CBS’s popular nerd sitcom The Big Bang Theory became one of the decade’s most unexpected massive hits, and was filmed in front of a live audience for most of its run-time of over 250 episodes and 12 seasons. Part of the show’s appeal came from the excellent portrayal of Sheldon Cooper, by Jim Parsons, who managed to turn the role into an iconic success. The Big Bang Theory won seven Emmy Awards and was nominated for more than 45.
Parsons also won various awards for his role as Sheldon, including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and in 2018, was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, with over $25 million annually. Despite the show having mixed reviews after its initial few seasons, it maintained extremely high viewership rates throughout its twelve year run-time and had some of its best ratings on the 12th and final season.
Fuller House
Fuller House is the aptly named sequel to the 1987-1995 classic sitcom, Full House . The show centers around D.J. Tanner Fuller, a veterinarian and widow who has to raise three sons along with her sister Stephanie, her best friend Kimmy, and her daughter. Netflix originally ordered thirteen episodes, and extended the show to a full four seasons.
The network announced that the fifth season, which is set to premiere in 2020, will also be the last. Despite positive reviews, the show has seen its share of controversy, with writer and producer Jeff Franklin allegedly abusing his staff verbally and making some inappropriate comments. Fuller House won a 2017 award for Favorite Family TV Show at the Kids' Choice Awards, it then proceeded to win a Favorite TV Show award in 2019.
The Punisher
Jon Bernthal got his first rise to prominence in AMC’s popular The Walking Dead , and quickly transitioned to portraying the Punisher arguably better than any actor could ever hope to in the hit Netflix show, The Punisher . The show featured lots of gory violence, incredible action scenes and some solid acting. The Punisher lasted for a total of two seasons, with the first being much better reviewed than the second.
It remains one of the last Marvel shows that is still on Netflix, now that Disney has launched their own streaming service. Rumors began to circulate around the release of the second season that Netflix will not be pursuing a third one. These were confirmed shortly after.
Legion
The awesome X-Men spinoff, Legion , has been set to have its third and final season on June 24, 2019. The show features various mutant characters played by actors Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Irwin, Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder, and Jean Smart.
Legion features David Heller, a character from Marvel's X-Men universe, who's the son of Professor Charles Xavier. Despite having a relatively small audience of viewers, the show received fantastic reviews for all three of its seasons. If you're looking for a fantastic superhero show with a bit of a different style, you should definitely check out Legion.
Homeland
The popular spy thriller Homeland has gotten its eighth and last season scheduled for 2020. The show centers around a bipolar CIA operative who becomes convinced that a terrorist named Abu Nazir is planning to commit a terrorist attack against the United States. Homeland opened to excellent ratings, but saw a steady decline in its reviews with each subsequent season.
Although Homeland sparked some controversies, it managed to fair quite well with viewers who are now looking forward to the show's eighth and final season. Many are waiting anxiously, as the last season has been delayed by two years, as opposed to the annual format adopted so far by the show. Homeland’s final twelve episodes are also slated to have some of its most intense moments.
The Big Bang Theory
CBS's popular nerd sitcom The Big Bang Theory became one of the decade's most unexpected massive hits, and was filmed in front of a live audience for most of its run-time of over 250 episodes and 12 seasons. Part of the show's appeal came from the excellent portrayal of Sheldon Cooper, by Jim Parsons, who managed to turn the role into an iconic success. The Big Bang Theory won seven Emmy Awards and was nominated for more than 45.
Parsons also won various awards for his role as Sheldon, including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and in 2018, was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, with over $25 million annually. Despite the show having mixed reviews after its initial few seasons, it maintained extremely high viewership rates throughout its twelve year run-time and had some of its best ratings on the 12th and final season.
Mr. Robot
Rami Malek portrays Elliot Alderson, a depressed and anxious cybersecurity engineer and hacker, in the show Mr. Robot . The series is critically acclaimed and won a Golden Globe for Best Television Drama Series, as well as six Emmy nominations, winning Malek an award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In case you haven't checked out the show yet, now would be a great time to do so, as its fourth and final season recently ended in the last days of 2019. Malek promised fans that the ending was well worth the wait, saying that “It’s going to be a very, very climactic ending to what I think has been four great seasons of television.” And he was right.
Orange Is the New Black
Netflix has decided to say goodbye to its stars in orange jumpsuits from the popular comedy-drama show, Orange is the New Blac k. The show premiered on Netflix in 2013, and has gone on for seven seasons, with the seventh confirmed as being the last. This women's prison drama is known as Netflix's most watched original show to date, and has been highly acclaimed throughout its run-time of over 90 episodes.
Orange is the New Black has received 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning three. In fact, the show won so many Emmys that it was forced to change categories from comedy to drama in order to keep winning more (and it certainly did). The show revolves a woman who was convicted in prison due to an old crime of transporting drug money to one of her ex-girlfriends, and goes in some extremely interesting directions from there.
The Good Place
NBC's The Good Place rocked the world when it debuted its trailer more than three years ago. The premise of the show was quite genius, and revolves around a woman named Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) who wakes up in heaven and realizes that she was sent there by mistake. The show was extremely funny and had excellent writing, acting and was particularly original.
The Good Place was also lauded by critics and fans for having fantastic analysis of ethics and philosophy, and even received a Peabody Award and two Hugo Awards. Its fourth and final season premiered in September 26, 2019. If you haven't watched the show yet, you can check out this classic fantasy comedy on Netflix. It's quite a short show, with only 48 episodes totaling 20 minutes, meaning that it would take you around 16 hours to watch. Either way, it's not a show you want to miss if you're interested in philosophy, ethics, or Kristen Bell.
How To Get Away With Murder
America's favorite legal drama, How to Get Away with Murder , is currently going through its sixth season, which is slated to also be its last. The main star of the show is Annalise Keating, played by Emmy and Academy award winning actress, Viola David. Keating is a law professor whose students get involved in a murder plot, with events unfolding from there.
