As we close out the first ten years of this millennium, it’s amazing how many great TV shows have been cancelled. Big as that list is, there are some that stand out more than others — mostly because they left us hanging. Here’s a list of 10 that deserved at least one more episode to wrap things up.
The 4400 — This show and The Dead Zone ran successfully for many years on USA. The ongoing mysteries of both shows kept viewers coming back for more each week. Unfortunately, the cable channel decided to be done with them in 2007. The shows and their viewers were left with unresolved cliffhangers. Of the the shows, 4400 seems a bit more tragic as it wasn’t on for as many seasons and Dead Zone fans have a freaky Christopher Walken movie.
Deadwood — It doesn’t matter whose fault it was — HBO’s or creator David Milch’s — this hard-talking Western remains one of the highlights of the pay-for-view channel’s history. For it to end without a finale is #$%^&$% unforgivable.
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Invasion — Following the instant success of ABC’s Lost in the 2004-05 season, the networks thought that sci-fi was the key to success and brought us shows like Surface and Invasion. None of them caught on and Invasion left viewers hanging with a particularly frustrating set of cliffhangers.
Kyle XY — Sure, the show about the incredible kid without a memory or a bellybutton had lost some steam in the ratings but it didn’t deserve to go out with big cliffhangers. Considering that the series had one of the biggest premieres in ABC Family’s history, the show and its fans deserved one more episode to properly close the show.
Las Vegas — It’s one thing for a show to be cut off during its first season but it’s really annoying when a long-running show is denied a resolution. Should it have been cancelled? In its fifth and final season, Vegas attracted almost as many viewers as fellow Friday night occupant Ghost Whisperer; a series that’s still running on CBS. Bet NBC wishes they had Vegas’ ratings now.
My Name is Earl — You have to wonder if NBC’s current troubles doesn’t have to do with a little bad karma. In its heyday, NBC promoted the heck out of Earl but, when the ratings dwindled too low, they cut it off. Did Earl ever complete his list? We’ll likely never know.
My Own Worst Enemy — NBC pulled the plug on the Christian Slater series so that the last episode ended with a murder and a lot of unfinished business. Couldn’t they have made one more episode to tie things up or at least recut the ending?
Reunion — You probably don’t remember this FOX series. It was a drama about six high school friends and one is murdered at a 20 year reunion. While the mystery is investigated in the present, episodes flash back to the past to see how the characters changed over the years. It was an ambitious series but apparently no one considered the possibility that it could be cancelled before the end of the season. FOX pulled it after nine episodes aired and the loyal viewing audience was left hanging (sort of).
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles — It was no surprise that this series was cancelled but it still ended on a big cliffhanger — with John Connor travelling to a future that’s never heard of him. Couldn’t the story have been resolved somehow? Series creator Josh Friedman once conceded that the third season would have been the show’s best. Judging by the last episode, it appears he was right.
Vanished — Just one of many series from the 2006-07 season that revolved around ongoing sorylines and mysteries. This series, like The Nine, Six Degrees, Runaway, Drive, and The Black Donnellys, was cut off way too prematurely. We did learn kidnapped Sara Collins’ fate but so many other mysteries were left to the imagination. There was talk of revisiting some of the characters on an episode of Bones but it never happened.
What do you think? Are there other frustrating last episodes that you’d add to the list?
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Our household is veeery disappointed in the cancellation of Life. And for us, there was not enough resolution … and guess what? We’re outside your demographics. Guess our opinions don’t count …
well i love alot of american shows but im afraid you suck,,cant bring anything to an end is real unprofesional,fox and all the others are rubbish channels.should be a crime.
Ohhh I remember Reunion! I can always tell when Fox is canceling a show. They say it will be back in two weeks, and when two weeks is gone, they just expect viewers to forget it was supposed to be on, and it never comes back. I remember when that happened with Reunion I was like… ummm how can they even DO that?? I went on the website and tried to figure out if they were going to at least tell the viewers what happened, but the writers HADN’T EVEN DECIDED yet! It was up in the air, but their… Read more »
MOONLIGHT!!!! Too many unanswered questions to mention:(
Witchblade (2001-2002)
Kings.
Definitely (1) Las Vegas (Who shot Mary’s Dad? What happened with Delinda’s baby?)
(2) Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles -as listed above PLUS will anyone ever find out the evil CEO is also a terminator? (3) The Unit. WTF.
October road,Cane,Men In Trees,North Shore,Lipstick Jungle,Cashmere Mafia just to name a FEW of the good shows we got really hooked on then they was just dropped.What I find strange is when you talk with people,the shows that are dropped is the ones that are being watched.
Jericho,
No one found out what happened after the military and townspeople joined forces and how the country survived or didn’t. Very sad ending for a good show.
Okay I got one for, somebody was talking about how FOX always cancels shows just when they start to get good?…Funny how you should mention that, because I think that there is only one show that put that network on the map……MARRIED WITH CHILDREN!!!
That show never even had a so called “final season” like you see all those other popular tv shows that advertise when it’s their last season…
I hated the way John Doe ended in 2002 after 1 season! It needed to have at least one more episode to explain what happened in the last 30 seconds of the first, and only, season!
I screamed so loud when i saw the last episode of John Doe that my Mom heard it downstairs and I freaked her out… plus I kinda suspected him.
October Road with a two hour season finale full of cliffhangers!!!!!
I’m glad someone else remembered the CBS version of the Fugitive. Of couse we know Dr Richard Kimball is eventually found innocent but we actually had to wait several months for the last two eposodes that were flmed..
All of the shows mentioned were valid, I wasn’t familiar with some of the cable shows The Soproanos was a different situation. It ended the way the creators wanted it to end not because the network dropped the show before an ending was filmed as with the others mentioned.
@CJ WEST: Dr. Richard “Kimble” — “Kimball” is my last name! Been getting those jokes all my life. lol ~ Trevor
Carnivale….great show, and HBO ended the season on a huge cliffhanger, then cancelled it!
Young Americans. That show was awesome. It premiered in the Summer; so for a show targeted at high-schoolers I think it would have done well had it continued through the Fall, when students are back on regular [TV] schedules.