Some shows get canceled after a few seasons. Some only last for a few weeks. And then, there are those that get yanked from broadcast after a single night’s airing.
In this golden era of television, there are dozens and dozens of critically hailed TV programs to choose from to suit your personal taste. But even when TV’s at it’s best, that doesn’t mean there have been some serious missteps along the way.
Whether the show didn’t land with audiences, or a scandal or tragedy resulted in an unexpected immediate withdrawal from the broadcasting schedule, we’ve rounded up the television shows that got pulled from air after just one episode. While some shows did eventually air the remainder of the episodes in the can, all of these shows were scrapped from the get-go for various reasons.
And while you’re at it, check out the shows that Netflix canceled so far this year.
Click inside to see which shows only lasted on air for one episode…
Following the Osbourne family’s hit MTV reality series The Osbournes, this new series was meant to replicate their TV success as a variety show featuring the whole family, including skits, comedy and musical performances. Fox canceled it after just one episode. The premiere episode was cut to 35 minutes, and panned by critics – with one questioning whether it was the worst variety show ever.
“Filmed before an entertainment starved audience (who would still go home hungry) once it was over, it involved audience tricks from kissing a granny to getting a marriage ultimatum from a girlfriend,” the Hartford Courant review reads. Five episodes went unaired.
The A&E reality TV series was meant to follow Baywatch star David Hasselhoff in his day-to-day life. Less than a million people tuned in for the back-to-back two episode premiere, and A&E canceled the show a few days later.
“The show followed the former America’s Got Talent judge and Baywatch legend as he guided the music careers of his two daughters, Taylor Ann and Hayley. The first episode aired on Sunday night and drew 718,000 viewers – and viewership for the second installment, which aired on the same night, dropped to 505,000,” People reported at the time. The full series eventually aired in the UK in 2011 on The Biography Channel.
Dot Comedy was described as a very early attempt at bringing Internet humor to TV audiences, and premiered at the end of 2000. The show was hosted by Annabelle Gurwitch and the Sklar Brothers. It brought in 4.1 million viewers in its premiere episode before being cancelled. The remaining four episodes never aired.
From the makers of Weakest Link and Dog Eat Dog, this competition TV game show aired for only episode on FOX in 2006. The show was pulled from the time slot and replaced by The O.C. in the following week after debuting to 4 million viewers.
The competitors were tasked with making lists of things, like biggest grossing movies or People‘s Sexiest Men Alive, and the winning team was the one that could name the most. Eamonn Holmes was the host.
Although it failed on FOX, it was brought back 2 years later on GSN as The Money List with Fred Roggin.
The American detective television series starred former NFL player Brian Bosworth, who played an ex-special forces operative who became a motorcycle riding private investigator in Miami’s South Beach. It performed so poorly, it was canceled after just one episode, with five remaining unaired episodes.
“The 4.1 million total viewers who showed up was a shockingly low number, especially given it had a strong lead-in from the season premiere of House, from which its audience tumbled 68%,” Reuters reported at the time.
The reality show, which centered around The Busseys, a family running the PCW Wrestling independent promotion out of Texas, was scrapped by TLC after one week. The debut episodes scored ratings of 0.25 and a 0.26 for the 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. showings. TNA star Lance Hoyt also appeared on the show.
Anchorwoman was a semi-scripted American comedy/reality series that aired on Fox, featuring Lauren Jones, a former model, “Barker Beauty” on The Price Is Right and Miss New York Pageant winner who aspires to become an anchorwoman in Texas. The show brought in 2.72 million viewers in its back-to-back episode premiere, and was canceled by the next morning.
The ABC sitcom starred Heather Graham, who played a single woman unlucky in love. A review from Boston.com called it an “obvious rip-off of Sex and the City that you’ll find yourself drawing comparisons for the whole half-hour. See Graham doing her best Sarah Jessica Parker as a fashion-conscious New York editor. Hear her plaintive voice-over narration; meet her loyal best girlfriends, including a gay man; and, of course, get a load of her Mr. Big, an emotionally unavailable writer played by Mark Valley.” ABC canceled the show after airing one episode, citing negative reception, despite spending reported millions on advertising. All six filmed episodes later aired in various other countries.
The show was an American sitcom that aired on CBS in October of 1996, based around a group of detectives and others in a city’s vice squad. Main stars included Peter Gerety and Donal Logue. Bill Brochtrup‘s character John Irvin from NYPD Blue was also featured, and returned to NYPD Blue after this show was canceled.
It was poorly received, facing criticism for vulgar language was humor involving racial stereotypes, and scrapped after just one episode.
The G4 popular science reality show was hosted by Ryan Dunn and Jessica Chobot, and put stunts from video games, films and comic books are to the test in the real world.
It was tragically pulled after one episode, when Ryan was killed in an unrelated car accident shortly after the airing of the first episode. The remaining eight episodes did eventually air after an extended hiatus, and it was discontinued thereafter.
Maxxx (2020)
This show’s had a strange start, which technically counts as being pulled after an episode, only to be revived later. It premiered on the UK’s E4 in April of 2020, but was replaced after one episode by Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The E4 Head of Comedy told the British Comedy Guide that the sudden scheduling change was a response “to our audience’s evolving viewing habits,” adding “we champion brand new comedy and are incredibly proud of this show.” It was later confirmed for a primetime slot on Channel 4 in October, and aired properly.
The first season of the British comedy from O-T Fagbenle will premiere in the U.S. on Hulu. The show “centers on a boy band star named Maxxx. Washed up Maxxx has been fading into relative obscurity since the breakup of his group Boy Town, but begs his old manager, played by Christopher Meloni, to help him battle his inner demons to stage a comeback.
