23 One-Season TV Wonders

My So-Called Life is widely regarded as one of the most honest representations of high school and adolescence to ever hit the screen. Its cancellation deprived the world of Angela Chase’s (Claire Danes) observations and also of more Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto). Sigh. Bess Armstrong, who played Angela’s mother Patty, recently revealed creator Winnie Holzman’s plans for the second season to Vanity Fair, which included Patty’s depression and more drama coming for Rickie (Wilson Cruz). But what became of Jordan, Angela, and heartsick Brian Krakow? We may never know. —Esther Zuckerman

Joss Whedon’s grand folly: a Howard Hawks Western crossed with a George Lucas space opera. Filled with vivid characters led by Nathan Fillion’s hotshot captain, Firefly applied a Buffy irony to shoot-outs and intergalactic action-adventure. The mass audience Firefly needed to survive didn’t ”get” the show, but the cult fans did, latching onto it immediately. —Ken Tucker

Creator David Milch and EP/pilot director Michael Mann clashed behind the scenes, but their creative sensibilities combined for a novelistic and meticulous—albeit slow out of the gate—drama set around the world of thoroughbred racing. Despite a brilliant ensemble cast that included Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, and Michael Gambon, ratings were never good, and HBO quickly put it down after horses died during filming and animal-rights groups raised angry voices. —Jeff Labrecque

Arguably the most influential sitcom that barely lived, F&G was a smart disaffected-teen dramedy that gave us Seth Rogen, James Franco, Busy Philipps, Jason Segel, and more. Oh, and exec producer Judd Apatow went on to make a few movies, too. —Ken Tucker

Kevin Biegel’s Enlisted starred Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell, and Parker Young as three brothers serving their country in a Rear Detachment Unit in Florida. In other words, they washed tanks and took care of the families at home. Add in a quirky cast of fellow soldiers, including Keith David as Sergeant Major Donald Cody, and hilarity ensued. But given a Friday night time slot and Fox’s decision to air episodes out of order, the promising new comedy didn’t stand a chance. —Samantha Highfill

There was a time, back before the NFL made every bad PR decision possible, when the league had enough clout to force a massive cable network to cancel a show that they felt depicted them in an unfairly negative light. (Just kidding! The NFL still has that kind of clout.) With some time and distance, we can see why the League was so concerned: Almost every storyline that seemed sensational—be it domestic violence, drug abuse, or homosexuality and homophobia among players—has come to pass in real life, often in ways even more alarming and tragic than on TV. As we now know, Playmakers didn’t just depict the dark side of the NFL; it reflected it. And because of that, a genuinely compelling (grating voiceover notwithstanding) show got 86’d. —Neil Janowitz

Judd Apatow’s half-hour sitcom follow-up to Freaks and Geeks moved the setting from high school to college, with a cast that included Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, and singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. The show was packed with cameos from folks who later became famous: Jenna Fischer, Amy Poehler, Tom Welling, and Felicia Day, as well as guests Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler. —Ken Tucker

Was it semi-soap operatic? Yes. Was it addictively entertaining? Also yes. The destination wedding murder mystery starring Christopher Gorham and Katie Cassidy prompted Stephen King to put it on his list of the Best TV of 2009 and declare the show ”a jolly mix of Agatha Christie and Friday the 13th…with a touch of Saw thrown in.” Unfortunately, when a ratings drop prompted CBS to relegate the series to Saturday nights, it was as doomed as Harry Hamlin’s hacked-in-half guest. —Lanford Beard

EW deemed Stiller’s pre-Reality Bites sketch show ”the best new series that few people in America are likely to watch.” Unfortunately, that prediction was correct. When Stiller made the jump from MTV to Fox, he brought along stars Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk alongside writers Judd Apatow and David Cross, among others. The comedic think tank was ultimately rewarded with a post-cancellation Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program, but perhaps the sweetest consolation for fans was Stiller’s eventual rise to A-list fame. —Lanford Beard

Groundbreaking and deeply strange, The Prisoner told the story of Patrick McGoohan’s nameless secret agent who angrily quits, only to be abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious Village where everyone is assigned a number instead of a name. Most episodes involved increasingly surreal plots from both McGoohan’s character—dubbed Number 6—to discover the truth behind the Village, as well as the Village’s attempts to break his will. The British series was designed to have an end, and the finale, ”Fall Out,” is one of the most fascinating, frustrating, and subversive hours of television ever made. —Joshua Rivera

Before he was in Heroes, Adrian Pasdar starred as Jim Profit, the creepily fascinating anti-hero of this brilliant satire of the business world. Ruthless and amoral, Profit rose rapidly in the ranks, leaving behind burned bosses and the broken hearts of female co-workers. Then each night, he went home, stripped naked, and climbed into a big cardboard box with a hole cut into the side to watch his TV. (He reverted to the perverted way he was raised.) Is it any wonder this became a cult classic? Is it any wonder it was canceled after only five of its nine episodes aired? —Ken Tucker