How to Get Away with Murder has appeared in various critics' top ten lists for both 2014 and 2015, and has made Viola Davis the first black actress to ever win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, as well as two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series. Season six debuted in September 26, 2019, and ended in late November 2019.
The InBetween
This supernatural drama lost its momentum somewhere in the first season, and never really recovered, as it was canceled in the middle of its debut season. The InBetween centered around Cassie Bedford, who possessed the ability to talk to dead people (kind of like The Sixth Sense ), but apparently, the premise didn't catch as much attention as its closest competitor, CW's Supernatural , which has been running for fifteen seasons now.
Reviews by critics have been rather stale, although it does have a user rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit with just 81 reviews, it's kind of a small statistical sample. Many of the show’s creators and producers have already moved on due to the show having some of the lowest ratings in recent NBC history, so we’re not exactly hopeful for any more episodes.
The Cool Kids
Fox was quite apprehensive about its late 2018 comedy show, The Cool Kids , right from the moment it was launched. The show follows three guys who live in a retirement community that are joined by a rebellious female occupant. The show stars old time actors David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Leslie Jordan, and Vicki Lawrence.
The Cool Kids was met with mixed to positive reviews, mostly being criticized for having cheesy jokes and old time cliches. There were originally 12 episodes as part of Fox's attempt to check the viability of the show. Fox saw the potential behind The Cool Kids and ordered another nine episodes a few weeks later, leading the total to 22 episodes. It canceled the show on the same day that the last episode was released, and it seems that this one is not getting out of its retirement home.
Lodge 49
AMC has officially decided to not go for a third season in Jim Gavin's comedy-drama show, Lodge 49 . The series describes itself as a modern fable about a local ex-surfer who joins an order known as the Order of the Lynx, to get back to his previous life. Lodge 49 was highly reviewed by both critics and audiences, with an average rating of over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite being critically acclaimed, it unfortunately didn't catch the required attention to keep running.
AMC put out a statement regarding the death of the show, and tried its best to eulogize it: “We are so proud to have had Lodge 49 on our air,” the network continued, “This wonderful show gave audiences fresh and unforgettable characters in a world that did not exist anywhere else on television.”
The Ranch
Ashton Kutcher's popular sitcom, The Ranch , began right after the actor finished working on the Two and a Half Men show, which saw him replace a problematic Charlie Sheen. The Ranch is an eight-part series with a total of four seasons, each episode is named after American country singers, with a total of 20 episodes per season.
The popular show was renewed in late 2018 by Netflix for its fourth and final season, despite the series receiving only average reviews. The date of the show's 8th and final part (which is the second half of season four) is still unknown, but expected to arrive sometime in 2020. The 8th part will mark a total of 80 episodes for the series, making it the longest running, half-hour long original Netflix series.
The Rain
The Rain is a Danish post-apocalyptic show that premiered on Netflix in mid-2018, and is currently scheduled for its third and final season. This original Netflix series is set around the premise that a virus carried by rainfall wiped out almost all of humanity, with the story revolving around a group of Danish survivors trying to find safety and perhaps even a cure.
The Rain was shot in Denmark and Sweden, with a current total of 14 episodes (final total is expected to be 21 episodes). The show received mixed reviews from fans, mostly referring to it as "not the best but not horrible". It was not so well received, which makes it a surprise that the streaming service chose to continue it for a third season.
Lucifer
Lucifer hit the ground running when it originally premiered on Fox in January 25, 2016. The show's main character, Lucifer, is based on a DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg, from Gaiman's iconic 'The Sandman' graphic novel series. Lucifer is centered around Lucifer Morningstar, played by Tom Ellis, who is none other than the devil himself. Lucifer has decided to abandon hell and run a nightclub in Los Angeles, as well as become a consultant to the LAPD.
Lucifer was originally cancelled by Fox after just three seasons, but was resurrected by Netflix just a month later, who ordered two more seasons of the show. Lucifer was quite a controversial show, with the American Family Association launching a petition to stop the show from airing that received over 130,000 signatures. Needless to say, the boycott didn't work. Ironically, this was also attempted by the same organization almost three decades ago when they tried to boycott the Sandman graphic novels which the character is based on.
I Feel Bad
Let's start out by saying this — there's no wonder why a show called I Feel Bad could not make it passed its first season. This horrible name is standing tall somewhere along with 'I Feel Terrible' and 'Life Is Bad'. It's no wonder that NBC's comedy show barely managed to hold its ratings and was down to 2.5 million viewers by the end of its first season. The show centers around Emet, a mother, boss and wife who has to contend with her various faults and personality defects.
I Feel Bad was rated 5.9 out of 10 on IMDb and received very polarized reviews from viewers, calling it either "not funny at all" and "a waste of time" or "my favorite new show", depending on who you ask. The show stars Sarayu Blue, Paul Adelstein, Aisling Bea, Zach Cherry, Johnny Pemberton, and James Buckley, and can be watched on NBC.com and Amazon Prime.
Grand Hotel
Despite having one huge cliffhanger ending, Grand Hotel has been officially canceled by ABC in October 2019, after just one season. The show starred a variety of Spanish actors, such as Demián Bichir, Roselyn Sanchez and Denyse Tontz, but it didn't spark enough attention, even though it was co-produced by the wonderful Eva Longoria.
The show centered around the lives of people working at a family-run hotel in Miami Beach, but it seems people weren't interested enough in the idea to tune in weekly. Grand Hotel managed to attract just under 2.8 million total viewers every week.
I Love You, America
There aren't many mainstream comedians in Hollywood that are more controversial and offensive than the popular Sarah Silverman. The comedian practically built her career on offensive jokes addressing social taboos and controversial topics, such as racism, sexism, religion and politics. When Hulu offered the comedian a late night talk show, people were quite skeptical that it would have a long future, and they were quite right.
