Thanks especially to streaming, there are so many options on the TV schedule when it comes to what to watch, so when audiences tune into a series, they often are fully committed. That makes it all the harder when those shows inevitably come to an end. We’ve seen some pretty brutal TV cancellations in 2024 — including Station 19 ending after seven seasons and Our Flag Means Death getting the ax after two — but it’s the absolute worst when a series ends unexpectedly. Some fans opened up about their biggest TV cancellation heartbreaks, and man, these are rough.
One Redditor posed the question to TV fans: What series broke your heart because you didn’t get a proper ending? I expected to see many of the responses. My Name Is Earl, for instance, famously ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, and Freaks and Geeks’ cancellation after one season seems to be one of the most baffling decisions in TV history. But commenters hit the nail on the head with some of these choices.
Pushing Daisies
A prime example of a series that didn’t last long enough to finish its story is Pushing Daisies, which aired for two seasons on ABC. Redditors seemed to agree that a decade and a half after its cancellation, the pain of not knowing what came of Lee Pace’s Ned and his incredible power to bring people back to life has not faded. Said AshBliss:
It really made me sad because I never got to see its whimsical story reach a proper end. Its characters felt like friends. Though it ended too soon, it reminded me to treasure every fleeting moment of beauty and wonder.
Others echoed those thoughts, saying:
- Pushing Daisies. An amazing production, a fabulous cast, an adorable story, and we didn’t get an ending. – urracabooks
- This one, ALWAYS this one – rufsnap
- Came here for this. Pushing Daisies is one of the most unique and charming shows I've seen, 10/10 – CallMeHomoErectus
Pushing Daisies can be streamed with a Max subscription.
Archive 81
Netflix has a nasty habit of canceling series after just one season, and one victim of that was 2022’s Archive 81. This was a real bummer considering how many creepy moments Archive 81 supplied, and as Redditor Lukewarm_Ambition76 said:
People sleep on Archive 81, but it was such a compelling show. Just the right amount of weird and just the right amounts of drama and action. I was so surprised and disappointed when it wasn’t continued.
Us too, man. Us too. If you haven't already, be sure to stream Archive 81 with a Netflix subscription.
Santa Clarita Diet
OK, this one hurts. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant absolutely (and literally) killed on Santa Clarita Diet, which ran for three seasons on Netflix. Throw in one can’t-miss Nathan Fillion recurring appearance, and tempers were starting to flare amongst the Reddit crowd, who wrote:
- It pisses me off SO much when Netflix has the audacity to recommend it to me. 1. I’ve already watched it. 2. You motherfuckers left it on a cliffhanger! – Silent_Lie6399
- Damn I forgot about that one and now I'm pissed off all over again – hooloovoop
- The actors could all be visibly twenty years older and I would still be thrilled for them to renew it. Just don't acknowledge their age and pick up right where it left off. – nervelli
Also, the awkward dynamic between Liv Hewson’s Abby and Skyler Gisondo’s Eric gave me life, and I’d take more of that in an undead heartbeat. Its three seasons can be streamed on Netflix.
Better Off Ted
For as many comedies that are out there, it’s not as easy to find a good one to latch onto as you’d hope. That’s why losing ABC’s Better Off Ted after two seasons was so devastating to viewers. Jay Harrington starred as single dad Ted, as well as Portia de Rossi and Andrea Anders as two of his colleagues at Veridian Dynamics. But let’s be real, we were all really tuning into the workplace comedy for Lem and Phil, right? Bezbozny wrote:
This one hits me the most. Absolute gem of a show, every episode was a laugh riot. Lem and Phil had some of the best double act comedic chemistry I'd ever seen despite neither of them falling into the ‘straight man’ or ‘funny man’ role. Both are eccentric anti social nerdy goofballs yet they bounced off eachother so well.
Indeed, hats off to Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett in those roles, as other Redditors used the show’s style of faux Verdian ads to express their frustration with no longer having Better Off Ted:
- Here at Veridian Dynamics, we could make a TV show so good you'd never stop watching. But we don't, because we care about our customers. Sometimes. – JudgeAdvocateDevil
- Veridian Dynamics: Making you laugh, then taking it away. It's what we do. – need_me_a_laptop
Better Off Ted isn’t currently available to stream but can be purchased on sites like Amazon’s Prime Video and Apple TV+.
We may not be getting any resolution on our favorite series that ended too soon, but thanks to some of the best streaming services like those listed above, we can still relive the good times.
