8 TV Shows Canceled After Just One Episode (PHOTOS)

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cancelled one episode
DC Universe; ABC (2)
Dot Comedy
ABC

Dot Comedy

The dot-com bubble burst on TV, too, with this ABC series — which televised Internet humor in the years before YouTube — going offline after its first installment aired in December 2000.

emilys-reasons-why-not
ABC

Emily’s Reasons Why Not

ABC apparently also had a list of reasons why not, canceling this comedy — starring Heather Graham as a lovelorn woman rehashing her failed relationships — after its debut outing in January 2006.

The Rich List
Fox

The Rich List

Nixing this game show after its series premiere in November 2006, Fox didn’t exactly make bank on the concept, which had two teams bidding on how many items in a certain category they could name.

Quarterlife
NBC

Quarterlife

NBC had a Quarterlife crisis when this drama — based on a popular MySpace web series about twenty-somethings — underperformed on TV. It got the boot in February 2008.

Secret Talents of the Stars
CBS

Secret Talents of the Stars

Did you know that Mýa can tap dance? Or that George Takei moonlights as a country singer? You might if you happened to catch this CBS game show’s sole episode in April 2008.

Osbournes Reloaded
Fox

Osbournes Reloaded

Reloaded with blanks, maybe! This variety show hosted by Ozzy, Sharon, Jack, and Kelly Osbourne was critically panned, with one reviewer deeming it “must-flee TV.” After airing one “special preview” episode in March 2009, Fox put the rest of the episodes on ice.

Breaking Boston
A&E

Breaking Boston

Turns out, viewers didn’t much care for a docu-series about four working-class Boston women trying to better their lives, despite the involvement of producer Mark Wahlberg. A&E axed the show after one episode in March 2014.

Swamp Thing
DC Universe

Swamp Thing

And that brings us back to Swamp Thing. “Don’t really know or understand why #Swampthing was cancelled,” exec producer James Wan wrote on Instagram on June 8. “But I can tell you this — all the cast and crew, and producing/writing team poured their hearts into this. Really proud of everyone’s hard work. Go watch episode 2, and immortalize these 10 episodes. Swampy deserves it.”

1 of

The DC Universe streaming service is off to a shaky start, with the powers that be canceling Swamp Thing, the platform’s third original series, after just one episode had been released.

Luckily for fans of the series, the remaining nine episodes of the first and final season will be released on a weekly basis until August 2.

It’s an ignominious end for the well-received show, but Swamp Thing is hardly the first series to be “one and done,” so to speak.

Click through the gallery above for the details on other TV shows canceled after one solitary episode in this millennium.