Best TV shows to last only one season?
 

I thought of this subject while watching the DVDs for Freaks and Geeks, a great show that, unfortunately, got cancelled after completing only one season, even though it garnered a lot of critical acclaim. I only caught on to the show after it had already been cancelled and reruns were shown on some cable network a few years back and I thought it was a great show. I decided to rent the DVDs to see the episodes again (and see if there might have been one episode to slip past without me seeing it).

If you haven't seen the show before, I highly recommend it. Here's the IMDB.com link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193676/

Any other one season TV shows that were really good but got the axe anyways?

Arrested Development almost had the same thing happen to it that happened to Freaks and Geeks, but, luckily, got picked up for another season.

There are a lot of anime series that only lasted one season, but that is normal. I liked "Now and Again", "Black Sash" (it lasted only 6 episodes), "Battlestar Galactica", "The Honeymooners", "Space: Above and Beyond", and "Dark Skies" just to name a few.

I'm not sure I'd call it a "really good" show that got the axe after one season, but I sure as shit liked a show called "Space: Above and Beyond" when it was on Fox for a season while I was in middle school. Cheesy space drama ala Starship Troopers. I had a lot of fun watching it. I'm pretty sure no one else did, though. Too bad.

Arrested Development, on a side note, is really really good. I'm very glad it didn't get cancelled.

I loved Freaks and Geaks. Unfortuntely, that's the one I'd have to vote on... cuz I don't know any others.

I really liked Wonderfalls..I don't even think that one lasted 1 season...more like 4 or 5 episodes..I was starting to crush on the lead girl..forgot her name...same thing happened to Cracking Up...I also liked that one...Fox really screwed those shows over.

Asta!!

I enjoyed "The Mind of the Married Man" on HBO...it never made it to the second season but I found it quite funny and very much on-point (even though I'm single :) ).

Really? The most famous sit com of all time, "The Honeymooners", lasted only one season. It is the dead beat father of shows like "Seinfeld", "M*A*S*H", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "Freinds", and "Frasier".

Also, "Battlestar Galactica" was just as big as Star Trek for quite a while.

In case anyone is interested, a DVD of Wonderfalls is scheduled to come out on Feb 1. I also loved Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. What about Twin Peaks? Was it on more than 1 year? I know I didn't watch it after 1 year.

Definitely Now and Again. I didn't even know about it until I watched it on SciFi.

Undeclared was awesome, mostly because of that Chow guy (dude who played Harold in Harold and Kumar), and a bit because of the British guy. I loved this one part where that black dude who entertains is leaving and he's like "Ciao" and Chow is like "What?" :lol: Yes, I love that kinda crap. How many seasons did Family Guy last? I suppose it was more than one, but not very many at any rate.

Kindred: The Embraced

A world of darkness primetime soap opera type thing. It was pretty cool.

I really liked Dream On from HBO back in the day. I don't know if it lasted only one season, but it didn't last long enough for sure.

I'm probably the only person that enjoyed "Murder in Small Town X". It was another one of these reality-type shows, but I throughly enjoyed it.

there was a show last year (or maybe the year before?) called Miracles that i thought had some promise. it didn't make it through the whole first season, if i recall correctly. abc pulled the plug on it for some reason...

I only saw a couple of episodes of that, but thought it was pretty good.

Apparently, the guy who won the whole thing on that show was a New York City firefighter who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center only a week after the final episode was broadcast.

I remember hearing about Now and Again some time in the first season and that it sounded pretty good. Unfortunately, I never caught an episode. It irritates me to think that good shows get cancelled for lack of viewership when there's probably an audience out there for them, if only it had time to catch on.

I loved the show "John Doe", and Fox cancelled that right after it finished its first season. It had your typical "season finale", but Fox decided to axe it and it became the series finale. I'm still pissed about that one. Goddamn Fox.

The original ER (also had George Clooney, but it was a comedy with Eliott Gould)
Hot L Baltimore
Cupid

Miracles was an excellent show. They kept moving it around and pre-empting it, and then wonder why it didn't get good ratings.
:rolleyes: Another good one was John Doe. I'd like to strangle somebody at Fox for how they ended that one.

The problem is that networks don't give series' any time to develop a fan base anymore. If a show doesn't get stellar ratings in the first couple of episodes, they pull the plug, sometimes mid-season. The ironic thing is some of the most classic long running series' had poor ratings the first couple of seasons.

