best tv shows to be cancelled after one season or less
by Twodaysgone | created - 19 Jan 2013 | updated - 5 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Firefly (2002–2003)
TV-14 | 45 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin
Votes: 281,675
2. The Unusuals (2009)
TV-14 | 60 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Darkly comedic drama focusing on the dysfunctional cops and staff of an infamous NYPD precinct.
Stars: Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Joshua Close
Votes: 5,517
3. Smith (2006–2007)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A drama about the lives of a crew of professional criminals.
Stars: Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Simon Baker, Jonny Lee Miller
Votes: 1,966
4. The Black Donnellys (2007)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama
Four young Irish brothers are caught up in New York's underworld of organized crime.
Stars: Jonathan Tucker, Tom Guiry, Olivia Wilde, Billy Lush
Votes: 14,373
Naration by Joey ice cream kept things interesting.
5. Breaking In (2011–2012)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Crime
A high-tech security firm takes extreme, and often questionable, measures to sell their protection services.
Stars: Bret Harrison, Alphonso McAuley, Christian Slater, Jennifer Irwin
Votes: 7,603
season 1 was good, but after the cancellation it was as if the casting and writing were taken over by a couple of brain dead monkeys.
6. The Book of Daniel (2006)
60 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Reverend Daniel Webster turns to a modern incarnation of Jesus to help him deal with his personal and professional problems.
Stars: Aidan Quinn, Susanna Thompson, Christian Campbell, Ivan Shaw
Votes: 907
7. JPod (2008– )
60 min | Comedy, Drama
The misadventures of the staff of an eccentric video game design studio.
Stars: David Kopp, Emilie Ullerup, Steph Song, Benjamin Ayres
Votes: 1,034
8. Wonderfalls (2004)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
24-year-old loner B.A. Jaye lives in a trailer park and sells souvenirs in Niagara Falls. Animal figurines and dolls speak to her and force her to interact with people and try to help them.
Stars: Caroline Dhavernas, Katie Finneran, Tyron Leitso, William Sadler
Votes: 13,112
9. Almost Human (2013–2014)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In a not-so-distant future, a human cop and an android partner team up to serve and protect.
Stars: Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Minka Kelly, Mackenzie Crook
Votes: 52,076
10. I Am Not Okay with This (2020)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Sydney is a teenage girl navigating the trials and tribulations of high school while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and mysterious superpowers just beginning to awaken deep within her.
Stars: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Sofia Bryant, Kathleen Rose Perkins
Votes: 74,628
11. Forever (2014–2015)
TV-PG | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Dr Henry Morgan, a medical examiner, works with his partner Detective Jo Martinez, to solve criminal cases. Along the way, he tries to uncover the mystery to his 200-year-old immortality.
Stars: Ioan Gruffudd, Alana De La Garza, Joel David Moore, Donnie Keshawarz
Votes: 62,170
12. Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000)
TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy, Drama
A high school mathlete starts hanging out with a group of burnouts while her younger brother navigates his freshman year.
Stars: Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine
Votes: 153,240
13. Undeclared (2001–2003)
TV-14 | 404 min | Comedy
College freshman Steve Karp, his girlfriend and their fellow dormmates embark on one of the greatest experiences of their lives. Unfortunately for Steve, his lonely and recently divorced father is tagging along for the ride.
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Carla Gallo, Charlie Hunnam, Monica Keena
Votes: 17,489
14. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007)
TV-14 | 44 min | Comedy, Drama
A behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch-comedy television show.
Stars: Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber
Votes: 25,216
15. Terriers (2010)
TV-MA | 45 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Hank Dolworth partners with his best friend, former criminal Britt Pollack, in an unlicensed private investigation business.
Stars: Donal Logue, Michael Raymond-James, Laura Allen, Kimberly Quinn
Votes: 11,254
16. New Amsterdam (2008)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A New York homicide detective is cursed with immortality.
Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Alexie Gilmore, Stephen McKinley Henderson
Votes: 7,433
17. Roar (1997)
60 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
In 5th century Ireland, a young Celtic chieftain and his allies fight against Roman encroachment, the manipulative pro-Roman puppet ruler of Ireland, Queen Diana, and her immortal adviser who seeks the biblical Spear of Longinus.
Stars: Heath Ledger, Lisa Zane, Sebastian Roché, Vera Farmiga
Votes: 1,312
18. Day Break (2006–2007)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Today Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. He will realize he's been framed. And he will run. Then he will wake up and start the day over again.
