What Were the First TV Shows Canceled Each Season?

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – November 1, 2017

This gallery was originally published in 2015 and has been updated for the new TV season.

They're usually not the worst (though, with a few notable exceptions, they're almost never among the best). And they aren't necessarily the most derivative or least interesting, nor are they lacking in talent. What they are, for a variety of reasons, is unwatched ... and thus extremely short-lived. We're talking about the fall TV season's first cancellations.

Like in 2016, this year's first cancelation came a bit later than normal—in early November. And, once again, it was not the season's lowest-scoring show that got the axe. How many canceled shows can you remember from past years? Find out in our brief look back at the last 18 years of television infamy ...

12 of 19

59 Smith: Season 1

(2006) Less generic than its title suggests—and actually liked by more than a few critics—this serialized heist drama from John Wells (ER, The West Wing) boasted style and a fairly impressive cast led by Ray Liotta and also including Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Simon Baker, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Amy Smart. CBS canceled it after 3 episodes. Its numbers? At over 8.3 million viewers per episode, it would rank in the top 20 today. The primary blame probably falls on the show's high budget, estimated at over $3 million per episode.

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