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 ...

18 of 19

25 Tucker: Season 1

(2000) Less than a year after Fox's hit Malcolm in the Middle debuted, NBC introduced this knockoff told from the point of view of a teenage boy played by Eli Marienthal (since retired from acting). Save for Katey Sagal (three years removed from Married... with Children), the cast of Tucker paled in comparison to that of Malcolm, while critics found the writing crasser and stupider, deeming the show among 2000's worst. NBC dropped it after four episodes, using its now-standard maneuver of replacing it with extra episodes of Dateline.

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