CBSis one of the longest existing and active TV networks. As such, it has produced dozens of show over the decades. Some of them went on to become huge hits that ran for multiple seasons. However, not every CBS show became a stellar success. A lot of them werecanceled after just one season, even though there were some who didn’t deserve this type of treatment.
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Severalcanceled CBS showsare either better than the viewers usually give them credit for or they simply became the victims of a bad timing. Whatever the case, a few great CBS shows that were canceled after a single season have the power to entertain the audience even today.
5Clarice
Working as an agent and catching murderers is no easy task as Clarice Starling could confirm. Set one year after the events of the Oscar-winning crime thrillerSilence of the Lambs(1991),Clariceoffers the audience a further look into the titular heroine’s life and her difficult line of work. While it didn’t have the same intense atmosphere as the 1991 movie,Clariceoffered multiple intriguing criminal cases and kept the audience hooked thanks to the insecurity about which terrible murder(er) would Clarice face.
Some fans missed seeing Jodie Foster as Clarice andAnthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, yet the series' cast gave a solid performance. Overall,Claricewas rated as an enjoyable crime series by a majority of the viewers, but CBS has canceled it anyway, even though there have been rumors that the series could move to Paramount+ instead.
4The Flash
Back in the early 1990s, the golden age of live-action TV shows and movies was yet to come, was more than a decade away. As such, the cancelation ofThe Flashdidn’t come as a surprise. However, while the series' special effects aren’t on the same level as in the case of its Arrowverse successor, this version of the fastest man alive still has a lot of charm and is the ideal adventurous story for superhero fans who want to watch something relaxing.
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John Wesley Shipp gives a convincing performance as Barry Allen, so much so that he later portrayed another version of the Flash, Jay Garrick, inthe 2014 Arrowverse seriesThe Flashas well as Barry Allen’s father Henry. So even though the show was canceled prematurely, its legacy lives on.
3Good Sam
Medical shows are a popular genreas they allow the audience to get a more detailed glimpse into the lives of doctors and nurses, professionals who save other people’s lives. Considering many series taking place in this setting, it’s inevitable that some don’t get to run as long as others do.Good Samhas a positive rating of 6.0 on IMDb, but its results weren’t good enough to sway the network and give another season to the series. That’s despite the fact that the characters were portrayed by talented actors, such as Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs.
Even though there are plenty of medical shows,Good Sambrought something new to the genre not only by focusing on the main character Sam’s work but also on her complicated relationship with her father (Isaacs) who works in the same hospital as she does. With just thirteen episodes,Good Samis one of the underappreciated shows that keeps the audience invested thanks to the mixture of work drama and a personal one that it offers.
2Limitless
Shows that deal withthe topic of special powerscontinue to be popular. Based on a successful movie of the same name from 2013,Limitlessasks what would happen if one man got the power to use 100 percent of his brain. He could use it to improve the world or solve crimes, for example. The main topic is enough to keep the viewers interested as it remains unclear for quite a while what the main hero Brian can do with his newfound ability.
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The series has a futuristic feeling to it but still comes across as something that could happen one day, unlike other science fiction shows. While it was canceled after just one season, the consolation is thatLimitlessreceived a fair number of episodes, 22 in total, which is more than many other shows canceled after the first season can say. Other than Jake McDornan as Brian,Limitlessstars a face well-known from another crime series - Jennifer Carpenter fromDexterwho plays the F.B.I. agent Rebecca Harris.
1Planet Of The Apes
The cases of recently canceled CBS shows are understandably more prominent. However, CBS has been canceling TV shows after just one season for decades. Airing in 1974,Planet of the Apesfollows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the 1968 iconic science fiction movie, and tells the story of two astronauts and a friendly ape who are surviving on Earth ruled by intelligent apes. The series is one of theunderappreciated 1970s sci-fi TV showsas it has less than 5 thousand ratings on IMDb at the moment.
While it doesn’t reach the same level of quality as the best movies from thePlanet of the Apesfranchise, it’s still an enjoyable and thought-provoking story with an excellent cast that includes some names well familiar to sci-fi fans, such as Roddy McDowall or Mark Lenard. The show was canceled after one season due to low ratings, a danger that many modern shows face as well.