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman debuted on Hulu in October 12, 2017, and got axed after just 21 episodes. It was received with positive reviews initially, but found itself losing affinity from viewers as the show continued. Hulu said goodbye to the show with the subscription service’s chief Craig Erwich commenting: “We’re proud of what Sarah Silverman did on ‘I Love You, America.’ I think the show grew creatively between Season 1 and Season 2. It didn’t acquire a large enough audience despite the critical acclaim.”
Veep
HBO's hit political satire comedy show VEEP (short for vice-president), originally began as an adaptation of the British sitcom The Thick of It, but grew to a life of its own, with over seven seasons of our protagonist Meyer and her team as they try to become successful politicians in American politics. It stars various talented actors, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons and Matt Walsh.
The show has won numerous awards, including seven consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Production was halted on the seventh season due to star Julia Louis-Dreyfus having to get treatment for breast cancer. Veep eventually returned for its seventh and final season in March 31, 2019, and received critical acclaim from both critics and users alike.
Tuca & Bertie
Tuca & Bertie , Netflix's attempt at an adult animated sitcom, appeared to be quite a promising new show. Although the show opened to strong reception and critical acclaim, often being referred to as one of the best shows of 2019, it didn't survive its first season and was promptly axed by Netflix. Stars of the show Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, both came from a comedic background, yet the show itself didn't get the same comedic value as each of the female comics' one-woman shows.
Both fans and critics were very mad about the sudden cancellation, and prompted a social media backlash with the Twitter hashtags #RenewTucaAndBertie and #SaveTucaAndBertie, and each received more than 10,000 tweets from users. Many news sites published articles asking Netflix to renew the show, and criticism was thrown at Netflix for not adequately promoting the show due to its algorithm failing to help it build an initial audience.
The Fix
Unfortunately for ABC's The Fix , the show won't be getting a second season, and there's nothing anyone can do to fix it. All jokes aside, this legal drama series revolved around an L.A. prosecutor who decides to take matters into her own hands when a killer she failed to prosecute returns to committing crimes.
The show received a mediocre 6.5 out of 10 in IMDb, and failed to draw a large audience. It was also considered by many to be a revision of history, as the story was partially based on true events that occurred when Marcia Clark, the show's creator and an American prosecutor, lead the case against O.J. Simpson in his infamous 1994 murder trial.
She’s Gotta Have It
Netflix's comedy-drama show She's Gotta Have It was based on a 1986 film of the same name. If first premiered in late 2017 and lasted for only two seasons. Although the show received overall positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, it didn't have the appeal to make it last longer than two seasons.
It’s been reported that the show’s creator, Spike Lee, is looking for other studios to continue the show into a third season. Lee has won numerous awards for his work, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Student Academy Award, a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, two Peabody Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Cannes Grand Prix. But none of those are proof that his attempts to resuscitate the show will pay off.
Pearson
Spinoffs are usually a risky move, as proven by the much maligned show Joey, an unsuccessful spinoff of the ultra-popular show Friends . USA Network had a taste of this phenomena when it decided to officially stop its experimental spinoff to the popular Suits legal drama show. Pearson was supposed to rise on the success of its parent show, but failed spectacularly after just 10 episodes. The show was based on one of the stars from Suits , Jessica Pearson, who is played by the talented and beautiful Gina Torres.
Unfortunately, this female-led show just couldn’t capture the same attention and interest that its parent show had. It’s been reported that Pearson had about half as many people watching the show as Suits, which is pretty bad when you consider that the show has just debuted and is still riding on the initial hype momentum. USA Network was quick to shut it down after finding out that it was one of the worst performing shows they had ever produced.
Jessica Jones
It seems that Marvel has really pulled the plug on the various MCU shows that have appeared on Netflix over the past few years. The studio has confirmed on February 18, 2019 that it was canceling the show Jessica Jones , meaning that its third season was going to be its last one. Jessica Jones’ premise is centered around Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) who is a former superhero that opens her own detective agency.
The show was highly acclaimed, mostly due to Ritter and her co-star David Tennant's excellent acting, but also due to its approach to various darker subjects, such as rape, assault and PTSD. Netflix didn't reveal its public viewership records at the time, although it's believed that the second season had about half the popularity of its predecessor. There is a rumor that Disney+ might continue the show, as well as other canceled Marvel properties, although that is yet to be confirmed.
The Passage
Fox's The Passage started out as a very promising show, based on a horror novel trilogy which was highly acclaimed and very successful. The show centers around the life of Amy Bellafonte, who is humanity's last hope of being saved from a vampire infection that threatens to destroy humanity.
This vampire thriller was canceled prematurely at the end of its first season, likely due to the show's low ratings, which began at 5.2 million and fell weekly until reaching a low of just over 3 million by the end of the first season. Fox must have felt that the magic of the show was quickly wearing off, despite having a relatively strong start. It's last episode, 'Last Lesson', was definitely a lesson in how not to premiere a show.
Splitting Up Together
Splitting Up Together was a comedy show starring Jenna Fischer, Oliver Hudson, Bobby Lee, Diane Farr, Lindsay Price, and a few other lesser-known actors. The show follows a couple with three children who are going through a divorce which happens to reignite their marriage. It lasted for two seasons, with the first being only eight episodes long and the second having more than twice as many episodes.
ABC’s comedy show received mixed approval (you could also say that reviews were "split") and eventually the show was canceled by the network amidst a slew of cancellations by the broadcasting company. Splitting Up Together received a rating of 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb and was considered an OK show. The first season was about the couple getting divorced and the second was about the fallout of their one night stand. Its cancellation wasn't met with too much fuss from fans, who had mostly split up from the show themselves by then.
Sunnyside
NBC has had a fairly consistent trend of successful comedies in the past few years, which unfortunately seems to have ended with one of its leading comedy shows, Sunnyside . The series was marketed as a promising comedy starring the classic popular actor and comedian from Harold & Kumar , Kal Penn. Unfortunately, the show didn’t premiere to great ratings, as it suffered from a fairly unsuccessful September premiere.
