The recent cancellation of the seriesStar Wars: The Acolyte has given us want to revisit six series unfairly canceled by the major Hollywood networks, leaving millions of fans orphaned from their favorite series.
#1 Rome (HBO)
HBO didn't wait the launch fromGame of Thronesin 2011 to offer series with obvious cinematic ambitions. After brilliantly paying homage to gangster films with The Sopranos (1999-2007) and westerns with Deadwood (2004-2008), the Warner group's cable channel is launching into the peplum, revitalized by Ridley Scott's masterpiece, Gladiator (2000). Co-created by filmmaker John Milius, who wrote the script for Apocalypse Nowby Francis Ford Coppola (1979) and the direction of Conan the Barbarian (1982), and Bruno Heller – the future creator of the series The Mentalist and Gotham -, Rome plunges us into the last moments of the Roman Republic, seen through the eyes of two soldiers caught up in the turmoil of events.
Based on an extremely talented cast, bringing together the cream of British television at the time, with Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting, Kingdom of Heaven), Ray Stevenson (Black Sails, RRR, Ahsoka), Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones,Harry Potter), Kenneth Cranham (The Boxer), Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones, The Crown) and Kerry Condon (Better Call Saul, The Banshees of Inisherin, Skeleton Crew), the series can also count on sumptuous sets, since it was filmed in the legendary Cinecittà sets in Rome. Despite its innumerable artistic qualities, the series was cancelled after two seasons, despite its resounding success, due to its high production costs. The series Rome was too far ahead of its time…
#2 Vinyl (HBO)
Legendary director Martin Scorsese loves music as much as he loves cinema. While he is often reduced to his cult gangster films, such as Mean Streets (1973), Goodfellas(1990) and Casino (1995), the Italian-American filmmaker has other obsessions, including rock and blues. He also directed the last concert of The Band in The Last Waltz, as well as two grandiose documentaries on Bob Dylan, including No Direction Home (2006). So see Martin Scorsese at the helm of an HBO series for a series mixing the record industry in the 1970s and organized crime, we're in! (Especially since the series is co-produced by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and written by Terence Winter, historical screenwriter of the Sopranos, and who is a close collaborator of Scorsese, since he wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and was the showrunner of the remarkable gangster series Boardwalk Empire, produced by Scorsese, who directed the first episode.)
Launched in 2016, Vinyl is a great success. Its first episode, with an exceptional duration of almost two hours, benefits from the virtuoso direction of Martin Scorsese, and never has the TV series been so close to the cinema. Unfortunately, despite very positive reviews from critics, the disappointing audiences pushed HBO to cancel the series at the end of its first season. However, we can console ourselves by saying that Martin Scorsese was able to use actors seen in The Wolf of Wall Street and Boardwalk Empire in Vinyl by giving them leading roles, and some of them continued to collaborate with the filmmaker on his last two masterpieces The Irishman (2019) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Despite the failure that was Vinyl, Martin Scorsese recently announced that he was working on a mystery miniseries, for which he is directing all the episodes. We don't know if it will be for HBO, but we can't wait!
#3 Westworld (HBO)
Launched with great fanfare on HBO in 2016, Westworld is the remake and sequel to the film Westworld by Michael Crichton, the techno-thriller king who wrote, among other things, the novel Jurassic Parkthat Steven Spielberg adapted in 1993. Praised from its first season, notably for its artistic direction and its puzzle-like script written by Jonathan Nolan (Christopher Nolan's brother) and Lisa Joy, Westworld was immediately designed to have five seasons. However, its magnificent season 2 will arouse some criticism among the public, which will increase with seasons 3 and 4 which assume even more the cyberpunk aspect of the work by leaving the parks.
Unfortunately, ratings plummeted, to the point that HBO canceled the series at the end of its fourth season, leaving viewers with an open ending. The departure of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy from HBO and their arrival on Prime Video, with the series Fallout (one of the nice surprises of 2024) definitively buries the hope of seeing the end of Westworld.Actress Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Dolores in the series, has said on several occasions how much this decision by HBO haunts her. We understand!
#4 Firefly (Fox)
Even if he is no longer in the good books, due to the carnage of Justice League (2017) and his problematic management techniques, Joss Whedon was at one time one of the most sought-after screenwriters on the American small screen. Even before having directed the first two parts of Avengersfor the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whedon had created and directed the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) for The WB, one of the most cult series of the late 1990s and early 2000s, before repeating the feat with Firefly for the Fox channel.
Telling the adventures of the renegade crew of the spaceship Serenity, the series is considered a masterpiece of Science Fiction. Unfortunately, it was cancelled after just one season, before finding success thanks to DVD sales, which gave it cult status. Fireflyis the classic case of unfair cancellation!
#5 Mindhunter (Netflix)
After the huge success of House of Cards, David Fincher has returned with a new series, which is one of the greatest works ever released on Netflix: Mindhunter. Heavily inspired by The Silence of the Lambsby Jonathan Demme, the series tells the story of the beginnings of profiling techniques by the FBI. While there would be much to say, obviously, about its incredible casting, starting with the main trio (Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv), Mindhunterdraws its greatest strength from its imperial staging. It must be said that David Fincher, who many rightly consider to be one of the greatest directors working today, directed seven of the nineteen episodes in the series! The opening scene of the first episode is in itself a model of writing and directing, and announces the mastery to come.
Despite the fact that Mindhunter has made headlines throughout its short seasons, particularly in its astonishing ability to resonate with the excellent Once Upon a Time… in Hollywoodby Quentin Tarantino, since both works used the same actor to play Charles Manson, the series was finally canceled. Netflix, which suffers from its reputation for canceling series left, right and centre, is not solely responsible for this state of affairs: David Fincher seems to refuse to do a third season, because he would need greater financial needs, which the audience of Mindhunterdoesn't allow it.
#6 Pushing Daisies (ABC)
When we talk about Bryan Fuller, we obviously think of the exceptional Hannibal (also very unfairly canceled after its third season), but we mustn't forget Pushing Daisies, a true gem of dark humor and romance. At the crossroads between Amélie, Tim Burton's cinema and the series Dead Like Me (also created by Fuller), Pushing Daisiestells the story of a pastry chef who has the power to bring the dead back to life with a simple touch and send them back to eternal rest if he touches them a second time.
Between a detective story (he uses his gifts to solve investigations alongside a private detective) and a love story (his first “client” was his childhood sweetheart, whom he resurrected and doesn't dare touch again), Pushing Daisies is a little gem, the first episode of which was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, known for directing the films The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, and the Men in Black trilogy. The series was unfortunately canceled after its second season, and we will never know the end of the love story between Ned and Chuck.