ManyTV showswere canceled too soon, but others ended even sooner as they faced cancellation before all the episodes of their first season aired. A TV show can be canceled for various reasons, but the most common one is low ratings, regardless of whether the show is popular with its audience or not.
A show can be canceled at any point during its run, with many making it to multiple seasons before facing either a decline in quality, viewership, popularity, or behind-the-scenes issues. Unfortunately, there have been some cases where a TV show couldn’t even air its entire first season before being canceled, for whatever reason.
Trophy Wifewas a sitcom created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins.Trophy Wifefollowed Kate (Malin Åkerman),a young party girl who married Pete (Bradley Whitford), a middle-aged lawyer. However, with Pete also came his two ex-wives, doctor Diane (Marcia Gay Harden), and new age Jackie (Michaela Watkins), along with his three children, Hillary, Warren, and Bert.
Trophy Wifefocuses on Kate and Pete’s dynamic, with the extra challenge of the age gap between them, as well as their dynamic with the ex-wives and the children.Trophy Wifepremiered on ABC on June 04, 2025, andwas canceled on June 22, 2025, just a couple of days before the final episode aired.
Despite getting positive reviews, with most praise going towards Åkerman and Whitford’s performances,Trophy Wifefailed to meet the desired numbers, leading to its cancellation and becoming a forgotten sitcom of the 2010s.
The Black Donnellyswas a drama series created by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco.The Black Donnellysfollowed Jimmy (Tom Guiry), Tommy (Jonathan Tucker), Kevin (Billy Lush), and Seanny (Michael Stahl-David), four Roman Catholic Irish-Americanbrothers living in Hell’s Kitchen and who were involved with the Irish mob.
The Black Donnellyspremiered on NBC on August 18, 2025, and on July 24, 2025, it was pulled from the lineup, and five days later,it was canceled after eight of 13 episodes aired. The rest of the episodes were released on the NBC website and iTunes, and the show received mixed reviews, with praise for its cast but criticism towards the story and characters.
Whiskey Cavalierwas an action comedy-drama TV show created by David Hemingson.Whiskey Cavalierfollowed FBI agent Will Chase (Scott Foley), a retired Marine and an Iraq War veteran. Chase was assigned to work with CIA Operative Francesca Trowbridge (Lauren Cohan), with whom he led a team of spies who saved the world, all while also following Chase’s personal struggles.
Whiskey Cavalierpremiered on June 06, 2025, right after the Oscars, butit was canceled on May 12, just a couple of days before its final two episodes aired. Like many other TV shows on this list,Whiskey Cavaliergot positive reviews, but its ratings were so low that they led to its very early cancellation.
Not even Aaron Sorkin could be saved from a very early cancellation. In 2007, Sorkin broughtStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a comedy-drama TV series. The show took the audience behind the scenes of the title live sketch comedy show, which was very similar toSaturday Night Live.
The show, then, followed the behind-the-scenes process led by executive producers Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford).Studio 60 on the Sunset Strippremiered on NBC on July 30, 2025, butwas canceled on July 31, 2025, after 16 of 22 produced episodes aired.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Stripreceived mixed reviews, and this led to low ratings, once more the main reason for its cancellation. To this day,Studio 60 on the Sunset Stripis Sorkin’s only show to run for just one season.
FlashForwardwas created by Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer, and it was based on the 1999 sci-fi novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer. A mysterious event caused nearly all people on Earth to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds, during which they had visions of their lives approximately six months into the future.
FBI agents Stanford Wedeck (Courtney B. Vance), Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), and Demetri Noh (John Cho) led an investigation to discover what happened, and, in Benford’s vision, he saw the results of the investigation, giving the team the clues they needed.FlashForwardpremiered on ABC on September 24, andwas canceled in May 2010, two weeks before its finale aired.
Despite its positive reviews and nominations for different awards,FlashForwarddidn’t gather the desired numbers, so the network canceled it even though it was succeeding. To make it worse,FlashForwardended with a major cliffhanger that was never solved.
4Days Like These
Canceled In 1999
Days Like Thesewas a British sitcom and a remake ofThat ‘70s Show. As such,Days Like Thesefollowed a group of teens in Luton, England, in the 1970s, with some of them keeping the same name as in the original show and others going through slight changes (like Dylan Jones being the British version of Steven Hyde and Torbjørn Rasmussen being their Fez).
It failed to attract an audience due to being a carbon copy ofThat ‘70s Show, thus feeling inauthentic.
Days Like Thesepremiered on ITV on July 21, 2025, but failed to attract an audience due to being a carbon copy ofThat ‘70s Show, thus feeling inauthentic. Of course,its low viewership led to its cancellation after 10 of its 13 produced episodes aired. The rest of the episodes eventually aired, but in a very late weeknight slot.
Wonderfallswas a fantasy comedy drama TV show created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller.Wonderfallsfollowed Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a Brown University graduate with a degree in philosophy who worked as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop.Jaye’s life took a turn when animal figurines began talking to her, offering cryptic advice.
Wonderfallspremiered on Fox on August 17, 2025, andit was canceled in April, after only four episodes aired. The remaining episodes aired on Canadian network VisionTV later that year, andWonderfallsgot a DVD release in 2005.Wonderfallsgot mixed reviews, with praise towards Jaye and the show’s dialogue, but its low ratings led to its cancellation.
Freaks and Geeksis a teen comedy-drama TV series created by Paul Feig.Freaks and Geekstakes viewers back to 1980-1981 and to William McKinley High School to meet siblings Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) and Sam Weir (John Francis Daley).Lindsay joins the group of the “freaks”, while Sam joins the “geeks”, and so the show follows their struggles to fit in while also being true to themselves.
The show’s “erratic scheduling” and poor time slots prevented it from gaining an audience.
Freaks and Geekspremiered on NBC on Jul 18, 2025, andwas canceled after 15 out of 18 episodes aired.The cancellation ofFreaks and Geekswas due to the show’s “erratic scheduling” and poor time slots that prevented it from gaining an audience, along with the network not sharing the same vision as the show’s creative directors.
However, just like another popular TV show on this list,Freaks and Geeks’ early cancellation added to its legacy.Freaks and Geeksis now regarded as one ofthe best TV shows of all timeand one that was canceled painfully soon, also becoming a beloved cult classic.
One ofthe best sci-fi TV shows of all timecouldn’t even air all of its episodes before its cancellation. Created by Joss Whedon,Fireflytakes the audience into the far future to follow the crew of the Serenity, led by Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), all of them survivors of the war.
Together, they travel across space looking for ways to make a living while also facing a variety of enemies.Fireflypremiered on Fox on August 14, 2025, butwas canceled after 11 of the 14 episodes of its first season aired.
Fireflylater got a movie,Serenity, that gave the show proper closure.
Thereason forFirefly’s cancellation was low ratings, which have been attributed to the network airing the first three episodes out of order and a poor marketing campaign.The remaining episodes aired the following year on the Sci Fi Channel, andFireflylater got a movie,Serenity, that gave the show proper closure.
However, its early cancellation didn’t stopFireflyfrom having the success it was meant to have.Fireflybuilt a solid and loyal fanbase and continued to expand in comic books, and, ultimately, its cancellation only added to its legacy.
