The 50 Greatest One-Season Wonders
A list of the best-loved shows that lasted only one season.
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- CreatorJoss WhedonStarsNathan FillionGina TorresAlan TudykFive hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.
- CreatorWinnie HolzmanStarsBess ArmstrongWilson CruzClaire DanesA 15-year-old girl and her trials and tribulations of being a teenager and dealing with friends, guys, parents, and school.
- CreatorPaul FeigStarsLinda CardelliniJohn Francis DaleyJames FrancoA high school mathlete starts hanging out with a group of burnouts while her younger brother navigates his freshman year.
- CreatorBrannon BragaDavid S. GoyerStarsCourtney B. VanceJoseph FiennesJack DavenportA special task force in the FBI investigates after every person on Earth simultaneously blacks out and awakens with a short vision of their future.
- CreatorRon KoslowTrevor MunsonStarsAlex O'LoughlinSophia MylesJason DohringAn immortal vampire and private investigator struggles to exist after he was bitten 60 years ago by his vampire bride. He is also internally tormented as he falls in love with one he should not.
- CreatorGreg BerlantiSteven A. CohenBrad MeltzerStarsChristine LahtiMatt LongLogan LermanThe early life of Bobby McCallister, a progressive President of the United States from 2041 to 2049, is explored.
- CreatorGreg BerlantiJon Harmon FeldmanStarsMichael ChiklisJulie BenzKay PanabakerThe Powells are a typical American family living in Pacific Bay, California, whose members gain special powers after their plane crashes in the Amazon.
- CreatorFred GossNick HollyStarsFred GossGillian VigmanJerry LambertThe zany and slightly troubled members of a family try to make it through life as comedy ensues. In the center of the mess is Cameron, who is happily married to second wife Liz, with three children. Cameron's teenage son from his first marriage has officially moved in-and has a little-well, a lot-of trouble becoming comfortable in the new environment. Cameron's sister Sharon seems to have the perfect life-although her husband, Don, are both in denial about their sex-less marriage. Then there's Jenna, the gorgeous little half-sister who had her life shook when she became a single mother. Jenna doesn't really know what's good for her, and she always goes for the bad boys like Tommy White, while the nice guys like Wylie Blake love her. Equally problem-filled Colleen and Wendal, the parents of the siblings, try to keep their family in order...somehow. Colleen, though, is admittedly uptight and impulsively judgmental. Even though they're all a little nuts, the Halbert family hangs in there and keeps it all together.
- CreatorShaun CassidyStarsWilliam FichtnerEddie CibrianKari MatchettA Florida Park Ranger and his family deal with strange occurrences in the aftermath of a hurricane.
- CreatorNick WautersStarsJason RitterSarah RoemerIan Anthony DaleWhen a man goes looking for his missing girlfriend, he stumbles upon a government conspiracy that is bigger than the President himself.
- CreatorDarren StarStarsIrene MolloyLindsay SloaneBonnie SomervilleSatire centers on the off-camera antics of five actors who star in a fictional high school drama called "Grosse Pointe".
- CreatorSpencer ChinoySteven LevitanDan MilanoStarsEugene LevySeth GreenBob GuntonGreg the Bunny is one of the 3.2 million fabricated Americans living in the United States. Wanting a job that doesn't involve working only on Easter, he finds a job on a kid's show.
- CreatorJonas PateJosh PateStarsLake BellJay R. FergusonCarter JenkinsA marine biologist, an insurance salesman and a teen-aged boy find their lives fundamentally changed by the emergence of a new, and often dangerous, species of sea life, while government agents work to keep the affair under wraps.
- CreatorKevin FallsStarsKevin McKiddGretchen EgolfMoon BloodgoodA San Francisco journalist mysteriously travels to the past and alters the path of people's lives. When his travels reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia, life with his present-day wife gets very interesting.
- CreatorJudd ApatowJeff KahnBen StillerStarsBen StillerAndy DickJaneane GarofaloThis comedy/variety show specialized in parodies of movies and television shows and commercials. Often, they would also have a special guest (e.g., a TV actor) join them.
- CreatorDavid HemingsonStarsBradley CooperNicholas BrendonJohn Francis DaleyA bad-boy chef runs wild in his New York City eatery.