Damn...I remeber that show. Late 70's wasn't it? That was funnier than hell.

I think the modern "classic" example of this phenomena is Firefly.

Everyone who has seen the show really liked it but there wasn't enough of these people to support the show and it was cancelled in its first season...

Witchblade had a really, really good first season. Yancy Butler is a hottie anyway, but I thought the character development was good and the otherworldly plot lines were good to follow. I thought that a couple of their episodes in the first season had as good production values as many of the movies I have seen. Unfortunately, the producers apparently didn't anticipate it gathering the huge fan following that it did and didn't have a second season ready to roll. By the time the second season rolled out (something like 12 full months later) some people had lost interest and the writing had gone lousy. I also heard rumors about Yancy Butler having some problems with alcoholism. If true, so sad.

So, my nomination would be for the first season of Witchblade. I don't even really consider the second season as part of the same show.

"That's My Bush!" - Talk about a good, goofy comedy. From the loud mouth maid to the wacky neighbor, it had everything you'd want in a sitcom. I think it was brilliant making a sitcom about the sitting president, with no real political satire.


Do British shows count? If so "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge" and the "Brass Eye" are two great examples of what can be accomplished in just one season.

"Knowing Me..." is a spoof talkshow; with fictional 'celebrity' guests and an incompetent, annoying and uptight host who usually manages to alienate, upset and/or fight with his guests. The guests themselves are also hilarious: the french clowns, the "Bald Brummies" and even Minnie Driver playing a model with one too many appendages.

"Brass Eye" with Chris Morris is a satire with a strong bite. Similiar to Ali G, there are alot of fake interviews with celbs and politican types. The difference being Chris Morris really makes his guests look like idiots, the joke is most certinally on them.

oh man, my vote goes for "Space, Above and Beyond." it was a made-for-tv scifi show back in 95. it probably sucks now (i was 12 or 13 years old back then) but i sure liked it at the time.

no one else i've talked to remembers it... one of my most effective conversation killers. however much i liked the show... i was probably one of its few fans.

The Cut & Lyricist Lounge on MTV...I don't think those lasted longer than 1 season..Neither did "The Brothers Grump"

Asta!!

Cupid - with jeremy piven, late 90s......i think it was only one year.

A second vote for John Doe. I couldn't believe the way they ended it.

There was another show where the sheriff of a small town was the devil. The sheriff was played by the actor who now plays the VP on West Wing.

I just remembered another one from '99 called "Brimstone".

Yeah, I'll give Space: Above and Beyond another vote. Liked Cupid quite a bit too. I'd have to give Nowhere Man a vote too. Loved all the conspiracy theory stuff.

And this probably sneaks a little past the one season thing, but I love Sports Night.

Space: Above and Beyond had "the sarge" in it...he's in Full Metal Jacket, he hosts the History Channel's Mail Call, pretty sure he's done some work in videogame footage. The most typecast actor in the history of the performing arts, but the show gets my vote because I like him.

I watched 5 or 6 episodes of it in a row one day when the Sci-Fi channel was playing the whole season/series in one run. It's been a while, but I liked it.

R. Lee Ermey, he is totally the man. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000388/

The Original ER! I remeber that one. It was a scream. I remember the episode when the head nurse's, Thor's, husband the country song writer showed up on her birthday and sang "I Want A Woman With Love Handles" to her. Great Show.

Herman's Head. "Brrrritsky" is still part of my vocabulary.

There were some good shows killed in the WTC:
"That's My Bush" was hysterical. "The First Lady's Peepsqeeler" in which they investigate euthanasia and feminine odor is one of the funniest sitcom episodes ever.
"The Tick" had the misfortune of having the episode that would have gone to air on 9/11 titled "The Terror."

Brimstone was great! I still miss it. John Glover, who plays the elder Luthor on Smallville, played Satan, and he was great: not just evil, but a monstrous and bitter prick with a smooth facade. The whole show was funny and downbeat at the same time, and very, very intelligent. The producer liked to call it "Touched by a Devil."

A new programming chief came in and cancelled a lot of stuff that had been put in by his predecessor. He cancelled Brimstone because the ratings weren't good enough, but nothing Fox put in the Friday night slot since has done better.

