The polar opposite to Long-Runners are, as you may expect, media that was canned so quickly that few people remember them. They may have not even gotten a TV Tropes page until someone suddenly remembered it existed.
Quality of the media may vary. Some of them may have been mediocre or downright terrible. Or they could have suffered Seasonal Rot during the second season after having a great first season. Or the show might have cost too much for their network, or they might have been Screwed by the Network, ending in the middle of plot lines that were never resolved. It gets worse if the short-lived show never got reruns, sharply decreasing the likelihood that there are tapes to circulate; this is a little less of a problem with the creation of streaming media, but that has its own issues if something gets pulled or delisted from a service. The Other Wiki has an article on single-episode runs. No matter how much the media was advertised, many were Quietly Cancelled and sometimes forgotten.
One possible Trope Codifier for TV is the 1969 ABC sketch show Turn-On, which was considered awful and controversial — for its time, anywaynote . A number of ABC's affiliates dropped it at the first commercial break, and it was effectively canned before the premiere finished airing. Other affiliates either aired the entire show and then pulled it or didn't air it at all and replaced it with better programming, like a documentary on gun safety.
In the case of book series or other published media, many start off with a contracted run that ends when the contract is up or tapers off after it no longer draws in an audience or has very low readership. Shows may have lasted one season—two at most—and some of the more unfortunate ones don't even last one episode. Toys often don't sell well enough or get recalled, and companies move on to the next thing that might take off; Ghost of the Doll focuses on 80's and 90's toys aimed at girls, with several that often had short runs.
When a show has only a few episodes but is successful, that's British Brevity. When the show ends naturally with a few episodes, that's a Miniseries or 12-Episode Anime.
Supertrope of Second Season Downfall and One-Episode Wonder. Compare Short-Lived, Big Impact, which is where a show has a short run, but well-remembered; Too Good to Last; Cut Short; and Orphaned Series. See Failed Pilot Episode for an index on pilots that never went anywhere.
The podcast Canceled Too Soon specializes in covering short runner shows as well as other TV curiosities.
- 090 ~ Eko to Issho
- act-age: Despite becoming a surprise success to the point of having a stage play adaptation planned, the manga only ran for two and a half years before being cancelled almost immediately after its writer was arrested for sexual misconduct. Print and digital volumes of the manga were pulled from distribution, the stage play was canned, and the artist later removed all mentions of the series and any art she drew for it from her social media.
- Amalgam of Distortion
- Ane Doki
- Ann Cassandra
- Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san
- Ayashimon
- Banana no Nana
- Baoh
- Barrage
- B.Ichi
- Blade of the Moon Princess
- Boku×Kano
- Bone Collection
- Butsu Zone
- Candy Flurry
- Cheat Slayer is infamous for being cancelled after a single chapter for not only having several characters who are blatant copies of characters from other isekai works, but also portraying them as much more villainous than the characters they're obviously based on as a Take That! to the genre. This resulted in so much backlash (from both readers and creators of other isekai works) that the manga was cancelled immediately.
- Cipher Academy
- Classi9
- Cool Shock B.T.
- Criminale!
- Cross Manage
- Cyborg Grandpa G
- Dangaioh was cut short after three OVA episodes, even though it was intended to run for longer. Its TV anime sequel, Great Dangaioh, was meant to run for 26 episodes, but was cut down to only 13 due to low ratings and poor reviews.
- Dear NOMAN
- Don Dracula - The manga ran for only six months, from May to December 1979. The 1982 anime adaptation only had eight episodes produced, and only four of those episodes made it to air, thanks to the anime's sponsoring company going bankrupt.
- Doron Dororon: The manga ran from less than a year from November 2021 to August 2022.
- Double Arts
- Duranki ran for only six chapters before creator Kentaro Miura died, and it was agreed that the manga would not continue without him.
- Enigme
- Fabricant 100: The manga ran from less than a year from November 2022 to September 2023.
- Final Fantasy: Unlimited was planned to be 52 episodes long, but low ratings (and the financial failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) led to the anime being cut down to only 25 episodes. The story has since been continued in other mediums.
