3/4 season, a break, and then whatever that was that they called season 2. TV is dead to me.
To be fair, they really tried to sum it all up in the final episode. It was just too rushed and lame. I miss this show at its best.
Being a TV show fan nowadays isn’t an easy task. While it’s fun to watch new stories, many times you don’t get to watch them until the end. And it’s because quite often shows get canceled before their conclusions.
In fact, people are expressing frustrations that it’s not worth starting a fresh show because it’s more than likely that it will be canceled before reaching its natural end. Online you can find plenty of articles listing the TV shows that have been axed, showing what a massive phenomenon it is. Here, in this Rotten Tomatoes list, you can see what shows were canceled alphabetically. If you add them all together, the number is likely going to be high.
Mindhunters!
Still bitter about this one. The guy who played Edmund Kemper was amazing.
I will never forgive those who had a hand in this show not continuing. It was amazing. True Crime fans were astounded by the casting, the build up, and the hidden backstory of BTK slowly being glimpsed at throughout the seasons as a teaser.
Sad to not see a proper ending to Earl or Last man on earth.
Why no more talk about Last Man On Earth? That show was surprising and amazing and ended on such a huge cliffhanger.
Jason Lee was a much better "Earl" than a Dave Seville... 🐿️
It ended on a cliffhanger that the father of “Earl’s” black son -wasn’t- the black man his wife had an affair with. I’ve always wanted to know where that was going. If you liked Earl you’ll probably also like the show that followed it - Raising Hope. Made by the same team, and used some of the planned stories that were intended for Earl. Lots of guest appearances too.
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Lie To Me.
I heard that they get new writers, and it started to seem like a totally different show after a while. That's too bad; it was a really good show with a great concept, and Tim Roth was amazing as always.
Absolutely Brilliant show!!!-that turned to s**t in season 3. Hats off to Tim Roth though😘
To talk a little bit more about this topic, Bored Panda got in touch with TV and movie critic Serena Skybourne and TV show reviewer @online_tv_critic.
The latter mentioned that the canceled TV show they can’t get over is “Charmed.” And the way they try to keep the show at least a little bit alive is by following the cast, the crew, and fan pages online.
Meanwhile, Serena said that without a doubt she rues the day when “Anne with an E” was canceled. This coming-of-age drama was based on her favorite classic novel ‘Anne of Green Gables’ by L.M. Montgomery and sadly ended after the 3rd season. “I can’t get over the fact that this show was not renewed for another season, especially when other shows that are terrible continue to get the green light.”
Serena said that “Anne with an E” was more than soapy and superficial entertainment. “It provided valuable life lessons and was truly beneficial for me as a viewer. It really validated my own love for feminine creativity and having a romantic soul like Anne does.”
I quite liked 'Forever' with Ioan Gruffudd portraing an inmortal man. It came out in 2015 and was cancelled after 1 season.
I was disappointed that Lie to Me was cancelled, but THIS one I really missed. The relationship between the main character and his son alone was so different and with so much potential. When it was revealed who his son was and he kissed him on the head, I sat there, baffled and touched.
I loved this show!! I really wanted more of it and I really want to know who the other guy was and what his story is!
Another one like this and 'John Doe' was the one-season 'Flash Forward' (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441135/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Flash%2520Forward). "A special task force in the FBI investigates, after every person on Earth simultaneously blacks out and awakens with a short vision of their future - all set in the same brief time period." Interesting premise. Some people had no 'Flash Forward'. Speculation is that when that time arrives, they will no longer be alive. Questions are asked regarding "Free Will" vs. "Predestination". People look for folks that showed up in their Flash Forwards to see if their visions match up. Some people who *had* a vision attempt to unalive themselves to see if 'the future is written in stone'. And a few people are discovered who *stayed awake* through the event...
This one, and another one-season show from about the same time, 'John Doe' - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320038/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Man wakes up, has amnesia, can't remember a thing - but his mind is like a database of all the world's knowlege. Oh, and he sees everything in Black and White. John-Doe-6...01d5b2.jpg
Carnivale. An incredibly original show that was canceled after only 2 seasons.
The sad part is that they explained the reason for cancellation was the high production costs. But those numbers don't even compare to some of their productions today.
Yeah, but something like Game of Thrones was wildly popular, so it could be justified. Such a shame about Carnivale.
