Remember that one show? From two decades ago? It lasted one season, and then…fell off the face of the Earth.
This is not uncommon in Hollywood. New shows are produced constantly, and we are fed advertising and promotion for them just to see them for only a few short weeks. Networks cancel shows left and right, and off they go to the massive graveyard of TV shows that barely made it out of the writing studio.
To produce an adequate television series, the production costs are hrough the roof. With paying the actors to making the sets and everything in between, executives are paying high amounts of money for these series. When it hits the air, and the network is running the show, all fingers are crossed that viewers will tune in to allow profits. If viewership is low, or the ratings are hard to look at, the show is taken off the air.
Many of these series are able to complete a full season before the red X is put on their title. The series Freaks and Geeks, which ran from 1999-2000, was unfortunately a victim of Hollywood cancelling shows. Despite including names like James Franco and James Segel, we only were able to see one season of this iconic show. Cancellation was attributed to low ratings, mainly due to an airtime that was deemed unfavorable for the audience. However, we have not completely forgotten about this series or its stars, as major careers were launched as a result. Reruns of the series are played often still to this day, allowing Freaks and Geeks and its cast not to fall into the graveyard.
Most cancelled shows and its casts did not get as lucky as Freaks and Geeks did. A science-fiction series titled Firefly, that ran from 2002-2003, was cancelled after their first season. This cast does not include any well-known names, and was cancelled due to low viewers and poor network management. Another graveyard series is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which aired from 2006-2007, only including one extremely familiar name for the audience, Matthew Perry. Its cancellation was due to a failure to maintain high ratings, leading to only one season being produced.
If you thought being cancelled after just one season was upsetting, imagine the defeat after receiving news the series is over after just the pilot. The Will, 2005, was a new reality show made by the producer of The Bachelor, but was removed from the air after the pilot due to being the lowest-ranked show of that week on CBS. Emily’s Reasons Why Not, 2006, was cancelled on ABC after the first episode due to the audience finding the main character unlikable and the script including harsh jokes. Not only were these shows cancelled almost immediately, the rest of the filmed season practically went to waste.
An audience has just as much of an impact on a series as the production or the acting. Without an audience, more money is spent creating the series than is coming back to them. A failed series, or even one failed episode, can be heartbreaking for the creators, writers, actors, and everyone involved in the overall production. While some of these shows are available for streaming, or are replayed on some networks, there are an abundance that will never be heard of or seen again.
Rest in peace, whatever the name of that show was. They hardly gave you a chance (but neither did I)!
