Talk:List of television series canceled before airing an episode

Untitled
Didn't Randy Quaid have a Fox sitcom that was supposed to air but never did?

Nero Wolfe?
Does anyone have information on a possible addition to this list, an early (BW, half-hour) version of Nero Wolfe, with Kurt Kaszner as Wolfe, and William Shatner as Archie Goodwin? Supposedly CBS made four episodes before deciding not to broadcast.

Alvin P. Bluthman

The Questor Tapes = Pilot sold but show not made
Should this list include NBC's The Questor Tapes, a Gene Rodenberry production, which starred Robert Foxworth as Questor and Mike Farrell as jerry Robinson?

Alvin P. Bluthman

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.187.191.208 (talk) 18:55, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Planet Relief - Does it belong here?
While I can certainly understand why it was added here, I do not think that it meets our de facto standards for a television series as both the entry and article Planet Relief describe it to be a proposed television special than a series. Should editors remove the entry or add a subsection of "television programs cancelled before a scheduled broadcast"?--Kevin586 16:28, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Technically, Planet Relief wasn't intended to be a series, and, in fact, isn't supposed to have happened yet. Therefore, I have decided to delete it until further notice.71.222.124.79 06:52, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Bradley Walsh chatshow
Does the planned UK chatshow involving Bradley Walsh belong here? As of early 2008 it's been delayed, although I think a pilot was made. --MartinUK (talk) 12:22, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

It Had to Be You
According to the Brooks/Marsh directory, the actual title was If Not For You, and it did actually air on CBS for 4 weeks (September 18 - October 9, 1995). I have, therefore, removed it from this page.

I suggest, however, that there was an unaired reality series featuring Liza Minelli, but I cannot figure out the title. Could someone find out and list it here? 192.220.136.83 (talk) 21:13, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Crusade?
Crusade (TV series) was canceled before any of its thirteen recorded episodes were aired, although it was a Babylon 5 spin-off. Should it be added here? Tom walker (talk) 19:17, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

It shouldn't. 13 episodes were aired in the summer of 1999. Check the Crusader article yourself.71.222.116.50 (talk) 19:17, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

They were, but after it was cancelled... Tom walker (talk) 09:07, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough. Although if it turns out that there are two hundred other such shows or something, we'll have to reconsider this article's criteria. --Kiz o r  06:07, 7 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I added an entry for Crusade, and an anonymous editor at 97.120.139.202 deleted it the next day. Since this editor did not offer any explanation (either here or in an edit summary) of why he or she was deleting that content, I have restored it. I would hope that anyone who intends to re-delete it will first explain why so that we can discuss the matter here.--Pat Berry (talk) 04:27, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Readded. This is not "Shows that never aired an episode".  We could change it to that if people want. 203.35.82.136 (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 22:10, 26 November 2010 (UTC).

Ortegas
The entry for this show seemed too POV to me. I'm removing the following...
 * "Though some have suggested that the success of the Kumars was due to Britain being a monocultural society, this was an archaic misunderstanding of multicultural Britain. The failure of the Ortegas appears to have been due to American inability to be ironic about race."

Compared with the other entries, I also think it might not really be in line with the scope of this article.76.226.231.244 (talk) 06:43, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Milli Vanilli: The Series
The Milli Vanilli article makes no mention of any planned TV series based on them. On top of that, this article states that "CBS was deeply committed to putting this Saturday morning cartoon show on the air but never materialized. " If it never materialized into production, then how can it be included on the list? This article is for television series that have had episodes shot and planned for official broadcasts, but that simply never made it to the air. "Ideas" don't merit inclusion, because if they never get past the stages of conception and into an actual planned production, then they can't be counted as "television series canceled before airing an episode". Even the article mentions that pilots are commonly shot, but only those picked up by a network only to be dropped before getting on the air count. I'm removing Milli Vanilli until somebody finds a reliable source for this. -- Wh ip it !  Now whip it good! 04:03, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

I guess you're right. It was probably in the early planning stages anyway.149.175.37.122 (talk) 22:29, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

K-9 and Company and Father of the Pride
There seems to be conflicting reports as to whether the aborted Doctor Who spinoff K-9 and Company was cancelled before the pilot episode was broadcast. If it was cancelled prior to broadcast, then it belongs on this list. I also recall reading that due to the Roy Horn accident, the TV series Father of the Pride was cancelled before it even began airing (though several episodes, if not the complete season, still aired). 68.146.81.123 (talk) 15:56, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Is "I Love Money 3" really a series
Isn't the cancelled series in question really just a season of an ongoing series? VH1's official websites refers to 1 & 2 as "seasons" so I don't think that 3 should be included in this article as a separate series. Wickedjacob (talk) 12:38, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree with that interpretation. I'll remove it now. oknazevad (talk) 14:00, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Star Trek: Phase II--Should it be on this list?
The description at the opening states that "This list of television series canceled before airing an episode comprises television programs that were officially produced and announced to be broadcast but were removed from the network schedule before their scheduled debut." According to Wikipedia's separate article, Star Trek: Phase II was announced, but apparently no episodes were produced. Sets were built, scripts written, test footage was shot, etc., but the entry says the series was never filmed.

