CANCELLED TOO SOON! Great TV Shows Gone Before Their Time
- Nick Digilio
- Mar 27
- 8 min read
Let me tell you—there’s nothing more frustrating as a TV fan than falling in love with a show, telling all your friends about it, watching every week or bingeing every episode... only to have it suddenly get yanked off the air. One season. Maybe two. And boom—cancelled.
Gone. Done. Left with a cliffhanger. No closure. No resolution. Just heartbreak.
That’s what this list is all about.
These are 10 TV shows that I absolutely loved that were cancelled way, WAY too soon. Shows that deserved more time. More episodes. More seasons. These weren’t just “good shows”—they were great shows, in many cases brilliant shows, and for whatever reason—poor marketing, weird time slots, network panic, or bad luck—they didn’t get a fair shake.
Now, we all know the opposite can be true. Some shows go on for too long. The Office is one. Great show—but it overstayed its welcome. Dexter? Should’ve ended long before it did. The Walking Dead became a zombie itself. Even M*A*S*H, classic as it is, could’ve wrapped it up a bit earlier.
And do we even need to talk about The Simpsons still being on the air? And Grey’s Anatomy—my God, Grey’s Anatomy! I feel like I’ve slipped into some alternate TV dimension whenever I'm reminded it's still on the air. It’s been 21 seasons. Twenty-one!
Meanwhile, you’ve got these incredible, brilliant, funny, creative shows that never even made it past episode 13.
And you know who’s the absolute worst when it comes to prematurely axing TV shows? FOX. I mean, FOX has a rep. They’ve become legendary for killing off great shows before they ever had a shot.
You’ll see a couple of FOX shows on this list, but let's pause to rattle off some of the ones that didn’t quite make the Top 10 but deserved better: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Dollhouse, Welcome to Flatch, Strange Luck, John Doe, Lie to Me, The Mick.
All of them—fantastic—were cancelled way too soon. FOX just loves to swing the cancellation axe like it's a piñata party.
Anyway, I kept this list focused and personal. These shows ran for no more than 22 episodes—some even less than that. Some barely made it through half a season. But I loved them. And I still think about them. These are the ones that stuck with me—the shows that made me laugh, think, feel, and want more—and vanished far too quickly.
Gone before their time. Deserved more. Let’s get into it...
My Top 10 TV Shows That Were Cancelled Too Soon
Let’s start with the darkest and most twisted show of the bunch. Profit was unlike anything else on TV when it premiered on FOX in 1996—frankly, American audiences probably weren’t ready for it.
Adrian Pasdar gave a jaw-droppingly good performance as Jim Profit, a junior executive at a multinational corporation who uses blackmail, extortion, manipulation, and even incest (yeah, it went there) to climb the corporate ladder. Oh—and he sleeps in a cardboard box in a closet.
Profit was corporate America seen through a noir, psychological horror lens. It was bold, weird, and ahead of its time. A phenomenal supporting cast, including Lisa Zane and Keith Szarabajka, added even more texture to the morally bankrupt world it painted. But it was just too dark for prime-time TV in 1996—only eight episodes aired before FOX pulled the plug.
It’s still one of the boldest TV dramas ever made. Had it premiered today on HBO or Netflix? It would've been a smash.
The funniest show in television history. Period. And I will die on that hill.
Created by the geniuses behind Airplane!—Jerry and David Zucker and Jim Abrahams—Police Squad! was a fast-paced, deadpan, gag-a-second parody of cop shows, starring the great Leslie Nielsen as Detective Frank Drebin.
It only lasted six glorious episodes on ABC before getting axed. Why? It didn’t have a laugh track, and audiences were too slow to pick up on the blink-and-you-miss-it jokes. You actually had to pay attention.
In its infinite wisdom, the network also aired it opposite Hill Street Blues. Great programming strategy, huh?
Each episode opened with a “special guest star” who was immediately killed in the opening credits, and the background gags were brilliant (watch for the nameplates, the freeze frame endings, and the joke title cards).
It was TV comedy perfection. And while the show didn’t last, it did give birth to The Naked Gun movies. But the original show? Still the best. The fact that it was cancelled after six episodes is criminal.
This one is just gorgeous—visually, emotionally, conceptually.
Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies was unlike anything else on TV, blending whimsy, fantasy, crime procedural, and romance into one colorful, candy-coated, emotionally resonant package.
Lee Pace plays Ned, a pie maker who can bring the dead back to life with a touch—but if he touches them again, they’re dead forever. This “gift” leads to an arrangement with a private investigator (the remarkable Chi McBride) where they solve murders by asking the victims who killed them. Add in Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen Greene, and Swoosie Kurtz, and you’ve got one of the most charming casts ever assembled.
But underneath the magical realism and pastel colors was a deeply moving exploration of love, loss, and loneliness. It ran 22 episodes across two seasons and was cancelled due to the 2007–08 writers’ strike, low ratings, and—again—network executives not knowing what the hell to do with something this special.