Sunnyside reportedly earned the lowest ratings out of any freshman broadcast series in the past few years, and when the studio saw that figures weren’t picking up, they knew it was time to ax the show. The last few episodes will air and remain on NBC’s app and website, but it’s very unlikely that we’ll see another season. Perhaps the actor’s appeal began to fade over time, or perhaps the show just didn’t hit the right audiences.
Channel Zero
Channel Zero is a horror anthology show that managed to terrify viewers for four full seasons and 24 episodes. It features self-contained episodes, each featuring its own scary premise based on popular Creepypastas. Channel Zero received generally positive reviews and was honestly considered one of the scariest shows on television at the time. It received a 93% average rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 83% average rating from viewers.
The horror show was cancelled after four seasons due to decreasing ratings, as revealed by show-runner, Nick Antcosca, on Instagram. He wrote: “After 4 seasons, Channel Zero is no more at SYFY. I loved making this show and I would have loved to do more… but I can’t complain too much about doing 4 stories I loved with people who I loved working with.” If you’re looking for a terrifying self-contained show to watch in your free time, you can stream the show on Syfy’s various affiliate networks.
Designated Survivor
Designated Survivor had a tough journey in its three year life, starting from a skipped pilot that went straight into the first season, to then being canceled three years later. A third season was made after Netflix rescued the show from Hollywood's graveyard, but it was canceled again just a few months later. Fans were originally rejoiced when they believed that the series was being picked up after such a long time, but were eventually disappointed when the fourth season was canceled.
Designated Survivor is a political thriller that attempted to reach the levels of success that House of Cards achieved, but despite its strong opening with over 10 million viewers, ratings quickly tanked and were down to less than an average of 3.5 million by the second season. The show was nominated as the Most Exciting TV Series by TV Guide, but it didn't exactly manage to excite people for long enough.
Proven Innocent
Fox's legal drama Proven Innocent was canceled after just one season of fairly boring narratives and mediocre acting. The show had just 3 million viewers at its debut and finished its 13th episode with a little over 1.5 million viewers. The premise of Proven Innocent is basically a "case of the day" format where the legal team of the show tried to reverse a wrongful conviction of the current episode's convicted criminal.
Proven Innocent was apparently unable to reverse its own judgment, and was deemed by Fox to be not interesting enough for more than one season. Reviewers have definitely played on the name of the show, joking about it being guilty of too many TV show sins. It was also criticized by fans for a lack of attention to details and way too much emphasis on the show's girl-on-girl romance, as opposed to the actual crime subjects.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a fantastic drama show which looks at life in New York City in the '70s and '80s, when prostitution and porn were rampant. It stars the two acting icons James Franco, who plays both Vincent Martino, a bartender, and Frankie Martino, a gambler (they're twin brothers), and Maggie Gyllenhaal who portrays Candy, a sex worker who works her way up the porn industry.
The show has received excellent reviews from both critics and fans, praising it for the excellent acting and tight story progression that never lets up until the end. The Deuce premiered with just over a million viewers on its debut and retained much of its ratings throughout its three seasons. It was concluded on its third season, with a finale that fast forwards into the future, showing us how the characters ended up. Both HBO, the show's network, and the show's creator have confirmed that the series was officially concluded and not likely to continue.
Trial & Error
Trial & Error failed to impress viewers with its mockumentary style about the arrest and trial of a beloved poetry professor from South Carolina who is accused of murdering his wife. The show starred actors Nicholas D'Agosto, John Lithgow, Jayma Mays, Steven Boyer, and Sherri Shepherd. It premiered in mid-2017 on NBC and was renewed for a second season. Despite receiving overall positive reviews, Trial & Error failed to attract enough audiences to justify a third season.
The show's first season was better received than its second, with Kristin Chenoweth being the best reviewed star on the show. Eventually, Trial & Error failed to find a new financier after NBC's option expired, and they decided not to renew it. Creators are currently looking to Hulu, Netflix or Amazon to pick up the comedy.
iZombie
iZombie began as a promising procedural crime drama about a doctor named Olivia "Liv" Moore (Rose McIver), who turned into a zombie and helps the Seattle Police Department solve murders. It was a loose adaptation on a comic book by DC Comics under the same name, and initially opened to strong ratings, with over 2 million viewers. Unfortunately, each season brought with it a severe decrease in interest from fans, as well as falling ratings.
iZombie's fifth season was considered its worst by far, and ended in an unexpected finale that helps tie everything up nicely. The show's star, Rose McIver, confirmed in a tweet that iZombie's fifth season was truly the last: “So the fifth season of #iZombie will be our last. I am therefore committed and excited to make it the best one yet! Really proud to be on a show that celebrates the misfits and I pinch myself every day that I get to be a part of the iZombie world with you guys.”
Chambers
Netflix often uses its large budget and quick production schedules to pilot many shows in short succession and checking which of them grabs audiences the best. Chambers was one of those experiments, and unfortunately, it didn't end up becoming a fan favorite, causing Netflix to cancel it after just one season. The show was released on April 26th, 2019, with all of its ten episodes immediately available for viewing. Many fans were disappointed when Chambers ended, as it starred one of the most iconic actresses in Hollywood: Uma Thurman.
Chambers's plot revolves around a woman who survives a heart transplant and begins to develop supernatural abilities. It received mixed ratings, and was mostly criticized for not being able to deliver the hype that its talented cast created. Netflix ended the show with the following statement: “Chambers will not return for a second season,” the streaming company continued, “We’re grateful to creator and showrunner Leah Rachel for bringing this story to us.”
Fam
Bulgarian actress Nina Dobrev attempted to star in a sitcom after her massive cult following and legendary success from her portrayal of Elena Gilbert, in the popular Vampire Diaries drama show. Many fans of the actress expected a solid performance from her. Unfortunately for Dobrev, her new sitcom Fam failed brutally with both fans and critics.