Load More Replies...This. It was a really really cerebral show that had so much potential.
It was incredibly good. Even though I’ve seen Clancy Brown in multiple other things, he’ll always be the preacher to me.
Load More Replies...It started off good, but I think it's success surprised the writers and they kind of didn't know where to go with it at points after the first season. It got very off track and was all over the place, like it was unsure what direction to go in. They made the right call the end this one. They just weren't prepared for it.
Every time this question gets asked...this is the first thing I think of. Such an amazing show for so many reasons.
I bought this on DVD as it was not available here in the UK. So disappointed that the third book was not made into a series.
Santa Clarita Diet I wish the writers would just say what they were planning!
they cancelled with a cliff hanger! that "ball" entering his brain! what happened to him?
I'm still so salty about this one. Great now I'm pissed off and it's only 4:07 am!
The interviewee pointed out that the show was axed for multiple reasons, like business priorities and declining viewership numbers. Usually, when any show gets dropped, these kinds of reasons tend to be listed as why it happened. While maybe it’s beneficial for companies, it surely isn’t for the viewers.
For instance, when “Anne with an E” was canceled, fans were so crushed by this that many hashtag campaigns and even a petition were hosted asking Netflix to renew the series.
Now that this show has been canceled, Serena tries to stay connected with the beloved series by talking about it with her Instagram followers and friends, rewatching it, and reading the books it was based on.
My so called life.
Freaks and Geeks.
I'm happy with the one perfect season. This was it can be remembered for its perfection.
This is going to probably be a bit obscure for some, but Terra Nova.
I loved the plot, the cast seemed strong, and I’m a sucker for dinosaur related sci-fi shows.
From my understanding it had decent ratings following the finale, but didn’t fit into Fox’s schedule lineup the next season, so it was shelved and eventually cancelled. Big cliff hanger…ugh, just wanted more!
I really liked that one, would have loved some more seasons. I read that it got cancelled because even though it was very popular, it was super expensive to make so needed to be super popular to make it worth the costs. But I can't be bothered to research which reason is true ;)
This seems to be filled with series i really enjoyed but then they got cancelled for no reason...
I loved it. The year it was cancelled was the last year that we watched new Fox shows as they were coming out. Too many good ones got cancelled so early.
Just as there’s a trend of canceling new TV shows, there’s also a Hollywood trend of reboots and revivals of old ones. Here, again, on Rotten Tomatoes, there’s another list of TV reboots and revivals, and it currently has 61 items.
In fact, there’s a whole TV show based on this phenomenon. It’s called “Reboot” and it stars such names as Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer, Paul Reiser, Rachel Bloom, and many others. The series is about the cast of a fictional early 2000s hit sitcom that is getting rebooted, hence the name. Ironically enough, this show was canceled after its first season.
Our interviewee @online_tv_critic said that they believe that a reboot needs the original cast to properly work. “I don’t think I would like a reboot of a show I really loved without the original cast or crew involved.”
On the other hand, Serena had mixed feelings about it. In fact, she called it “a double-edged sword.” To her, it’s exciting to see beloved characters and fictional worlds brought back to life or loose ends being tied up and getting fresh perspectives.
Better Off Ted was a good show, and it could have been more than two seasons.
Watched this show on a whim ages ago, got my best friends hooked who got their friends hooked. We all love and quote and rewatch it.
This one continues to sting, i have all the episodes and it's my go too whenever there's nothing new to watch.
Portia de Rossi was amazing “Just walk away proud!” “Yes but -“ “Just walk away.” 😄
Travelers
It stil has so much potential. As it is now the whole show is basically one time loop.
I think the last episode was supposed to show us that the Director was going to try again and again until humanity was saved. I really enjoyed the stories - and seeing Eric McCormack playing a good guy for a change.
You should watch Perception. He's great in that. The mental illness is a bit... 2010's, and there's only 39 episodes, but it was engaging and he was excellent.
Load More Replies...Yes, and unlike so many others it HAD an ending. It felt complete.
Load More Replies...Was it actually cancelled, or did the story just end? That's the vibe I got from the last episode.
It ended naturally. The Director considered everything a failure and was going to try again.
Load More Replies...Hear Hear! I have watched this series three times. They wrapped it up nicely in case it was to end after season 3, and sadly it did. But yeah, they could have done a whole new series. Loved this show.
