10 Great TV Shows That Got Cancelled After Just 1 Season
8. The Black Donnellys
This drama debuted on NBC in 2007 but it never really took off despite having some serious name recognition behind the camera, and a very talented cast. It was conceived by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco, the duo who won an Academy Award for Crash.
It was about four young Irish-American brothers who get involved with organised crime while living in present-day New York City. It was a subject very close to Haggis, as he grew up in London, Ontario, where the original Donnelly family is from.
Serious themes like racism, classism, and crime were explored without much filter and that made for a very immersive viewing experience. While it sounds like something that could find its home on HBO or Netflix, The Black Donnellys was unusually graphic and violent for network television -- especially for the time -- and that was probably what doomed it from the start.
NBC gave up on it after just six episodes, opting to pull it from their programming and release the remaining seven on their website on a weekly basis. Needless to say, that put the final nail in the coffin.