Network TV shows tend to have more episodes in each season than their streaming counterparts, but that doesn’t mean every series got to spend enough time on the air. Plenty of shows with great potential, and even loyal and passionate fan bases, were cut off at the knees before they got the chance to blossom.

In today’s era of spin-offs and revivals, it feels like more of a series is never fully off the table, though these never feel quite the same as an original run. One, two, even three seasons wasn’t enough time out of the gate for these network shows that deserved to be hits.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

2006-2007, 1 Season

Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to The West Wing deserved so much more. As always, Sorkin delivered his signature musical dialogue and American romanticism, not to mention a healthy dose of heart and humor. Seeing how Studio 60 starred Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Sarah Paulson, and Amanda Peet, the show felt like a powerhouse built to last.

It was canceled by NBC after one season. It’s possible the show, coming right off the heels of The West Wing and boasting its all-star cast, had generated more hype than it could live up to. But Sorkin has such a specific style that if you’ve seen one of his shows, you’ve seen them all.

By that logic, they should all be as well-received as The West Wing. It’s a shame that Studio 60 was so overshadowed by its predecessor that it got kicked off the air.

Lie To Me

2009-2011, 3 Seasons

This show walked so Poker Face could run. Lie to Me had compelling characters, tense plots, and real science to back it up. It was inspired by the work of actual micro-expressions expert Dr. Paul Ekman, who consulted on the series. With its eccentric lie detector protagonist, it was House meets Criminal Minds without the success of either. It was canceled after three seasons.

The first two seasons were often suspenseful to the point of verging on horror, a level of emotion and genre pushing that was admirable for a crime procedural. Season 3 was admittedly grittier, with risk-taking professional Cal Lightman suddenly behaving more like a reckless outlaw. It was a tone shift that didn’t really work, but it wasn’t anything the show couldn’t have learned from had it gotten the chance.

Freaks And Geeks

1999-2000, 1 Season

Freaks and Geeks had a shockingly short run on NBC. It was canceled after only 12 episodes, despite having 6 more completed. Fox eventually ran the final six, completing the 18-episode series that still has a cult following today. Freaks and Geeks is a prime example of a show whose greatest strength came at the cost of its popularity.

Most mainstream high school stories of that time were more glamorous, following teens who were both hot and cool. A show that was essentially about the dorks of Stranger Things without the monsters was a hard sell against the likes of Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It’s a shame, though, because that was exactly what made Freaks and Geeks resonate — it was about the high schoolers not often seen on screen, and it depicted them in a way that didn’t minimize or condescend to them.

The Following

2013-2015, 3 Seasons

The Following started out strong — an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired cult is a pretty reliable recipe for success — but truthfully, its decline in popularity was in sync with its decline in quality. The show was rife with plot twists and reversals, many of which grew increasingly implausible. The sheer volume of them didn’t help.

Nonetheless, The Following‘s third, and ultimately final, season saw the death of its big bad cult leader Joe Carroll. Had the show been given one more chance, this was a clear opportunity to start fresh with a new plot that hadn’t yet been ratcheted up and out of the realm of reality.

Despite its flaws, The Following featured a level of violence unusual (and exciting) for network TV, and Kevin Bacon’s angsty Ryan Hardy was a pleasure to watch. It’s hard not to lament what could have been if the show had gotten the opportunity to return to the elements that made it so instantly compelling.

Sports Night

1998-2000, 2 Seasons

Another Aaron Sorkin series gone too soon. Sports Night was unique in that it was tonally very similar to The West Wing and Studio 60, but it was packaged as a 30-minute comedy. While Sorkin is known for his dramatic writing, his shows all have frequent pockets of humor, with whole episodes of his dramas feeling light and comedic. Sports Night brought this underrated tone front and center.

This is another instance of a show’s greatest gift being its downfall. Sports Night was a true dramedy in a time that networks didn’t know what to do with those, posing a conundrum for its home, ABC. Ultimately, though, ABC’s cancellation coincided with the beginnings of The West Wing, which likely would’ve taken Sorkin’s attention away from Sports Night regardless.

The New Adventures Of Old Christine

2006-2010, 5 Seasons

Old Christine shines as it lets Julia Louis-Dreyfus do what she does best. Through an endearing combination of dry humor and slight awkwardness, Louis-Dreyfus manages to capture authentic truths of life in a way that feels co-conspiratorial with the audience. That’s really what The New Adventures of Old Christine is all about.

Five seasons is a decent run, but it still wasn’t enough for this offbeat gem. The show captured a female perspective seldom seen in the mid-2000s, which might have contributed to its cancellation. Old Christine showrunner Kari Lizer suggested that CBS’s decision to cancel the show may have been rooted in their distaste for a story following a woman’s second act (via Digital Spy).

Firefly

2002, 1 Season

Despite its intense cult following, Firefly seemed doomed from the start. Fox aired some episodes out of order, including “Serenity“, which was written as a two-hour pilot, but was not the episode that ended up premiering the series. Firefly ultimately only made it through 11 episodes on Fox before getting canceled. The UK’s Sci-Fi Channel eventually aired the final three produced episodes.

Firefly thankfully doesn’t end on an infuriating cliffhanger, which is impressive considering what little it had to work with. Of course, Firefly had some unresolved storylines, though an enthusiastic fan response to the show earned an answer to some of them through the subsequent movie, Serenity.

While some shows are canceled before they can get good, Firefly was good from the start and got canceled anyway. A strong character study with the backdrop of a space western, Firefly left an impact on both genre and character work in only 14 episodes.

Mr. Sunshine

2011, 1 Season

Mr. Sunshine had a wealth of untapped character and comedic potential. The show made good use of its sports arena setting, having fun with mascots, actual animals, golf carts, and the whole spectrum of events it can host (there’s a wedding, a funeral, a circus, and everything in between).

All of that, entertaining as it was, often served as a backdrop for the growth of the Sunshine Center’s eccentric staff. They’re an odd bunch, and the show had a bit of an off-kilter feel as a result — comparable to the beginnings of The Office, before you get acclimated to everyone’s quirks.

Unlike The Office, Mr. Sunshine didn’t get the gift of time it needed for its audience to warm up to its characters. The Matthew Perry-helmed series was canceled on ABC after only nine episodes. Four more had already been produced and were released when the series came out on DVD.

Designated Survivor

2016-2019, 3 Seasons

Designated Survivor started out as the best of both worlds: a suspenseful conspiracy thriller right out of the gate, which proved to be a path to a surprisingly earnest political drama. The show was at its best when it leaned into how this situation shaped Tom Kirkman’s behavior as President.

Having spent his career blissfully free of the hardening experience of running a high-profile campaign, President Kirkman focuses on what’s best for the country, unbridled by politics. The ongoing investigation into the attack serves as a strong undercurrent, keeping the stakes high and the plot moving.

This balance shifted when Netflix picked up Designated Survivor for a third and final season after it was canceled by ABC. As a streaming show, Designated Survivor focused much more on deception, betrayal, and dirty politics. The dark underbelly won out over the strong moral character that originally made the series so unique.