History ScrewedByTheNetwork / DisneyNetworks

* ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski: SuburbanDaredevil'', despite pretty good critical acclaim and being the most highest-rated cartoon on Disney XD, it was quietly cancelled in late 2012 and unfortunately suffered from Disney XD's two season curse. On the bright side, reruns occasionally air on Disney XD.

** ''WesternAnimation/OscarAndFriends'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyT54GU09AI Premiered as part of the inaugural "Morning Scramble" block]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGvy9KMk5I and used as filler shorts]] in between ''Harveytoons'' and ''Eek!Stravaganza'' reruns. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGvy9KMk5I It was quickly moved to the "Captain's Treasure House" block before the end of the year, still as a filler series, and languished there until the block was pulled completely the following June.

* In the summer of 2013, Disney XD brought in 4 new Canadian shows: ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'', ''WesternAnimation/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures'', the 2013 ''WesternAnimation/{{Max Steel|2013}}'' cartoon, and ''WesternAnimation/PackagesFromPlanetX'', none of which were produced by Disney. By the next year, ''Pac-Man'' was the only show that lasted on the network for more than one season, yet after it was renewed, Disney XD suddenly had no interest in the show anymore and dumped it; reruns ceased for "Pac-Man" in 2016.

* In the summer of 2013, Disney XD brought in 4 new Canadian shows: ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'', ''WesternAnimation/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures'', the 2013 ''WesternAnimation/{{Max Steel|2013}}'' cartoon, and ''WesternAnimation/PackagesFromPlanetX'', none of which were produced by Disney. By the next year, ''Max Steel'' and ''Pac-Man'' were the only shows that lasted on the network for more than one season, yet after they were renewed, Disney XD suddenly had no interest in either show anymore and dumped both of them.

* WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee was dealt a bad hand when executives decided to cancel the show in June 2022. This was after it was greenlit for a second season before the show even aired. To make matters worse, as revealed in an X thread from co-creator Bill Motz, Disney had even commissioned 10 scripts for the third season, and many more were written as revealed by the show's writers following the series finale. However, a complete lack of marketing and schedule planning, initially present in the buildup to the show's premiere, significantly affected its cable viewership. This forced the show to rely on viewerships and streams from Disney+ episode drops, and when the second one in December 2021 did not perform as well as the first and third drops, they made the decision to cancel the show.

* "WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee" was dealt a bad hand when executives decided to cancel the show in June 2022, less than a year after its premiere. While it received a second season before the show even aired, the network commissioned 10 scripts for a third season, but a complete lack of marketing and schedule planning that was present when the show first premiered affected its viewership. This caused Disney to rely on Disney+ drops, and when the second one in December 2021 did not perform as well as the first and third drops, they made the decision to cancel the show.

* "Series/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee" was dealt a bad hand when executives decided to cancel the show in June 2022, less than a year after its premiere. While it received a second season before the show even aired, the network commissioned 10 scripts for a third season, but a complete lack of marketing and schedule planning that was present when the show first premiered affected its viewership. This caused Disney to rely on Disney+ drops, and when the second one in December 2021 did not perform as well as the first and third drops, they made the decision to cancel the show.

* Shortly after the announcement for the second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was made, it was further announced that the show would end after its third season, which is said to consist of three 44-minute specials (totaling to just six episodes when accounting the 22-minute runtime of standard episodes). While it's been vague as to whether or not ending the show after Season 3 was the showrunners' choice, creator Dana Terrace has stated on her [[https://twitter.com/DanaTerrace/status/1394346362892734466 Twitter]] that she expected Season 3 to be the series' usual 10-20 episode format. It was Disney's decision to cut the season down to just the aforementioned specials, with the [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/q1x1uh/ama_except_by_anything_i_mean_these_questions_only/ cited reasons being that the show was deemed too costly and mature to air on the block]].

** ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'', which was canceled ''well before'' the 65-episode mark, much to the confusion and dismay of fans. The reason Disney gave the cast was that since the show was so popular and making them so much money, they had a choice: produce a third season of the show, or use the money to create another show with the potential to be just as popular. Despite many fans' attempts to save it, Disney chose the latter option, giving birth to ''Series/HannahMontana''.

* Disney used to have a rule that instantly screwed over any show they wanted: the [[SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon 65-episode rule]]. It mainly applied to animated series and Creator/DisneyChannel shows. In TV rules, sixty-five is the absolute minimum number of episodes to be produced before a show can be officially syndicated. Once a show hits that milestone, it was very unlikely to be renewed by Disney, unless it was proven to be a major CashCowFranchise. Many shows have fallen victim to this rule. In recent years, Disney Channel has decided in favor of a four-season rule, where their shows can only last no more than four seasons. In theory, this rule can prevent certain shows from falling into SeasonalRot and allow them to end in their prime. Yet at the same time, smaller shows that needed more time to find an audience [[CutShort might end up getting axed]] just when they hit their stride because of this rule.

