Revisit TV’s Shortest-Lived Series of All Time!
TV has been home to an infinite number of one-season wonders — but what about the shows that were nearly yanked before the first commercial break?
As we do every “Turkey” Day, TVLine is taking a look back at more than 40 of TV’s most (in)famous flame-outs — some beloved, others not so much. Because for every Lone Star, there’s also a Viva Laughlin, or (ugh) Work It.
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Some of these series had the misfortune (or blessing, depending on whether you’re a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full person) of being jettisoned after just a single episode (such as when ABC apparently had a firm answer to Emily’s Reasons Why Not). Others were picked up to series, only never to make it to air (Fox’s intentions for Manchester Prep turned out to be cruel, indeed).
All of these ill-fated shows have one thing in common: They all made it past the pilot stage, but none of their original runs made it past five aired episodes.
Scroll down to revisit some of TV’s most embarrassing history, then tell us if you watched — or were at least planning to watch — any of these short-lived series.
THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE: TBL (The CW, 2009)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
Much like Marissa Cooper, Mischa Barton’s O.C. follow-up wasn’t long for this world. The Ashton Kutcher-produced drama also featured supermodel Elle Macpherson, Younger‘s Nico Tortorella and Revenge‘s Ashley Madekwe.
BEYOND WESTWORLD (CBS, 1980)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
This offshoot of the 1973 film followed Delos security chief John Moore (Dallas‘ Jim McMullan) as he hunts down androids embedded in society by evil scientist Simon Quaid (James Wainwright). Only three episodes of the five that were produced made it to air, and yet the series still earned two Emmy nods (for makeup and art direction).
COACH (NBC, 2015)
Never aired
Not every revival is a good idea. For instance, NBC gave this follow-up to the Craig T. Nelson sitcom a straight-to-series, 13-episode order… and then quickly rescinded on that offer after seeing a pilot. Fumble!
CONNECTING… (NBC, 2020)
Cancelled after 4 episodes
Filmed remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, Connecting followed a group of friends who were forced by quarantine restrictions to only spend time together via video chat. When the show failed to “connect” with its truly quarantined audience, NBC announced that the remaining episodes would air solely on Peacock and NBC.com.
DAY ONE (NBC, 2010)
Never aired
More like Day None. A 13-episode order for this post-apocalyptic drama starring David Lyons (ER) was reduced to a meager four episodes before the network ultimately decided that the pilot would air as a TV-movie… which never saw the light of day.
DO NO HARM (NBC, 2013)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
This Jekyll and Hyde riff — in which Steven Pasquale was brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Cole from 8:25 am to 8:25 pm, and bad boy Ian Price during the other 12 hours — at the time delivered the lowest-rated, in-season debut of any scripted Big 4 series ever. Yanked from the sked after two outings, its remaining 11 episodes got a summertime burnoff.
DOUBT (CBS, 2017)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
Despite a stellar ensemble that included Dulé Hill (Psych), Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black) and Elliott Gould (Ray Donovan), this Katherine Heigl-fronted procedural was canned after just two weeks of dismal ratings. (What punk rock band did Gwen Stefani front…?)
DRIVE (FOX, 2007)
Cancelled after 4 episodes
This drama about an illegal cross-country road race, created by Tim Minear and Ben Queen, boasted a cast populated by the likes of Nathan Fillion, Emma Stone, Kevin Alejandro and Kristin Lehman — but after bowing to just 6 million viewers, it was pulled from Fox’s schedule after two weeks/four episodes, though another two episodes were made available via an exciting and new “online” option (Fox on Demand).
EMILY’S REASONS WHY NOT (ABC, 2006)
Cancelled after 1 episode
We’re not sure why Heather Graham is smiling. Ordered to series before anyone had even seen a script, Emily got the swift axe due to some truly atrocious reviews. “It was not going to get better,” ABC’s boss said at the time, “and we needed to make a quick change.” (All seven episodes apparently aired in Spain, so… sorry, Madrid?)
