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Subjective
Too Good To Last
"I’d like to thank our dozens and dozens of viewers."
—Tina Fey, accepting the 2007 Best Comedy Emmy for 30 Rock

Scratch: By order of Dr. Robotnik, this program is cancelled!
Grounder: Yeah! Your ratings are too good!
—Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog

An intelligent, well written show, usually a subtle blend of comedy and drama, beloved of a devoted group of fans and critics. So why did it never have a chance? (Or at best, struggled in the ratings for a couple seasons.)

Well, either the mainstream just isn't interested in this show, the network never even gives it a chance to build an audience (usual translation: it's on FOX)... or it's created by Tim Minear or Judd Apatow or Bryan Fuller. Sometimes, someone high up at the network takes a dislike to the show and does everything in his power to kill it. Maybe the network doesn't think it fits in. If the show is lucky enough to be shown on a cable network in reruns, it may build up a bigger following there than it ever had in its first run.

Examples aren't limited to US television, as many shows have developed considerable followings in Canada, the UK and other parts of the EU, even after they have been canceled and re-aired in other parts of the world.

The grand phoenix of this syndrome is Family Guy, which, after being canceled due to poor ratings (twice) caused by the network assigning the show a shaky time slot, was brought back from the dead (again), completely intact, years later, due to simply outstanding ratings in reruns on Cartoon Network and high DVD sales.

The observant reader will note that the vast majority of Too Good To Last shows are from the last 10-15 years. This is likely because of the increased emphasis on ratings above all else. On the other hand, the list might be biased toward the past decade because shows like this have an unfortunate tendency to fall off the face of the earth upon cancellation, so our ability to recall and report them is inversely proportional to how long ago they aired.

There's always been an emphasis on ratings in television, but it seems to have become much more pronounced since the early 1990s. It is widely commented upon that Cheers was dead last in the ratings among all regular series in its first season (1982-83), and that a show doing that badly today would almost certainly be canceled within its first month or two. This isn't necessarily a new phenomenon, but some shows only survive by having a network president who is a fan.

Another theory is that the advent of the Internet and the explosion of cable channels has made it harder for these too-soon canceled shows to be forgotten.

For those shows that manage to pull out a few seasons with plenty of network problems before going under, check out the Exception section at the bottom of this page. The main entries are about shows that barely managed to get out a single season, if that. Incidently, some shows end up being canceled only to be Un Canceled by the network or do a Channel Hop.

It's notable that of the exceptions and shows that were Un Canceled, only a handful were aired on non-cable networks. A series that is Too Good To Last may have better chances on cable than on broadcast networks, in part because cable doesn't demand ratings as high in the first place for the show to be consifdered a success.

Compare One Season Wonder, where a show is permitted to keep going but subsequently proves to have used up most of its potential in that first season. See also The Firefly Effect, where viewers refuse to commit to a show out of the fear or assumption that its cancellation is imminent. Contrast Long Runners. Also compare British Brevity. Very heavily related to the Friday Night Death Slot.

Examples:

