Some television series are canceled after one episode, quickly removed from a broadcast schedule, or had production halted after their premieres. Such immediate cancellations are rare, and usually attributed to a combination of negative reviews, poor ratings, radical or controversial content, and circumstances beyond the network's control.
Purposely excluded from this list are pilots, premiere episodes produced primarily to be reviewed by network executives as proposed series, "backdoor pilots", pilot episodes shot in such a way that they can be aired as a regular episode of another series, and feature-length television movies produced to be broadcast as either an extended premiere episode, if picked up as a series, or as a distinct television movie. In any of those cases, the pilot was aired but its proposed series was not subsequently added to the programming, or the pilot was aired as a television movie after a decision not to produce a series.
Canceled after one episode The Dennis James Carnival (October 31, 1948) A variety show presented by CBS, The Dennis James Carnival showcased various vaudeville-style acts under the premise that host Dennis James was trying to keep afloat a carnival that he had inherited from his uncle. The reaction to the program was mostly negative, and its sponsor, General Electric, was dissatisfied with the carnival setting. A Variety article at the time noted that "this marked the quickest on-and-off commercial fade in young tele's history." Who's Whose (June 25, 1951) A panel quiz show hosted by Phil Baker that aired on CBS in which four celebrity panelists (Robin Chandler, Basil Davenport, Art Ford, and Emily Kimbrough) tried to determine which of three contestants was married to a fourth contestant. This show replaced The Goldbergs, which was dropped when its creator Gertrude Berg refused to fire the blacklisted actor Philip Loeb. While one source has classified this show as a television pilot, contemporary news accounts confirm that this was a series that was dropped by its sponsor (General Foods) after one airing. Turn-On (February 5, 1969) An ABC variety comedy series; a racier derivative of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the show alarmed broadcast officials and sponsors who immediately perceived it as offensive because of its strong sexual and political humor. At least one station (WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio) made known their cancellation of Turn-On as the program aired (and inspiring an urban legend that WEWS pulled the program after the first commercial break), and others on west coast delay refused to air it at all. ABC canceled the show before airing another episode. The Melting Pot (June 11, 1975) A BBC sitcom written by Spike Milligan, who also starred as Mr. Van Gogh, a Pakistani illegal immigrant in London, whom Milligan portrayed in brownface alongside John Bird. Aired as a one-off pilot on BBC1, a further series of five episodes was commissioned and produced in 1976, but these remaining five episodes have never been seen.Mark Lewisohn, The Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy (1998) Co-Ed Fever (February 4, 1979) A CBS sitcom that attempted to imitate the then-successful National Lampoon's Animal House. The pilot was aired as a "special preview" of the upcoming season, but the series was canceled shortly thereafter. The other five completed episodes remain unaired in the United States, but were shown in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on BCTV in a late-afternoon weekend timeslot. Heil Honey I'm Home! (September 30, 1990) A comedy on British satellite channel Galaxy that spoofed American sitcoms of the 1950s and 1960s by featuring caricatures of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun who live in matrimonial bliss until they become neighbours to a Jewish couple. The series was canceled not only due to controversy but also due to British Satellite Broadcasting's merger with Sky; seven other episodes were filmed but not aired. Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos (September 3, 1992) A spin-off of Australia's Funniest Home Videos hosted by Doug Mulray that depicted videos of sexual situations and other sexually explicit content (such as animal privates, people playing with condoms, and various wardrobe malfunctions.) Kerry Packer, the owner of Nine Network at the time, ordered the program to be taken down partway through its first and only episode while watching it, as he was so offended by its content, he phoned the network's master control and angrily demanded "Get this shit off the air!" Most stations pulled the sole episode at varying points, airing an episode of Cheers for the remainder of the timeslot. Public Morals (October 30, 1996) A Steven Bochco-produced CBS sitcom about a vice squad unit of the New York City Police Department. The cast included Bill Brochtrup, reprising the role of John Irvin, a recurring character on another Bochco series, NYPD Blue. Thirteen episodes were produced, and the pilot was originally scheduled to air first, but several affiliates refused to show it. CBS then decided to air a different episode from the thirteen produced, which was the only one aired. Brochtrup and his character returned to NYPD Blue, becoming a regular member of the cast. Lawless (March 22, 1997) A Fox action series starring former American football star Brian Bosworth as a private investigator. Dot Comedy (December 8, 2000) An ABC series featuring an early attempt to translate humorous material from the internet to a mass television audience. Comedians Unleashed (October 8, 2002) An attempt by Animal Planet to mimic Comedy Central's stand-up comedy shows, but with animal-themed jokes. The episode was rerun a few times before being removed from the programming lineup. This is not to be confused with the 2006 syndicated series Comics