The broadcast networks have already started showing off their shiny new fall schedules. That means, of course, the conspicuous absence of several shows you may or may not have liked. Yup, the ax has fallen, and a whole host of network shows have been canceled. Some escaped by the skin of their teeth. (ABC’s low-rated but highly regarded “Cougar Town” is moving to TBS in 2013.) Others emerged battered and beaten. (Fan-fave “Community” will return next season. For a truncated 13 episode run. On Friday nights. Paired with “Whitney.” Also, creator Dan Harmon was told to take a hike.) So which shows are gone, gone, gone? ABC Airline drama “Pan Am,” kidnap drama “Missing,” generic sitcom “Man Up!” and campy soaper “GCB” join the previously outed “Charlie’s Angels,” “Combat Hospital” and “Work It.” “Cougar Town” jumps ship to TBS. Nighttime soap “Desperate Housewives” ends its eight-year run along with venerable daytime soaps “One Life to Live” and “All My Children.” “The River,” “Expedition Impossible” and “Karaoke Battle USA” were never gonna come back anyway, so it comes as no surprise they don’t. NBC Foul-mouthed sitcom “Are You There Chelsea” and mind-bending cop drama “Awake” go the way of short-lived “Prime Suspect” and “The Playboy Club.” Nonstarter sitcoms “Love Bites,” “Friends With Benefits,” “Free Agents,” “Bent” and “Best Friends Forever” vanish. Spy-fi comedy “Chuck” ends its credible run (which included one post-cancellation, fan-demanded season.) Lawyer dramas “The Firm” and “Harry’s Law” close up shop. CBS The Eye Network cuts out one-spinoff-too-many series “CSI: Miami.” Rob Schneider’s doomed-from-the-start sitcom “Rob” joins the previously dumped “How to be a Gentleman.” Cop drama “NYC 22” can’t get arrested. I-see-dead-people medical drama “A Gifted Man” gets euthanized. Quirky crimesolver series “Unforgettable” proves otherwise. FOX “Allen Gregory” and “Napoleon Dynamite” disprove FOX’s “Animation Domination” slogan and are unceremoniously tossed from Sunday nights. After being canceled in 2011, Christian Slater’s security industry office sitcom “Breaking In” returned for a surprise second season—refreshed, heavily retooled and just as unpopular. J.J. Abrams’ ambitious “Alcatraz” wasn’t as intriguing as “Lost” apparently, leaving the island prison’s time-traveling mystery unsolved. Steven Spielberg’s expensive and frequently wan dino-drama “Terra Nova” didn’t lure enough viewers to justify a second season either. Sketch comedy series “In the Flow with Affion Crockett” gets no second season. “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” doesn’t up FOX’s sitcom rep. Quirky medical drama “House” goes off the air after eight seasons. “Bones” spinoff “The Finder” fails to find an audience. “American Idol” clone “Q’Viva: The Chosen” sings its swan song. The CW Still looking for a hit, The CW dumps “Ringer,” “The L.A. Complex,” “The Secret Circle” and longtime nighttime soap “One Tree Hill.” Awful reality series “H8R” gets no love either. … Oh well, they’ve still got “Gossip Girl.”
Idiot Box: What Network Shows Won’t Be Coming Back In Fall?
The Canceled Shows Of 2012
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