As a huge TV fan, I’ve learned that all good things eventually come to an end – and that’s definitely true for shows. Some series get the chance to wrap things up nicely after a long run, but honestly, so many don’t. It’s particularly frustrating with sci-fi shows, because they often get cancelled before their stories are fully told. It’s like, just when you’re really invested, the network pulls the plug, leaving you with unanswered questions and a feeling that the show deserved better.
Every TV network has had shows cancelled before their time, but NBC seems to have a particularly long list. They’ve recently produced a lot of creative and engaging sci-fi series, only to cancel them, leaving fans disappointed and curious about what might have happened. Here are seven of those shows that we still wish had continued.
7) Timeless
The sci-fi series Timeless, which ran for two seasons (2016-2018), was cancelled not once, but twice. The show followed a team working to protect history from a secret group who stole a time machine. Starring Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, and Malcolm Barrett, Timeless was a thrilling and adventurous show that quickly gained a loyal following, despite its short time on air.
The show Timeless faced a rocky road with its network. It was initially cancelled after one season, but Sony Pictures quickly negotiated its renewal. Unfortunately, it was cancelled again after season two. Luckily for viewers, NBC ordered a two-part finale just a month later, giving the series a chance to conclude its storyline. Timeless is unusual because it was both briefly revived after cancellation and then allowed to finish its story despite being ultimately cancelled.
6) Quantum Leap (2022)
The 2022 revival of Quantum Leap seemed like a guaranteed success. Rather than starting the story over, it continued the narrative of the original 1980s series, picking up thirty years later. The new show centered on a team attempting to rebuild the Quantum Leap machine to bring Dr. Samuel Beckett back from the past. But instead, Dr. Ben Song, the project’s lead scientist, unexpectedly finds himself leaping through time, just like Dr. Beckett.
Reviving the classic show Quantum Leap initially felt promising, and the updated take was intriguing. However, NBC cancelled it after only two seasons due to low viewership. This cancellation was premature, as the show was still evolving and finding its direction – which actually suited the show’s confusing premise. The 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes also hindered its progress.
5) Debris
NBC’s sci-fi series Debris, which aired for only one season in 2021, is likely a show many viewers have forgotten. The story centers on an international team tasked with collecting wreckage from an alien spacecraft that has been falling to Earth. This debris has strange and often dangerous effects, and while CIA agent Bryan Beneventi and MI6 agent Finola Jones are working to gather it, they aren’t the only ones seeking the alien fragments.
Critics generally liked the show, and the central idea – mysterious alien wreckage and a worldwide effort to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands – was compelling. Despite a spooky atmosphere, the show’s first season suffered from a confusing central mystery, leading NBC to cancel it. This was a shame, as the story with the wreckage and the group trying to steal it was just starting to gain momentum. The series concluded with an unresolved cliffhanger.
4) Revolution
Of the shows created by Eric Kripke (who also made Timeless and Supernatural), Revolution is one we’re still disappointed about. This 2012 series takes place in a future where a global electrical blackout occurred fifteen years earlier, in 2027. The story follows a man with a pendant that holds the key to understanding—and potentially reversing—the blackout. After he’s killed by a militia, his daughter joins forces with a group of unexpected allies to uncover the truth and fight for a better future.
The show Revolution had a lot going for it. It explored the political landscape of a North America split into six republics, how people lived without electricity, and a larger conspiracy: the blackout was actually caused by the US government using a secret weapon. Special pendants offered a way to reverse the effects and bring power back. Though the first season wasn’t a hit with critics, it was popular enough to get a second season. Unfortunately, it was cancelled, leaving many storylines unresolved. The story eventually continued in a digital comic from DC, but fans would have preferred to see it finished on television.
3) Believe
The 2013 show Believe was cancelled by NBC before it could finish its single season. The series centered on Bo, a young girl with unpredictable supernatural powers. As her abilities grew, those caring for her sought help from an unlikely source: a man wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. He became Bo’s protector, and together they tried to evade the dangerous forces pursuing her.
Although the show’s basic idea was somewhat confusing, it was the way it was produced and shown that really led to its cancellation. The series didn’t even make it to its tenth episode, and while episodes 10 through 12 did eventually air, the intended season finale never broadcast in the US. It did air as the 13th episode in New Zealand and in a different order in other countries.
2) La Brea
La Brea stands out as the longest-running show on this list, airing for three seasons from 2021 to 2024. The story begins with a huge sinkhole appearing in Los Angeles, near the famous La Brea Tar Pits. This sinkhole swallows people, cars, and buildings, transporting them to a mysterious, prehistoric world where they must band together to stay alive.
What made La Brea so captivating wasn’t just its initial premise of a hidden world. The show quickly revealed that the sinkholes were actually time portals, transporting people back to 10,000 BC. Even more surprisingly, these portals were created by a project focused on solving resource scarcity and bringing extinct species back to life. What began as a mysterious world story evolved into a complicated time travel thriller. Although the series was cancelled after three seasons, it thankfully concluded with a satisfying finale that resolved the main storyline.
1) The Event
Combining aliens, government secrets, thrilling action, and political themes, The Event was a unique show. It aired for one season from 2010 to 2011 and told the story of a group of extraterrestrials who crashed in Alaska decades earlier, in the 1940s. Some were captured and held by the government, while others secretly began living among people. When an ordinary man, Sean Walker, starts looking into his fiancée’s disappearance, he uncovers a massive government cover-up with potentially enormous consequences for everyone.
This show was a thrilling mystery full of unexpected twists and turns, constantly keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. The true motives of the aliens were a genuinely shocking reveal. Although the series was cancelled due to falling viewership and ended on a cliffhanger, that cliffhanger still feels somewhat complete – we just wish the story could have continued.
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2026-03-25 04:41