It was mostly criticized for lacking any originality and attempting to use familiar and often used sitcom jokes and story templates. Dobrev's acting was also criticized by many fans as being a disappointment after her work in Vampire Diaries. The show was canceled in May 10th, 2019, after just one season.
The First
Sean Penn's space drama, The First was supposed to be a bombshell show after trailers for the series began showing up in mid-2018. The show was met with fairly positive reviews, but didn't manage to pick up ratings or reviews. The First follows the planning of the first human mission to Mars, as a team of astronauts prepare to become the first humans to visit there. Other actors that join the talented Sean Penn are Natascha McElhone, Lisa Gay Hamilton and Hannah Ware.
The First lasted for only one season and eight episodes before Hulu decided to pull the plug due to lack of ratings. Many fans consider the show's potential as wasted, due to a large focus on the family drama and dysfunctional characters as opposed to the actual space mission. Alas folks, The First will not have a second.
Speechless
Another sitcom which was abruptly canceled by ABC is the popular Speechless , which followed both hilarious and very serious challenges that a family faces from having a teenage son who's disabled. The show has received excellent ratings from critics due to its honest and heartfelt performance, as well as the excellent balance it manages of humor and seriousness around some pretty sensitive topics.
Speechless has been cited as a "clear-eyed and empathetic exploration of life in a special-needs family that makes plenty of room for hilarity." Unfortunately, it didn't make it past its third season, although it received quite a respectable ending after running for more than 60 episodes. The show received various awards over the years, including an “Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming” prize at the 2017 Television Critics Association Award.
Lethal Weapon
Fox's buddy cop action comedy show, Lethal Weapon , was originally based on the 1987 film of the same name and its three sequels. The show follows the same formula as the film, portraying the adventures of two highly mismatched detective partners. Lethal Weapon ran on Fox from 2016 until 2019, and was canceled after three seasons due to insane on-set issues.
Apparently, there was a lot of conflict and hostility between cast members, especially from Clayne Crawford, who played Martin Riggs. The actor was promptly fired despite being a leading actor, and was killed in the show and replaced by Sean William Scott. The show was well received in its first season, but lost about half of its viewers in the subsequent two seasons. It received mixed reviews and was officially canceled on May 10th, 2019.
The Man in the High Castle
Amazon Studios' The Man in the High Castle is a Ridley Scott production, based on Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name. The show poses the question of what would happen if the Nazis and the Japanese had won World War II. It's a brilliant historical take that starts in 1962 and follows various characters who live in that era.
Various controversies rose during the advertising of the show, which included an entire New York City Subway car being covered in Nazi and Imperial Japanese imagery. The advertisement was pulled by Amazon after much pressure from the New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo. The show's debut pilot was considered to be Amazon's most watched pilot since its line of shows began, with the show receiving subsequent critical acclaim throughout its first three seasons. Season four was released in November 2019, and was the last season of the show.
Nightflyers
SyFy's Nightflyers was a horror science fiction show based on the novel and short stories by George R. R. Martin, creator of the Game of Thrones book series. The studio took a bet on the franchise, counting on fans from GoT to move over to this new franchise, while hoping that the excellent writing by the legendary writer would managed to move its way from book to screen as well.
Unfortunately, the attempt didn't work out too well, and the show was canceled after just one season. The main premise behind Nightflyers is that a team of scientists attempt to make first contact with an alien life form, until they find out that it's actually violent and prone to killing them. The show had a very small viewing of less than a million viewers per episode, and received poor ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, who called it "Unsettling without being particularly scary".
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is another police procedural drama crime series from the bevy of crime shows such as NCIS , CSI and Law & Order . The show follows a group of FBI agents who use behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes. The show's cast has changed tremendously through its 14 seasons and more than 300 episodes.
Reception to Criminal Minds has been mixed, with some people liking it while others found it bland and unrealistic. In terms of ratings, the show has consistently drawn audiences over its first 11 seasons, but began to lose momentum once it reached season 12, and really started dipping after that. Season 15 will be the last in this long CBS series which has been running since 2005.
The Affair
Showtime's The Affair is quite a unique specimen of a show, featuring complex dramatic episodes with heavy relationship dilemmas. Each episode is often split into two parts, with each part being told from one of the character's point of view. The show mainly explores the effects of an extramarital affair on the relationship between Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson).
The last season features the excellent Anna Paquin, who stars as one of the show's main actresses. The Affair was highly praised by both critics and fans, mostly due to its brilliant storyline and plot devices, and maintained a consistently high ranking, except for its third season, which was considered the weakest overall. The show's fifth season, which aired in mid 2019 and ended in late 2019, will be the last season of the show.
BH90210
The long running franchise Beverly Hills, 90210 has apparently reached the end of its days, with the franchise starting with 1990's Beverly Hills, 90210 , which lasted until the year 2000, and just kept going. The franchise's latest iteration, BH90210 , used the original cast, who are all now over 40, but failed to capture the attention of viewers despite having a great opening and initial excitement from viewers.
The show's trailer became one of the year's most popular videos, but after six episodes, the studio decided to scrap the project. In case you don't know, BH90210 is focused on the lives of a group of friends who are living in the lavish and very upper-class community of Beverly Hills, focusing very realistically on the lives of its stars. The original series tackled various tough topics and became a cultural phenomena, with the show's stars becoming pop culture icons. It seems that times have changed, and that nowadays, there's little to no interest in a show about a bunch of rich men and women.
Counterpart
J.K Simmons has proven himself again and again to be a multi-varied actor with some intense dramatic abilities. His latest role in the science fiction thriller, Counterpart , shows just how much he evolved, as he plays a double role as both a UN employee and a top war spy. The show was highly rated with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences giving it a high rating as well.