THE FIFTH CORNER (NBC, 1992)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
Alex McArthur led this mystery drama as Richard Braun, a man who one day woke up with amnesia — and with a dead woman next to him in bed. Kim Delaney played a reporter out to uncover Richard’s secrets.
FOUR CORNERS (CBS, 1998)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
Ann-Margaret! Sonia Braga! Future Grey’s doc Justin Chambers! Raymond J. Barry! None of ’em could save this CBS sudser from swirling down the drain after just three outings.
HANK (ABC, 2009)
Cancelled after 5 episodes
This Kelsey Grammer sitcom led off an all-new night of comedy for the Alphabet network, which included fellow newcomers The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town. (You may have heard of them.) It was so unfunny, Grammer admitted to Jay Leno, that he personally called Warner Bros. and asked that they halt production immediately.
HEAD CASES (FOX, 2005)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
This dramedy starred future NCIS agent Chris O’Donnell as a rising star attorney who, after a nervous breakdown and time spent in a wellness center, starts a law firm with a stranger (Adam Goldberg) diagnosed with explosive disorder. The show struggled out of the gate, not helped at all by having ABC’s Lost for competition. The cast also included Rhea Seehorn, Rockmund Dunbar and Richard Kind.
HEIL HONEY, I’M HOME! (Galaxy, 1990)
Cancelled after 1 episode
Our one and only British entry was too notorious not to include. Presented as “found footage” of a famously “lost” American sitcom, it asked: What if Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun lived in circa 1938 Berlin next door to a Jewish couple? The answer: Only one of eight episodes saw the light of day (watch it here).
HIEROGLYPH (Fox, 2014)
Never aired
This ancient Egypt-set, action-adventure drama sure made history — just not the way its producers had hoped. Despite receiving a straight-to-series order, Fox cancelled the show outright over creative differences, having already completed production on Episode 1.
IRONSIDE (NBC, 2013)
Cancelled after 4 episodes
CBS’ MacGyver and Hawaii Five-0 are examples of successful TV reboots. This Blair Underwood-led reimagining of the Raymond Burr classic, which lasted all of one month, is not.
THE IT CROWD (NBC, 2007)
Never aired
No #SixSeasonsAndAMovie for this U.S. remake of the critically acclaimed UK sitcom. The show was ordered to series, but never actually went into production after the pilot. Needless to say, Joel McHale (Community) and Jessica St. Clair (Playing House) landed on their feet in no time.
LAWLESS (Fox, 1997)
Cancelled after 1 episode
Panned as “a show that made The A-Team look sophisticated,” this drama starred former NFL linebacker Brian Bosworth as special forces operative-turned-P.I. John (yep, you guessed it) Lawless. After debuting to numbers that were paltry even for a Saturday night, Lawless was ordered to park his motorcycle.
LONE STAR (Fox, 2010)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
We had such high hopes for this one — which featured James Wolk (Zoo), Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) and Jon Voight (Ray Donovan) — but it failed to reap the benefits of a cushy, post-House time slot. Nine years later, Fox would launch a 9-1-1 spinoff by the same name.
MADE IN JERSEY (CBS, 2012)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
Before turning in a bewitching performance on Salem, Janet Montgomery laid a tacky New Jersey accent on thick for this subpar legal drama.
MANCHESTER PREP (Fox, 1999)
Never aired
TV’s first attempt at a follow-up to Cruel Intentions (why yes, that is Amy Adams!) was a no-go, cancelled prior to broadcast. But unlike NBC’s 2016 effort, which was never even ordered to series, this project eventually was repurposed as a direct-to-video film — 2000’s Cruel Intentions 2.
MISSION CONTROL (NBC, 2014)
Never aired
Casting issues were allegedly to blame for production on this 1960s-set space comedy being grounded. But do you really expect us to believe Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) and Tommy Dewey (Casual) couldn’t have made this one work? It would have also reunited former Better Off Ted costars Malcolm Barrett and Jonathan Slavin aka Lem and Phil. (Sigh.)
