y could have a chance to air it.

(Sorry, the thread title is too long)

There should be any television series that were expected to last for another season, but had to let their original runs end before they could air that season. i know Maude, The Jeffersons, and Bewitched are examples.

I don't know if this counts but Joan of Arcadia seemed to be setting itself up for a third season. They had some loose ends toward the end of Season 2, so sadly we'll never know how it ended up.
I read that Full House was supposed to have another season as well, but then John Stamos said he wouldn't renew his contract and they just used the episode that they had filmed for the last episode.

Andrea

Sci Fi Channel had originally signed a contract with Henson for a fourth and FIFTH season of Farscape, and then AFTER they let Henson finish season four with a cliffhanger, they THEN told them that the suits at Sci-Fi changed their minds, and they were cancelled. This is the reason I stopped supporting the sci-fi channel.

HBO had originally signed up to do five seasons of Carnivale as well, and then backed out after season 2. Daniel Knauf, the creator of Carnivale, has said in interviews that he originally had intended his series to move MUCH more quickly, and actually be OVER in two seasons, but HBO assured him that they wanted him to be around for five seasons, and encouraged him to 'spread out' the story.

Lost In Space was to be renewed for a 4th season, but the producers wanted to slash the effects budget and promted Irwin Allen to cancel the show himself.

Both Mork and Mindy and ALF had final season cliff-hangers. (I
hate when that happens!)

Hogan's Heroes ended season 6 with a regular episode, and then CBS decided to cancel a lot of their current shows and go a different direction, so out went HH without the war ever ending.

8 Simple Rules - I thought for sure ABC was going to bring back this show for another season, but cancelled it without a proper series finale.

Family Matters - I think everyone thought this show would be back for another season, even those involved with it. They ended it before we got to see Steve and Laura's wedding, which was probably the intended series finale for the tenth season, which never happened.

And I guess you can add Back to You to this list, since we all thought it would be coming back next season (and since a season 2 episode had already been shot, left unaired).

Gilligan's Island was such a show. The cast and crew had been told that Season 4 was a go. However, CBS founder Bill Paley found out that his beloved Gunsmoke was going to be cancelled and he wasn't about to stand for that. So Bob Denver and company got their walking papers instead.

I think Fresh Prince was going to go on but some of the actors wanted it to end, might be the same with Seinfeld, if I'm not mistaken...

Gilligan's Island was such a show. The cast and crew had been told that Season 4 was a go. However, CBS founder Bill Paley found out that his beloved Gunsmoke was going to be cancelled and he wasn't about to stand for that. So Bob Denver and company got their walking papers instead.


Actually, from what I've read it was Paley's wife who loved "Gunsmoke".

i read dr phil said they could of went on another few years but wil smith wanted to end it to do movies this is about fresh prince

Diff'rent Strokes ended anti-climaticly. Apparently there are two or three episodes filmed in mid-1986 as they planned to do first-run-syndication much like Mama's Family, Webster and Silver Spoons did after they were cancelled from the networks, but then they decided to just pull the plug

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The Wonder Years was expected to go on another season (in which we the fans would have been able to see Kevin and his friends graduate high school), but ABC decided to end it and hold the nation in indefinite suspense. I don't know how true this is, but in an interview at JustMyShow.com last year with Dan Lauria (who played Jack Arnold), he said that Revlon's decision not to advertise was the kicker and that other advertisers were going gung ho for the show--go figure. (You'd think that if ABC took this into consideration they would have had enough money to buy Disney instead of Disney buying them like they did in 1995!)

caroline in the city- was supposed to run for 5 seasons but was eventually cancelled by the end of the 4th season

hangin' with mr cooper- i might be wrong on this but the show was going to last for another season- only to end on a cliffhanger with mark proposing to vanessa at a basketball match

The Wonder Years is one of the biggest ones. Their final season, the 6th WASN'T supposed to be the last season and WASN'T cancelled due to low/poor ratings, that is a lie, you lie! Dan Lauria [Jack Arnold, Kevin's father on the show] explained in an interview that was actually posted on this site. I believe the interview was for, Just My Show or w/e the station was called. He explained in the early 1990s, when the show was coming to a close or close to it, that a lot of new shows came into existence and production. He said out of the 150/160 shows (at least) that were out in 1992-1993, TWY was around 21-23 in ratings, as far as best to worst. So almost in the 10% percentile is pretty damn good in a final season, even if they weren't in the top 10. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was an opposite example. The Philadelphia Story, the last episode of Season 4 was supposed to be the last episode of the series. That's why between that episode and Season 5's entrance episode where Ashley pursues a singing career are so odd. In The Philadelphia Story, it ends with Will being in Philly living with his Mom back home and telling Uncle Phil on the phone that he's not coming back. Then it says To Be Continued...(then you see on the screen, The Fresh Prince of Philadelphia?) then the season and presumably the show is over. Fan letters and feedback convinced Will Smith to re-order the show for 2 more seasons. Alfonso Ribeiro & James Avery said in later interviews that the show could of gone on, for 3/4 more seasons after the final 6th, having Will finish college and who knows what else they could of came up with.