Simmons is accompanied in his role as both Howard Silk Prime and Howard Silk Alpha by various talented actors, including Harry Lioyd as Peter Quayle, and Olivia Williams as Emily Burton. Counterpart never picked up in terms of viewers, and stayed at less than half a million viewers throughout its lifetime, but those that did watch it gave it rave reviews. Unfortunately, reviews aren't as important as ratings, and so the show was canceled by its network, Starz. The creator of Counterpart, Justin Marks, is currently looking for another platform to continue the series on.
Travelers
Travelers was a Canadian-American sci-fi show created by Brad Wright, the TV producer known for his various Stargate shows. It premiered in late 2016, and featured a post-apocalyptic future where humans attempt to send their consciousness back to the 21st century to fix the path humanity chose to take. Travelers was produced and distributed by Netflix and Showcase, although it was dropped by the latter after the second season.
The show's third season was its last, after Netflix canceled it without an explanation. Eric McCormack, the show's lead actor, uploaded a video on February 1, 2019 announcing the show was officially cancelled. He thanked fans for the excellent response to the third season and thanked the team for the long years of production.
Murphy Brown
Everyone who watched sitcoms in the late '80s and early '90s remembers Murphy Brown , the show featured Murphy, a charismatic recovering alcoholic who worked at a fictional magazine called FYI. The show featured a variety of hilarious situations and was well-received in its time. Although it wasn’t quite as popular as other sitcoms of the time, such as Friends , it did manage to capture the attention of many fans, especially women, at a time when many of its jokes and feminist themes were still controversial.
The show had a large cultural impact due to the show's lead character, Murphy, becoming a single mother, which was a very controversial thing at the time. The character was so beloved that it was ranked #25 on the TV Guide Network special, 25 Greatest TV Characters of All Time. In 2018, CBS gave the green light for a revival of the show; however, it lasted only one season and a total of thirteen episodes due to mixed negative responses from critics and a lack of interest from fans.
Santa Clarita Diet
Meet Santa Clarita Diet . This horror comedy show by Netflix was canceled after its third season, despite fans practically begging for this show starring Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Aaron Kaplan, Tracy Katsky, Chris Miller, Ember Truesdell and Ruben Fleischer to continue. The show features Drew Barrymore as a real estate agent who turns into a zombie, and her family's attempts at supporting her while she eats people. When it was canceled in late April 2019, fans of the show managed to create a viral hashtag "#SaveSantaClaritaDiet" on Twitter, but failed to save the show.
This show was considered Drew Barrymore's passion project, and details of its cancellation are unclear, especially considering that its last season ended on a cliffhanger. Netflix claims that the show ended because of financial reasons, but many believe it was more to do with the show's gruesome nature, as it often featured very explicit gore, even in its marketing.
One Day At a Time
One Day at a Time is a highly acclaimed comedy TV show about a Cuban-American family that lives in the same house, despite having vastly different cultures. The show was extremely well received by fans for its deep and intricate story, excellent acting and relevance to current world topics. It featured a single mother who is an Army veteran with PTSD, her Cuban mother and her children.
The show tackled issues including mental illness, immigration, sexism, racism and more, while highlighting the struggles that Latin people face in the United States. The show was canceled by Netflix on its third season despite receiving numerous awards. In a surprising turn of events, the show was picked up by a traditional TV channel called Pop TV, and is currently slated for a fourth season due in 2020, making it the first show cancelled by Netflix to ever receive a resurrection by a traditional network.
Happy Together
Another CBS sitcom which failed to endure for more than one season is Happy Together , a show which follows a young couple and the chaos that their lives become after a pop star named Cooper James, played by Felix Mallard, moves into their apartment. The show failed to capture the audience's attention and received very mixed reviews despite having three talented and beloved actors leading it.
Happy Together lasted for a total of 13 episodes and was immediately scrapped after that. Most fans don't know this, but the show was actually based on the real life story of the time when Harry Styles, a popular singer and actor, crashed at the house of the show's executive producer, Ben Winston, and his wife.
Poldark
The British historical period drama, Poldark , recently finished its run on the fifth and final season, capping the show at 43 episodes, lasting about an hour each. The show revolves around Captain Ross Poldark, played by Aidan Turner, who returns home after the American Revolutionary War in an attempt to rebuild his life, but discovers that the troubles have just started for him. Poldark is based on a series of novels of the same name, which ran from 1945 up to 2002.
The show received great ratings and currently stands at 8.3 out of 10 in IMDb. Fans haven't been too happy about the show's finale, mostly because of some last minute plot twists and the introduction of a totally new plot device that was completely unrelated to the previous events. Either way, if you're into historical dramas, you might want to give this one a shot.
The Kids Are Alright
The next sitcom on our list that died prematurely at the end of its first season is ABC's The Kids Are Alright , which was centered around the story of an Irish Catholic family raising eight sons in LA during the early '70s. The show features Mary McCormack as Peggy Cleary, Michael Cudlitz as Mike Cleary, and a host of other lesser-known actors and actresses.
It had a relatively long season with 23 episodes, but unfortunately, the show bled viewers on a weekly basis and fell from grace over time, going from a debut of 6.5 million US viewers to less than half by the end of the season. It was quite well approved by various critics and lauded for its smart take on many contemporary themes and events. It was nominated for various awards but failed to win any of them. When ABC was asked why they dropped the show, they exclusively mentioned the low ratings as the main reason.
SMILF
SMILF started out as a successful comedy show that premiered on Showtime. The show's name is apparently an acronym for "Single MILF". It stars Frankie Shaw, Miguel Gomez and Samara Weaving, in a show about a young single mother and her struggles to find work-life balance. A few of the show's actresses raised concerns about being required to perform nude sex scenes, as well as various other misconducts that were allegedly performed on the set.
The show had a relatively tiny audience, with less than a million viewers in its debut, but managed to hold on for two seasons before being canceled due to low ratings and the horrible mishaps and controversy that surrounded its production. Showtime initially considered canceling the show on the second season's fourth episode, when the drama was at a peak, but chose to drag it out until the end of the season before putting it on the guillotine.