I tried watching this, and I *really* wanted to like it, but it was just too depressing. It seemed like they could *never* score even the smallest personal victory. Everything just kept going from Bad to Worse to Apocalyptic.
Deadwood.
One of the best series ever.... I was so p!ssed off that it never reached its conclusion....
This series' story always went with the flow, it could have ended whenever, you can always watch the film if you want a little more.
Exactly. The show completely exemplified “And so it goes…”
Load More Replies...I was hoping this would be on the list! I was heartbroken when it was cancelled. HBO cited high production costs, then went on to make a bunch of other shows with far higher costs. I was *not* done with that story! 😭
At the same time, she thinks that not everything needs a reboot. “Some stories are better left as they were, without Hollywood doing a desperate cash grab. Nostalgia is very powerful and sometimes studios try to capitalize on it, to the detriment of the story. It’s also a very safe gamble to continue to develop a pre-existing story rather than taking a risk and creating something new.”
Serena even gave an example – “Pretty Little Liars.” The show had multiple failed spinoffs and revivals like “Ravenswood,” “The Perfectionists,” and “PLL: Original Sin.” Yet, none of them did justice to the original show. “‘Ravenswood’ was laughably bad. All in all, if you’re going to do it, do it right.”
Just as we said in the beginning, being a TV fan nowadays is risky. One day you’ll fall in love with a series and the next it’ll either be canceled or rebooted/revived disrespectfully. Who knows how long these TV trends will last; maybe sometime in the future they’ll perish and enjoying television will become not as heartbreaking again.
What TV show’s cancellation broke your heart? Share with us in the comments!
Hannibal.
This show definitely was not for everyone, with all that relentless emphasis on style. But the ones who loved it LOVED it. So unique! However, personally I think it's good it ended relatively gracefully.
I adored this show. But I do understand that spending 8 minutes of a 45 minute show on close ups of snails probably didn't help. Raul Esparza was amazing in it.
I didn't finish the second season. The stupid close-ups on taps and various things... who cares! Get to the point already!
HBO's Rome. They had so much more story to tell.
God I loved this show. At least they turned Atia into a Victorian and stuck her in bridgerton
Georgian Regency rather than Victorian but I agree. She's great in both!
Load More Replies...It ended at the correct moment. The problem is they could've had another season to get some more detail. They were pretty accurate historically. Except for the two Forrest Gumps.
I've always described this show as two men Gumping their way through 40 years of Roman history without aging a day. RIP Ray Stevenson. How I loved Titus Pullo.
Load More Replies...They at least had a reason for cancelling this one: apparently it was prohibitively expensive to make.
This was great to watch on video or dvd because you could pause and get bits of history about certain scenes.
SO SO good! Ahead of it's time for HBO, if they only knew how much people loved these types of shows...ahem GoT...
*Star Trek: Enterprise*. I wanted to see the actual founding of the Federation after the lead-up, but then we got "Terra Prime", the last episode, and it was over.
I bailed on this one when it got heavily involved in “time war” plots. To each their own, but I find those tedious. And it makes it way too easy for writers to get lazy and use “time magic” to solve storytelling dead ends they’ve painted themselves into. You can never depend on anything you “know”, because there’s always the possibility to retcon it on the fly.
I thought the time wars was a huge part of the star trek timeliness. And they took the time to explain it.
Load More Replies...I don't care what anyone says. Enterprise was GOOD! I love Scott Bakula and grew up watching Quantum Leap so that may be part of it.
Star Trek theme songs should NOT have vocals. I will die on that hill.
The show only got good when Manny Coto came on board. Also when the Reeves-Stevenses wrote episodes (i.e., season 4). And then they finished with that stupid "frak you" to the fans and Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were just jealous that others dealt with STAR TREK better than them (because Coto et al were actually fans and not trying to shoehorn stupid premises into Trek) and got it cancelled on purpose and they're talentless hacks and I may still have some issues about it.
I've gone back and re-watched this recently, and I dunno if I just got over myself or if it was ahead of its time, but I actually really enjoyed it. Sad we didn't get to see the Romulan war. (Other than the awful music. Unforgivable, and the update on later seasons was even worse.)
I dunno... parts of it were wonderful, but I got very tired of the Captain not showing much emotion about ANYTHING. (And Bakula's normally a wonderful actor!)
The Expanse.
