History Main / OnlyBarelyRenewed

* The original run of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' was handled in a messy mix of this and ScrewedByTheNetwork. While the show launched with impressive early legs (its pilot debuting with 19 million viewers) and remained a critical darling with a cult fanbase, {{Creator/Fox}} quickly became known for its inexplicable indifference to the series, giving it diminishing amounts of advertisement and poor time slots, placing season 4 premieres after sport events, making it increasingly hard to catch. Creator/MattGroening went on record claiming that he and the production crew ended up approaching each season after their first like it was their last, as after completing the current order, they'd be left in increasingly long periods of silence before Fox would suddenly give them a renewal notice, up until the completion with season 4 where Fox responded with ''nothing'', not even a proper cancellation notice. It took successful syndication on Creator/AdultSwim, a series of DirectToVideo movies, and a full ChannelHop to Creator/ComedyCentral for ''Futurama'' to get any further television seasons.

This generally means the network won't value the show too much, so expect the next season to have fewer episodes, budget cuts, [[AbsenteeActor conspicuously missing characters]] to save on salaries, or be shuffled around on the network's schedule.

* Similar to Dylan, Music/BruceSpringsteen's first two albums had been [[AcclaimedFlop Acclaimed Flops]], and Creator/ColumbiaRecords agreed to let him do a third album on the understanding that it needed to be a genuine hit. After almost two years of work, he ended up delivering on that expectation with ''Music/BornToRun''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was renewed for a third season [[RenewedBeforeProduction before the second season had started airing]], but despite the show getting high praise from both critics and the audience, it was confirmed that it would be its final season and only consist of three 44-minute specials rather than a full ~20 episode season like the first two, because the show's excessively dark and demonic nature [[ExecutiveMeddling "did not fit the Disney brand".]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was renewed for a third season before the second season had started airing, but despite the show getting high praise from both critics and the audience, it was confirmed that it would be its final season and only consist of three 44-minute specials rather than a full ~20 episode season like the first two, because the show's excessively dark and demonic nature [[ExecutiveMeddling "did not fit the Disney brand".]]

The opposite of ScrewedByTheNetwork: here, the network tries in vain to sustain a show that the audience just can't get into, instead of the other way around. Compare AdoredByTheNetwork.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was renewed for a third season before the second season had started airing, but despite the show getting high praise from both critics and the audience, it was confirmed that it would be its final season and only consist of three 44-minute specials rather than a full ~20 episode season like the first two.

* Website/{{Crunchyroll}}'s simulcast of the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' series went through this when it came time for ''Anime/DeliciousPartyPrettyCure'' to debut, as [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-02-05/crunchyroll-to-stream-delicious-party-precure-tv-anime/.182283 Crunchyroll announced their license of the series]] just ''hours'' ahead of its Japanese premiere.

* Website/{{Crunchyroll}}'s simulcast of the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' went through this when it came time for ''Anime/DeliciousPartyPreCure'' to debut, as [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-02-05/crunchyroll-to-stream-delicious-party-precure-tv-anime/.182283 Crunchyroll announced their license of the series]] just ''hours'' ahead of its Japanese premiere.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': The first season did not make a splash, and the network told the showrunners that they would be canceled unless they could shake things up by getting a big name to join the cast. Ultimately Creator/DannyDeVito signed on, and the show quickly became one of FX's biggest shows.

* The teen GameShow ''Series/PeerPressure'' ran for three seasons, but the second and third season were just repackaged reruns of the first season with increasingly obtrusive editing; the "second" season applied DVDCommentary and ClumsyCopyrightCensorship, while the "third" season changed the name of the show to ''Pressure 2'' (editing references to the word "Peer" in the title to try and RetCon it) to go along with its new InNameOnly SpinOff ''Pressure 1''.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' got renewed for the fourth season despite lukewarm ratings from the third season. Catch is, it only got a half season's worth of episodes ordered... [[FridayNightDeathSlot and will be moved to Friday nights with a lead-in consisting of Whitney.]] Huzzah? ''Community'' later had the start of its season delayed to put it on Thursday nights (while ''Whitney'' went to Wednesdays) due to the failures of ''Animal Practice'' and ''Guys With Kids''. So maybe there could be a happy ending after all. ''After'' the Season 4 finale already aired, it somehow got renewed for a fifth. It's actually probably a ''good'' thing that NBC's ratings have been suffering recently, as ''Community'' was probably only renewed because they had to cut a lot of their new shows that had been failing. After the fifth season, NBC flat-out cancelled the show -- [[http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/06/30/community-lives-season-6-to-air-on-yahoo only to have]] Yahoo pick the show up for a sixth (and final) season on the last day before the contracts of the main cast members expired.