The American version of Life on Mars is one of the most underrated sci-fi cop shows of the 2000s. Based on the acclaimed British series, it starred Jason O’Mara as a modern-day detective who wakes up in 1973 after being hit by a car—and finds himself working homicide in the era of polyester and no Miranda rights.
The cast was bonkers-good: Harvey Keitel (on TV!), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Gretchen Mol. The show had style, atmosphere, a killer soundtrack, and a killer premise. It was a time-travel mystery, a fish-out-of-water cop show, and an existential drama all rolled into one. And the finale? Hugely ambitious, totally divisive—but unforgettable.
ABC cancelled it after just 17 episodes, and that’s a shame, because this one could’ve been a mind-bending, long-running classic.
My So-Called Life didn’t just capture the teenage experience—it nailed it to the wall.
Claire Danes was Angela Chase, a high school sophomore navigating love, identity, angst, and peer pressure. It was honest, raw, and unflinchingly real. And it gave us Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano—the brooding bad boy with great hair who leaned really well.
It was beautifully written (Winnie Holzman is a genius), emotionally authentic, and ahead of its time in dealing with issues like sexuality, drug use, and depression. It even had a killer theme song from Buffalo Tom—my favorite band, by the way.
Only 19 episodes aired before ABC cancelled it. That final episode left us on a cliffhanger, and fans are still wondering what happened. It was a stunning, honest, timeless show that absolutely deserved more time.
Here we go again: FOX cancelling brilliance.
Wonderfalls was a whimsical, weird, wonderful little show about Jaye, a disaffected twentysomething retail clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop who starts hearing inanimate objects talk to her. Stuffed animals, statues, souvenirs—they all start giving her cryptic instructions to help people.
Created by Bryan Fuller (again!) and Todd Holland, starring Caroline Dhavernas in a pitch-perfect performance, the show was filled with charm, smart writing, and surreal humor. FOX aired only four episodes before canceling it. Thankfully, all 13 episodes eventually made it to DVD (thanks to a grassroots campaign I’m proud to have been part of) and can now be streamed.
It was a little miracle of a show. And we deserved a lot more than 13 episodes of it.
Laura Dern gives the performance of her career in this criminally underappreciated HBO gem created by Mike White.
Enlightened is about Amy Jellicoe, a woman who suffers a public breakdown and sets out to remake herself—and maybe take down the corporation that helped ruin her life.
This show was complex, emotional, sometimes funny, sometimes devastating—and always human. It dealt with workplace culture, addiction, personal reinvention, and the struggle actually to be a good person in a messed-up world. The writing was poetic, the direction subtle, and Dern was just astonishing.
It only got 18 episodes over two seasons. HBO just didn’t know what to do with it. But make no mistake: Enlightened is one of the network's best series ever aired. Second only to The Wire.
Mike White again! This short-lived sitcom aired on (you guessed it) FOX, which aired six of the 12 episodes before canceling it.
Jason Schwartzman played a college student living in the guest house of a hilariously dysfunctional Beverly Hills family. The cast was stacked—Henry Gibson, Christopher McDonald, and the legendary Molly Shannon, who was hilarious week after week. She stole every scene, delivering a masterclass in comedic timing.
The show was weird, charming, and just off-kilter enough to make it feel fresh. But FOX, as usual, pulled the plug before it could build an audience. It deserved a shot.
Before The X-Files, there was Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Darren McGavin played a Chicago reporter who always seemed to stumble into supernatural horror stories—werewolves, vampires, aliens, and all kinds of unexplainable weirdness.
The show spun off from two made-for-TV movies that were huge hits. But ABC sabotaged the show with bad time slots and a lack of support. McGavin, frustrated with the behind-the-scenes drama and being overworked, got out of his contract.
Only 20 episodes were made. Still, it has become a cult classic, influencing generations of horror and sci-fi creators—most notably The X-Files creator Chris Carter, who’s said the show was a direct inspiration. You can still catch reruns on MeTV, and you should.
10. PITCH (2016)
This one stings the most.
Pitch told the story of the first woman to play in Major League Baseball—Ginny Baker, a rookie pitcher for the San Diego Padres. Played brilliantly by Kylie Bunbury, the show treated its subject seriously and with respect. No cheap jokes, no gimmicks—just smart storytelling, great baseball action, and incredible characters.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar (yes, Zack Morris) was phenomenal as her catcher and mentor, and the chemistry between them was off the charts. The baseball sequences were authentic. The storytelling was tight. And the score—by Black Violin and Jon Ehrlich—was gorgeous.
It was compelling, heartfelt, inspirational, and technically one of the best-looking shows I’ve ever seen on network TV. However, FOX cancelled it after just 10 episodes.
This show was important. It meant something. And FOX didn’t give it the time it deserved.
So there you have it—10 amazing shows ripped away from us too soon. Some ended on cliffhangers, some never got the chance to grow into what they could’ve been, but all left a mark.
Here’s hoping more people discover them—and more networks start giving smart, original, heartfelt shows the time they need to thrive.
What shows do you think were cancelled too soon? Let me know with an email: nick@nickdigilio.com
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