Last week’s post garnered a lot of responses from readers about the historical shows they’re still salty about being cancelled before their time, so I figured I’d go ahead and make another list! Quite frankly, with the rate that shows get greenlit and then cancelled, we could probably do a dozen of these posts and still have more examples coming each year.
In my first list, I tried to limit it to shows that only got one or two seasons before being canned, but some readers pointed to shows that had multiple seasons but still got the ax before the story resolved, which is a valid complaint! No one likes a show that ends on a cliffhanger or with an unresolved plot! It can make re-watching those shows annoying because you get invested all over again only to be shut out before getting the emotional and psychological satisfaction of a complete story. So, this time I’m going to include a few examples of shows that had two or three seasons but ended before the story was wrapped up, in addition to shows that only got one piddly little season before they were cut.
1899 (2022)
Supernatural-horror-mystery-historical shows seem to be at particular risk for early cancellation, which makes me wonder if it’s just too niche for most people? Regardless, Netflix’s 1899 had an interesting concept: a group of people from different walks of life and different parts of the world are all brought together on a voyage from Southampton to New York City, when they encounter a ghost ship and things start getting weird. Early press for the show heaped praise on the inventive plot and the state-of-the-art filming (most of the show was filmed on “virtual” sets). We singled it out for its excellent costuming, especially this fabulous recreation of a famous Worth gown.
So why’d it get cancelled? Lots of theories are out there — production cost was too high, the international cast being badly overdubbed, but I think The Guardian summed it up:
Today, Netflix is a more ruthless company, willing to cancel shows that aren’t performing to their expectations rather than let them find an audience.
Rome (2005-07)
This was going to be included in my initial post, but I bumped it for more recent shows. However, the fact remains that it’s one of the OG examples wildly popular shows that were abruptly ended before their time. The high quality of the sets and costumes were what helped sell the show as a prestige cable series for HBO, but that same level of detail meant that it was extraordinarily expensive to produce. The overall cost for the first season was $100 million, which at that time was a significant chunk of change for a cable show. The sets were all physical (as opposed to virtual) and occupied 5 acres and several soundstages at Cinecittà Studios in Rome. Ultimately, the fact we got a second season at all is kind of a miracle because the writing was on the wall even towards the end of first season. Then, following the show’s cancellation, a fire ripped through the studio and destroyed the sets, an ironically fitting end for ancient Rome.
Gentleman Jack (2019-22)
Gentleman Jack only got two seasons, though the Pandemic caused a delay of almost three years before the second season aired. Ultimately, the show ends with a big build up and then … nothing. Which, I suppose, shouldn’t be a shock since the show’s audience was fairly niche (what, a show that centers queer women without the male gaze? What do we do with that??). Another one bites the dust due to not meeting viewership number expectations, I guess. But this was a damn shame — the attention to detail when it came to the costumes and hair was next level.
Victoria (2016-19)
I watched the first season of this when it came out and then part of the second season a while later. To be fair, I didn’t tune in for the third season, and I’m guessing that’s true of a lot of folks and is a big part of the reason why Victoria was dropped despite having material enough to pull off several more seasons, a la The Crown. It’s theorized that the Pandemic had something to do with the drop-off in viewership, which is true of many shows that had the misfortune to exist during that especially weird couple of years. That said, Victoria left us with three solid seasons worth of eye candy, so it’s hard to be too upset.
Dangerous Liaisons (2022)
Full confession: I still haven’t watched this miniseries adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. A big part of the reason why is that the series was abruptly pulled right after announcing a second season had been greenlit, so I fell prey to the ennui of watching a show that was building up towards a multi-season story arc with the characters only to have it shut down just when things were getting interesting. I may still go back to it someday, but I’m afraid it will only annoy me to get invested with no payoff.
Special Mention: Mindhunter (2017-19)
Apparently, I’m not the only one who is still salty about Mindhunter getting canned after only two incredible seasons.
The show is set in the late-1970s, so it doesn’t make our cut off date for historical shows, but when have I ever let that stop me? Especially when it comes to mentioning just how good Mindhunter was. It’s a fictionalized story about the formation of the FBI’s profiling unit and even though some parts of the story and a few characters are cobbled together from real events and real people, the overarching story is pretty true to history. I honestly haven’t watched a show that kept me riveted like this one did in ages. Ultimately, what did in Mindhunter was allegedly due to the cost of production, but also David Fincher’s jam-packed schedule, presenting issues when it came to writing and filming. Though there were rumblings of maybe HBO picking it back up or another production company nabbing it for another season, Fincher ultimately put the kibosh on any hope of that happening by stating he was just kind of done with the show and wasn’t interested in going back to it. Womp womp womp.
Do you have more shows that you’re still salty about being cancelled before their time? Drop ’em in the comments!
I’m with you on being salty about the cancellation of “Mindhunter”. Great performance by Jonathan Groff.