Gilligan's Island was such a show. The cast and crew had been told that Season 4 was a go. However, CBS founder Bill Paley found out that his beloved Gunsmoke was going to be cancelled and he wasn't about to stand for that. So Bob Denver and company got their walking papers instead.
Actually, from what I've read it was Paley's wife who loved "Gunsmoke".
OK then. Bill Paley's beloved's beloved.

This thread is for shows that were to go for another season but were cancelled without finding proper closure in any way.

Ohhh!!! Thanks for explaining that about Fresh Prince Wreckless (forgot to quote sry about that I didn't realize there was a page 2), that makes complete sense now.

Also, for Wonder Years, which is my favorite show by the way, I must say a couple of those season 6 episodes were random, irrelevant, and less brilliant than all the others. Fred Savage seemed to be outgrowing the role a little bit, in my opinion, and it appeared to be going downhill from here. Maybe it could have, in fact, lasted longer but I'm not sure how good it would have been.

I've never watched Gunsmoke, but from what I've read, CBS may have made the right decision. Gunsmoke was practically dead when CBS decided to save it over Gilligan, but it ended up having a huge renaissance in the ratings where it went all the way back up to #2 and lasted eight more seasons, so CBS might've made the sound investment.

The one series that came to my mind was "The Honeymooners". Not counting the many 'lost episodes', it was only on for one season and 39 episodes (known to its many fans as the Classic 39). In 1955, Jackie Gleason signed a lucrative contract with CBS for 2 seasons and 78 episodes, but he cancelled the deal halfway through because he wasn't satisfied with how the show was going and because the ratings weren't as high as he had anticipated. Then again, had Gleason known that people would still be watching it today, he might have agreed to do at least 100 more episodes.

Wait, I don't get why CBS couldn't have simply continued both Gilligan's Island and Gunsmoke? What was the problem there?

Cybill was supposed last at least another season but was suddenly cancelled at the last minute for no apparent reason. Ratings were still solid and critics had said it's last season was one of it's best.

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman was supposed to last another year as well but it was suddenly cancelled and it's cancellation caused a MAJOR protest at CBS from fans that were OUTRAGED.

Diff'rent Strokes ended anti-climaticly. Apparently there are two or three episodes filmed in mid-1986 as they planned to do first-run-syndication much like Mama's Family, Webster and Silver Spoons did after they were cancelled from the networks, but then they decided to just pull the plug

And you can also add Punky Brewster and Charles in Charge to your list of shows that were cancelled by the network and went into new 1st-run syndication eps.



But back to the topic:

Mannix - By Season 8 (1974-75), it was a Top 20/Top 25 show in its 8th season and there were plans that a 9th season to be moved over from CBS to ABC, but CBS wouldn't let Paramount give it a 9th season, so CBS nixed the show by 1975.

Just the Ten of Us - There was supposed to be a 4th season, but the PtB at ABC decided that they were going to make their TGIF line-up mostly to all Miller-Boyett shows and JtToU was given the receiving end of the losing stick, only to have the cast and crew given a letter of apology by the PtB at ABC saying that they were sorry for prematurely cancelling the show.

Family Matters - was rumored to have a 10th season, but the set was demolished before Season 10 was even allowed to get under way.

And you can also add Punky Brewster and Charles in Charge to your list of shows that were cancelled by the network and went into new 1st-run syndication eps.



But back to the topic:

Mannix - By Season 8 (1974-75), it was a Top 20/Top 25 show in its 8th season and there were plans that a 9th season to be moved over from CBS to ABC, but CBS wouldn't let Paramount give it a 9th season, so CBS nixed the show by 1975.

Just the Ten of Us - There was supposed to be a 4th season, but the PtB at ABC decided that they were going to make their TGIF line-up mostly to all Miller-Boyett shows and JtToU was given the receiving end of the losing stick, only to have the cast and crew given a letter of apology by the PtB at ABC saying that they were sorry for prematurely cancelling the show.

Family Matters - was rumored to have a 10th season, but the set was demolished before Season 10 was even allowed to get under way.


I keep forgetting JtToU had a mini-first season. :lol:
And if ABC was sorry, why didn't it just revive the show?

during the formative years of The WB network several shows were expected to be picked up never to be seen again: including "Savannah" which had a great first season with record ratings for the network and than a move to Mondays killed the show and though the network claimed a third season would happen it never saw the light of day.

i recall that Popular was expected back for a third season as well but the network changed their mind at the last minute.