- CreatorDavid CraneJeffrey KlarikStarsAndrea AndersJon BernthalLizzy CaplanA 27-year-old is reunited with his childhood friends.
- CreatorDavid GreenwaltJohn McNamaraStarsAdrian PasdarLisa DarrLisa BlountJim Profit works for a multinational company and isn't above using any means necessary to get ahead, which includes bribery, blackmail, intimidation, extortion, and even murder. Everyone at the company, including the president, Charles Gracen, are oblivious to his dark side. As a matter of fact, Gracen thinks of him as a golden boy. But when Joanne Meltzer, the company's security chief, looks into his eyes, she sees something sinister. And when her boss, Jack Walters, is looking into some irregularities at the company, he asks Joanne to investigate, and initially the person she cornered said it was Profit who was behind it. But when Profit learned of this, he convinced this person to change the story she told Joanne. But Joanne knows that Profit is evil and so she tries to get the goods on him. At the same time, Profit tries to find a way to neutralize her and anyone else who might believe her.
- CreatorKenny SchwartzRick WienerStarsPenn BadgleyAngela GoethalsJosh WiseThirty-four-year-old Joel Larsen gets a second chance to get his life right, thanks to a freakish accident that catapults him back to 1981. Blessed with adult wisdom, though hampered by adolescent urges, Joel sets out to right the wrongs that will befall his family.
- CreatorHank SteinbergK.J. SteinbergStarsLourdes BenedictoJohn BillingsleyJessica Ann CollinsNine surviving hostages from a spectacular bank hold-up meet regularly. The memories keep haunting them, in flashbacks that slowly reveal the story. Two surviving perpetrators in jail, who are brothers, and the police, including survivor Nick, also remain focused on its aftermath, which keeps affecting all of them, their loved ones, their colleagues, and others.
- CreatorJon Harmon FeldmanSara GoodmanStarsDave AnnableAlexa DavalosWill EstesSix friends come together for their 20th high school reunion in which one of them is murdered and all of them become suspects. A detective traces their turbulent and secretive lives back spanning 20 years to find which one had the motive.
- CreatorJace RichdaleAngus OblongStarsWill FerrellPamela AdlonJean SmartThe misadventures of a goofy family deformed by toxic waste.
- CreatorBill OakleyJosh WeinsteinStarsBrian PosehnNick JamesonWallace LanghamThe misadventures of a group of disparate roomates who live in a hip neighborhood in a major city.
- CreatorShaun CassidyStarsGary ColeLucas BlackPaige TurcoA quiet, seemingly-quaint small town is ruled over by its charming yet evil sheriff who uses his demonic powers to remove anyone who dares to stand in his way. The only one he fears is a young boy he fathered through rape.
- CreatorRob ThomasStarsJeremy PivenPaula MarshallJeffrey D. SamsTrevor Hale is attractive, witty, and uncommonly intelligent--and he may be Cupid, the Greco-Roman god of erotic love.
- CreatorChris ThompsonStarsJay MohrIlleana DouglasJarrad PaulA dark comedy about Peter Dragon, a sleazy Hollywood executive. His last, massively expensive, movie bombed and he needs a hit. Will "Beverley Hills Gun Club" be it and how far will he have to go to make it?
- CreatorPeter ElkoffStarsKristoffer PolahaBrooke BurnsCorey SevierIntrigue abounds at the Grand Waimea Hotel, the perfect place for an exclusive Hawaiian getaway for the rich, powerful and beautiful.
- CreatorBragi F. SchutStarsCarla GuginoBrian Van HoltBrent SpinerA team of experts are assembled after the U.S. Navy discovers an extra-terrestrial object briefly appeared near a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
- CreatorFrank SpotnitzStarsStuart TownsendGabrielle UnionEric JungmannInvestigative reporter Carl Kolchak, who's after his wife's killer, teams up with Perri Reed, Jain McManus, and their boss Tony Vincenzo to investigate strange crimes in Los Angeles that may contain dark supernatural elements.
- CreatorBrandon CampMike ThompsonStarsDominic PurcellJayne BrookJohn Marshall JonesA man who seems to know everything but his own name helps police solve crimes as he searches for his identity.
- CreatorAaron SorkinStarsMatthew PerryAmanda PeetBradley WhitfordA behind-the-scenes look at a fictional sketch-comedy television show.