ABC (American)/ ABC Family
  • Best of the West. Parody of all things Western by the creators of "Taxi" and "Cheers".
  • The Brendan Leonard Show
  • Cashmere Mafia. Made all the more painful by the fact that the similar, yet inferior, Lipstick Jungle showed up later the same season...and is returning for a "Season 2" (more like season one due to the extremely late-season debut).
  • Clerks The Animated Series, one of the worst examples of a show being Screwed By The Network (from the very beginning it had basically no real time slot). Six episodes were produced, but only two were aired.
  • Cupid; the ABC dramedy, not the CBS reality show.
  • Day Break
  • Defying Gravity (co-developed by ABC, The BBC, CTV and Pro Sieben) had been canceled and its sets destroyed before all the episodes had even been aired. That does not even consider that ABC had all summer to buy and advertise the show, but only purchased the show 3 weeks before the first episode aired.
  • Dirty Sexy Money, another sharp show that was caught in the crossfire of the 2007 writers' strike.
  • Eli Stone, also a late casualty of the 2007 strike.
  • Fillmore
  • Get Ed: not renewed after its first season, despite the fact that the finale had a Cliff Hanger
  • High Incident
  • Invasion: One season only, just when it was getting started. Such a shame...
  • The Job: Which transmogrified into the more dramatic Rescue Me on the FX Network with much of the same cast.
  • Life As We Know It
  • Life On Mars (US version) The US version of the BBC hit was just finding its own voice and establishing its own mythos when ABC announced that its first season would be its only season.
  • Masters of Science Fiction
  • Max Headroom
  • Men In Trees
  • The Middle Man
  • Mighty Orbots: A well animated and stylish Voltron-style cartoon that was canceled in its first season after an ironic lawsuit was filed by the makers of Gobots.
  • Miracles
  • My So Called Life: Slice-of-life teen angst drama that's a quintessential example of this trope: beloved, critically-acclaimed, gone after one season.
  • The Knights Of Prosperity
  • The Outer Limits (the 1960s original)
  • Police Squad: The series was supposedly canceled because the viewer had to pay attention in order to appreciate it.
  • Prey: Another good show that was canceled after one season and on a cliffhanger
  • Probe
  • Relativity
  • The Slap Maxwell Story
  • Sports Night
  • Traveler A show about two men on the run, with a smart conspiracy after them, that not only lacked padding, but did not treat the audience like idiots. Ended on a painful cliffhanger that was never resolved.
  • The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat A wonderfully surreal cartoon with a real Fleischer feel.
  • Twin Peaks: though it did kinda sell out near the end.
  • The Unusuals
  • Vengeance Unlimited
  • When Things Were Rotten: 1975 Robin Hood farce created by Mel Brooks (later inspiring his Robin Hood: Men in Tights).
  • WITCH: Two 26-episode seasons, wrapped up fairly well but they'd set up for a third season and the comics gave them enough material to do at least five more seasons if they'd been able to.

CBS
  • American Gothic
  • Bob!: Bob Newhart's third sitcom, starring Newhart as a greeting card artist/writer who jumps at the chance when Ace Comics offers to revive a comic book character he created a few decades earlier. The show withered in a bad Friday night timeslot.
  • Brooklyn Bridge
  • Century City
  • Citizen Baines: moved slowly for many viewers but had a great cast headed by James Cromwell.
  • East Side/West Side was about a social worker who focused on the problems of the inner city and was probably the first American series to seriously address racism. It managed to win an Emmy, but is largely forgotten today.
  • EZ Streets: too raw for CBS, this mob drama from Paul Haggis might have succeeded on cable.
  • The Famous Teddy Z: Created by WKRP's Hugh Wilson, this series starring Jon Cryer and Alex Rocco (who won an Emmy for his character Agent Al Floss) was set in a Hollywood talent agency and was thought in some circles to be too 'inside' to appeal to middle America.
  • Frank's Place
  • George & Leo: The pairing of old sitcom pros Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch wasn't enough to save this Odd Couple-esque show from an early exit.
  • The Handler
  • The Honeymooners: incredibly, only ran one season as a stand-alone sitcom, although the characters admittedly were used for many years on Gleason's variety show.
  • Jericho: Was famously resurrected by a Sending Stuff To Save The Show fan campaign, but the respite would last only a season before the ax fell again.
  • Joan Of Arcadia: popular, but in the wrong demographic.
  • Love Monkey. Also an example of Screwed By The Network.
  • Mary: Mary Tyler Moore's 1985 return to situation comedy, and a worthy Spiritual Successor to her her classic '70s show. Poorer-than-expected ratings doomed it to cancellation after one season.
  • Moonlight: Several reasons for this, including Friday Night Death Slot. Many fans also feel it was Screwed By The Network, particularly because the final episode was promoted as the season finale (rather than the series finale) and fans were led to believe it would be renewed. Another victim of the 2007 writer's strike.
  • Now And Again: A well-cast, well-written, well-acted reimagining of the concept of The Six Million Dollar Man. First season featured one of the creepiest and most inexplicable villains ever. Got the Friday Night death slot, and its one and only season did not even air in its entirety until many years later on Sci-Fi.
  • Project Gee Ke R : Had incredibly good ratings during the time, but only lasted one 13-episode season due to not meeting the educational programming standards set forth by the channel.
  • That's Life - a "chick show," but with an excellent cast (Heather Paige Kent, Ellen Burstyn, Paul Sorvino, Kevin Dillon, Debi Mazar).
  • The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat A wonderfully surreal cartoon with a real 30ish Fliescher feel.
  • Worst Week: The American version.