* Thirteen weeks into its run in 1963, NBC was about to axe ''Series/MatchGame''. Seeing nothing left to lose, writer Dick [=DeBartolo=] decided to juice up some of the fill-in-the-blanks as comical and lightly suggestive statements. Viewers picked up on it, and the show ran to September 1969.

* Everyone expected ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat'' to be cancelled at the end of its fifth season - it had been moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot (in ABC's latest failed attempt to revive the storied TGIF block), ratings predictably tanked, and online buzz had dissipated. Furthermore, much of the supporting cast had already left or had taken roles on other shows, and showrunner Nahnatchka Khan announced her intention to step down (she would go on to direct ''Film/AlwaysBeMyMaybe'', starring FOTB star Creator/RandallPark and former FOTB writer Creator/AliWong). But at the very last minute, it got a surprise renewal - probably because 20th Century Fox Television, which produced the show, had just been acquired by Disney, which owned ABC, making the show a cheaper in-house production going forward. Creator/ConstanceWu, now a bona fide movie star thanks to ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' and clearly eager to put her sitcom mom role behind her, was incensed at the renewal and went on a diatribe on social media, attracting much mockery from the casts and crews of ''other'' "on the bubble" shows which had just been renewed. The show would be cancelled midway through the following season.

* Creator/AdultSwim's truly [[DadaComics bizarre]] ''WesternAnimation/XavierRenegadeAngel'' somehow has a second season.

** The executives at The WB were long gesticulating about the fate ''Series/SeventhHeaven'', whether to renew the show or stop it at Season 10. A year before the merger, the show was canceled, but in May the next year it was unexpectedly revived for a final season at The CW. The last-minute decision caused Season 11 to have its budget lessened, actors departing or missing for episodes, and a reschedule from Monday to Sunday.

* The merger of Creator/TheWB and Creator/{{UPN}} into The CW led to several cases of this, as executives decided it would be better for the network to find its legs with proven properties instead of rolling the dice with new series.
* The first two seasons of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' went through this. Season 1 aired on the WB during its last year before it was reformatted into the CW and the decision to keep it wasn't made until long after the finale had aired. Likewise, its ratings for the second season were pretty low even for the CW's early standards, and the decision to renew it hadn't been made until long after Season 2 wrapped up.
* Similarly, the CW intended to cancel ''Series/{{Reba}}'' after its fifth season as the network decided to laser in on the young, trendy, urban audience. However, they realized that the show had already been renewed for a fifth '''and''' sixth season the year before, and the "kill fee" they'd have to pay producers for breaking this contract would have cost more than actually making a sixth season. It got renewed for a 13-episode sixth season, ignored as much as possible, and disappeared soon after.

* Everyone expected ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat'' to be cancelled at the end of its fifth season - it had been moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot (in ABC's latest failed attempt to revive the storied TGIF block), ratings predictably tanked, and online buzz had dissipated. Furthermore, much of the supporting cast had already left or had taken roles on other shows, and showrunner Nahnatchka Khan announced her intention to step down (she would go on to direct ''Film/AlwaysBeMyMaybe'', starring FOTB star Creator/RandallPark and former FOTB writer Creator/AliWong). But at the very last minute, it got a surprise renewal - probably because FOX, which produced the show, had just been acquired by Disney, which owned ABC, making the show a cheaper in-house production going forward. Creator/ConstanceWu, now a bona fide movie star thanks to ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' and clearly eager to put her sitcom mom role behind her, was incensed at the renewal and went on a diatribe on social media, attracting much mockery from the casts and crews of ''other'' "on the bubble" shows which had just been renewed. The show would be cancelled midway through the following season.

* Both the fourth and fifth seasons of ''Series/TheWire'' barely happened. The fifth possibly only because the creator wrapped up the series and delivered a shorter season.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' had a relatively successful first season, but not enough to consider renewing. The BBC eventually allowed a second season on the proviso that it would have a drastically reduced budget. The seasons from the second onwards are generally considered far superior to the first.

* The merger of the WB and UPN into The CW led to several cases of this, as executives decided it would be better for the network to find its legs with proven properties instead of rolling the dice with new series.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'''s third and final season was renewed for 20 episodes, but later shortened to only 9. Fellow Creator/CartoonNetwork series ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' got an even shorter third season of only six episodes.
* This can probably be considered for ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'''s second season. After low ratings and mixed critical reviews, it was renewed, but the budget was cut (as evident by the switch in studios from {{Creator/Titmouse}} to in-house production at Cartoon Network), new episodes were moved to [[FridayNightDeathSlot Saturdays]], and they were given very little promotion. Eventually, the second season turned out to be the show's last.

* ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk's Shred]]''. Its predecessor ''Ride'' sold very badly because of its insistence on a skateboard peripheral that didn't work properly. People didn't think Activision would bother with a sequel after this debacle, especially because competition from EA's Skate series was making the series look tired. Somehow, the series did get renewed for ''Ride'''s sequel, ''Shred'', which ignored fan demand not to use the skateboard peripheral. Finally, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5'' finally acquiesced to not use the skateboard peripheral anymore after it too barely got renewed, but it was an ObviousBeta full of {{Game Breaking Bug}}s. As a result, the future of the series is looking rather bleak.

Usually this marks the final season of a show -- even the final partial season. Better plan on [[Front13Back9 only running thirteen episodes]][[note]]or whatever the magic number for syndication is[[/note]] instead of the usual 22-26. In the best case scenarios, it leads to a massive hit and a very good career move for the network execs responsible.

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Seasons five through seven were only barely renewed by NBC, and generally wound up airing as a mid-season replacement. Season seven (intended to be the final season) was shortened by the writer's strike and aired out of order. ABC (who actually owns the series) stepped in and aired the eighth season (considered by most to be an improvement over six and seven), which officially wrapped up JD's storyline.So five seasons "on the bubble" between two networks. The eighth season was still ScrewedByTheNetwork. They continually changed up timeslots, showed new episodes back to back, rarely did re-runs of the new episodes and when they did, they ''weren't'' back to back, or they were out of order. Season 9 was a PostScriptSeason.

* ''Series/{{Joey}}'' was a spinoff of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and got renewed because it was the only NBC show in the 2004 fall season to pull in decent enough ratings to warrant a renewal (the pilot was watched by 18 million viewers), but on the other hand NBC screwed the show in its second season by putting it up against ''Series/AmericanIdol'', causing its ratings to drop and then suddenly canceling it out of nowhere.

* ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' was originally meant to be cancelled after 1966-1967 season, after nearly 11 years on the air. However, the wife of Creator/{{CBS}} president William S. Paley, who was a devoted fan of the show, simply wouldn't hear of it. After persuasion from her and many other fans, Paley decided to renew the show, placing it in ''Series/GilligansIsland'''s timeslot, which ended up [[ScrewedBytheNetwork cancelling the beloved sitcom at the last minute]]. ''Gunsmoke'' would continue to air for another 8 seasons, a record-breaking run [[LongRunner totaling 20 years]] (and that's not even including [[Radio/{{Gunsmoke}} the 1952-1961 radio series]]).

* The original ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' got a third season only because of a massive letter writing campaign (well, that and the fact that RCA owned NBC at the time, and RCA owned the patent for color TV. Since most people [[KillerApp bought color TVs specifically]] for ''Star Trek,'' they realized RCA made more money in color TV sales than NBC lost because of ''Star Trek''); but the third season is not considered that great by many fans. Forty years later, ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' barely got a fourth season because the show runners convinced the studio that they could do it cheaply; in fact the eventual series finale was originally written to cap the third season. Fans tremendously approved the final season-- including many who feel it actually [[GrowingTheBeard grew its beard]] that season, too late to be saved.
* All evidence indicated ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' wouldn't get a second season--poor ratings, lukewarm critical reception until halfway through the season, Fox's decision not to air the planned season finale (it was released on the DVD), [[TheFireflyEffect the fact that it was a Whedon/Minear production on Fox]], and so on. It got renewed anyway; but the second season was the last. The second season may have been simply because the execs knew they'd get complaints if they canceled it after only one season.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' season 3 was on the blade of a knife, and wasn't announced with all of NBC's other properties. It was renewed (after SendingStuffToSaveTheShow) with a lower budget, shorter season, and a ProductPlacement deal, as a mid-season replacement, though it actually got more episodes ordered when much of NBC's new fall material failed. Season 4 was never really in doubt since S3's ratings were good by NBC standards, but it only initially got 13 episodes. Most of NBC's new shows again bombed, while Chuck was doing reasonably well, so it got 11 episodes for the spring. Throughout the spring, however, its ratings kept sinking lower and lower. It's been picked up for a 5th and final season, but it'll only be 13 episodes and the show's moving to Fridays from the 8pm Monday slot it had always held. Many speculate that Warner Bros., who produce it, cut NBC a deal too good to pass up in order to get the show enough episodes for syndication.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' seems to have been this for season 8. It wasn't confirmed as renewed until the last possible moment and got 18 episodes for season 8. Season 9 was even closer - CBS said it was very close as to whether to renew it or ''Series/CSIMiami''. Ultimately, it came down to CSI: NY being cheaper to produce and wanting to use it to help with a night of New York themed shows.
* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' was the lowest rated show on the CW for most of it's second season, it got renewed regardless, it's rumoured to be because of international sales. The ratings dropped even lower in the 3rd season, but it still got renewed for a final 6 episode run.

