10 Great TV Shows That Got Cancelled After Just 1 Season

Television might seem like a factory of dreams for us who watch it, but in reality, it's a cold and unforgiving business. Dozens of pilots are written and pitched on a weekly basis, and only a small percentage of them actually makes their way to the screen. And even when the pilot makes it, that's no guarantee that the series will be a success, or even that it will have any sort of a meaningful run.

Ratings dictate the destinies of all shows, and they can sometimes be cruel even to the most talented and creative artists. Just in 2021, 62 shows in total were cancelled on American TV alone, and 22 of those had only been shown for one season. Some of those just weren't good enough, others were too expensive to produce, or the writers had creative differences with the networks. Whatever the reason, the axe has been brought down on them.

But still, in the age of streaming and unprecedented availability, some shows manage to find an audience, however niche it may be, even after they've been off the air for some time.

Inspired by those such shows, we took a look at ten potentially great series that got cancelled after only one season.

Invasion was a science fiction show created for ABC by Shaun Cassidy, a veteran TV producer most notable for his work on American Gothic and Cold Case.

Featuring an ensemble cast, led by William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian, and Kari Matchett, the show focused on the inhabitants of a small Florida town, who get invaded by parasitical aliens in the aftermath of a big hurricane. It was well-received by critics at the time but it never really got the viewership it deserved, partly because of an unfavourable time slot (it aired right after Lost), and partly because of the hurricane themes were maybe a bit too much so soon after the Katrina events in New Orleans.

Looking back on it now, it's easy to understand why the critics loved it. The concept was fairly simple, but it was well-written and it had a great cast of interesting and layered characters. It also had a great feeling of mystery, watching it felt like you were slowly peeling off the layers of the story episode by episode.

It was initially planned to have five seasons, but it ended up with 22 episodes in total, and with 16 years now gone, it's highly unlikely we will see more of it.