This charmingly acerbic show about God speaking to Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas) through various souvenirs in a Niagara Falls gift shop was so damn technicolor clever—in true fashion for small-screen auteur Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies). But Joan of Arcadia aired the same season, and TV audiences just couldn’t handle that much of ”What if God was one of us?”-style storytelling. Even Lee Pace as a cute bartender couldn’t save this show. (Though Fuller brought him back three years later as the lead in Daisies, another show canceled before its time.) —Danielle Nussbaum

Two hapless private eyes played by Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James provided a fresh take on the California detective story, with the help of show creator Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven). Terriers often told shaggy-dog stories — plots meandered deceptively, only to be solved with abrupt cleverness — and both men’s love lives were entertaining messes. It’s too bad FX chose to cancel this after its first season was just revving up with more purpose and energy. —Ken Tucker

The show burst onto network TV in March 1996 with a sketch that famously depicted Bill Clinton breastfeeding puppies and kittens, and, well, it’s probably lucky to have lasted even seven of the planned 10 episodes. The show’s talent was a who’s-who of now-famous comics—among others, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Robert Smigel, Charlie Kaufman, and Louis C.K. contributed in some way. But the group was too experimental for both ABC and launch sponsor PepsiCo, which pulled out after five episodes. It has since entered entertainment’s annals as one of sketch comedy’s great ”what if” stories. —Neil Janowitz

This intelligent drama starred Matt Long (later to play the brash copywriter Joey Baird on Mad Men) as Jack and Logan Lerman as Bobby, brothers who are destined for political careers, but who in the show are presented primarily as complicated teens. The show implied that these boys might be the Kennedy brothers without ever tipping its hand. The supporting cast included Bradley Cooper, Christine Lahti, and Mad Men‘s John Slattery, and was co-created by Greg Berlanti (No Ordinary Family) and bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer. —Ken Tucker

Critics raved, but audiences didn’t quite know what to do with the Stateside redo of the hit British series about a detective (Jason O’Mara) who Marty McFlys his way back to 1972 after being hit by a car?in 2008. But for those who tuned into its scant 17 episodes, it was a period-perfect, twisty delight, with a fantastic cast (which also included Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol, and Michael Imperioli) that wrung the terrific material for all of its surreal, jocular, and often hilarious worth. —Jason Clark

A knotty conspiracy thriller starring James Badge Dale (The Pacific) as a government-agency data analyst. Medium‘s Arliss Howard was his boss. The show developed an interesting workplace family of dysfunctional analysts sifting through documents and Internet sites for possible terrorist plots. To the disappointment of its growing cult following, Rubicon was canceled by AMC after its 13-episode first season. —Ken Tucker

Kyle Killen’s sharp, smart, sci-fi procedural about a detective who lives in two separate realities after surviving a car accident (and uses those realities to help solve crimes) boasted an impressive cast including Jason Isaacs, BD Wong, and Wilmer Valderrama. Despite critical acclaim, its ratings were less impressive, and the show was canceled ahead of its final episodes?though dedicated fans did try to find a reality where Awake could exist by creating a ”Save Awake” campaign. —Andrea Towers

Despite what other TV shows tell us, teenagers are not typically articulate nor particularly wise. But Life As We Know It—, starring a pre-Pretty Little Liars Sean Faris, Chris Lowell before Veronica Mars, and Kelly Osbourne—got it right. The high school-aged characters were big-headed and insecure and misunderstood, making the show a relatable—but also amusing—watch for anyone who’s ever been 16. —Ariana Bacle

Only the most daring network cop show of the decade. This Michael Mann-produced stunner featured a terrific, pre?Celebrity Rehab Tom Sizemore leading cops through L.A. crime scenes. The show was bursting with terse, hard-boiled dialogue and visuals that glowed with eloquent menace. —Ken Tucker

Despite its title, Trophy Wife did not deal in stereotypes. Though, yes, the show was nominally about an attractive woman Kate (Malin Akerman) marrying older two-time divorcé Pete (Bradley Whitford), it was really about a charming and complicated family dynamic replete with love, not bitterness. It featured hilarious work from Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, and all of the kid actors, especially Albert Tsai, who gave us the Yiddish-speaking Bert and introduced us to the concept of Bertwheels. For those, we will always be thankful. —Esther Zuckerman

Burn Notice‘s Bruce Campbell, at that point known primarily for the Evil Dead movies, starred in a witty combination Western/sci-fi/steampunk drama. For all its old-fashioned action and laughs, the series was also ahead of its time; co-creator Carlton Cuse later helped run a little show called Lost. —Ken Tucker

Produced by the guys who brought you thirtysomething and My So-Called Life and created by Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), this witty light-comedy romance starred Kimberley Williams and David Conrad. The series followed the pair as they fell in love and showed how their romance affected their friends and family (including House‘s Lisa Edelstein). —Ken Tucker