So does it belong on this list? It depends on what "officially produced" means. A lot of effort went into Phase II, but without one episode produced, it doesn't seem to fit the criteria. It might belong on some list, though (like the Milli Vanilli cartoon mentioned above), but a list of planned-but-unproduced series would probably be ridiculously long. Just1thing (talk) 16:04, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

A lot of work was put into Phase Two, but it was never "announced to be broadcast" so IMHO it doesn't quite make the cut. Wickedjacob (talk) 15:24, 11 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you certain about this? Paramount announced Star Trek Phase II back in 1977 when it announced its new network. 68.146.64.9 (talk) 20:49, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

K-9 and Company
I've gone ahead and added this one to the list. I found a good, and well-researched source (complete with source information list so it's not an original research source) that indicates it was cancelled during production of the pilot. 68.146.64.9 (talk) 20:49, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * So aside from Wikipedia's proven editor bias against IPs, that their contributions are often deleted without cause, anyone care to explain why K-9 and Company, a commissioned series that was cancelled during production of the pilot, was deleted but Hieroglyth is allowed to be kept under the same circumstances? 68.146.52.234 (talk) 15:40, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Title/Scope Change?
I appreciate what this list is trying to pull together. However, the "list of television series canceled before airing an episode" title does seem to apply not only to shows that failed to ever air, but shows that aired but only after they were canceled by the network that aired the episode. Shows are not often aired if they've been canceled, at least, the stories of such shows are few and far between. Some shows are simply not given the chance to survive and are dumped in time slots that all but ensure cancellation, but they're not officially canceled.

This kind of category is specific, it is a special breed of show. One such example I would consider is Crusade, a show I added (re-added) to the list almost 7 months ago and was promptly removed. Upon further review of this list, there are multiple entries that don't fit the criteria that the page apparently outlines. Blonde Charity Mafia eventually aired (overseas) but not in the US. Garbage Pail Kids eventually aired (overseas) but not in the US. Hotel Story was an Australian show that apparently repackaged some episodes as a miniseries, domestically in its native country. The Jake Effect aired on the Bravo network after it was canceled. K-9 and Company aired as a "Christmas Special," despite apparently being canceled before airing. Popetown made its debut on New Zealand television (instead of the BBC). Though no citation, Raising Caines apparently aired in other countries based on how the article is written. Other shows listed that don't fit the criteria include Secret Service Guy and Snip. Apparently the listing of Who's Your Daddy? is able to meet the criteria because the article tells us the first episode was a "special" though the rest of the entry mentions other episodes so it's not clear whether the special was an episode or wasn't. It aired, it was part of the production of episodes already in the can that would have presumably already been picked up with the order of this 'special' that was to air as the first episode of this particular series.

Nothing in this article specifies that a series needs to either air on the original network that was to distribute the work, nor that it needs to be a domestic airing to qualify. The criteria needs to be changed to allow series that were canceled before they aired (but may have aired episodes at some point domestically or internationally or on the network it was originally slated to be on or it needs to be more specific and eliminate most of these entries outlined above that don't actually fit the limited criteria mentioned or it needs to re-word the intro to include every variety of exception listed above (though this could make for a very convoluted article, not a good one). Radagast83 (talk) 05:58, 26 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Perhaps a new list should be created for this. Shows that were never given a chance to survive include Raines and Journeyman. —99.99.216.248 (talk) 18:30, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Splitting list into sections?
I don't know about anybody else, but I'd find this article a lot more useful if the 'scripted series' entries and the 'unscripted/reality series' entries were segregated out from each other and put into separate sections... Anyone object to doing this? --IJBall (talk) 04:42, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Star Wars: Detours?
How come Star Wars: Detours isn't on this list? 70.92.179.85 (talk) 00:31, 27 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Maybe because no-one has added it yet. You can if you want, as long as it fits the criteria Cexycy (talk) 12:30, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

Additions
Two cancelled series related to Doctor Who should be included here. K-9 and Company was officially commissioned as a series by the BBC, but production was then cancelled, though the pilot was completed and aired as a holiday special. The other was Rose Tyler Earth Defence which was planned as either an ongoing series or a series of specials after Billie Piper left Doctor Who in 2006, and actually budgeted by the BBC, but showrunner Russell T Davies vetoed it, making an odd occasion where the head of the production team cancelled the series, not the network. 68.146.233.86 (talk) 05:32, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

Angels 88
How come Angels 88 wasn't on that list?

