The Most Underappreciated TV Shows That Were Cancelled Too Soon

Some TV shows stay on the air far longer than they should. We’re looking at you, “The Office.” Yet others have their lifespans cut tragically short. Some get the axe before they ever really have time to hit their stride, and some simply fail to find their audience until after their cancellation. Join us in celebration and remembrance of the best TV shows that got the boot far too early.

Twin Peaks

This is perhaps the most glaringly obvious mistaken cancellation of all time, as this mysterious show from David Lynch is regarded as one of the greatest shows of all time. It sits on IMDB’s list of greatest TV shows of all time at number 55. It has the same approximate score, 8.8, as some of the most enduring shows ever, including “Friends,” “Seinfeld” and “The Office.” Think about it. “The Office” got just as many season without Steve Carrell as Twin Peaks did for the entirety of its original run.

The show did get a spinoff movie called “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” as well as a limited-series reboot in 2017, so the content didn’t quite stop there. Still, it’s incredible that such a beloved show just couldn’t get the support from the network that it needed.

I Am Not Okay With This

At least “Twin Peaks” got a second season. “I Am Not Okay With This” got cancelled after its first season hit Netflix shortly before the pandemic took over everyone’s lives. Sure, Covid made every show exponentially more complicated to make, but the content machine never stops turning, and that was no excuse to sweep the legs out from under this coming of age story before it got to come of age.

It was created and produced by the people behind “Stranger Things” and “The End Of The F***ing World,” and if you’ve ever seen either of those shows, you know what to expect here. Sophia Lillis stars as a high schooler coming to terms with her sexual identity, trauma and budding mysterious powers. The season ends on a massive cliffhanger, and with the cancellation, we’ll all just be left dangling for our lives. That is, unless we read the comic book of the same name upon which the show was based, but who reads anymore?

Party Down

This premature cancellation can likely be chalked up to simply the wrong place at the wrong time. This STARZ series premiered in 2009 and only lasted 2 seasons. It’s about a troupe of struggling Hollywood actors working at a catering company. It starts an incredibly talented cast, including Jane Lynch, Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan. It was one of the mostly consistently funny shows of its time.

Unfortunately, Jane Lynch had to leave the show in favor of “Glee” and Adam Scott had to focus his time on “Parks And Recreation.” There is light at the end of the tunnel though, as it was recently reported that a limited series reunion is in the works. It’s time to keep the part going, have a laugh and also sort of feel bad about yourself. That’s this show’s sweet spot.

Man Seeking Woman

A romantic comedy series called “Man Seeking Woman” sounds incredibly generic, right? While you’d be justified in jumping to that conclusion, you’d also be dead wrong. This FXX series is a surrealist look into the world of dating, where often times the characters’ drastic perceptions of events are materialized literally in the plot. 

The pilot episode sees the protagonist, played by Jay Baruchel, going on a date with a literal troll because of his own vanity, where a prospective blind date’s looks were the most important thing for him. Things don’t exactly get less weird from there. It did make it through three seasons, which is more than most shows, but given FX’s array of bizarre programming, this one deserved better. It is also incredibly odd to see Eric Andre behaving like a normal human being in this show, and not eating his own vomit like on “The Eric Andre Show.”

Freaks And Geeks

This Emmy winning comedy series from 1999 ranks right up there with “Twin Peaks” as one of the best shows to ever get cancelled so soon. In fact, it has the same approximate score on IMDB. 

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What stands out the most is the ridiculously stacked cast of actors who would go on to become some of the biggest names in comedy. Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, James Franco and Linda Cardellini star, and Judd Apatow produced. NBC really dropped the ball on this one.

The Pete Holmes Show

Now, we certainly don’t need any more late-night talk shows. The big ones we have now are stagnant and trite, and the smaller clones that tend to pop up rarely have anything to add to the formula. “The Pete Holmes Show” was such a loose and personal adaptation of the formula. This half hour series that ran after “Conan” broke down the formality of it all and condensed formless interviews and sketches into a tight package. It was cancelled after only 2 seasons, but at least it gave way to Pete’s HBO series “Crashing.” It made it to season 3, at least.

Firefly

It’s incredible that IMDB’s 29th highest ranked show of all time got cancelled before it could even finish its first season. TV executives have such itchy trigger fingers. The tremendous success of creator Joss Whedon’s previous work, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” somehow wasn’t enough to give this show the leash it needed to become the hit Fox wanted it to be. Still, it goes down as one of the best and most beloved sci-fi TV shows of all time.

There are so many other examples of TV shows that were tragically cancelled too soon. Why are TV executives so afraid of commitment? What are some of your favorite shows that got the axe too soon, and do their early deaths haunt you to this day? Let us hear about it!

Featured Image Source: FXX, 20th Television

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