TV Shows That Were Canceled Multiple Times & Kept Coming Back

The Resilience of Canceled TV Shows

Despite being axed multiple times, some TV shows have proven that there are shows that just can’t stay canceled. TV show cancelations are often devastating for audiences and the people behind creating them. Not all TV shows have enjoyed a smooth ride during their run time, despite how popular they are with audiences. However, just because a TV show is canceled, does not always signal its end. Some TV shows like Futurama have been fortunate enough to find a new home after being canceled by its original network.

The cast of 7th Heaven

Television networks have a goal, which is to make profit from the TV shows they are investing in. When a TV show is not performing well with audiences and critics, the networks usually have no choice but to cancel a TV show in order to save money. Fortunately, several TV shows have been revived due to their popularity with audiences who usually go on a campaign to restore beloved TV shows or, in some instances, find them a new home. Once a canceled TV show begins to see a resurgence in popularity and viewership, it gives the show a chance to be revived.

Cancelled TV Shows That Made a Comeback

The journey of a canceled TV show is often filled with twists and turns, and these shows have certainly had their fair share of ups and downs. Let's take a closer look at some of the TV shows that were canceled multiple times but refused to stay down.

The 1990s family drama, 7th Heaven, featured a talented cast including Stephen Collins and Jessica Biel. After airing for 10 seasons, 7th Heaven's ratings were not as good as those of other shows on The WB like Smallville and Gilmore Girls, leading the network to cancel the show. As it turns out, announcing 7th Heaven's cancelation led to the show seeing a spike in ratings. In a surprising twist of events, CW decided to give the show an 11th season, but when that didn't work out, 7th Heaven was canceled for good in 2007.

The world of police procedural dramas is a competitive one, and not every crime drama can manage to be successful for several years. The Killing was originally on AMC before it was canceled in its second season by the network due to low ratings. Luckily for the show, its loyal fanbase campaigned for it to be revived. Fox Television negotiated a deal with Netflix and the show got revived for a third season. As the original owner of the show, AMC was included in the deal and aired The Killing for a third season before canceling the show. The fourth and final season of The Killing was picked up by Netflix.

Sarah Linden as Mireille and Stephen Holder as Joel in The Killing

The country music drama, Nashville, was massively popular when it first aired on ABC. However, Nashville's popularity began to dwindle during its fourth season and ABC decided to cancel the show. The fourth season of the show ended on a cliffhanger, leaving audiences hungry for more. Nashville season 4's disappointing ending led fans of the show to create an online campaign to revive it. Nashville found a new home on CMT but when one of the main cast members, Rayna James, was killed off, audiences were unhappy with the show's direction. CMT canceled Nashville during its sixth season.

Rayna smiling as she performs on stage

When Scrubs first aired, it was beloved by both audiences and critics. Unfortunately, the seventh season of the popular medical comedy had to be cut short because of the 2007 to 2008 Writers' Guild of America strike, which affected the show’s production time. Scrubs managed to come back for an eighth season, but Zach Braff’s announcement that he would be leaving the show at the end of the season did not bode well with its audiences. Scrubs returned for a ninth season with a new cast which was its final season. Recently, the show creator made an update there might be a Scrubs movie.

Zach Braff as JD with Donald Faison as Turk linking arms with nurses and marching down the halls in Scrubs

X-Files is a cult classic that paved the way for future sci-fi TV shows, including Lost. The beloved TV show ran for nine successful seasons from 1993 to 2001, but its popularity among audiences and critics began to drop. Fox decided to cancel the show after its ninth season. Fourteen years after the cancelation of X-Files, the show was revived in 2016 with most of the original cast returning. However, the revival only lasted for two seasons, and the show was canceled for good after its 11th season due to low viewership. There are reports that there is a new X-Files in development by the director of Black Panther.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson on The X-Files looking at a book with intrigue

Despite being one of the most popular adult animated series currently on Fox, Family Guy did not have it easy when it first premiered. Family Guy season 1 had moderately good ratings, but when the show returned for a second season, the ratings dropped and Fox canceled the show. However, a few months after its cancelation, Family Guy was revived for a third season, but that too did not last, so it was canceled for a second time and sold to Cartoon Network. The shift to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim was exactly what Family Guy needed to improve its viewership, making Fox give the show another chance.

family guy season 22 3

It's hard to imagine that a popular show like Baywatch had a rough start. When Baywatch season 1 aired, the show received poor ratings and reviews, which made NBC cancel it. Luckily, other countries like the UK continued to air the show, which saw a resurgence in its popularity. Seeing this, LBS revived Baywatch for a second time, and it ran for 10 more seasons. During its ninth season, Baywatch was rebranded to Baywatch: Hawaii and moved to Hawaii in order to save costs. Most audiences were not happy with this decision, which led to a drop in ratings and the show being canceled for the final time.

Baywatch TV series cast

Community is undoubtedly one of the funniest TV shows that became popular from the time it aired its first season. The sitcom was facing several behind the scenes issues that led to its first cancelation. Co-creator of Community, Dan Harmon and actor Chevy Chase had a disagreement about the creative direction the show was taking, which led to Harmon being fired. However, Chase was also fired from the show later on for racist remarks on set. After Chase left, Harmon was rehired for Community season 5 but NBC had decided to cancel the show. Community was picked up for a sixth season by Yahoo! Screen which was its final season.

The Community cast looking glum

Timeless brought a fresh perspective to TV shows about time traveling with its intriguing plot and interesting twists. Despite having a fresh perspective, the first season of Timeless did not have the best ratings, which led NBC to cancel the show when the first season ended. However, three days after its cancelation, NBC decided to pick the show up for a second season. The second season of Timeless got canceled when it ended, but NBC yet again changed their minds and Timeless got a two-part season finale.

Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, and Malcolm Barrett in Timeless

Futurama has not only been canceled multiple times but has been bounced around networks since the show first premiered on Fox. Despite its popularity, Fox did not have confidence in the show and was constantly changing the time it aired until the network canceled the show after its first season in 2003. Adult Swim picked up Futurama and aired reruns which saw a surge in viewership. When Comedy Central noticed how popular Futurama was, the network picked the show up for new seasons. However, in 2013, Futuruma was once again canceled after its seventh season.

Futurama characters in car

The Future of Revived TV Shows

For a while, the future of the show was uncertain until 2022 when Hulu decided to give it another chance. The entire original cast of Futurama will be featured in the revival which premiered this year in July with the second part airing in 2024. Whether Hulu will be the final home for Futurama or whether it will once again be canceled only to be revived again remains to be seen. Hulu has confirmed the renewal of Futuruma season 13 and 14.