Friends From College
Netflix had a short flirt with the show Friends from College , a Netflix original series about the adventures of a group of 40-year-old Harvard alumni who live in New York. The show features comedy favorites Keegan-Michael Key, from the popular Key & Peele sketches, as well as Cobie Smulders, who's best known for her roles as Robin in How I Met Your Mother , and S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill in many of Marvel's cinematic universe films. Friends From College lasted for two seasons totaling 16 episodes.
Friends From College received poor reception from critics, with a rating of 24% on Rotten Tomatoes and 44 out of 100 on Metacritic. It's not a surprise that the show was canceled by Netflix a few weeks after the release of its second season, considering that it received poor to mixed reviews from viewers as well. The show’s director and co-creator, Francesca Delbanco, confirmed its demise on Twitter, writing, “Friends from College will not be returning for a third season. Thanks to everyone who watched it. Happy Presidents’ Day!”
Insatiable
Even though Netflix's dark comedy Insatiable only lasted two seasons, it was a definitely a good run. After the premiere of the second season, in the fall of 2019, the streaming platform announced its cancellation in February of 2020.
Still, it has to be said that Debbie Ryan does a fantastic job at playing Patty, a formerly overweight teen that returns as a skinny avenger out to seek justice against everybody whoever bullied her. The series finale aired in October 2019, and its definitely worth a watch.
13 Reasons Why
By this point in TV history, everybody knows that stretching a high school drama beyond high school simply does not work. So, Netflix decided to be smart and end the popular series 13 Reasons Why on a high note. Especially since the praise for the once highly-liked show has gone down significantly as seasons go by.
Brian Yorkey's teen drama is coming to an end after four seasons, with its series finale airing in 2020. If you're in the mood for some teenage mystery, 13 Reasons Why should definitely be on your list.
The 100
Jason Rothenberg knew how we wanted his acclaimed, post-apocalyptic science fiction drama, The 100 , to end even before it began. Premiered on the CW network in March 2014, The 100 follows a group of 12 people that are the sole survivors of a nuclear Armageddon on Earth.
The network announced the series's seventh season would be its last, and the final episode would air in summer of 2020. Staying true to the series, Rothenberg made sure the show's final episode is its hundredth, and he said it would leave audiences with "the true moral of the story". You've got to love the commitment.
Arrow
Based on the DC comics character, Green Arrow, this superhero TV series was an instant hit after premiering on October 2012. After eight very successful seasons, the show's star Stephen Amell made one final, epic appearance on our screens in January 28th, 2020.
The CW network agreed that it was best to end things in style, and guarantee a proper finale to their loyal fanbase. If you haven't seen it yet, we suggest you grab the nearest laptop and start streaming.
Soundtrack
American TV writer, Joshua Safran, became known in the industry after writing for the hit series Gossip Girl and Quantico . And the Netflix musical drama Soundtrack was his brainchild. The story follows a group of eclectic young people in Los Angeles whose lives are somehow interconnected, and it features a great cast of actors, including Callie Hernandez, Madeleine Stowe, Paul James and Jenna Dewan.
Unfortunately, mixed reviews, and other reasons that are not completely clear, Netflix announced that it was cancelling the show after just one season. After premiering on December 18th, 2019, the streaming giant had confirmed the cancellation by the end of January 2020. Safran had been working on a second season, but something tells us he'll have a hard time finding another network. It's definitely worth checking out, though.
BoJack Horseman
After six seasons of fast-paced humor and unexpected emotional depth, Netflix's Bojack Horseman came to an end in early 2020, when the second half of the final season dropped on January 31st. With its merciless takes on celebrity culture and tragicomic commentary on modern life, this animated comedy proved to be a surprise critical and audience hit for Netflix.
Hailed as one of the best TV shows of the past decade, its no surprise that Bojack ends by taking the same risks that made it memorable.
Anne With an E
The highly-acclaimed Canadian drama, Anne With an E , is an adaptation of the famous book and movie of the same name. The beautiful, coming-of-age story of a young orphan looking for meaning had audiences mesmerized. But after a third season, the creators decided it was time to say goodbye.
A Netflix co-production, the streaming giant announced it was airing the series finale on January 2020. And the episode was astounding. However, for all the sad fans out there, there are rumors that the show's creator, Moira Walley-Beckett, is planning on making a "finale feature film" to wrap up the story with a bow. Although there are no confirmations yet, keep reading for any updates!
Ray Donovan
Liev Schreiber plays a ruthless "fixer" for Hollywood's elite in Showtime's award-winning drama, Ray Donovan . Just reading the show's plot makes you want to watch it, doesn't it? Well, the series is as exciting as it sounds, and more. The ins and outs of the one percent of society are, interesting, to say the least.
To the frustration of its loyal viewers, Ray Donovan's seven season, which ended with an insane cliffhanger episode on January 2020, will be its last. On the first week of April 2020, Showtime shocked everybody by announcing the show had been canceled, with no eighth season in sight. Sorry, guys.
Power
Courtney A. Kemp is an American TV writer known for contributing to several famous shows, like The Good Wife, Beauty & the Beast , and more. But she made her big debut with the epic drama series, Power . Premiered in 2014, Power follows the story of James "Ghost" St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a powerful Manhattan man with a seemingly perfect life. But as always, things are never what they seem.
With a great cast that included Naturi Naughton, Joseph Sikora and the famous 50 Cent himself, the Starz network drama got rave reviews all around. So, it makes sense that a lot of people were disappointed when they read the news in March 2018 - the show's sixth season would be its last, and the finale aired on February 9th, 2020. And yes, it was phenomenal.
Fresh Off the Boat
The final episodes of Fresh Off the Boat , the ABC sitcom based off of chef Eddie Huang's childhood memoir, aired in February of this year. Starring Randall Park, Constance Wu and Hudson Yang as the mischievous Eddie, it was the first American sitcom in over 20 years to star an Asian-American family.