NBC
  • American Dreams
  • Andy Barker PI
  • The Black Donnellys
  • The Book Of Daniel
  • Bret Maverick An 80s attempt to return James Garner to the role he left in a contract dispute in the 50s, this show had Bret settle down in one town instead of roaming the west he and brother Bart did in the original. The ratings were so-so, and the last filmed episode had Bart return in a surprise cameo at the end. According to Garner, had there been a second season, they would have returned to the original show concept of going to a different town in each episode. The show may have been too good to last, but it wasn't too good to repeat - NBC reran episodes of the '81-82 series twice - once in 1988 as filler during a writer's strike, and again in 1994 to play off publicity of the film version starring Mel Gibson.
  • Buffalo Bill
  • Eerie, Indiana: Got good enough ratings during the reruns that a Canadian production company produced a sequel/spin-off several years later—which had to star new characters because the original actors for the original characters had aged out of being suitable for the parts.
  • Freaks And Geeks: Possibly the archetypal example; adored by critics and fans alike, but being shuffled around in the lineup didn't help its ratings, and it got canceled halfway through its first season.
  • God The Devil And Bob
  • Grand was a TV show about life in a corporate town in the early 90s. With the town business being grand piano manufacture, and the clear implication being that only a few years at most separated the rich owners from joining the workers living in the nearby trailer park. Novel in that it didn't vilify the boss (the patriarch genuinely cared for his workers, but had so little common ground with them he couldn't really show it, making him almost completely an Anti-Burns). The first season's ratings were never much, so a conclusive ending was filmed... which received magnificent ratings. Sadly, Executive Meddling struck the following season.
  • I'll Fly Away
  • It's Your Move
  • Journeyman
  • Kings
  • Life
  • Misfits Of Science
  • My Own Worst Enemy. They ended it on a cliffhanger! AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHH!!!!
  • My World And Welcome To It
  • Nightmare Cafe. Ran for only 6 episodes in 1992.
  • The Others
  • Boomtown was an innovative series aired by NBC in 2002. Each episode showed a crime from multiple points of view (the beat cops, the detectives, the paramedic, the D.A., the reporter, and the criminal.) It aired for one season, winning multiple awards. It had low ratings due to its unique style and not being given time to find its audience. After its first season it was retooled, the uniqueness drained, and at that point not even die hard fans of the first season were watching it any more. It was canceled six episodes into its second season.
  • Thank God Youre Here, the American version at least.
  • The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

Fox
  • Action - Jay Mohr at his best as an amoral studio executive.
  • The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr
  • Alien Nation was an epic level example of this. A drama based on the movie Alien Nation, it took a deep look at the minorities among us. The Tenctonese standing in for immigrants, homosexuals and pretty much anyone else who was a target at the time. It also took a look at the funny habits the humans had, but took seriously. It met an unfortunate end after one season because it didn't bring enough advertising dollars. It did manage to resurrect itself in the form of 5 made-for-TV movies.
  • Brimstone
  • Drive: three episodes over an eight-day period, then gone.
  • Fastlane from Fox, of course. A show that was like Charlies Angels meets Miami Vice.
  • Firefly; see The Firefly Effect.
  • Freakylinks
  • Get A Life
  • Greg The Bunny
  • Harsh Realm: got harsh treatment—canceled after 4 episodes.
  • John Doe
  • Keen Eddie
  • Kitchen Confidential
  • The Lone Gunmen: It's series-ending Cliffhanger was resolved on The X Files.
  • Ned and Stacey
  • Profit
  • Sam And Max
  • Silver Surfer: Aired right after the cancellation of X Men. Had an interesting plot line going about Surfer's quest for atonement for being Galactus's herald, episodes that required that the protagonist use thought and reason as opposed to brute force to save the day. So of course it was cancelled within a month and a half and replaced with something completely forgettable.
    • It ended on a cliff-hanger with the entire universe about to be destroyed, too.
  • South Central
  • Space Above And Beyond: One article said it was unfortunately too sci-fi for the war show audience, and too much war show for the sci-fi audience.
  • Spiderman Unlimited: Had fair ratings but was lost in the shadow of the Pokemon craze, with only one season of thirteen episodes produced.
  • The Tick: Not only did the animated series last only three seasons, but it's live-action counterpart sadly ended with only one season (and two episodes never even aired).
  • The Inside: The Tim Reaper strikes again.
  • Tru Calling: Outlasted Fox's other fall 2004 offering about a young woman hearing voices, Wonderfalls, but still got canceled after just over a season.
  • Undeclared
  • Vision Of Escaflowne: The dub anyway. This was FOX's failed attempt to pawn off a fairly mature anime as a kids show. It was pulled off the air after about 10 episodes. It made a full run on YTV in Canada in large part because they aired it in an age-appropriate timeslot.
  • Wonderfalls: The Tim Reaper and Bryan Fuller? It was lucky to air four episodes at all.
  • Xyber 9: New Dawn: Killed off ten episodes into it's 22-episode season, and even then it ended on a cliffhanger.
  • And then there are these 5 little words: The Pirates of Dark Water.