Tell me what those forest dog things are that re-alive the kid, dammit.
Yep, they good reason to go off script and the time jump would never have worked. I would say that they could pick this one up in 10 years and do the next bit then, but insofar as the story was concerned, they did right by the story and left it complete.
Load More Replies...Technically, it ended when they wanted it too. Yeah, there were a few more books to do, but, they did provide an ending.
Strange Dogs, is the name of a novella with the forest dogs. The TV show follows the novella pretty closely.
They left it open to do more in the future, they did all the right foreshadowing needed for the Laconians to come and take s**t over, they included a lot about the beings in-between the gates and there is little resolution with them until the last 2 novels. I am a massive fan of the series and I remain hopeful that they will pick the show back up where they left off in the next ten years or so, let the fan base grow. It's seriously amazing and really great science fiction from a hard sciences perspective, if you haven't seen it check it out help it's fanbase grow! Btw amos has the most bad a*s arch by the end of the novels.
Our Flag Means Death was given a non-cliffhanger ending but the writer did say he had three seasons planned and I am incredibly sad not to see the rest of the story.
Yes. I am looking forward to this last season but at the same time I am a little bit frightened for the end. I don't know what to expect.
GLOW.
There's about 100 episodes (4 seasons) of the original 80s show that can be streamed. Watched it as a teen, kinda ridiculous but funny as well. Very over the top and slapstick comedy
Streamed where? I can't find it. Been a wrestling fan for 3 decades and would love to watch it!!!! I knew about it before Netflix's version (which I was hardcore into).
Load More Replies...One more season. There was only going to be one more season. They could at least have given us that.
I know!!! Plenty of shows have a hiatus and came back. I know it's hard to schedule that many actresses, which was my understanding of the rationale for cancelling, but a hiatus!
Load More Replies...This was a crime. God I want one more season SO much. Damn covid ruining this delightful show.
Yeah, it was a great show and they left too many storylines pending
I am not okay with this.
We weren't sure about it at first but it really pulls you in! Then the ending was a huge indicator that the second season would have so much more! And then it was done.
This was a really good show with good acting that should never have been cancelled.
Altered Carbon.
Same. Season 1 was fantastic, i don't think i even finished the first episode of season 2.
Load More Replies...Season 1 was great with a really good main actor. Season 2 was, meh, the dude might be a good action movie star but psychological roles were not his strongest point.
Season 2 was not as good, but still, it was better than a lot of other shows.
Stargate SGU.
YES!!! I watch this with an ex and he didnt tell me it ended on a cliff-hanger!! we had binged all the others to come to this point. I was sooo disappointed!
Agreed, Was hoping for another season with another galaxy. I was pissed.
Load More Replies...Apparently it was too dark and gritty and not enough stargate-y. But it was really good and started to get some speed when they cut it short.
It wasn't very Stargatey. I think maybe they would have improved on it had it gone on longer (I mean, they had Daniel in it! And Rodney!) But it was very blah.
If any fans of SGU want to see 'Dr. Rush' in a *very*different role, find 'Hamish Macbeth' on streaming. (It's on Acorn, FreeVee, Pluto, Prime, and Tubi.) It's based on a series of murder mystery novels. Robert Carlyle is PC Hamish Macbeth, the one man police force in the small coastal highland village of Lochdubh, Scotland. He's more interested in keeping the peace than in arresting people, and his goal in life is to not get noticed and promoted to a different post. Excellent show.
I barely had finished 1899 when I found out it was cancelled. Real shame cause it was nuts and I wanted to know so much more.
This is why I am hesitant to start any Netflix show. They cancel too quick
I’m so very glad Netflix allowed Dark to actually be finished. And then Dark of course led me to watch 1899… bastards!
Load More Replies...I really want to see this, but I'm so hesitant because I've heard of the ending being more questions than answers.
I canceled Netflix over The OA getting canceled and refuse to pay for the service again.
I cancelled because it was now more money, and they kept cancelling all the shows I liked
Load More Replies...It was weird and enjoyable, but man did they screw the pooch with that ending. What in the actual hell was that? Won't give spoilers but that ruined the whole mythology of the show with that, I wouldn't call it a 4th wall break, but a real reality incursion or something? Bad choice.
Really though? I loved the first season but couldn't even get through the second.
One of the best TV shows ever, I have rewatched it a couple of times and it gets better with every viewing.