* ''Hoyt'n Andy's Sportsbender'', a 1995 sports-themed animated series centered around a [[ShowWithinAShow show of the same name]] that {{MST}}s sports clips from ESPN's archives, created by Creator/JimJinkins of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' fame, was torpedoed the moment the Disney/ABC merger (which included the acquisition of ESPN) was announced, with production about 95% complete to boot. Despite the series wrapping up production two days before the merger became official (and Disney ''also buying'' Jinkins' Jumbo Pictures around the same time after discovering during the Disney/ABC merger that Jinkins had been working on this show, which would lead to a revival of ''Doug'' the following year), it was lost in the shuffle and ended up going unaired, even after a timeslot change, though Sony, who co-owned the show, managed to [[ShortRunInPeru get it on the air in a few foreign markets, most notably the Philippines]], only finally debuting in the United States on Creator/{{Tubi}} years later.

** Luckily, Creator/{{PBS}} would pull a NetworkToTheRescue by contracting most of its affiliates to carry the show beginning in 2009. The series had aired its full run on PBS by sometime in 2013. Creator/{{Netflix}} also carried the full series a part of a package deal during the early [=2010=], although this package has since been moved to other streaming services.

* ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' got this bad during its two runs on cable TV in the United States. It first landed on A&E at a time when the network was in the process of [[NetworkDecay decaying]] from its original image as a home for British imports into the reality/docu-net it is today. After getting decent midweek slots for series one and two, the network decided to push series three to Saturdays at 10 to make room for reality shows in that midweek slot. Ratings suffered, but A&E was already locked into a contract for series four. So, they pulled repeats off the schedule during the long hiatus between series, and dumped series four on Fridays at 11, where the ratings dropped so hard, so fast that it was pulled after two weeks.
** That said, at least the network bothered to burn off the rest of series four (in Saturday afternoon marathon form). The show wouldn't get that chance at BBC America, who restarted the show's run at series one. This time at least, the show would maintain a midweek slot for its entire run. Unfortunately, the third series found it in competition against ''Series/AmericanIdol'', which helped drain away a lot of viewers from the show (as Idol was prone to do to all shows at the time). The fourth series actually premiered against the gigantic Idol finale that year, and the numbers never recovered during the subsequent summer run, which led to BBCA pulling it after the fourth episode.
*** Luckily, Creator/{{PBS}} would pull a NetworkToTheRescue by contracting most of its affiliates to carry the show. As of this writing, the first nine series have aired in their entirety.

* In 2005, Creator/{{ESPN}} opted not to continue its relationship with the UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague (fresh out of the lockout that canceled the entire 2004-05 season), and the cable rights were taken over by OLN (which then became Versus, and later still, Creator/{{NBC}} Sports), [[NetworkDecay a channel dedicated to outdoor sports]] with distribution not as wide as ESPN's. When NBC finally offered to air the 2007 NHL playoffs, they cut away from a series-clinching playoff game ''in overtime'' to show 90 minutes of pre-race coverage of the Preakness Stakes, knocking the remainder of the game over to Versus (except in Buffalo, one of the NHL's smallest yet loyal markets, and Ottawa, where [[Series/HockeyNightInCanada CBC]] knows better ''and'' didn't have such a conflict). Thankfully, they've learned their lesson (and Versus, now known as the NBC Sports Network following Comcast's acquisition of NBC, has become a lot more established since.) The Preakness Stakes incident was ExecutiveMeddling of its own, as NBC's contract with the race (negotiated years ''before'', mind you) had advertising commitments.

* After Disney bought out most of Fox's television studios, [[note]] except for [[Creator/{{Fox}} the Fox Broadcasting Company]], Fox Television Stations, Fox Sports domestically, and Creator/FoxNews, all of which were retained by UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch through the unrelated Fox Corporation [[/note]] Buena Vista Television decided to stop syndicating ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' on free-to-air local TV stations (usually affiliates of Creator/{{Fox}}, Creator/TheCW, and Creator/MyNetworkTV), presumably in favor of licensing them to Disney-owned Creator/{{Hulu}}. While the former two shows were lucky as they are frequently shown on reruns on Adult Swim and Comedy Central respectively and ''American Dad'' is still producing episodes on {{Creator/TBS}}, it was ''King of the Hill'' that was screwed the hardest as no other cable network aired reruns of the show after Comedy Central screwed the show over after acquiring the show from Adult Swim in 2018 alongside ''The Cleveland Show'' and dropped all reruns of the show a year later. Thankfully, though, this was eventually averted, as ''King of the Hill'' began airing on Creator/{{FXX}}, which is now owned by Disney due to their acquisition of the 20th Television library, on September 20, 2021.

*** When Creator/{{Toonami}} was resurrected by Creator/AdultSwim and brought back the first Naruto anime, fans hoped this would bring Shippuden with it. Disney still held the rights and refused to release them, despite the fact that ''Disney XD wasn't even airing the show''.[[note]]Again, Fox Kids did the ''same thing'' with ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'' and ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', preventing Cartoon Network from acquiring them for Toonami's daytime incarnation[[/note]] Eventually, in late 2013, Disney's rights to the series expired, [[NetworkToTheRescue and [adult swim] scooped them up as soon as they could]].