- Game×Rush
- Gamma
- Gan Kon
- Gun Blaze West
- Harisugawa in Mirror World
- Hell Warden Higuma
- Heroine Voice
- Hokenshitsu no Shinigami
- How to Make an Invisible Man
- Hungry Marie
- The Hunters Guild: Red Hood: Due to low readership despite attaining a small but growing following online, the manga ran for only a handful of months, from June to November of 2021, only 18 chapters.
- I don't know if it's LOVE or MAGIC!
- I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up
- i tell c
- Ice Revolution
- Iron Knight
- Jumbor Barutronica
- Kagamigami
- Killing Me!
- Kurogane (2011)
- The Last Saiyuki
- Living Dead!
- Lock On!
- Love Fighter Shuravan
- Mx0
- Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force - 31 chapters over a span of four years with a massive issue of Schedule Slip before it was put on a hiatus which, for all intents and purposes, is considered by many to be a quiet cancellation. The last chapter was never even translated.
- magico
- Magu-chan: God of Destruction
- MamaYuyu
- Marry Grave
- Midnight Horror School
- Misappropriation Investigator Nakabo Rintaro
- Mitama Security: Spirit Busters
- Moriking
- Nine Dragons' Ball Parade
- Noah's Notes
- Otome Kikan Gretel
- Oumagadoki Doubutsuen
- Pecola
- Phantom Seer
- Pokémon Golden Boys
- Pokémon RéBURST - 77 chapters over a year and a half.
- PPPPPP
- Pretty Face
- Princess Rouge was intended to run for six OVA episodes, but it was cut short after only two due to running out of funding.
- Prism was cancelled after only six chapters due to allegations of its art being traced.
- Psycho Staff
- Red Sprite
- Robot × Laserbeam
- Rookie Policewoman Kiruko-san
- Sakura Discord
- Samon the Summoner
- Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru
- Samurai Usagi
- Seikesshou Albatross
- Shindere Shoujo to Kodoku na Shinigami was serialized for only a year and a half before being put on indefinite hiatus due to the writer's illness. She passed away two years later, leaving the manga unfinished.
- Shinigami-sama to 4-nin no Kanojo
- Shirokuro Kitan
- Shuukan Shounen Hachi
- Soul Rescue
- Stars Align was intended to run for 24 episodes, but it was cut down to only 12 episodes late in production; since the staff had no time to adjust the story to that length, the anime ends on a Cliffhanger and has yet to be properly continued.
- Stealth Symphony
- SWOT
- Takama-ga-hara
- Tekkaman was intended to run for 52 episodes, but was cancelled after only 26 episodes aired. Its later revamp was much more successful.
- Tenmaku Cinema
- Time Paradox Ghostwriter
- Time Stranger Kyoko
- Tista
- Tokyo Shinobi Squad
- Tricks Dedicated to Witches
- Tsujiura-san to Chupacabra
- Underdog
- Uratarou
- Vector Ball
- Yakuza Girl
- Yui Kamio Lets Loose
- Yumemigaoka Wonderland
- Zipman!!
- Zombiepowder.
- Akis
- M.K. 22
- Nana Moon
- Noonbory and the Super 7 (one season with 26 episodes; follow-up series was never released outside South Korea)
- Planet of 7 Colors
- Stitch & Ai: Only one thirteen-episode season, making it the shortest-lived TV show in its franchise. When it finally reached the United States over a year later, the ninth episode was excluded.
- Ace McCoy
- Ace of Space
- Ace Powers
- The Atomic Thunderbolt
- The Blue Streak
- Body Bags (1996)
- Buckskin: America's Defender of Liberty
- Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!: lasted 5 issues and a graphic novel, and got an Animated Adaptation, but was canceled when creator Continuity Comics went out of business.
- Burlap
- Captain Flash
- Captain Victory
- The Cavalier
- The Crusader
- Double Jumpers
- D.R. & Quinch
- El Kuraan
- Funnyman (1948)
- Giant Robot Warrior Maintenance Crew
- The Green Giant
- The Green Knight
- Hyper the Phenomenal
- Incarnate - Was Cut Short after three issues due to accusations of plagiarism.
- The Invisible Terror
- K-Bar Kate
- Kismet: Man of Fate
- The Lone Warrior
- The Mad Hatter
- The Marksman
- Master Mystic
- Mega Man (Dreamwave) - Four issues came out of this before Dreamwave went out of business.
