We’ve all experienced it before: a new show comes out and you become invested in it. Like, seriously invested. Maybe even too much for your own good. Then, one day, you’re just scrolling through the Internet and you see news that makes your heart drop; the new show that you’d fell in love with has been cancelled.
You then ask yourself: Why? What kind of bone-headed people at the network decided to make this terrible decision? You sign multiple online petitions to get the show moved to another network so it can continue. You write an angry letter (or a Facebook comment) to the network about how they’ve made the biggest mistake of their lives. Yet, as the episodes pass, the season finale ends up being the series finale.
Each network (some more than others) have a tendency to give up on new shows after just one season. Just this past season, between FOX, ABC, NBC, The CW and CBS, more than 20 series were axed after just a single season. With that being said, here’s the one cancelled show that each major network should have given a second season.
FOX: "The Minority Report"
Based off the short story Philip K. Dick and a sequel to the movie that starred Tom Cruise, "Minority Report" was a science fiction TV series that follows Dash (Stark Sands) using his ability to predict crimes to prevent them before they happen. All while keeping his ability a secret from people who want to use them for their own benefits. This isn’t the first TV series to be set in a futuristic world ("The 100"), but giving the show a second season would have been great so viewers could discover this version of the future more in depth.
ABC: "The Muppets"
Come on, I mean, it’s the Muppets! Who cancels the Muppets? Well, apparently ABC does, but it wasn’t the first time a Muppet related TV show has aired. For example, back in the late 1970's, "The Muppet Show" aired in Britain which ran for five seasons between 1976 and 1981. In 2006, a French version of the show hit the airwaves in France, but was quickly cancelled due to poor ratings. Unfortunately, the 2016 Muppets show was given the same fate.
NBC: "Crowded"
NBC is infamous for cancelling shows in their first season, so there was a plethora of shows to choose from on this network. "Crowded," which starred Nickelodeon alum Miranda Cosgrove ("Drake & Josh" and "iCarly"), follows Mike (Patrick Warburton) and Martina Moore (Carrie Preston), a recently married couple living in Seattle. In the series, the couple has to learn how to deal with their grown, college graduate daughters, as well as Mike’s father and step mother, coming to live with the newlyweds. This fairly relatable issue could have been explored more in depth had they been given another season.
CBS: "Limitless"
This show almost got a season two pick up on another network, but in the end, nothing came through. A nice combination of comedy and drama, the series was about Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) who became super smart after taking an intelligence pill. When he’s given an injection to counteract the lethal side effects of the pill, the FBI is unaware of this. The dilemma for Brian is keeping the injection a secret while still assisting the FBI.
CW: "Containment"
This was the only show from the 2015-2016 broadcast season that didn’t get a renewal. All of their other shows from "Legends of Tomorrow" to "Supernatural" were given orders for additional episodes. "Containment"takes place in Atlanta when a deadly virus is released into a particular part of the city, causing them to quarantine it. Many citizens, inside and outside the quarantine area, have trouble dealing with the confinement, which leads to many problems. To be fair, this was advertised as a limited series, but many fans (like myself) still hoped for a possibility of a second season.