The year 2020 is about to come to a close and for some, ringing in the new year can't come soon enough. The year has had its ups and downs, with more downs than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But thankfully, people around the world have had entertaining television to help lift their spirits. However, while plenty of new TV series were released in 2020, not all of them have been huge hits. Yes, new series like The Queen's Gambit, Utopia, and Raised by Wolves have garnered almost universal praise. But others weren’t that great in the eyes of critics, viewers, or both.
So much so, in fact, that before the year has even come to an end, these series, all released in 2020, have already been given the axe.
Fox's Next
The Fox sci-fi crime drama about an artificial intelligence (AI) that goes rogue and wreaks havoc on the world, taunting the FBI and an increasingly paranoid former tech-CEO (John Slattery), didn't hit the mark.
After only two episodes aired, the network announced the cancellation. The remaining season one episodes continue to air.
Fox's Filthy Rich
While Kim Cattrall's series Sex and the City hit it out of the park, she didn't have the same luck with this new Fox show, which was given the boot swiftly after it premiered in late September.
By October, the show about a wealthy family and drama fueled by money, power, and religion, was cancelled. The remaining season one episodes, however, continue to air.
HBO's The Outsider
Technically, this HBO crime drama based on the Stephen King novel was a miniseries so a second season was not expected. But fans who watched got the feeling that the ending suggested more story was to come.
HBO, however, has confirmed it won't be home to a new season of the series so if there is one, it would end up on another network.
CBS' Interrogation
This true-crime drama launched on CBS All Access in February, but by November, the streaming service said Interrogation would not be returning.
The original concept series was based on a real-life case, with each episode featuring real interrogation tactics used by police on a young man who was accused of murdering his mother.
NBC's Connecting…
One of many shows centered around the idea of quarantining at home, this NBC sitcom followed a group of friends trying to stay connected via video chatting during lockdown.
It was canceled in November, a month after release, though all remaining episodes in season one are available on Peacock and Hulu as well.
Peacock's Brave New World
The dystopian science fiction drama based on the Aldous Huxley novel of the same name didn't quite garner the reaction NBC streaming service Peacock had hoped for as one of the most hyped ones in its launch line-up.
Presented as a modern take on Huxley's idea of a utopian society, with everyone connected by a single AI system, fans weren't biting. After a single season, Brave New World was canceled.
Netflix's Away
Netflix launched this sci-fi drama in September, but by October, it was announced that there would not be a season two.
Inspired by an article in Esquire magazine by Chris Jones, it chronicles the first expedition to Mars with an international crew.
Netflix's Teenage Bounty Hunters
Teen comedy-dramas either do amazingly well or fall flat, and this one for Netflix belongs in the latter category.
Released in August, the show was about a pair of high school twins who end up secretly working as bounty hunters in order to afford to pay to repair their father's truck. In October, it was canceled after one season.
ABC's United We Fall
With Will Sasso at the helm, this ABC sitcom had promise to fill the hole left by popular sitcoms that have ended, like Modern Family. But it wasn't to be.
Viewers didn't tune in to see a young couple whose life was upended when the husband's mother (Jane Curtin) moves in with them. It premiered in July and was canceled by September.
Paramount Network's 68 Whiskey
Dubbed a military comedy-drama, and based on the Israeli series Charlie Golf One, the show got generally positive reviews but didn't quite make it into the Paramount Network line-up for the next TV season schedule.
It premiered at the beginning of the year in January but the cancellation was confirmed by September.