* After Disney bought out most of Fox's television studios, [[note]] except for [[Creator/{{Fox}} the Fox Broadcasting Company]], Fox Television Stations, Fox Sports domestically, and Creator/FoxNews, all of which were retained by UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch through the unrelated Fox Corporation [[/note]] Buena Vista Television decided to stop syndicating ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' on free-to-air local TV stations (usually affiliates of Creator/{{Fox}}, Creator/TheCW, and Creator/MyNetworkTV), presumably in favor of licensing them to Disney-owned Creator/{{Hulu}}. While the former two shows were lucky as the they are frequently shown on reruns on Adult Swim and Comedy Central respectively and ''American Dad'' is still producing episodes on {{Creator/TBS}}, it was ''King of the Hill'' that was screwed the hardest as no other cable network aired reruns of the show after Comedy Central screwed the show over after acquiring the show from Adult Swim in 2018 alongside ''The Cleveland Show'' and dropped all reruns of the show a year later. Thankfully, though, this was eventually averted, as ''King of the Hill'' began airing on Creator/{{FXX}}, which is now owned by Disney due to their acquisition of the 20th Television library, on September 20, 2021.

* Disney Channel's broadcast of ''WesternAnimation/TheZhuZhus'' in North America was erratic, to say the least. The network would often hold off from airing the show between months[[note]]though in one case [[MisBlamed it wasn't their fault]], due to the renaming of the show from ''Polly and the [=ZhuZhu=] Pets'' and renaming the titular character "Frankie"[[/note]], constantly delayed episodes, and after it aired its season finale in August 2017, Disney almost completely forgot about the show, having removed all traces of it from the [=DisneyNow=] app.

* Disney Channel's broadcast of ''WesternAnimation/TheZhuZhus'' in North America was erratic, to say the least. The network would often hold off from airing the show between months[[note]]though in one case [[MisBlamed it wasn't their fault]], due to the renaming of the show from ''Polly and the [=ZhuZhu=] Pets and renaming the titular character "Frankie"''[[/note]], constantly delayed episodes, and after it aired its season finale in August 2017, Disney almost completely forgot about the show, having removed all traces of it from the [=DisneyNow=] app.

* Disney Channel's broadcast of ''WesternAnimation/TheZhuZhus'' in North America was erratic, to say the least. The network would often hold off from airing the show between months, constantly delayed episodes, and after it aired its season finale in August 2017, Disney almost completely forgot about the show, having removed all traces of it from the [=DisneyNow=] app.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' was treated horribly during its run on ABC Kids. As the only Disney Channel series shown on the block that wasn't an EdutainmentShow, many ABC affiliates (mostly those operated by Hearst Television and Allbritton Communications) saw little need to air it, even less so than ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' because at least that series was premiering new episodes on the block while K.P. was nothing but reruns. As a result, those stations either didn't air the show at all in favor of using that space for college football and/or locally-produced programming, or aired it in a time isolated from the rest of the block (usually the dead hours of the morning or late in the afternoon on Saturdays, or on Sunday mornings, often '''directly''' competing against the show's Disney Channel broadcasts). The show was dropped from ABC Kids' line-up in September 2006 in favor of a second timeslot for ''Power Rangers'', meaning that the show's fourth and final season never got to air on ABC.

* ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski: SuburbianDaredevil'', despite pretty good critical acclaim and being the most highest-rated cartoon on Disney XD, it was quietly cancelled in late 2012 and unfortunately suffered from Disney XD's two season curse. On the bright side, reruns occasionally air on Disney XD.

* Believe it or not, History Channel actually had the nerve to do this to ''Series/ModernMarvels'' of all shows. Specifically, the final season of its original run consisted of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Modern_Marvels_episodes 10 "countdown" episodes and a retrospective episode on the Panama Canal.]][[note]]The Panama Canal was the subject of the show's first regular episode.[[/note]] This alone would be a pretty mediocre sendoff, but then History had the bright idea to premiere the new season '''in July of 2012''', something the show had not done since '''1998!''' Predictably, ratings tanked and the show was placed on a hiatus roller-coaster like few shows have ever experienced:
** Hiatus #1: Waiting an entire month between airing episodes 3 & 4.
** Hiatus #2: A ''13-month suspension'' before coming back to air episodes 5-8, followed by
** Hiatus #3: '''Another 9-month break''' before finally showing the last two countdown episodes, which to add insult to injury were aired '''back-to-back on the same day.'''
** Hiatus #4: With only the GrandFinale left to air, any faint hope that History would let the show die respectfully was crushed when the network '''suspended the show for yet another 10 months''' before quietly burying the last episode on a Saturday.
*** All told, it took History a grand total of '''''33 months to air just 11 episodes!!!''''' And remember, this is for a show which had served as their [[AdoredByTheNetwork Network Darling]] since ''before the channel even existed.'' Let that sink in for a moment...