- Mort the Dead Teenager
- Mother Hubbard
- Mr. Miracle (Holyoke)
- The Others (1995)
- Phantom Flyer
- Rainbow Brite - Was Cut Short after five issues.
- Samurai Squirrel
- Sonic Adventures
- Sonic Boom - 11 issues before it became the first casualty of Worlds Unite.
- Sonic: Mega Drive - Two issues out of three were made before the cancellation of the main comic series took this with it.
- Spümcø Comic Book ran for only four issues from 1995 to 1997.
- The Steel Fist
- Steelgrip Starkey and the All-Purpose Power Tool
- Street Fighter (Malibu Comics) (got cancelled after merely three issues, with the second ending on a cliffhanger heavily suggesting that Ken was dead, which writer's letters included alongside the third and final one disproved)
- Super-American
- Tech Jacket (the creators have expressed in continuing the series if there's enough demand)
- Tomboy (Sterling)
- Typhon
- Warrior
- The Wasp (Lev Gleason)
- Wendigo Wood
- Whisper
- Wonder Man (Fox)
- The Wraith
- WWE Superstars
- You Don't Know Jack while a long runner when counting the games, the gameshow version only got six episodes.
- Bad News Ballet only released ten books in the series, a victim of many short lived girl-focused book series of the 1980s and 1990s.
- Gnorm Gnat — one of two short-lived comic strips created by future Garfield creator Jim Davis
- Jon — also created by Jim Davis, this would be the direct predecessor to Garfield
- Li'l Folks — created by Charles M. Schulz, this would be the direct predecessor to Peanuts
- Capcom's arcade pinball division, which developed only six tables (four of which were released) before closing.
- Superstar Limo at Disney's California Adventure
- Galactic Starcruiser, the hotel/roleplaying experience attached to Walt Disney World's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, was shut down after only 18 months of operation, March 2022 to September 2023.
- Flick-to-Stick Bungees - The European version lasted for two series between 2012 to 2013. The American version fared even worse at only one series.
- My Friend Cayla - pulled from shelves due to security and privacy concerns.
- My Little Pony - The second generation only lasted a year in the US, though continued in European markets until 2003.
- My Pretty Mermaids
- Novi Stars
- Pinkie Cooper and the Jet Set Pets
- Teen Trends
- The Virtual Boy; which lasted less than a year and received only about a dozen games in the US (if you include Japanese games, it almost reaches two dozen).
- The Learning Voyage series of PC/Mac edutainment games by Davidson & Associates/Learningways, Inc. There were only two games in the series, released in 1998. Trademarks were filed in 1997 and abandoned in 1999. While it is still used in Classworks, it's not known by that name to those who play it; it's just "That game where you play as a shark and eat fish with words on them" or "That game where you dunk a clown by choosing fact or opinion".
- BEMANI games each usually get sequels that include interface, songlist, and gameplay updates, with pop'n music having the most arcade versions of any game at 27, but two infamously only lasted one version each before being retired: Mambo A Go Go and pop'n stage; both games were released before the advent of the eAMUSEMENT network and online updates that keep versions fresh even as they age.note To be fair, pop'n stage is a spinoff of pop'n music, but that it got a unique cabinet yet only used that cabinet for a single release cements it firmly into this trope.
- Unlike other Love Live! mobile games, Love Live! School idol festival 2 MIRACLE LIVE! is very short lived. The original Japanese version launched on April 2023, and is expected to shut down on March 2024, just a month shy from its first anniversary. However, the Global version takes it to the extreme, as it had both its launch date and End-of-Service date announced on the same day, therefore it is only expected to last between February and May 2024.
- Omoriboy: The comic began at the end of 2011 and continued into March of 2012.
- Vampire Girl: The first season ran from 2011 to 2012 with only a total of seventeen strips... then the second season ran from 2022 to 2023 with an additional thirty-five strips.
- Wishful Thinking: The Object Show curse prevails when the creator completely ghosted the comic after two chapters and an interlude.
- 5 Secondly Object Show: The mother of all short-runners ending less than a minute after it aired, since its nine episodes had consecutively released five seconds apart from each other. The total runtime is just under five minutes.
- After Schooligans: Only two episodes were aired. More were planned but were scrapped in the wake of its creator being forced off the internet following allegations regarding racism at the 2022 BFDI + II Meetup.