I should add that Fox seems to put a lot of quality shows on Friday night to die. Puts them out there with minimal advertisement and promotion, and they go away. John Doe and Firefly, mentioned earlier are two others. The only good Fox show to escape Friday night alive was the X Files. And _that_ had low ratings, too, but Fox was so desperate in those days they kept it on. They should show that kind of patience these days; they'd be rewarded.

On The Air

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2093/air.html


The Slap Maxwell Story (might be two seasons)

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet...Maxwell_Story/


Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet..._Mary_Hartman/

that's enough

Definitely Freaks & Geeks. Awesome show...

I was also a big fan of Rock & Roll Jeopardy. Sigh.

You see that one episode where Mark McGrath totally dominated the other two players? That was hilarious.

Another vote for Space: Above and Beyond.

And also another one for Dark Skies.... haha.. it's been a while.

Greg the bunny.

YOu get it? He's a puppet, and he says naughty things!

I can't understand why it was on for only one season....

I'd totally forgot about Herman's Head, but I loved that show.

I loved My So Called Life when it was on, but I don't remember if it made it to two seasons or not.

Don't watch much TV anymore though, so don't know about any current ones.

I kinda liked that one too, had a "Twin Peaks" feel to it. Also in the Reality vein, The Mole was good, it lasted, I think, 2 seasons and was replaced by the awful Celebrity Mole. I liked a show called Young Indiana Jones which was cancelled too soon, and long, long ago a high school misfits show called Square Pegs.

seems like almost any show of quality on fox only lasts a season now

I'm going to have to go with Undeclared as well. Theres been some news about a possible DVD release a while back but havent really kept up on it.

The Lone Gunmen. One of the most consistently rediculously hilarious shows I have ever seen. Yet another victim of mismanagment by Fox.

Okay there was this one show with this creepy young boy who could talk to his dead sister. and his "dad" I think killed her but had some satanic connection. I want to say it was written or created by someone unusual like mark hammill.

does anyone remember this? it was about 7 years ago. I don't even think it lasted a season.

I liked it.

Sifl and Olly.



Anyone remember this show on MTV?

Sounds like American Gothic.

Square Pegs. New Wave, man, totally different head. I loved that show. And my, my, hasn't Sarah Jessica Parker come a long way from such humble beginnings. Rrrrrowr.

There was a show that was called Eerie, Indiana that aired (according to IMDB.com) back in the 91-92 TV season that I remember looked pretty good from the previews I saw before the season started, but I never saw a single episode. Anyone see this one? Any good? It's out on DVD, so I may rent it from Netflix. (They've got one disc with three random episodes, but don't have the whole season, even though it's available for purchase from Amazon).

Yeah, Space: Above And Beyond was a great show when I saw it (early-mid teens) and I saw it on the Space Channel a few months ago, and still seems like it was pretty good. Very Starship Trooper-ish.

Also, didn't notice anybody mention is yet, but what about "Undergrads". That show certainly had it's moments.

Hell yeah I do!! Actually they had 2 seasons that made it to air and you can buy a season 3 dvd from the official sifl-n-olly.com webpage!

That show needed to be on regular TV!! It's too bad that MTV canned it so soon...

my favourite comedy that only lasted part of one season was a show called 'hidden hills' that was on TV last season. I was really sad to see that one go.

My So-Called Life

Cop Rock

And one with REM's Stand as the theme song - can't remember the name. It was funny as heck.

The only show that i remember having REM's Stand as the theme song was Get a life with chris elliot (I think it ran for a few seasons as well).

Besides shows that have already been mentioned (most of them fox shows too), i'd like to add some more fox shows that I don't think have been mentioned Tru calling (I guess I was one of the few that liked that show), a show called Strange Luck, and probably a bunch of other shows that are a LOT better then most of the crap on tv now.

^^ That's it! I couldn't remember the name, but Chris Elliot was the main character. I thought it only ran for a single season - oh well, it was a good show anyway.

The two that I can think of are one, the Clerks animated series, hell that only lasted a few episodes, fortunatly they have been released on DVD, and two The Prisoner, god that show was good, any fans out there besides me?

Thanks, there have been very few shows that I've religously followed. Twin Peaks, X-Files, Homicide and whenever I could follow: American Gothic

I'm gonna have to see if they've released it on dvd.