- CreatorCynthia MortStarsMichelle BorthTim DeKayAislinn PaulA drama about three couples and the therapist they share.
- CreatorJohn J. McLaughlinMarti NoxonStarsElisabeth HarnoisGrant ShowSam PageA series of supernatural events begins in a small coastal New Jersey town after the arrival of a mysterious teenage girl, who apparently has the ability to influence the people and events around her.
- CreatorMike WhiteStarsDana DelanyMartin DonovanBalthazar GettyLily McAllister has lived a charmed life as part of the most powerful family in the upscale Southern California enclave of Pasadena. All that changes, however, when a murder and coverup in her own mansion thrusts Lily into a search to unlock her family's long-buried secrets.
- CreatorJudd ApatowStarsJay BaruchelCarla GalloCharlie HunnamCollege freshman Steve Karp, his girlfriend and their fellow dormmates embark on one of the greatest experiences of their lives. Unfortunately for Steve, his lonely and recently divorced father is tagging along for the ride.
- CreatorJeff JudahGabe SachsStarsSean FarisJon FosterChristopher LowellSee life through the eyes of Dino, Ben, and Jonathan -- three teens experiencing the joys and pains of growing up. Although different in many ways, these guys have one main thing in common -- women.
- CreatorJonathan GroffJeffrey KatzenbergStarsJohn GoodmanCheryl HinesOrlando JonesThe misadventures of a family of White Lions who perform with Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas.
- CreatorJustin HalpernDavid KohanMax MutchnickStarsWilliam ShatnerJonathan SadowskiNicole SullivanA middle-aged son moves in with his old-fashioned dad.
- CreatorRick EidWalon GreenDick WolfStarsEric BalfourJordan BridgesMilena GovichADA Alexandra Cabot from "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" returns as the bureau chief for the group of young ADAs. According to Dick Wolf, "'Conviction' will be a 'charactercedural,' we will be dealing extensively with characters' back stories and personal lives."
- CreatorSteven BochcoChris GerolmoStarsJosh HendersonLuke MacfarlaneErik PalladinoA dramatized take on war in Iraq.
- StarsTed LevineMichelle ForbesMartin DonovanDepicting life in a mental institution from the points of view of both doctors and patients (Wikipedia).
- CreatorPaul AttanasioStarsAndre BraugherRhona MitraRubén BladesChief of experimental medicine at prestigious hospital uses unorthodox healing methods on critically ill patients. Skilled healer mentors young doctors while treating patients.
- CreatorAri SchlossbergStarsElaine CassidyChristopher GorhamMatt BarrHarper's Island was once the scene of a gruesome series of murders. Seven years later, family and friends gather on the island for a wedding, but one by one they begin to die.
- CreatorTim MinearBen QueenStarsKristin LehmanEmma StoneRochelle AytesA drama about various people competing in an illegal cross-country road race.
- CreatorJim LeonardStarsRon SilverKevin AndersonRachel TicotinTwo mismatched teens fall in love with each other despite the family feud between their fathers, one a pornographer, the other a district attorney, trying to bring each other down.
- CreatorTom WheelerStarsDavid LyonsKeith DavidSummer GlauVince Faraday is a cop who has been framed for murder, leading him to fall off the grid and become the super hero known only as "The Cape."
- CreatorChris CarterStarsScott BairstowD.B. SweeneyTerry O'QuinnLt. Hobbes is sent into a VR wargame simulation where he is to terminate a renegade General who has taken control of the program.
- CreatorDavid S. GoyerGregg HaleStarsEthan EmbryLisa SheridanKarim PrinceA take-off on "The Blair Witch Project," in which a guy finds out that his supposedly dead brother isn't dead after all when he sees him on the Internet. It's all about his spooky adventures in finding the truth.
- CreatorSteve AntinStarsMark FamigliettiKate BosworthRodney ScottPortrays life at Rawley Summer Academy, an elite school in Connecticut where boys with a bright Ivy League future spend the summer industriously in classes and rowing training on the lake.
- CreatorJason HorwitchStarsJames Badge DaleJessica Ann CollinsLauren HodgesWill Travers is an analyst at a New York City-based federal intelligence agency who is thrown into a story where nothing is as it appears to be.