It’s always disappointing to hear the news that one of your shows has been canceled. Whether it leaves a gut-wrenching cliffhanger unanswered, or you’ve had the last new twist from a character that you love, or you simply wanted more of that escape—it hurts. The cancellation knife-in-the-back cuts even deeper when that show is axed after just a single season. Here are 5 shows that deserved a better fate:
1. The Society
The Society follows the teen residents of West Ham, who return from a school trip to find everyone else missing from the town. The catch? They can’t seem to leave either: no outside phone service, and all roads out of the town are blocked. Like typical highschoolers, they begin with partying and drinking, but soon rise to the occasion to form a new society. The Society perfectly explores the difficulty of creating order from chaos as the teens try to establish their own laws and government, all while navigating teen drama and relationships—and, of course, trying to solve the huge mystery of what is going on. The characters are relatable, and you’ll quickly get invested in their lives and struggles. We might never know the answer to the mystery, but it’s worth watching the first season anyway.
2. Stumptown
Stumptown follows Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders), an Army veteran who begins working as a private investigator. She’s tough, smart, and still struggling to adjust to civilian life. While working cases (and getting into all kinds of trouble), Dex is also juggling a budding love triangle between her bartender best friend (Jake Johnson), and police detective ally (Michael Ealy), all while caring for her younger brother, Ansel. You’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat watching Dex constantly thrown into life-threatening situations (and luckily surviving with scrappy fighting skills), but also feel the emotions of her relationship with her brother and deep traumas. The last episode gives some degree of closure, so you won’t feel entirely unsatisfied, but I would have loved to see the characters develop in future seasons.
3. Daybreak
Premised on a zombie outbreak that only affects adults, leaving the kids behind to fight for their lives, Daybreak is an absurd show, but a great binge. If you’re a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, or if you just want to watch something that’s hilariously over-the-top, this is your show. It follows Josh, a teen outcast just trying to find the girl he loves, even as the world around him has collapsed. He and his allies are incredibly witty and lovable as they attempt to survive in this new world. It was near the end of the season, though, that more answers—and new questions—arose. There are twists and turns even in the last few minutes of the final episode that deserved to be explored in another season…and Josh’s snarky narration is just too good to waste.
4. V Wars
V Wars is a great spin on classic vampire lore. In the show, Dr. Luther Swann (Ian Somerhalder) and his best friend, Michael Fayne (Adrian Holmes) are exposed to an ancient virus. As an outbreak occurs, many people—including Fayne—are turned into vampires; others, like Swann, seem to be immune. The result is a society fractured into humans and vampires, on the precipice of war. As political interests become involved, the vampires attempt to argue for self-determination of their society (with the right to feed on humans), as more humans call for their extermination. Meanwhile, Swann is desperately searching for a cure. It’s a fresh take portraying vampirism as a disease, and exploring its political and social consequences—not to mention, there’s an awesome irony in watching Ian Somerhalder a.k.a. Damon Salvatore on the other side of a vampire story! Season 1 ends just as the characters are beginning to establish themselves, and it would have been amazing to see their trajectories continue!
5. Firefly
Firefly is older than the rest of the shows on this list, but it certainly deserves mention. This steampunk space opera follows a ragtag crew on the spaceship Serenity, and is now a cult classic with fans. We meet Mal (Nathan Fillion), the captain…and an outlaw. His crew of misfits travels space doing odd-jobs (often of the illegal sort) while trying to avoid the Alliance. When a mysterious doctor smuggles questionable cargo aboard—his younger sister, who has special powers—the crew is launched into unexpected adventure and infamy. The good news? Even though the show was canceled after one season, the cast returned for a movie sequel, Serenity—and the movie rocked! So, at least there’s more closure to their story, but I would 100% support a reboot!
What canceled shows do you think deserved better?