The WB / Kids' WB / UPN / The CW

Disney

Other Networks
  • 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (Nickelodeon)
  • The 4400 (USA)
  • AceLightning (BBC)
  • The Adventures of Pete and Pete Like the broadcast examples above, it only lasted as long (3 seasons) due to its critical acclaim, but poor ratings, executive shuffling, and a show that didn't quite mesh with the little-kid demo helped kill the show far too soon, according to various bits of the DVD commentaries.
  • Beat The Cyborgs (CITV). There was nothing wrong with this kid's game show. In fact, it was really good and quite well received, and a second series was promised. It just... never came. There was no explanation as to why, and now, five years down the line, the programme's fallen off the edge of the earth to the point where there are no online clips at all and it is never repeated.
  • Blood Ties (Lifetime in the US). This show had either one season or two half-seasons, depending on who you ask. It might have done better on a different network.
  • Carnivale (HBO)
  • Class of 3000 (Cartoon Network) : Was one of the most popular series airing on the network at the time; canceled due to the ratings not justifying the high cost of making the show.
  • Clone High (MTV)
  • Crusade (TNT)
  • Dead Like Me: Not even quirk-friendly cable was friendly enough, alas. (Showtime)
  • Deadwood (HBO)
  • Instant Star (both The N and CTV were responsible for this one)
  • Invader Zim (Nickelodeon): Executive Meddling was the culprit here—the network hired a comic artist best known for a series called "Johnny The Homicidal Maniac", but were unprepared for the series' dark humor. (And, to anybody who asks why wasn't it moved to MTV: the meddling apparently had ticked off Vasquez enough to tell Nickelodeon (and Viacom) to go to hell before storming out of the company.)
    • Someone on a forum I go on told me that a mother, who noticed her son loved the show and looked into Vasquez's other work, had orded a petition to cancel the show. Word Of God also said that he was forced by Nick to make new episodes for them in a small room witch drove him mad.
    • It should also be noted that Nick is aggressively clinging to Zim's rights and still putting him in their crossover video games.
  • Megas XLR (Cartoon Network)
  • Sheep In The Big City (Cartoon Network)
  • The Odyssey, a Mind Screwy Ontological Mystery for kids. Not to be confused with Odyssey 5 (below) or Homer's original epic. (Sci Fi)
  • Odyssey 5 (Showtime)
  • ''O'Grady (The N)
  • Radio Free Roscoe: Originally aired on the Canadian network Family, then was picked up by the American network The N when Family cut the funding. Then The N cut funding as well,
  • Remember WENN: Ran 3 seasons on AMC before that network changed its format. To add injury to insult, it ended on a Cliff Hanger.
  • South Of Nowhere (The N)
  • Stromberg, a german comedy show extremely similiar to The Office, got recomissioned for several series, even though it was never a success. Still, they've got a large cult-fanbase.
  • Portal: Not canceled due to ratings, as the creator was not shy about letting fans know, but rather due to personal differences between himself and the network head. (G4)
  • Rome, they originally planned five seasons, chronicling the reigns of a few different Emperors, but had to cut it down to three, then two when funding was cut.
  • J Pod (CBC)
  • Mission Genesis (known as Deepwater Black in canada where it originated.) A plague destroys earth and a ship called the Deepwater is sent into deep space where clones of specially selected people would be grown to come back and repopulate earth. Teen drama plays out with SF themes in the foreground on their way back to earth. Very intelligent, containing a few actors who would go on to fame in other sci fi series. Canceled after 13 episodes.
  • Primeval Lasted three (short) seasons and consistently pulled relatively high ratings, but was cancelled on a heartbreaking Cliff Hanger in order for the Network to schedule some cheaper reality shows. (ITV)
  • Cybersix (Teletoon) was a brilliant series with lots of action, fun characters, and surprisingly mature content (among other things, episodes alluded to the death of a child and Nazism). It was very well recieved and even won an award, "Special Mention for the Best Science Fiction Program". Yet it only got one season of thirteen episodes.
  • Tripods (BBC) was epic science fiction with astonishing production values. They filmed the first 2 parts of John Christopher's trilogy, but the last book never made it to the screen.
  • Star Cops (BBC) Intelligent, critically-lauded British sci-fi/cop show crossover about police on the moon, canned after one series (and a lot of in-fighting) despite the first series finale setting up a new season on Mars.
  • The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, even though a second season had been planned.
  • The Mighty B (Nick)
  • Wonder Showzen (MTV 2) - Despite two seasons and respectable ratings, MTV denied a third season. Some of the more experimental episodes during the second season might've also had something to do with it.

