Top 5 TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

Sean Bridgers, W. Earl Brown, Ian McShane, and Timothy Olyphant in "Deadwood"

Don’t you hate when a TV show you like gets canceled? Television networks usually don’t have enough patience and are only interested in achieving highest possible ratings as soon as possible. This is why we have so many great TV shows that were canceled too soon.

Today we decided to bring you five of them that ended their run way too soon and left fans asking for more. Nobody is listening just yet, but maybe Netflix will soon. You never know.

Kitchen Confidential

Bradley Cooper as a bad-boy chef Jack Bourdain running a New York restaurant. How could a TV show like this get axed too soon? Well, Fox didn’t even give a chance to Kitchen Confidential, airing just four episodes before pulling the plug on the show. It is worth noting that the show was inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

Rome

Rome was an example how of a historic television show should look like. It followed the rise of ancient Rome while also focusing on two fictionalized Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. Two seasons aired on HBO and BBC, both of them receiving critical acclaim and becoming popular with the audience. Still, that wasn’t enough to keep Rome on air, with the show being canceled due to high production costs.

Freaks and Geeks

Produced by Judd Apatow, Freaks and Geeks followed accomplished high school student Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) who starts hanging out with a group of slackers, and her brother Sam (John Francis Daley) as he tries to navigate high school with his geek friends. The series featured numerous young actors that later went on to make successful Hollywood careers including Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and James Franco. Only 18 episodes aired before NBC canceled the series. Freaks and Geeks received a cult following later and is regularly featured on best TV shows lists and also deserves a high spot on our list of best TV shows that were canceled too soon.

Deadwood

HBO rarely misses when it comes to TV shows, but with Deadwood they made a big mistake. The story of the show takes place in the 1870s and revolves around the city of Deadwood, South Dakota, and characters who live in it. Deadwood managed to stay alive for three seasons before HBO decided not to renew it for season three after the contracts of the cast expired. Deadwood received critical acclaim during its original run and is now considered to be one of the greatest TV dramas ever made.

Firefly

The top spot on our list of TV shows that were canceled too soon belongs to Joss Whedon’s Firefly. The show is set in 2517 and follows the crew of spaceship Serenity after they arrive in a new star system. Since Firefly aired on Fox and didn’t immediately hit the desired number of viewers, the network decided to cancel the show after 11 episodes were aired. Firefly is now considered to be among the best space-themed series ever made and has a cult status.