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 ...

8 of 19

73 Lone Star: Season 1

(2010) That Metascore is no misprint: Lone Star was the second-highest-scoring new broadcast network series of the fall season. But critics may have been the only ones watching this tale of a Texas con man (James Wolk, who would move on to Mad Men and The Crazy Ones) leading a double life; Fox canceled the low-rated show after just 2 episodes. That would become a bit of a trend for series creator Kyle Killen, whose next project, Awake, was also quickly canceled despite strong reviews.

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