10 TV Shows Cancelled After Just One Episode

How embarassing… even Cop Rock lasted for weeks.

10. “Dot Comedy” (2000)

Dot Comedy, starring Chelsea Lately and Jim Rome Show regulars and funny dudes The Sklar Brothers, must have just been before its time. The compilation of funny clips from the internet preceded the likes of Tosh.0 and Web Soup, but it was cancelled after one episode after only 4.1 million viewers tuned in.

9. “The Rich List” (2006)

This game show featured competitors competing to see who could name the most items on a given list (like “ABBA songs”). It didn’t work the first time but was revived as “The Money List” for the Game Show Network in 2009. Try, try again.

8. “Quarterlife” (2008)

This emo-tastic MySpace web series was super successful in internet terms and bombed entirely on NBC… This show is only four years old, which is proof that the internet has sped up time: rewatching Quarterlife already feels like visiting a relic from another era.

7. “South of Sunset” (1993)

Glenn Frey of The Eagles starred in this detective series but he didn’t “take it to the limit, one more time” after the first episode aired. Even though the show was heavily promoted during the 1993 World Series, the pilot was blocked in many areas by breaking news of wild-fires in Malibu, and the show was cancelled shortly thereafter.

6. “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” (2006)

This Sex And The City rip-off / Heather Graham vehicle was cancelled for its low ratings after only one episode, though there was a rumor that ABC executives who pulled the plug never even watched the pilot. That said, critics who did watch weren’t exactly thrilled by the pilot: “over a million ‘reasons why not’ for this sorry show.”

5. “Co-Ed Fever” (1979)

An attempt to capitalize on the success of “Animal House,” this show about male students being introduced to a previously all-women college was a total bomb and was cancelled almost immediately after first airing. Silver lining: the Drysdale dorm set from the show was re-used for the first season of The Facts of Life.

4. “The Will” (2005)

Multi-millionaire Bill Long actually agreed to have his estate (a huge Kansas ranch) given away to the winner of this show (the competitors were his friends and family). The other episodes were filmed but never aired in the US. As it turns out, his wife won. Least surprising ending to a reality show of all time ever?

3. “Lawless” (1997)

Lawless starred Brian Bosworth, a former NFL bust, as a motorcycling detective. Appropriately titled — Bosworth was arrested for a DUI in 2009 — but not successful, the show was done in one.

2. “Osbourned: Reloaded” (2009)

This variety show was more like “Osbournes: Unloaded,” amIrite?!

1. “Heil Honey, I’m Home!” (1990)

This sitcom about Adolph Hitler, his wife Eva, and their inability to get along with their Jewish neighbors, was cancelled by Britain’s Galaxy network after one episode. The real mystery here is how this show was ever produced in the first place.