Stars: Taye Diggs, Moon Bloodgood, Victoria Pratt, Meta Golding
Votes: 8,443
19. The Dresden Files (2007–2008)
TV-14 | 582 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Harry Dresden is a wizard, the only one listed in the Chicago phone book. He's got a handle on the crimes that can't be solved by anyone else. Paranormal? No problem. Dresden deals in all matters of supernatural threats.
Stars: Paul Blackthorne, Valerie Cruz, Terrence Mann, Raoul Bhaneja
Votes: 11,445
20. Police Squad! (1982)
TV-PG | 24 min | Comedy, Crime
Sight gags, puns and non-sequiturs abound bumbling Sgt. Det. Lt. Frank Drebin and his colleagues at Police Squad solve various puzzling cases.
Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Alan North, Ed Williams, William Duell
Votes: 20,640
21. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993–1994)
TV-14 | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A bounty hunter rides the Old West, fighting bad guys, many with futuristic-type gadgets.
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Julius Carry, Christian Clemenson, Comet
Votes: 9,233
22. Kitchen Confidential (2005–2006)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
A bad-boy chef runs wild in his New York City eatery.
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Nicholas Brendon, John Francis Daley, Jaime King
Votes: 5,023
23. Gravity (2010)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama
Black comedy about a group of eccentric individuals in an out-patient program for suicide survivors.
Stars: Krysten Ritter, Ivan Sergei, Eric Schaeffer, Rachel Hunter
Votes: 1,075
24. Julie and the Phantoms (2020)
TV-G | 274 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Julie is a teenage girl who finds her passion for music and life with the help of a high -concept band of teen boys (The Phantoms) who have been dead for 25 years. Julie, in turn, helps them become the band they were never able to be.
Stars: Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Owen Patrick Joyner, Jeremy Shada
Votes: 12,069
25. Hunted (2012)
TV-MA | 59 min | Action, Drama
Meet Sam. A spy. A hunter. And herself hunted by an enemy more ruthless and determined than any she's ever known.
Stars: Melissa George, Adam Rayner, Patrick Malahide, Morven Christie
Votes: 9,411
26. Endgame (2011)
60 min | Crime, Drama
The death of his fiancee has left chess master Arkady Balagan agoraphobic and unwilling to step outside of his hotel. This debilitation, however, doesn't stop him from solving difficult crimes.
Stars: Shawn Doyle, Patrick Gallagher, Katharine Isabelle, Carmen Aguirre
Votes: 3,749
27. The Midnight Gospel (2020)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Clancy, a spacecaster with a malfunctioning multiverse simulator, leaves the comfort of his home to interview beings living in dying worlds.
Stars: Phil Hendrie, Duncan Trussell, Joey Diaz, Doug Lussenhop
Votes: 25,447
28. Deadly Class (2018–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of late 1980s counterculture, which follows a disillusioned teen recruited into a storied high school for assassins.
Stars: Benedict Wong, Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, María Gabriela de Faría
Votes: 19,259
29. Journeyman (2007)
45 min | Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
A San Francisco journalist mysteriously travels to the past and alters the path of people's lives. When his travels reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia, life with his present-day wife gets very interesting.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Gretchen Egolf, Moon Bloodgood, Reed Diamond
Votes: 9,618
30. My So-Called Life (1994–1995)
TV-14 | 912 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 15-year-old girl and her trials and tribulations of being a teenager and dealing with friends, guys, parents, and school.
Stars: Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, Claire Danes, Devon Gummersall
Votes: 21,972
31. Awake (2012)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
After a car accident takes the life of a family member, a police detective lives two alternating parallel lives, one with his wife and one with his son. Is one of his "realities" merely a dream?
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette
Votes: 21,492
32. Year of the Rabbit (2019)
30 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Detective Inspector Rabbit, a dedicated, tough, thick, and oft-inebriated Victorian copper, sleuths his way across London with his two young partners: a doofy rookie and a brilliant Black policewoman no one ever believes.
Stars: Matt Berry, Freddie Fox, Susan Wokoma, Alun Armstrong
Votes: 3,990
33. River (2015)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Adeel Akhtar, Lesley Manville
Votes: 27,237
34. The Finder (2012)
TV-14 | 44 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An Iraq war vet suffers a brain injury that triggers the ability to see connections between seemingly unrelated events, objects or people.
Stars: Geoff Stults, Maddie Hasson, Mercedes Mason, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 17,573
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