Unleashed, hosted by Byron Allen. The Will (January 8, 2005) A CBS reality show in which family members and friends competed to be named the beneficiary of a will. The series eventually aired in its entirety on Fox Reality Channel, and aired in New Zealand as well. Emily's Reasons Why Not (January 9, 2006) An ABC sitcom starring Heather Graham as a single career woman, unlucky in love, who employs a list-making system to help her determine when it is time to give up and move on. The series was canceled on January 10 by ABC programming chief Steve McPherson when he decided that it was "not going to get better and we needed a quick change".Washington Post article: "Steve's Reason Why Not" – article on cancellation of Emily's Reasons Why Not It was reported that ABC executives had committed to the show without seeing its pilot. El invento del siglo (June 18, 2006) A talent show produced for Antena 3, which sought to reward a great invention that "changed and improved people's living quality". Initially planned to run for three episodes, only the first was aired due to poor ratings. The Rich List (November 1, 2006) A game show by the British producers of The Weakest Link and Dog Eat Dog, adapted for the US from an ITV pilot that was not picked up. Despite being heavily promoted on Fox during the World Series, the show was axed on November 3 following low ratings. GSN revived the show in 2009 as The Money List, hosted by Fred Roggin; this iteration, the first GSN original to employ a returning-champion aspect, lasted nine episodes. The remaining episodes from the original series remain unaired. After the US version's failure, the format was produced for broadcast in the UK, where it aired as Who Dares Wins for 12 years, from 2007 to 2019. The Debbie King Show (March 5–6, 2007) Aired in the UK on the controversial channel ITV Play with no publicity, the show (like all the others on the channel) was a live premium rate phone-in quiz presented by Debbie King who had previously hosted the popular Quizmania. As well as being a quiz, viewers were invited to phone/text in views towards current events. However, earlier the same day ITV announced that transmission of the ITV Play channel was being suspended after that evening's programs as a result of an investigation into its premium-rate phone services. Despite this, ITV still decided to push ahead with the launch of the series. The following week, it was decided that the ITV Play channel would permanently cease transmission due to the numerous irregularities involving call-in/SMS quiz shows in the UK. Although ITV Play did continue as a limited service on ITV1 The Debbie King Show ended after only 2hours on the air. Quarterlife (February 26, 2008) An NBC broadcast version of the popular MySpace series, with an intent to air on Sunday nights following its debut as a stopgap solution to present some 'new' form of programming during that season's writers' strike. Following the dismal reception of the premiere episode, the other five episodes were aired in a marathon on NBC Universal sibling channel Bravo on March 9. Secret Talents of the Stars (April 8, 2008) A CBS reality talent show where celebrities competed by participating in talents that differed from their profession. Although the show was to follow a seven-week tournament-style structure with home-viewer voting (which would have taken the show through May 13 with a May 22 "grand finale"), the series was pulled after its debut because of extremely low ratings. Osbournes Reloaded (March 31, 2009) A Fox variety show hosted by The Osbournes – Ozzy, Sharon, Jack, and Kelly. The remaining five episodes were immediately shelved because of a combination of bad reviews and several Fox affiliates (including the entire Raycom and Local TV LLC station chains) either airing the program in an early-morning timeslot or not at all because of content concerns. 1000 Ways to Lie (March 3, 2010) Spike's spin-off to the show 1000 Ways to Die was immediately canceled after its first episode due to very negative reviews and poor ratings. The original show ran for 74 episodes between May 2008 and July 2012, though the final four episodes were burned off by the network, with the show being canceled not long afterwards. GosDep (State Department) with Ksenia Sobchak (September 7, 2012) A political talk show aired on MTV Russia; only one episode titled "Where is Putin leading us?" aired, the show having been cancelled thereafter. Kookyville (November 25, 2012) An unscripted comedy sketch show that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. The tag line for the show was "These people are not actors or comedians, and there's no script... they're just real funny people." The show was met with negative reviews and was canceled after a single episode had aired. Ford Nation (November 18, 2013) A talk show hosted by Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto and his brother, city councillor and future Premier of Ontario Doug Ford, on Sun News Network in Canada, initially indicated as being a weekly program airing Monday nights. The Ford brothers had been in the news because of an ongoing scandal involving a video showing the mayor smoking crack cocaine. Despite garnering record ratings for the fledgling news/opinion channel, the show was nonetheless canceled after a single episode, reportedly because of unexpectedly high production costs (the one-hour program was reported to have taken five hours to record and an additional eight hours to edit) and advertiser concerns about being associated with the controversial politicians. Network executives, as well as Doug Ford, would later claim that the program only had a one-episode commitment and was not necessarily intended as a long-term series."Ford brothers planning web series after turning down reality show offers from 'Oprah and Dr. Phil,' Doug says", National Post, November 28, 2013