NEXT CALLER (NBC, 2012)
Never aired
Four episodes were filmed before NBC stopped production on this Dane Cook vehicle, which also featured You’re the Worst‘s Collette Wolfe and Arrested Development‘s Jeffrey Tambor.
OF KINGS & PROPHETS (ABC, 2016)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
Already postponed from a proper fall launch, this biblical saga instead was held until midseason — where it landed in ABC’s Tuesdays-at-10 “death slot,” and in turn suffered a near-identical fate as predecessor Wicked City.
ON THE AIR (ABC, 1992)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
Likened in retrospect to “30 Rock as conceived by David Lynch and Mark Frost,” the duo’s follow-up to Twin Peaks revolved around a 1950s variety show fronted by a down-on-his-luck former movie star (played by General Hospital‘s Ian Buchanan). Though the series was not viciously panned, we Yanks only got to see three of the produced episodes, while the UK and others were privy to all seven.
OSBOURNES RELOADED (Fox, 2009)
Cancelled after 1 episode
After screening a six-minute “sizzle reel” of the variety special (which featured bleeped expletives and risqué sketches), no fewer than 16 Fox stations nixed it outright, while another 10 moved it from its post-American Idol perch to the middle of the night. Seeing the writing on the wall, Fox slashed the premiere from a planned hour to just 35 minutes, and never attempted to air a second episode.
THE PAUL REISER SHOW (NBC, 2011)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
The Mad About You star is probably grateful that no one remembers this Curb Your Enthusiasm rip-off. (Fun fact: This photo featuring Reiser and Larry David is from an unaired episode.)
THE PLAYBOY CLUB (NBC, 2011)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
The Amber Heard-led period drama faced an uphill climb from go, targeted by Gloria Steinem, the easily irritated Parents Television Council (which lobbied advertisers to pull their support) and multiple anti-pornography coalitions. But ultimately, a low-rated debut, followed by two weeks of declines, cut short this bunny tale.
PROFIT (FOX, 1996)
Cancelled after 4 episodes
Co-created by David Greenwalt (Grimm) and John McNamara (The Magicians), Profit starred Adrian Pasdar as the titular junior executive at the multinational conglomerate Gracen & Gracen, where he was perceived as a “golden boy” all the while concealing a dark side that wasn’t above using any means necessary to get ahead — even murder. Oh, and Profit slept in a cardboard G&G shipping box. Despite bowing to solid reviews, Profit hemorrhaged most of its Melrose Place lead-in audience, while its ahead-of-his-time antihero triggered negative feedback from viewers, especially those in the Bible Belt.
PROMISED LAND (ABC, 2022)
Pulled from schedule after 5 airings
When the Latino family sudser had a low-rated, midseason debut and then suffered a steady decline in audience every week, ABC announced that after its fifth airing, the back half of the season was Hulu-bound.
PUBLIC MORALS (CBS, 1996)
Cancelled after 1 episode
Homicide‘s Peter Garety and Gotham‘s Donal Logue starred in this Steven Bochco-produced sitcom, which lasted all of one week. It also featured Bill Brochtrup’s NYPD Blue character John Irvin, who immediately returned to the venerable ABC police drama after Morals got canned.
THE SECRET DIARY OF DESMOND PFEIFFER (UPN, 1998)
Cancelled after 4 episodes
Chi McBride led this sitcom about a Black English nobleman who, after fleeing the UK in disgrace, gets a gig as President Lincoln’s valet. Some protests — by the NAACP, among others — preceded the show’s debut, to a degree that UPN agreed to replace the controversial pilot with a different episode.
SECRET TALENTS OF THE STARS (CBS, 2008)
Cancelled after 1 episode
We’d make some sarcastic comment at CBS’ expense for thinking viewers would have any interest in seeing D-list celebs participate in what was essentially a weekly talent show, but Dancing With the Stars has 32 seasons under its belt, so….
SMITH (CBS, 2006)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
The first cancellation of the 2006-07 TV season was this post-Ocean’s Eleven caper drama about a band of thieves played by Ray Liotta, Simon Baker, Amy Smart, Jonny Lee Miller and Franky G. Alas, Smith‘s audience dwindled to “just” 8.4 million by Week 3, after which it was yanked and replaced with CSI reruns.
