10 Best One Season Wonder TV Shows
Short, sweet, memorable and missed.
For those invested in a TV show, from the network executives to the fans at home, an early cancellation is the most frustrating thing that can happen. It means your money hasn’t been well spent, a trip back to the drawing board, and no more episodes of your favourite televisual treat.
It’s not necessarily such a sorry state of affairs, though. Sometimes, as Neil Young would say (but not do), it’s better to burn out than fade away, and the 10 shows on this list certainly left a beautiful corpse. Yes, they left our screens before time, but this only makes the time we spent with them all the sweeter.
So many shows have gone on and on ad infinitum, only for the results to diminish, sometimes to the point that we end up loathing what was once our favourite thing on TV. With these one-season shows, we’re left with the untainted memories of the good times, a perfect collection of work that we can rewatch to our heart’s content.
Whether these 10 series were cancelled before time, whether they’d have gotten even better still, or whether, realistically speaking, the right choice was made, what we’ve got is our lot, so let’s enjoy it.
10. The Get Down
To say The Get Down is the best Jaden Smith project to date would be damning it with faint praise. This Netflix original came from the mind of Baz Luhrmann (along with co-creator and Pulitzer prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis), and unsurprisingly it’s pumped full of bravura and energy, mostly to good effect.
The Get Down recounts the rise of hip hop in the Bronx circa 1977. Its embrace of all aspects of hip hop culture is felt in its diverse cast of rappers, breakdancers, and graffiti artists. Like much of Luhrmann’s work this is an all-action affair full of music and setpieces - each episode begins with Daveed Diggs’ MC character rapping a recap of previous instalments, a neat narrative device that may be grating to some viewers.
Unsurprisingly The Get Down is not heavy on realism, and its attempts to investigate the grittier side of the NYC of the 1970s is at times a little slapdash, but you’re not coming to a Baz joint for verisimilitude. This is a joyful show with strong characters and great pacing.
It was also phenomenally expensive. Netflix wasn’t quite in full behemoth mode quite yet, and as such, The Get Down was an easy choice to cut, leaving its single season an unfinished but tantalising piece of work.