Non-Western Television examples

Anime / Manga / Comics
  • Aztek had a fresh hero, good crossover potential and a promising overarcing plot. Then it ran right into the 1996-97 comic book market crash and got cancelled after 10 issues. Luckily, Aztek had already been set up to join the Justice League Of America, and his plot got resolved in that book.
  • Busou Renkin: Done by Watsuki Nobuhiro, the author of Rurouni Kenshin. While certainly not on the same scale in pure epicness as RK, the story was still well-written and drawn. Ratings while it ran in a Japanese magazine weren't so great, and the comic was dumped. The author was given time to give the series a decent ending, at least, and it did run for long enough to have ten volumes worth of material.
  • Double Arts: An example of Screwed by the Demographic — Double Arts was a more trope-defying Shonen series in a magazine that usually aims for the 12-18 demographic. It's theorized that the low popularity ranking was due to the series having a lot more adult readers than kids, as it's been shown the popularity contests in Shonen Jump skew heavily towards teenage readers' preferences; the fact that the Tankobon (Omnibus) books did better reinforce this theory — Tankobons are usually bought by adult readers more than by teenage readers.
    • The same can also be said for Mx0.
  • Gunblaze West: The series begun by Watsuki Nobuhiro just after Rurouni Kenshin finished. It only lasted long enough for two or three volumes worth of material.
    • Although, to be fair, Watsuki went on record saying that he himself didn't enjoy writing the series.
  • A rare Japanese example: Mobile Suit Gundam got poor ratings due to the fact that it was the first Real Robot series. It was canceled and Tomino had to quickly improvise an ending. Due to good re-run ratings the show was re-cut (with some new animation) into 3 movies, and Zeta Gundam was made.
    • Another Japanese example would be the original Shaman King manga, which was canceled RIGHT BEFORE the showdown with the Big Bad. It would be Uncanceled and finished several years later.
  • Nyx
  • Meister. Primed to be the hot new sports manga with dynamic characters and stimulating art. Cut from Weekly Shonen Jump two months after it debuted, forced to cobble together a sudden (and not particularly lucid) ending. Only ten chapters. They didn't even get through one goddamn soccer game.
  • Captain Britain and MI:13 was canceled after issue 15, thought it would be hard to see how they could top Dracula and his vampire army's invasion from his castle on the moon.
  • Futaba Kun Change Cancelled just as it was setting up some major story arcs, leading to the creator scrambling to wrap everything up in a complete Wall Banger of an ending due to time constraints. We can't help wondering if the ending would have made more sense if it'd been given enough time to play out naturally.
  • The new series of Exiles lasted about six issues.
  • Averted (for now) with the One Piece simulcasts. Before the first simulcast could even be done, real "pirates" stole the episode from Funimation's servers and illegally distributed it, resulting in a four month freeze before it finally came back and started for real. In fact, this led to Funimation insituting new security measures; in fact as I write this, maintenence is still ongoing. Also note that I say "for now" because this trope can still apply if Toei and Fuji TV (the latter being the original Japanese broadcaster) have anything to say about it; they didn't, and still don't have to allow this. It's really meant for the Japanese viewers after all; the rest of is are really supposed to either wait for the DVD or for the show to come back to TV.
  • Batman Adventures (the second volume): an comic written by Ty Templeton and Dan Slott as a sequel to Batman The Animated Series that did its best to tie in with the DC Animated Universe. Since there were no Batman shows on the air at the time (and wound up being no more in the DCAU aside from Justice League occasionally visiting Gotham characters and the Mystery of the Batwoman movie), it took advantage of this with various aversions of Status Quois God and very elaborate plans bringing back various forgotten characters and plotlines, as well as foreshadowing Batman Beyond. Probably one of the top contenders for most worthy/mature comic based on an animated series. However, it was very sadly killed after only 17 issues to be replaced with a The Batman tie-in comic, leaving all of the plotlines (sadly the creative team planned on to at least 40 issues, some details on the Toonzone boards) except for the ones that they scrambled to cover in the last four issues dangling.