SNIP (NBC, 1976)
Never aired
This comedy from James Komack (Chico and the Man), about a hair stylist (played by David Brenner) who works at the same Cape Cod salon as his ex-wife (Lesley Ann Warren), was clipped from NBC’s schedule at the very last minute, in the wake of hubbub about the salon’s openly gay proprietor (played by Walter Wanderman). “They made up all kinds of excuses, but… They were afraid to have a gay on television,” Brenner asserted in a 2000 interview.
SOUTH OF SUNSET (CBS, 1993)
Cancelled after 1 episode
This light procedural starred musician Glenn Frey as a movie studio security chief who starts up his own P.I. firm, The Beverly Hills Detective Agency. Alas, following a heavy push during Fox’s World Series coverage that month, the series’ October launch was stymied by West Coast preemptions for Malibu wildfire coverage, and overall disappointing ratings. (The five total episodes that were produced eventually got play on VH1 during an Eagles-themed 1994 programming event.)
STILL LIFE (Fox, 2003)
Never aired
If this drama, about a family coping with the loss of their eldest son, had gone on to success — let alone made it to air! — perhaps Jensen Ackles would have never been cast in Supernatural. Yeah, we don’t want to think about that either.
SUNNYSIDE (NBC, 2019)
Pulled from schedule after 4 episodes
The sun set very early on for this Kal Penn-led comedy, which just a few weeks into its run got shuttled off to NBC.com and the NBC app, to finish out its 11-episode run.
SWAMP THING (DC Universe, 2019)
Cancelled after 1 episode
The live-action series’ swift cancellation came just six days after its debut, though the now-defunct DC Universe streaming hub continued to roll out episodes weekly. An initial report placing blame on a smaller-than-expected tax credit from North Carolina was quickly scuttled; instead, it appeared that DC Universe was hedging its bets ahead of an uncertain future, with WarnerMedia’s then-upcoming streaming service HBO Max still taking shape. (Note: The CW eventually wound up airing all of Season 1.)
TURN-ON (ABC, 1969)
Cancelled after 1 episode
This sketch comedy series from the producers of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In lacked sets and tended to focus its (bad) jokes on sex. As Tim Conway, the guest host for the first and only episode once said, “as it aired across the country, it was being cancelled,” with an Ohio market even cutting off its broadcast midway through the half hour! “By the time it got to California, it was off” completely, Conway said, allowing the launch party he was at to double as a wrap party.
US & THEM (Fox, 2013)
Never aired
You take two of Lauren Graham’s best costars — Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel — put them in a Gavin & Stacey remake, order it to series and then… never air the seven episodes that were produced?! We’d say we were still angry at Fox, but five years later, all episodes were quietly released on ad-supported streaming service Sony Crackle and, well… we get it now.
WICKED CITY (ABC, 2015)
Cancelled after 3 episodes
The serial killer drama — starring Gossip Girl‘s Ed Westwick and Parenthood‘s Erika Christensen — was all kinds of disturbing, but not in a good way. Production was ultimately halted, but five unaired episodes made their way to Hulu later that year.
VIVA LAUGHLIN (CBS, 2007)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
This casino-set musical drama, which featured once-frequent Tonys host Hugh Jackman and Working Girl‘s Melanie Griffith, was hailed by The New York Times as possibly “the worst show in the history of television.“
WORK IT (ABC, 2012)
Cancelled after 2 episodes
It’s hard to believe that ABC thought a Bosom Buddies-esque sitcom based on the premise that women have an easier time getting jobs would work in the year 2012, if ever.
YOU’RE IN THE PICTURE (CBS, 1961)
Cancelled after 1 episode
Jackie Gleason hosted this poorly received game show, which premiered on the eve of JFK’s inauguration and immediately bombed. The following week, Gleason went on the air and used the 30 minutes he had to hawk the Handy Housewife Helper apologize for the show ever existing.
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