Much like I strongly believe that all it takes for a product to become discontinued is for me to discover it; if you want a TV show to be cancelled, just wait for me to get into it and it will undoubtedly be cancelled after just one season. Or a one season wonder as they’re commonly known.
There has been many shows over the course of my lifetime that I’ve thought were brilliant but for one reason or another, ended up being extremely short lived. Perhaps I was the only one who ever watched them…?
Now I know I wasn’t the only one who watched this because everyone at school watched it and it very much paved the way for multi season wonders TV shows like Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill. What 14 year old girl didn’t think that Angela was based on their life or didn’t have a massive crush on Jordan Catalano? The fact that the series left on a cliffhanger meant fans were confident that there would be a second season. However rumour has it that Clare Danes wasn’t feeling it all that much and was reluctant to keep going. Without her on board, producers weren’t all that keen either so season 2 never got made. There is, however a sequel book called My So Called Life Goes On, for any MSCL die-hards!
Born out of a challenge in a episode of Big Brother one year, the premise was simple; stay awake for 7 days and win 100 grand. There were plenty of snooze worthy tasks to endure as well, like a lecture on triangles, and if any contestant closed their eyes for more than 10 seconds, they were eliminated and £1000 deducted from the prize fund. For health and safety reasons they were allowed about 40 minutes sleep a night, you know so they didn’t die, and it was all overseen by the lovely Dermot O’Leary. I guess it only lasted one season because once it’s done once, there’s not really many ways you can up the ante. Plus watching it made you want to fall asleep too, like physically fall asleep. It was good fun for a reality TV fan like me though.
Created by Paul Feig (who went on to create Bridesmaids and The Office (US)) and staring almost everyone famous you’ve ever heard of (James Franco, Jason Segal, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogan and Busy Phillips to name just a few) the series follows Lindsay Weir, who befriends a gang of slackers (the freaks), and her younger brother Sam, as he and his geek friends navigate high school. It was cancelled after the first series of 17 episodes, which is annoying because it was really good! If you’re a fan of Dawson’s Creek, or One Tree Hill but with a bit more of a snarky edge then you’ll love it. It’s so brilliantly 90s and all episode are available on All4.
Now, this (and 666 Park Avenue below) are one of the reasons I wanted to write this post because they are two prime examples of TV shows I got super into, only for them to be cancelled after one series. This show had everything, and when I say everything, I really mean the TV come back of one of my favourite 90s actresses; Sarah Michelle Gellar. And she plays dual role twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan. Double Buffy, hooray! Soon after Bridget (ne’er do well stripper sister) arrival in New York, Siobhan, who had kept her sister’s existence secret from her family, appears to commit suicide by jumping into the ocean. Bridget then assumes Siobhan’s identity and tries to fit in among Siobhan’s wealthy social circle. Hilarity ensues. It was so, so good. It seems to have fallen into streaming site oblivion but all episodes seem available on knockoff YouTube DailyMotion.
Another guilty pleasure of mine. British made itv2 show about a really posh elitist private school which has some weird goings on behind the scenes. It had every cheesy cliché in the book; two working class students who get involved with the posh kids. Stuck up trust fund kids with daddy issues. Embarrassing hazing rituals. And Reggie Yates in his first big acting role. It started off promising but as time went on it just got weirder, and weirder, and weirder and was just plain daft by the end. Hence probably why there was never a second series.
Created by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network, The West Wing, to name just a few) and possibly most famous for two things; being the first major role Matthew Perry took on post-Friends and for only lasting one season. It’s about the production of a live comedy series, similar to Saturday Night Live and also stars Sarah Paulson (performer, religious nut, and one of the three main stars of Studio 60) Amanda Peet (newly hired president of the network) Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg (a member of the shows ensemble cast) and weirdly, Robbie Williams’ wife Ayda (Matthew Perry’s on/off love interest). I think the main problem of the show was that it was way to similar to much better (in my opinion) 30 Rock, but you know i’ll always prefer anything Donald Glover is involved in won’t I?
Supernatural drama about a couple who learns that the Manhattan apartment building that they just moved into isn’t all that it appears. And it’s pretty effing creepy. The full series consisted of 13 episodes but was cancelled after episode 7. There were rumours the entire series would never been shown but thankfully the wonders of the information superhighway meant that I was able to see it through to the end. If you’ve seen American Horror Story: Hotel you’ll be along the right lines with this one (albeit, this is a little less raunchy than AHS). It’s certainly one of those which will have you gripped and itching to find out what happens next. Thankfully the ending comes to a somewhat satisfactory conclusion however was plenty of scope for further seasons. It’s everything Trinity wished it was.
Two words: Sean Maguire. The Class was kind of an early version of ‘friends from college’, eight friends who were all in the same year at school and come together 20 years later to celebrate one of the friends’ engagement. Other than Sean (who I’ve been pretty obsessed with ever since he left Eastenders to a pop star) it has a few other big names like Jason Ritter, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Lizzy Caplan and was written by Friends alum David Crane so had all the right ingredients for success but was sadly cancelled in 2007 and replaced by The Big Bang Theory. And what ever happened to that eh?
It is based on a science fiction novel, FlashForward is about lives of several people as a mysterious event causes almost everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009. During the blackout, people see what appear to be visions of their lives on April 29, 2010; six months into the future. But what does it all mean, how happened in those six months to make everyone’s lives so drastically different, and what caused the Flashforward in the first place?! Sadly, the show was cancelled after the ending of the season had already been shot, so a satisfying conclusion this did not create.
Horse racing TV show that doesn’t have Toby Maguire in but instead only Dustin bloomin Hoffman. How on earth can a show with Dustin ruddy Hoffman only last one series I hear you cry? Well, very sadly, two horses stumbled and fell during the shooting of some of the racing sequences and as a result had to be euthanized. Although HBO insisted all safety protocols had been followed, filmed was halted after the death of a third horse and was eventually cancelled as they couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. Not even Dustin flamin Hoffman could save it.