Games
  • Although not a television show, Battlefleet Gothic had only a few months of publicity and attention before being handed over to Specialist Games (then Fanatic Press), a fate shared with many other spinoff games.
  • XIII was intended to have a sequel, so the game ended in a cliffhanger. Sadly, too few people bought this great game so the sequel was never made.
  • Similar to the above, Psychonauts had a great concept and story, and closed with the apparent start of another adventure. Despite garning a vocal hardcore fanbase later on, it sold poorly.
  • Also similar to these, Beyond Good and Evil. But although this beautiful masterpiece didn't sell that well, it will get a sequel.
  • Advent Rising, featuring a story written by science fiction god Orson Scott Card. The game was planned from the get-go to be a trilogy, but like Psychonauts, was pushed out the door too quickly by Majesco (who was facing bankruptcy at the time). The result was a unpolished and glitchy (albeit still playable game). When given just a month to polish it for the rerelease of the game on PC, the average ratings jumped a considerable amount. The game ended on the definition of a cliffhanger, and the original team (who have long since left Majesco, and were recently bought by Epic) has expressed interest in finishing the trilogy, but Majesco won't release the rights to them. They're too busy with Cooking Mama I guess...
    • And who could forget the terrible marketing ploy they used to sell copies of their unfinished game. The main selling point of the game was an in-game contest where players had to find a symbol in one of the levels. Whoever found the symbol first and submitted undeniable proof to the developers would win a large sum of money. Cue a crafty player finding the symbol, sending the proof, then having the developers back out.
  • Viewtiful Joe. Once Clover Studios was gone, this series quickly went down this road.
    • Note that Clover isn't gone, precisely-it's just got a different name after a couple of mergers. The problem is that Capcom owns the rights.
  • Working Designs. They were mostly known for their excellent localizations of the Lunar series.
  • Shenmue. Due to high production costs and low sells this epic hardly got of the ground. It's like reading the first half of Fellowship of the Ring and quitting.
  • Legacy of Kain. Despite setting a new standard for thought-provoking plots and dialogue, these successes meant gameplay was traded off and resulted in the series' silent downfall, with the most recent game, 2003's Defiance, selling below expectations and without real resolution, and a potential sequel, The Dark Prophecy, quickly became Vaporware. Adding the fact that the head writer for the series is now working for Naughty Dog and the voice of the series' Big Bad is dead, and you can tell they're not going to put out another game any time soon.
  • Conkers Bad Fur Day: It was going to have a sequel, but after Rare being bought out by Microsoft and some Executive Meddling the game was instead just re-made with better graphics...and censored.
  • A console example, the infamous Sega Dreamcast. Same could be said for most of Sega's systems.
  • Turok. First Evolution flopped, contributing to Acclaim's demise. Then someone tried to reboot the series, but it flopped again.
  • Okami: It was critically acclaimed but sold very poorly. The website gamesradar frequently reminds readers that they suck for not buying it.

Literature
  • The fabulous teen series DRAMA! never had more than a miniscule yet devoted fanbase, so Simon & Schuster decided to stop publishing it after just four books. Fortunately, they gave Paul Ruditis the bad news before he started the fourth book, so he was able to speed up some story arcs to give his characters the ending they deserved.

Music
  • At The Drive-In
  • The Avalanches
  • Big Star
  • Blind Faith. Meaningfully named by the band members in response to fan hype. They knew it wouldn't last, from the beginning.
  • Catherine Wheel
  • Chagall Guevara
  • Chickenfoot possibly with drummer Chad Smith returning exclusively to The Red Hot Chili Peppers and guitarist Joe Satriani most likely going back to the studio for another solo album.
  • Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains
  • The Flying Burrito Brothers
  • The Fugees (and Lauryn Hill's solo career)
  • Husker Du
  • JJ72
  • Jellyfish. Two commercially ignored fantastic albums, two different lineups, end of story. Other members formed groups and solo acts since, but it seems to be the last we'll ever hear of them.
  • Josef K
  • Joy Division, though they lived on, in a way, as New Order.
  • Kyuss
  • The La's
  • Life Without Buildings (even though it seemed more like an art project than an actual band).
  • Richey-era Manic Street Preachers
  • mclusky
  • The Minutemen
  • My Bloody Valentine
  • Neutral Milk Hotel
  • New Radicals
  • Nirvana
  • The New Radicals
  • Slint
  • Stone Roses
  • The Traveling Wilburys. Roy Orbison's death probably didn't help... not to mention of course they were all superstars to begin with.
  • Uncle Tupelo, although their breakup spawned a couple of bands (Wilco, Son Volt) that were pretty damn great in their own right.
  • The Unicorns
  • Young Marble Giants
    • Though the Islands are good also.
  • Sullivan

