Have you ever gotten hooked on a new (or new-to-you) television show, only to discover it ended after just one season? It happens more often than we would like. As it turns out, a show can be expertly written, well-executed, and brought to life by a talented cast, and still not survive past Season 1. There are several factors that go into the decision to renew a TV series for a second season, and it’s not always fair.
Some shows are simply ahead of their time. Paul Feig’s Freaks and Geeks, for example, is a niche comedy about high school suburbia that might have performed very well had it been created in the age of streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu. Since it didn’t rake in the ratings, it was canceled — only to accrue a cult fanbase years later. Other shows simply couldn’t outshine their competition, such as HBO Max’s Genera+tion, which thematically has a lot in common with the monstrously popular show Euphoria.
All of the shows below were well-received by critics at the time of their release, but for some reason or another, they couldn’t secure a follow-up. Luckily, you can watch these fantastic one-season shows online now. It’s easy to reminisce about where these series’ characters would have ended up in a second season, and sadly, we’ll never really know. On the bright side, at least these shows were around for a brief period of time, and we can revisit them whenever we like. Here are 12 great shows that only lasted a single season.
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