Despite a good six-season run, declining ratings got the better of Fresh Off the Boat, but even high viewership wouldn't have saved this sitcom: in late 2019 Constance Wu tweeted about her, shall we say, extreme irritation at the show's sixth season renewal, which would keep the Crazy Rich Asians star from moving on to other projects.
Almost Family
Almost Family starred Timothy Hutton, who won an Oscar in 1983 in Robert Redford's family drama, Ordinary People . This drama series centered on Julia, a woman who discovers her father, a famed doctor, conceived dozens of children as a sperm donor.
Fox decided to cancel the show after one season, with the final episode airing on February 22nd, 2020, after Hutton was accused of assaulting a young girl in the early eighties. Talk about bad press.
The Magicians
The longest-running series in the history of the Syfy network, The Magicians made it an impressive five seasons before coming to an end on April 1st, 2020.
The American science fiction network announced that the popular show's fifth season would be its last, and the series finale was nothing short of amazing. The Magicians managed to transport us to a magical world of fantasy one last time, and we will never forget it.
Modern Family
When Modern Family first aired on September of 2009, we expected your run-of-the-mill American sitcom. But the ABC comedy series surpassed all of our expectations. This heartwarming, relatable, and hilarious family dramedy has run for eleven seasons, and viewers have loved every minute of it. In fact, when ABC announced it would air the series finale of Modern Family in February of 2019, fans and critics took to social media to write their praises.
The eleventh and final season of the Dunphy-Pritchett-Tucker family clan began airing in September of 2019, and had an unforgettable series finale on April 8th, 2020. The beloved cast, including Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Ed O'Neill, Ty Burrell, Nolan Gould, and many more, said goodbye in very emotional behind-the-scenes photos.
Supernatural
This horror thriller became an instant favorite since its release in September 2005. Supernatural premiered on the WB network, before moving onto the CW. The long-running series, which has been on the air for 15 seasons, will come to an end on May 18, 2020.
After fifteen years of seeing the Winchester brothers, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, hunt monsters and slay supernatural villains, CW decided to end things while they were still ahead. The network's president announced the series is going out with a bang, in a season finale that will leave viewers in awe.
Schitt's Creek
Often called "one of the best shows on TV", Schitt's Creek is a Canadian comedy series that follows a wealthy couple (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) that suddenly go broke. The thing is, the only asset they're left with is a weird, little town they bought years before as a joke. Enter Schitt's Creek .
The show creator, Dan Levy, said that the series would have a sixth and final season, which began airing on January 2020. Fortunately for U.S. viewers, who've just recently discovered the series thanks to Netflix, they don't have to wait a week for a new episode, since most of the series already came out. The last of the fourteenth-episode season is set to air in March 2020.
Will & Grace
When NBC announced the return of Will & Grace in January of 2017, the news caused its fair bit of excitement and worry. Though it didn't come as a big surprise at a time when everything was being remade, this wasn't just any show: through its first 8-season run, Will & Grace was one of the funniest and most popular shows on TV, that also happened to present two very realized - and very gay - characters to mainstream America.
After three new seasons, the show will again come to an end, this time for good. The last set of episodes began to air in the fall of 2019 and will end in 2020. But don't be sad, we'll always have Will, Grace, Jack and Karen.
Dark
Netflix's first original German drama series was an absolute hit when it premiered on December 1st, 2017. The brilliant, mind-bending show, created by Baron Bo Odar, follows the disappearance of two children in a small, eerie, mystery-filled German town.
Odar announced that the third and final season was in production, and is set to air in June 2020. Fans and critics love this series so much that it is one of the few TV shows in history to ever earn a 100 percent rating from Rotten Tomatoes. So, if you haven't checked this one, go log into Netflix. Now.
Claws
Claws is a drama about five manicurists in Central Florida and the very particular Nail Salon where they work. Need we say more? This premise alone is a recipe for an extremely entertaining show, and that's exactly what TNT's Claws is.
The highly-acclaimed comedy drama series was renewed by the network for a fourth and final season, which will air sometime in 2020. Watch Niecy Nash, Carrie Preston, Jenn Lyon, Karrueche Tran and Judy Reyes get up to their cooky antics and bring this wonderful story to an end.
Corporate
The brilliant Comedy Central satire, Corporate , aired on January 2018, and has seen nothing but viewer and critical acclaim ever since. Sadly, Comedy Central announced on June 2019 that the hilariously bleak comedy series about the soulless Hampton DeVille Corporation would have a third and final season, which will air sometime in 2020.
But fear not! We're sure that this brilliant, insanely accurate tragicomedy's creators are cooking up their next brainchild as you read these lines!
Dear White People
Based on the famous 2014 film of the same name, and also created by the talented Justin Simien, Dear White People is a comedy-drama that first aired on Netflix on 2017. The show, like the film, follows a group of students of color at a mostly white Ivy League college, Winchester University. Unfortunately, our dear radio host Samantha White (Logan Browning) is leaving the airwaves in 2020.
In the fall of 2019, Netflix announced that the show would have its fourth and final season to be aired in 2020. The streaming giant came out with the news a few days after the shows third season aired. But don't worry, the brilliant Justin Siemen gave fans a consolation prize with his new comedy-horror, Bad Hair, starring Lena Waithe!
GLOW
The Award-winning Netflix series, GLOW , has seen nothing but success since its premiere in June 2017. With creators like Carly Mensch and Jenji Kohan ( Weeds ; Orange is the New Black ), and a star-studded cast including Alison Brie, Marc Maron and Betty Gilpin, it's no wonder the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (G.L.O.W.) is a TV hit. But even success stories come to an end.
To many viewers's disappointment, Netflix announced that GLOW would be back for a fourth and final season in 2020. After the announcement, which came in September 2019, fans of the ladies of wrestling prepared themselves to say goodbye to four seasons of laughter, wrestling, and heartwarming moments. Apparently, the series will end with a bang, with the ladies going back to their hometown of L.A. after an entire season in Las Vegas.