Radio
  • The Stan Freberg Show was canceled by the CBS radio network after running for only 15 episodes in 1957. The entire run has been released on CD.
  • Australian comedian Tony Martin's Get This was a massively clever and energetic show that mocked a lot of radio conventions. Because of this it was axed despite being not only network Triple M's top rating show, but also the ONLY show rating vaguely well. Note it continued to be the top-rating show in spite of undergoing three timeslot shifts.

Toys
  • Xevoz and its tie-in comic. The toyline from Hasbro (with aid from Stikfas) was made up of figures with interchangeable parts and weapons, and a collectible card like game, using the figures themselves and "Battle Helix" dice. It only lasted for four series of figures, but that's two more than it seemed the line would support. After seemingly being cancelled after Series 2, and again after Series 3 (plus some deluxe sets), Xevoz finally disappeared for good (for now).
  • Hornby's Were Bears were discontinued after 1989 despite them being very well made and original toys. They have become very sought after and collectable toys since then. A few new websites hint that they may be being made once again and might even have a movie or cartoon series made after them.
  • Zoids models
  • Transformers: Alternators
  • Stan Winston Creatures, makers of, amongst other things, the Furry-friendly Realm of the Claw action figures. Thanks to a dispute with Toys 'R Us, the exclusive distributor of the company's toys, they were forced to put a hold on further toy development. After languishing in Development Hell for years, once Stan Winston died...

Exceptions

Shows that were canceled but managed more than one season and/or made it to a finale.