Angels 88 is Aaron Spelling's attempt at a remake of Charlie's Angels slated to air on FOX in 1988. Then it got cancelled. --2601:C8:C001:9AF0:D09C:9F74:BADE:DFF9 (talk) 22:00, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Off net reruns
Look at an Broadcasting Magazine article, see off-net reruns of The John Larroquette Show which is supposed to enter syndication in 1997. Many market station companies sell the show, but likely scrapped due to NBC's cancellation. It did air on USA Network. --2600:1:C47A:E33C:1185:7D6:BA06:9FC1 (talk) 16:37, 10 February 2019 (UTC)

His Dark Materials
I don't believe this show was cancelled at all. The cited reference says that filming had started last year and it's due to air later this year. That would mean it's not cancelled, it just hasn't aired yet. Should it be removed? Digifiend (talk) 19:44, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * Not cancelled. In fact series 2 was ordered before it premiered, to avoid the risk of the young stars noticeably aging onscreen, and as a result the majority of filming was completed before Covid19 shut down most other shows. So not only does the show not belong on this list, it is likely to get a third season. -- 109.77.202.166 (talk) 20:56, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

All the upcoming shows that have yet to air a first episode due to COVID-19?
The COVID-19 outbreak has led to production of new television shows such as Foundation for Apple TV+ stopped. This could be a possibility that it could become permanent in the future, making cancellation likely. If anyone wants to do, please improve it ASAP by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. -- 2001:D08:D8:4DF7:9DBC:921D:F2B0:BF54 (talk) 15:17, 11 April 2020 (UTC)

Eurovision 2020
The Eurovision Song Contest has become a miniseries these days with two semi finals and the grand final. Some media outlets also show an opening ceremony where performers are seen arriving and being interviewed, etc. In total this is four programmes in the series. Due to Covid-19, the whole series was cancelled. Therefore why can't the 2020 Eurovision be included in the list? Cexycy (talk) 16:02, 19 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Eurovision is a televised music event, not a television series. The fact it is carried on television does not change this. Plus your assertion that individual editions of this event has "become a miniseries" is OR. ViperSnake151   Talk  19:14, 4 June 2021 (UTC)
 * That is absurd. It is something on television each year, and it takes up more than one sitting, so it is a series.  How can it not be?  That's not OR, it's just plain fact.  If you look up the latter years on IMDB, it states it is a TV mini-series.  I think they would know as it is a site specialising in visual programmes.  Cexycy (talk) 04:10, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed, it's staying out. It isn't a series, but yearly event programming (and the final, not the semis, has the bulk of all the attention, as it should). Do not re-add.  Nate  • ( chatter ) 04:41, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Why are you being so rude about it? "It's staying out" and "Do not re-add?"  It is a musical yearly event, which spawns a miniseries, as I explained above.  Neither of you have actually added anything substantial about it not qualifying for inclusion.  The final does get more attention, so what?  Many finals of any series usually do.  That doesn't mean it's not a series does it?  Have you never heard any hype about a season finale as it is about to be shown on TV?  Cexycy (talk) 04:10, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
 * The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 is not a miniseries, it is an event. The reason why it doesn't belong here is because you added IMDb as a source, which is not reliable per Wikipedia's guidelines. You keep adding it to the list thinking that it is a miniseries it is actually not. Your edits were removed by multiple editors in the past. Please do not add it again.  Flutter Dash 344  ( talk ) 22:26, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
 * It does not matter what the show is (or was). As far as the TV is concerned, it is a series of three episodes each year!  If you could prove that wrong, I'd be very happy but no-one can.  The 2020 edition was cancelled before one of an episode aired.  Cexycy (talk) 12:29, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

The Awesome Show
What happened to The Awesome Show. Might be axed before it aired. --2600:1700:4300:2C8F:D903:2BC9:4BC2:299 (talk) 22:17, 30 September 2020 (UTC)
 * It was. Chris Hardwick's allegation's probably killed it, and then after that he got The Wall so it was probably just in development permanently.  Nate  • ( chatter ) 21:10, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

Disney's Katbot?
6 episodes were produced but the show was cancelled not long before its scheduled September 2005 premiere on Disney Channel 109.52.181.53 (talk) 22:36, 24 February 2024 (UTC)