Twin Peaks sticks out for me, as does Fawlty Towers.

i thought twin peaks ran for more than one season, but i could certainly be mistaken.

I think Soap only ran for 1 season and it really, really rocked(70's)



edit--sorry guys I just IMDB'd Soap and it ran 4 seasons......Oops

The best in my opinion was Firefly.
Also good and already mentioned Space: Above and Beyond, Clerks:TAS, and Undergrads.

BTW I forget who said Twin Peaks but it lasted two seasons. The second season was just weird.

I don't remember the name, but there was a cop-show a couple of years ago from the producers of "Heat" with Tom Sizemore. It was a mid-season replacement and never continued.

Edit: Found it: Robber Homicide Division

YES. Best show ever... seriously. Chester was awesome. Their songs were just amazing. I have all the mp3s somewhere.

Another is The Andy Dick Show on MTV. I loved that one.

TV Funhouse on Comedy Central... twisted ass show. Awesome as hell.

I'd completely forgotten about that show, it was brilliant - a quick web search shows that it lasted two seasons both of which are available on DVD now

pointless trivia: it was created by the same people who later bought us friends

Fawlty towers had two series and wasn't axed - John cleese didn't want to do any more of them (is it true there was an american version which omitted the basil fawlty character?)

"Dream On" was on for years (6 according to TVTome.com) long enough for Jermey Tupper to grow up and Martin's best friend to change actors.



IMDB Forum has a thread on the U.S. remakes of Faulty Towers, I havn't seen any myself.

I've got to put in votes for Space: Above and Beyond, Brimstone & Lone Gunman. All great shows.

Here are mine...

Police Squad. The series ran on ABC long before the Naked Gun movies were made. I think they only made like 8 or 9 episodes.

The other one is the re-make of the series Fantasy Island. I think Malcom Macdowel (sp?) was playing Mr. Rourke. It was a much darker version of the show. Very cool.

"Crusade" - it wasn't without its problems, but I think it really could've gone somewhere. And Evan Chen's score was absolutely kickass.

Though by far the best show to get axed after one season (well, half a season, really) was Firefly, as others have pointed out. Can't wait till September!

(Oh, "Twin Peaks" ran for at least two seasons, I know that much).

Since pretty much all the older stuff that I can think of has already been mentioned.. If I go toward more recent series, I really enjoyed Fastlane. It got axed because each episode costed over a million to make. It was so cool in a cheesy way ;)

I seem to be in agreement with everyone that firefly Rocked.

Just thought of one that I don't think has been mentioned. Boomtown was pretty good. I never caught it while still airing, but rented the first four episodes on DVD and thought it was really good. Too bad it didn't last longer.

I'm digging Lost right now. I think it's going to be for one season. Anyone know?

I'm pretty sure Lost is getting good numbers, so I think it'll be around for at least another year.

hey irateplatypus, yet another vote for SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND. Hated the season (turned out to be series) finale where our valient heros were decimated (?) and lack of resolution with characters. arrrrrgh!!! stupid FOX.

Another fabulous show that i'm sure no one has heard of is GIDEON'S CROSSING. (1999-00?) starred Andre Braugher...was a medical show but more slow paced, dealt with ethics of difficult cases. Cast rocked and the humour and storylines were fabulous. But...ABC kept preempting the show for no reason, or moving it to different days....double arrrrgh!!!

Wow I had totally forgotten about that show! It rocked!

I also liked Undeclared, it was kind of goofy but very fun. One of the few shows I liked on tv at the time. I haven't seen Freaks and Geeks but I have wanted to pick up the DVD because it was made by the same producer and writer I think.

I also liked Cupid. Too bad that show got canned.

Definitely check it out when you get the chance. One of the best shows to come on TV in the past ten years, in my opinion.

Vengeance Unlimited
Snoops
Brimstones
Sleepwalkers
The Others

On a side note how did John Doe end?

Definitely Firefly. At least I have it on DVD now. And Herman's Head.

Agreed. The shows I could come up with were all Fox shows. Wonderfalls, Greg the Bunny, That 80's Show (yeah, it's a bit of a stretch) and John Doe.

If Fox (and, to a lesser extent, the other networks) didn't have so many reality shows, maybe some of these shows would have a chance to build an audience.

