TV Fans Argue These Shows Were ‘Sabotaged’ by Their Networks

Dan Clarendon February 1, 2025, 12:35 pm

Christa Miller, John Carroll Lynch, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson, Diedrich Bader, Ryan Stiles, Drew Carey - 'The Drew Carey Show' — Everett Collection

On Reddit’s r/television forum, TV buffs have been naming they believe were sabotaged by their networks — sabotaged, for example, by a storyline choice, by airing episodes out of order, by a conspicuous lack of promotion, or by a time slot change.

“I have heard this story told many times about many shows,” one user wrote, starting the conversation on February 1. “But how many of these are actually malicious decisions, and how many are due to incompetence? What examples do we have where it is confirmed that a show was intentionally sabotaged by people who wanted an excuse to cancel them?”

Here are some of the TV shows commenters cited:

The Drew Carey Show

One commenter wrote, “After The Drew Carey Show was renewed for Seasons 7, 8, and 9, the ratings slipped for Season 7. So, for Season 8, they moved the show to Monday nights opposite the popular CBS comedy block and Fear Factor, where the ratings predictably tanked. They used the terrible ratings as an excuse to put the show on hiatus and tried to cancel it, but Warner Bros. insisted they had a contractual obligation to air it. So ABC burned off the rest of the eighth season and all of 26 episodes of the ninth season during the dead of the summer, even going as far as airing the episodes out of order so the show’s storyline didn’t make sense.”

Another commenter chimed in, saying, “It was also on before Monday Night Football and would often get pre-empted because of it. That was, I think, the biggest factor leading to the end of the show.”

Arrested Development

Arrested Development “won awards and was critically acclaimed, and Fox treated it like it was their unwanted stepchild,” one fan complained. “Probably the most famous example, as it led to an era of amazing comedies in that style.”

Another person said this show was their “absolute pick” for this phenomenon. “D***ed around from Season 2 onwards (episode order cut from 22 to 18), and then the last [season] cut to 13 episodes and burned off against the Winter Olympics,” they added.

The Nanny

“Apparently the network first forced them to get the main couple together or the show would be canceled, so they adamantly did it (they weren’t supposed to end up together), which ruined their dynamic and kind of ruined the show,” one Reddit user said of The Nanny. “Then I read in [star Fran Drescher’s] book that they were greenlit for a seventh season and started Season 6 OK, but halfway through, they called Fran in and said the show was canceled, and they would need to wrap it in, I guess, like, 10 episodes that they had left. … I read somewhere they changed the schedule constantly, and by the end, they didn’t even care to air the last episodes in the right order. It sounded messy and mean from what I read.”

CBS/Everett Collection

Titus

“Titus was sabotaged by Fox,” one Reddit user declared. “[Christopher Titus] refused to take a network note on breaking up the main couple, and Fox tanked the show after that. They stopped promoting it and starting changing its time slots.”

Happy Endings

“Happy Endings was kind of d***ed around by the network and not promoted as well as it should have been,” someone wrote on the thread.

“Happy Endings was so much better than most sitcoms that ran twice as long,” another person said.

Adam Taylor/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23

“They played episodes so out of order that no one could follow the plot,” a Reddit user said of Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.

“It was so bad!” said another. “There was an episode in Season 2 that seemed like it should have been Episode 3 of Season 1.”

Firefly

“Firefly should be the definitive example,” asserted one Reddit user.

Another said, “They literally aired the pilot (‘Serenity’) after the finale (‘Objects in Space’). Mind-blowing.”

Firefly - Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, and Gina Torres

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy: Everett Collection

And a third commenter wrote, “They aired the episodes out of order, never promoted the show, debuted with, like, Episode 7, didn’t even air all the episodes, and changed the night of the week and time slot every week on them. If that wasn’t someone trying to get the expensive sci-fi show shut down…”

Married… With Children

Columbia Pictures Television/Everett Collection

“Married… With Children was the first big hit for new network Fox and is still their longest running live-action show,” one person observed. “However, even after 11 seasons, they never got a series finale episode, and instead Fox moved them from, I think, Tuesday night to Saturday night (a guaranteed death slot). Then, one day, the cast was told ‘OK, everyone, that was the last episode we’re doing.’”