  • Arrested Development, although this show managed at least 3 seasons, about 2 1/2 more than most of the others on this list, it still stung because of the massive positive critical response and awards won. The failure of this show to attract an audience is usually blamed on Fox's marketing and not the show itself.
  • The re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica
  • Babylon Five. It was "canceled", and they were forced to compress two major plots into the fourth season and even filmed a series finale... and then were picked up for a fifth season on TNT and finished the planned five-year run with only some plot modifications.
  • The Critic (ABC and Fox; both networks canceled it.)
  • Danny Phantom (Nickelodeon): Creator Butch Hartman expressed interest in continuing the series but Nickelodeon wouldn't have it. At least he still managed to give it a Grand Finale, despite the third season only being about half as long as the other two.
  • Daria, though some fans claim that MTV tried to kill the series during the third season.
  • Dark Angel. Fox show. Only an exception in the sense of having had two seasons, otherwise characterized by everything it says at the top. Third season greenlit and then abruptly cancelled.
  • Two DCU examples: Both Blue Beetle and Manhunter, which had been on the very brink of cancellation for their entire runs, were recently canceled at just under 50 issues, managing to wrap up their storylines in a satisfying way. In that time, Manhunter was canceled and revived twice.
    • Both are also be brought back soon as back up features (in Booster Gold and Gotham Sirens respectively).
  • Dollhouse. Miraculously managed to get a second season in spite of low ratings because Fox was aware of the dedicated fanbase, but was cancelled after episode 2.4 aired. On the one hand, that seems premature; on the other hand, it gave the crew time to write and film a series finale instead of just a season finale.
  • Due South (CBS) had a wobbly history, including getting canceled twice, but it aired four seasons and ended on its own terms.
  • Exosquad (USA)
    • Note that they DID finish off a couple story arcs before the cancellation hit, so it could also count as a counter example. Its later cousin, Wing Commander Academy, fared far worse (13 eps, cut off right in the middle when USA pulled all of their Saturday morning cartoon lineup.)
  • Farscape (SyFy) only received a conclusion due to a massive outpouring of fan support after its cancellation. During its run, it was repeatedly shifted to various unfavourable (and often unreliable) time slots, and at times ran out of order, by its Australian broadcaster, Channel Nine... which also happened to be a co-producer of the show, creating. (Rumour has it that this, and similar treatment for other science-fiction series, was due to a disagreement between the network's owner, who liked science fiction, and the scheduler, who didn't).
    • Notably led to one of the heads of the Sci-Fi Network making an ass of himself when he stated "If everyone that wrote in had actually watched the show, it wouldn't have been canceled." Apparently he had not yet heard of Ti Vo (which had been around for several years by this point). Interestingly enough, Sci-Fi Network now schedules their shows to start slightly after their scheduled time, runs network eyecatches in the middle of commercial breaks, and other little tricks that all seem designed to frustrate people with Ti Vo and similar DV Rs. "Take That, people who enjoy our programming!"
  • Freakazoid: One of the best comedy cartoons of the 90's. Unfortunately, it was built on Parental Bonus, even though it was put on Kids' WB. Only got two seasons.
  • Futurama: aired four seasons over five years, amassing as zealous a fandom as any, but Fox's practice of shifting it back and forth in days and timeslots and occasionally preempting it altogether for months at a time (usually during NFL season, when games which ran long meant an automatic preemption) sealed its fate. Vindication was had at last in 2007, when the show was Un Canceled.
  • The 2002 revival of He Man And The Masters Of The Universe (Cartoon Network); shared the same fate as the toyline revival
  • JAG was first aired on NBC, and then canceled after the first season. CBS then picked it up and showed it for another nine (!) years.
  • Kyle XY: One of ABC Family's most successful shows, which was canceled after its third season. And right when a dramatic twist regarding Kyle's origin is revealed! The producers soon after revealed what had been planned for later seasons.
  • La Femme Nikita (USA): The cancellation announcement was made suddenly at the end of the fourth season, with lots of Canon Fodder just hanging there. This prompted a massive fan campaign and there was a fifth "half season" to answer some of the major questions and give a Bittersweet Ending for some closure.
  • Moral Orel: The show made it to a finale ("Honor") that was a nice ending, but the writers were forced to cut plotlines that would have come up in later episodes (like in the seven scripts that didn't get to be filmed!) mostly because it was too good for Adult Swim and because some guy thought the show was become too dramatic.
  • My Name Is Earl (NBC): Lasted a reasonable 4 years, never a ratings giant but had a good number of fans. Unexpectedly canceled on a cliffhanger.
  • Northern Exposure: a quirk-fest that began as a mid-season replacement, not usually a recipe for success on network TV, nevertheless managed to air six seasons and rack up plaudits and fans.
  • Oz
  • Pushing Daisies had "Too Good To Last" written all over it from the very beginning. The first season, which was aggressively promoted, was a critical and commercial hit: it got 12 Emmy nominations, or 1.33 nominations per episode shown. But it never recovered from the 2007 writer's strike, and ABC canceled it halfway through its second season.
  • ReBoot: Did well pretty much everywhere it aired, but ABC yanked it after two. It did well in Canada and on Cartoon Network for a third season, abruptly canceled upon edging out a fourth season three years later. Always seems to get a good break with talk of being uncanceled with a series of movies.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM: was intentionally killed by Fox scheduling Power Rangers into the same time slot to steal its ratings. Twice. That's right; Fox got its start killing other networks' shows.
    • Regime change also played a part in it. Despite the series doing well enough that it was airing twice every Saturday at one point, the new president of ABC just plain didn't like the show, and so he axed it once its second season ended.
  • Sliders: was cancelled after its first season, which ended on a cliffhanger. It was brought back as a mid-season replacement the following year after fan protesting, and aired two more seasons on Fox. The SYFY channel produced a fourth and fifth season before finally cancelling it.
  • Space Cases: Guess what other space series this show shares an actress with. Go on, guess. She got written out of the show after season 1, though...Isn't It Sad? (Nickelodeon)
  • The Goode Family mainly due to being placed on Friday nights when most people are out doing things then.
  • Star Trek The Original Series was canceled after its second season due to poor ratings was revived, by a fan campaign and some ambiguous threats/calling in ya owe me's by Lucille Ball, for a third (and argurably, the poorest) season, then was brought back with the animated series before finally taking off as a series of feature films before its return to live-action TV with Star Trek The Next Generation.
  • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, victim of a retool that turned off its viewer base.
  • Titus: The creator even said that he preferred it was canceled due to Executive Meddling and risky material then not being popular or funny.
  • Undergrads
  • Veronica Mars is right on the borderline, with three seasons on UPN/the CW network.
  • Tom And Jerry Tales. It did alright on Kids WB from 2006 to 2008, but was killed by 4Kids when it took over Kids WB.

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