- Albi and Azul
- Awesome Futuristic Objects: An object show that ran for six episodes, with its sixth episode only being half-completed, due to lack of motivation and school. When the creator decided to start over with a Soft Reboot as a second season, that lasted way shorter with three episodes, also with a half-completed last episode, for the same reason.
- Battle for Grandma
- Battle for Object Destination: With three and a half episodes making up the season (BFOD was canned in the midst of the two-parter episode). Its spin-off show Earthquake has it worse with its singular episode before being discontinued in the wake of its creator being forced off the internet after getting caught attempting to groom a minor.
- Becky Bucket: Only had one episode before being dropped from a lack of interest.
- Brawl of the Objects: A classic Object Show consisting of 14 episodes and an upcoming epilogue. Unlike many other object shows listed here, it managed to successfully conclude its run instead of being Cut Short.
- Cartoon Monsoon
- Chaotic Ambition: Had to be cancelled and rebooted after just three episodes due to the creator not liking the direction his Object Show was going and the drama between him and his friends working on the show.
- Dig Build Live only lasted for seven episodes with the last episode being released in February 2014 and has since been on indefinite hiatus.
- Every Faggot Ever
- Family Gal: Only 3 episodes were released in 2022.
- Fight in Flight: Two episodes before the creator's lack of motivation kicked in.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: The Backstory: Lasted for four episodes (three complete episodes and an unfinished one) before being discontinued due to the creator's lack of motivation.
- Five Nights at Freddy's (Nicotor700): Only lasted for eleven episodes. A second season was planned but ultimately scrapped due to the creator not having ideas.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: The Past: It only lasted one episode due to Zero2zero 2 having to focus on Dares 4 and 5 and with her quitting YouTube in late 2021 suggests that its fate has been sealed.
- Five Nights at Freddy's: Rebirth of the King: Lasted for one season of 21 episodes due to lack of motivation and school. There were plans for the series to return but animated with Blender in March 2023, but nothing ever came of them.
- Human Kind Of, which for extra points, aired on a web service few people are even aware of to begin with.
- Judge Granny
- The Junkyard Run
- Lobo (Webseries)
- Meet the Millers
- Melody Star: Lasted a measly episode before getting canned and undergoing a reboot.
- Object Asylum: After two years in Development Hell, only half an episode was produced before it was decided to be axed.
- Object Explosion: Ran for 3 complete episodes and 1 unfinished episode before undergoing a reboot.
- Object Filler: The second season, Object Filler Again, had to discontinued production after five episodes due to the creator's personal issues and decision to not continue the show anymore.
- Object Havoc: Only two episodes were produced and then cancelled due to lack of interest.
- Object Manor: See above. It went on to be rebooted as The Nightly Manor in 2021.
- Object Overload: Continued the Object Show curse by only having 6 initial episodes, then an attempted Continuity Reboot that didn't even make it to a second episode.
- Object Redundancy: See above (Two episodes and then the lack of interest kicks in).
- Object Show 87 didn't last long since it was what the Object Show Community calls, a joke show. It concluded the series at 6 episodes.
- Object Show: Just a Pilot and nothing more although it did had a Soft Reboot under a different concept and name.
- The Object Show: Had seven episodes before it was cancelled and subsequently disowned by its creator.
- Object Trek: Lasted three episodes without any word from the creator since.
- The Red Ape Family: Lasted four episodes before its budget ran out.
- Rock N Roll Dad
- Rush Hour Elimination Generation 2: Deliberately ran for one episode.
- Shape Battle: Four episodes in total.
- Shape World: Ended after seven episodes.
- Spookyville USA had two episodes; the second episode is also a parody of Long-Runners, playing out like the final episode to a popular, decades-spanning multi-media franchise.
- StrifeToons: As a consequence of Andrew Kepple having a desire to work on several other projects, the series only lasted 4 episodes before coming to an end.
- Toon Marooned
- Town Attack:
- Weekend Pussy Hunt
- Ultimate Insanity: Ran for three episodes including a two-parter.
- Untitled Object Show: Only had one season of ten episodes because the creator came to dislike the show and wanted to focus on his other projects.
- Your Favorite Martian: Lasted two years, due to being screwed over by Maker Studios.