14 TV Shows Canceled After Just Two Episodes
We previously rounded up TV shows that got canceled after one episode — remember when the now-defunct streaming platform DC Universe sent Swamp Thing back to the depths after its Season 1 premiere? — and now it’s time to reminisce about shows almost as unlucky.
The titles below, at least, survived twice as long… but, yes, they got the boot after Episode 2. From the critically-acclaimed Lone Star to the controversial Work It, here’s a selection of two-episode wonders and two-episode blunders.
The Beautiful Life
The Beautiful Life, a 2009 CW drama about New York City models, was a very glamorous flop for the network, despite the star appeal of cast members like Mischa Barton, Nico Tortorella, and Corbin Bleu.
Do No Harm
Starring Steven Pasquale as a neurosurgeon with a Jekyll-and-Hyde problem, NBC’s Do No Harm charted the lowest-rated scripted series premiere in TV history among the Big Four networks when it debuted in 2013.
Doubt
Katherine Heigl reunited with two former Grey’s Anatomy scribes for this 2017 show, which CBS canceled after two installments. On the plus side, Heigl and costar Dulé Hill soon ended up on a more successful legal drama: Suits.
Girls Club
Fox threw the book at this 2002 David E. Kelley legal drama — starring Gretchen Mol, Kathleen Robertson, Chyler Leigh — after it got even worse ratings than its WB and UPN competition.
Imagine That
In this 2002 NBC sitcom, a comedy writer played by Hank Azaria escapes into his daydreams when the going gets tough. The show shut down production after five episodes — amid reported behind-the-scenes issues — and only two got to air.
Lone Star
TV audiences must have missed or ignored the glowing reviews for this 2010 Fox series, starring James Wolk as a con man living dual lives. The first episode lost more than a two-thirds of its lead-in audience, and viewers dropped off as the hour went on.
Lucky 7
Lucky 7, a drama about a group of lottery winners, is one of those TV shows doomed by its title, debuting in 2013 as the lowest-rated fall drama premiere in ABC history. The characters were lucky; the cast and crew, not so much.
Made in Jersey
Made in Jersey, unmade in Hollywood. CBS dropped this 2012 legal drama — about a streetwise attorney (Janet Montgomery) trying to make it at a Manhattan law firm — after two episodes and burned off the remaining eps over the holidays.
Of Kings and Prophets
ABC might have been looking for its own Game of Thrones with this 2016 drama centering on King Saul (Ray Winstone), prophet Samuel (Mohammad Bakri), and shepherd David (Olly Rix). Unfortunately, the show was a fail of Biblical proportions.
The Paul Reiser Show
Paul Reiser played a version of himself in this 2011 NBC sitcom about an out-of-work television actor looking for his next act. Viewers didn’t take to the show, though, and neither did critics, many of whom deemed it derivative of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Viva Laughlin
Not even song-and-dance numbers by executive producer and recurring guest star Hugh Jackman could save this 2007 CBS musical dramedy about a casino owner (Lloyd Owen) tied up in a murder investigation.
We Are Men
Jerry O’Connell, Tony Shalhoub, Kal Penn, and Chris Smith bro’d out in a 2013 sitcom about men bonding after the ends of their respective relationships. But CBS divorced We Are Men after two episodes.
Wonderland
ABC nixed this 2000 drama after the second episode lost 20 million viewers from lead-in show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — and after complaints that the story, which took place in the psych ward of a hospital, stigmatized mental illness.
Work It
Another controversial two-episode series was this 2012 ABC sitcom — starring Ben Koldyke and Amaury Nolasco as blue-collar workers who cross-dress to better their job prospects — which got condemnations from both LGBT advocates and Puerto Rican protesters.
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I actually still remember the commercials ABC aired in promotion of Lucky 7. I never watched it but it always sounded intriguing. I’ve never heard of the show We Are Men until this article but a series starring Monk (Tony Shalhoub) and Kal Penn sounds like an interesting watch as well.
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Between approximately 1990 and 1995, HBO had a comedy called Dream On starring Brian Benben which ran about 105 episodes. The main character, Martin Tupper, was a divorced NYC book editor working for fictitious Whitestone Publishing. His boss was played by Michael McKean. Tupper's ex-wife was played by Wendy Malick. As Martin pines away for his ex while braving Manhattan's single scene, he daydreams frequently, and his daydreams take the form of old 1950s and 1960s television clips. The show Scrubs would later use a similar technique to show what its' main character was thinking.
Anyway, after Dream On ended, NBC created another sitcom called The Brian Benben show, which was summarily cancelled after two episodes. I was disappointed. Later still, unrelated to Dream On, standup comic and former MTV Veejay Pauly Shore had a sitcom on NBC called The Pauly Shore Show which also aired exactly two episodes before cancellation.
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