Hmm, interesting point; on the other hand, maybe if FOX had more reality shows, then maybe they could afford to have more of these expensive "niche" shows. That's probably not the way corporate greed works, but you never know.

I loved the MOLE. The Celebrity mole sucked and shouldnt be counted :o

For me it is a tossup between Firefly and Brimstone

Firefly!!!

I'd have to give my vote to Playmakers (ESPN's first attempt at a series following a fictional pro football team behind the scenes). The show was really interesting and I really got into the characters, plus I'm a sucker for sports based movies, and this was close enough for me. It's a shame that the NFL had to step in and start crying about how it reflected poorly on them, despite the fact that Playmakers hardly depicted some of the awful things that NFL players have actually done in real life. I was really hoping that someone would pick it up elsewhere and continue the series as it was an excellent one that had lots of promise.


Also, John Mayer's TV show on VH1 was pretty damn hilarious, but I didn't see it go beyond its first episode, which is a shame because it was really really funny.

The Agency (I think it was on CBS)
Greg the Bunny (Fox)

I wish the live-action version of "The Tick" had lasted longer than it did, but I was almost sure it was gone as soon as I saw it too. Just too weird for people not familiar with The Tick. At least it's out on DVD..

"Herman's Head" was great! Every time I see Hank Azaria now, that show pops in my head immediately (same thing with the fat(ter) guy that was in Herman's head).

Unfortunately Firefly didn't even last for a whole season. Thank God for the movie coming out though.

Let me add "Action", with Jay Mohr - didn't even last a full season before Fox killed it, but I thought it was damn funny in a very black humor sort of way.

Also, I'll kick in vote's for "Undeclared" and "The Tick".

Wanderlust

A very funny show on comedy central. Everyone who has watched it that I have talked to says that it was one of the funniest TV shows they have ever seen.

Only 6 episodes were made.

Playmakers... it was a good show. Sissle and Ollie. 3 South, Dilbert, THe show about abe lincon and other various characters as high schoolers. They made like 4 episodes

I really liked Jon Doe... too bad it ended before you could of found out who he really was... :(

My vote goes to Brimstone. I was shocked when it got cancelled. They had a great idea, and room for over 100 shows. It's really too bad it didn't make it.

I just remembered a show called American Gothic that was around for a short while. It was incredibly odd, with Gary Cole as a human version of Satan in a small backwater town that managed to fuck up everybody's lives in some way. It was superb, but I don't know how many episodes they got in before it was nixed.

That show drove me nuts! The characters voices were just so different from what I had always imagined in my own head.

As soon as I read the title of this thread, I immediately thought Freaks and Geeks.

Also "Bob," which was cancelled at the beginning of its second season.

Just watched the "series" finale of the new Battlestar Galactica.
That damn well better not end up on this list!
Firefly, Battlestar, this has been my year of watching stuff that should go on longer that didn't (or hasn't)
Hell, any old star trek crapola can coast on for 7 terrible years just on name recognition, why can't good stuff make it?

That would be Clone High. I actually thought that show was pretty funny. But, it started all kinds of protesting and even a mass hunger strike because of the portrayal of all those historic figures in such a negative way. Personally I thought it was pretty damn funny, but I can see how people would take offense to showing Gandhi as a prankster teenager with ADHD and a knack for toilet jokes. Actually, I'm almost positive it was way worse than that, but it was a long time ago since I last saw it.

although it's really too early to tell, i don't think that comedy central is going to bring back Drawn Together. i loved that show. it was so freaking hilarious!

Hidden Hills on NBC with the incredibly hot Paula Marshall

Well, I think it lasted about a season and a half... but The State on MTV in the mid-90s was quite literally the best television show ever, hands down (a lot of the cast are now on Reno 911, and writing for other TV shows).

Oh man. That show was hilarious. I was just thinking of it last night because I came across a skit I had downloaded (the one about the international signal for "I am choking"). I definitely agree that this show should have went on for FAR longer than it did, but it was on the network with the worst case of A.D.D. I have ever seen in my life.

However, I think a good portion of The State's cast did a show called Viva Variety a little while after. That show didn't last for more than a few episodes though, from what I remember.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. All I really remember is it had a strange sort of western/future mix of elements. Two thumbs up.

I liked the show called "Titus" i forgot what station it was on but it was great, lasted about 1 season if i remember