Jericho.
Another one I came looking for. I really liked the show, it's a shame they cut it...
Yes, yes, oh yes. I guess we should be grateful they added a season after they tried to cancel it. But still...
I remember this show. Too bad it ended quickly, it should of had another season or two. The story was just getting very interesting, the U.S. is in the midst of another civil war as it was divided into two unions. The U.S. fighting for its existence while this new government that consists most of the western U.S states, is trying to cover up its involvement in the attacks hoping to take over all of the eastern U.S..
I saw this on one of the streaming channels and I looked it up to see if it was cancelled or not. I was so dissapointed, it sounded really good.
Game of thrones. Can’t believe they just stopped after season 6.
Based on season, I'm glad they pulled the plug.
Load More Replies...Well it could have been worse: they could have done a season 7 and 8, that would have been so bad, we would pretend they did not exist
They wound it up so arbitrarily, it ruined the other 5 seasons leading up to it.
My feelings exactly. I don't even watch House of the Dragon. That season ruined any interest I had in the show.
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Dirk Gently ended on a massive cliffhanger.
I only know Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency from Netflix, that stopped too soon as well
Wasn't like six episodes? They were hilarious and clever. RIP Douglas Adams.
Load More Replies...the books are totally different - to both the programmes and anything else. Some of Douglas Adam's best work for those with a Hitchhiker's mentality.
Yeah I read the book when I was around 14. I’ve been hesitant to watch the show.
Load More Replies...They were both excellent! The first show much closer to my heart...
Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, and Dead Like Me. I’ll never get over the heartbreak of PD ending the way it did.
Fringe! 4 full seasons and then a bureaucratic decided they were spending too much money or something. Last season was 13 episodes. I guess we were lucky to get that.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Had a great approach to "time war", took the characters in interesting directions, and had multiple human and machine factions making plays in the "present".
And the season 2 finale had multiple gut punches!
Really would've like to see where there were going with it.
Westworld - it went downhill really fast, but I would have liked to have seen how they got to the season 2 post credit scene.
Started so great and then went downhill. But the cast was great; wish they could have salvaged the storyline.
I have to say that I tried so hard to get into the second season. I really did.
Maybe not heartbroken but The Mick was a great show with a very abrupt ending!
Kim's convenience store :(.
Agreed. And from what I understand, the cast all wanted it to continue as well.
Almost Human and Joan of Arcadia.
Almost Human was a brilliant show that got the Firefly treatment by fox - episodes played out of order or just not aired.
Inside Job
Apparently, Netflix likes to punish its subscribers.
Archive 81.
Raised by Wolves.
Yes!! I still want to know about the giant cube and the Neanderthals. And who the Mithraics were.
There should be a law that if they cancel the series before it's done, they have to produce a finale episode to wrap things up.
I'd add that if they DO cancel a series before it's over they are obliged to return the rights to the original creator. It's awful for a creator to have the plan in place but not be allowed to actually finish the story because the company who owns it won't let them. Or wants to charge them a ridiculous amount to license the IP back to the person who created it. See Final Space for some of the hoops a creator has to jump through in that regard. https://finalspaceends.com/
Load More Replies...Dollhouse. They were able to do a "flash forward" to show the planned ending, but I would have LOVED to see the lead up.
I adored The Owl House. So sad that queer shows can only get one or two seasons...
Load More Replies...Dark Angel. It's been 20 years and I'm still sad that the next season didn't get made.
I was binge watching it on Prime and the f*****s took it off.
Load More Replies...There should be a law that if they cancel the series before it's done, they have to produce a finale episode to wrap things up.
I'd add that if they DO cancel a series before it's over they are obliged to return the rights to the original creator. It's awful for a creator to have the plan in place but not be allowed to actually finish the story because the company who owns it won't let them. Or wants to charge them a ridiculous amount to license the IP back to the person who created it. See Final Space for some of the hoops a creator has to jump through in that regard. https://finalspaceends.com/
Load More Replies...Dollhouse. They were able to do a "flash forward" to show the planned ending, but I would have LOVED to see the lead up.
I adored The Owl House. So sad that queer shows can only get one or two seasons...
Load More Replies...Dark Angel. It's been 20 years and I'm still sad that the next season didn't get made.
I was binge watching it on Prime and the f*****s took it off.
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