* The first two seasons of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' went through this. Season 1 aired on the WB during its last year before it was reformatted into the CW and the decision to keep it wasn't made until long after the finale had aired. Likewise, its ratings for the second season were pretty low even for the CW's early standards and the decision to renew it hadn't been made until long after Season 2 wrapped up.

* ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast2012'' got terrible ratings in its second season, was the CW's lowest rated series in 2014 and was yanked off the schedule to air the rest of its episodes in the summer. Somehow it still got renewed for a third season.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had relatively low ratings for much of its run, in some cases airing as a mid-season replacement. The show would often get renewed anyway because of the failure of many of NBC's new shows. As a result, almost all of the season finales can function as a SeriesFauxnale. Additionally, WordOfGod is that this led to the relationship subplots being resolved much quicker, because the writers were unsure if ''Parks'' would run long enough to resolve them later.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': The first season did not make a splash, and the network told the show runners that they would be canceled unless they could shake things up by getting a big name to join the cast. Ultimately Creator/DannyDeVito signed on, and the show quickly became one of FX's biggest shows.
* ''Series/SeaquestDSV'': Nicknamed as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Ratings", the submarine focused show's fate seemed certain. Declining ratings due to deteriorating writing and sports pre-emptions led to season 2 almost being last, with the season finale blatantly supposed to end the series - the embodiment of "going out with a bang". Behind the scenes, the planned replacement series (described as being "just awful") fell through, leading to a last minute renewal and an overall sense of "let's get past this as quickly as possible" in the truncated season 3. Even with the renewal and improving critical praise, the planned full 3rd season was cut in half and the show sank to a watery grave.

* Everyone expected ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat'' to be cancelled at the end of its fifth season - it had been moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot (in ABC's latest failed attempt to revive the storied TGIF block), ratings predictably tanked, and online buzz had dissipated. Furthermore, much of the supporting cast had already left or had taken roles on other shows, and showrunner Nahnatchka Khan announced her intention to step down (she would go on to direct ''Film/AlwaysBeMyMaybe'', starring FOTB star Creator/RandallPark and former FOTB writer Creator/AliWong). But at the very last minute it got a surprise renewal - probably because FOX, which produced the show, had just been acquired by Disney, which owned ABC, making the show a cheaper in-house production going forward. Creator/ConstanceWu, now a bona fide movie star thanks to ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' and clearly eager to put her sitcom mom role behind her, was incensed at the renewal and went on a diatribe on social media, attracting much mockery from the casts and crews of ''other'' "on the bubble" shows which had just been renewed. The show would be cancelled midway through the following season.

* Everyone expected ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat'' to be cancelled at the end of its fifth season - it had been moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot (in ABC's latest failed attempt to revive the storied TGIF block), ratings predictably tanked, and online buzz had dissipated. Furthermore, much of the supporting cast had already left or had taken roles on other shows, and showrunner Nahnatchka Khan announced her intention to depart. But at the very last minute it got a surprise renewal - probably because FOX, which produced the show, had just been acquired by Disney, which owned ABC, making the show a cheaper in-house production going forward. Creator/ConstanceWu, now a bona fide movie star thanks to ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' and clearly eager to put her sitcom mom role behind her, was incensed at the renewal and went on a diatribe on social media, attracting much mockery from the casts and crews of ''other'' "on the bubble" shows which had just been renewed. The show would be cancelled midway through the following season.

* Everyone expected ''Series/FreshOffTheBoat'' to be cancelled at the end of its fifth season - it had been moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot (in ABC's latest failed attempt to revive the storied TGIF block), ratings predictably tanked, and online buzz had dissipated. Furthermore, much of the supporting cast had already left or had taken roles on other shows, and showrunner Nahnatchka Khan announced her intention to depart. But at the very last minute it got a surprise renewal - probably because FOX, which produced the show, had just been acquired by Disney, which owned ABC, making the show a cheaper in-house production going forward. Creator/ConstanceWu, now a bona fide movie star thanks to ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'' and clearly eager to put her sitcom mom role behind her, was incensed at the renewal and went on a diatribe on social media, attracting much mockery from the casts and crews of ''other'' "on the bubble" shows which had just been renewed.

* While the first season of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' only had six episodes, it struggled, with weak ratings and critics regarding it as an unfocused, watered-down imitation of [[Series/TheOfficeUK original]]. The main reason it made it to a second season was Kevin Reilly, NBC Entertainment president at the time, had loved the second episode, "Diversity Day", and felt the series had enough potential to warrant another go.