10 TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon in 2019

As you can tell from this list, it was a rough year for superheroes on the small screen. That’s a shame because The Gifted was gearing up to do some wild stuff in the never-gonna-happen Season 3—I’m talking potentially Avengers: Endgame level wild! The season finale teased time travel shenanigans and reintroduced Blink (Jamie Chung) as a total badass. Was The Gifted going into Days of Future Past or even Age of Apocalypse territory? This show was so close to being the X-Men live-action show fans have been waiting for, and now we’ll have to keep waiting.—Brett White

Stream The Gifted on Hulu

I find the phrase “This is why we can’t have nice things” overused, but when the news of Busy Tonight’s cancellation came through this past spring, I could think of nothing else. Charismatic host Busy Philipps was just finding her groove — and she got there a helluva lot sooner than most of her fellow late night counterparts. The show was not just charming and fun and silly and light — it also knew when to get real. Busy addressed women’s issues in a genuine and passionate way, when it counted most — and somehow still made viewers smile and feel awfully proud. This is not the last we’ll see of Busy, we just wish we were seeing her Tonight.—Lea Palmieri

Here’s the thing about The Punisher: this show was far better, and more nuanced a take on the Punisher than any of us ever deserved. From the show’s deep cynicism about the morality of the military to its complex look at the lingering violence of trauma, it was a rebuke to most reads on the ultra-violent character. The Punisher seemed to exist in a universe far away from the theatrics of the rest of the Defenders series. So much so, you could see it living a bold new life on its own, even after the rest Netflix’s Marvel series were canceled. Most of all, it gave us lush, complicated, soulful performances from the likes of Jon Bernthal, Ben Barnes, and Amber Rose Revah.—Meghan O’Keefe

Stream Marvel's The Punisher on Netflix

With so many comic book shows on the air, Amazon leapt into the superhero TV show fray with an irreverent dark comedy starring a bunch of offbeat crime fighters–and I’m not talking about The Boys. As great as Amazon’s breakout hit of 2019 is, The Tick was there first, mining pathos out of the unglamorous life of TV superheroes. This half-hour show was the perfect, fast-paced counterpart to more bloated hero fare, and Season 2 expanded the borders of the show like whoah. It’s too bad we’ll never see Peter Serafinowicz and Griffin Newman face weirdos like Chairface Chippendale or Thrakkorzog.—Brett White

Stream The Tick on Prime Video

It was one of the smartest and most interesting shows we’ve been graced with for a while, and it’s just a plain old bummer that Counterpart didn’t last after its two fascinating seasons on STARZ. While this mysterious show about two nearly identical worlds (and the people who travel between them) is best as a binge, it’s got some great action and psychological thriller elements and a double dose of J.K. Simmons at his very best. Watch the two available seasons on STARZ, and while you might be left with many questions, it’s always been in this show’s nature to keep us guessing anyway.—Lea Palmieri

Stream Counterpart on STARZ

I love the idea behind Dr. Seuss’ whole “don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened” racket, but with all due respect to Doc Rhymes, AMC’s Lodge 49 deserved better. Jim Gavin’s blisteringly original dramedy had a knack for making the mundane seem magical. Canceled after two revelatory seasons, this mystical show was an optimistic noir that dealt with disparate themes like economic hardship and literal magic while creating an engaging cast of fun, relatable characters. Lodge 49 may be gone, but, as any true fan of the show already knows, it’ll never be forgotten.—Josh Sorokach

Stream Lodge 49 on Hulu

We may never know how much of Cloak & Dagger’s demise was that it was a victim of circumstances beyond its control (i.e., shifts in the corporate structure of Marvel), versus ratings. But we do know that Freeform’s superhero drama was one of the deepest, best, and most provocative shows on TV. In its two short seasons, Cloak & Dagger dove head on into issues like #BlackLivesMatter and human trafficking in smart, responsible ways, using superpowers as metaphors rather than easy solutions. That’s not even getting into the leads, Olivia Holt as Tandy and Aubrey Joseph as Ty, the divine pairing inextricably linked together by their powers, and the trauma of their shared past. Both of them and the supporting cast brought it every single episode. And thanks to the steady hand of show runner Joe Pokaski, every episode had no flab. Unlike some other superhero shows, each episode was written for the hour, was tightly structured, and built each year to a powerful conclusion. Cloak & Dagger might be over—we’ll see the characters one more time on the final season of Hulu’s Runaways—but the future is bright for everyone involved in this special show that was cut off too soon. Waffles forever.—Alex Zalben

Stream Marvel's Cloak & Dagger on Hulu

Until Netflix canceled The OA, I thought I was alone in loving The OA Part II for all its strange, tentacled beauty. Though I was not exactly surprised to see it go—Netflix has never prioritized weird art—I was heartbroken. Not only did this season make me believe in the power of faith in a way no organized religion ever has, it also ended with one of the most jaw-dropping, mind-blown-emoji plot twists of all time. I have every faith that creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij would have further blown our minds with the additional three seasons they have mapped out. Can some other streaming service just #SaveTheOA already? This is worse than the Firefly cancellation.—Anna Menta

Stream The OA on Netflix

Ending Lisa Hanawalt’s ode to female friendship after only one season is a crime. Television has never been blessed by anything quite as extraordinary as the story of Tuca the toucan (Tiffany Haddish) and Bertie the songbird (Ali Wong). Not only did this comedy deftly navigate the challenges of friendship and growing up without making its leading ladies turn on each other—a feat in and of itself—it did so while always being authentic and laugh out loud funny. And at the same time, Tuca & Bertie embraced its animated form in a way that pushed the boundaries of what this medium could look like. The wobbling, eccentric world of this cartoon wasn’t created merely to tell this story about birdie besties. It embodied every intricate emotion woven throughout the narrative. When Tuca and Bertie were living their best lives, their world was jiggling, free, and full of surprise boobs. When they were hurting the very world around them changed, becoming a bit colder, a bit more distant, and a bit more uncomfortably strange. For years to come, the cancelation of Tuca & Bertie, an adult animated comedy created by and starring women in this bleakly male-dominated genre, should reign as one of Netflix’s biggest mistakes.—Kayla Cobb

Stream Tuca & Bertie on Netflix

When the fans badgered Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth for a reboot of Beverley Hills 90210, no one was expecting BH90210. Spelling and Garth managed to reunite the whole gang (even Shannon Doherty!) for this super-meta revival in which everyone plays themselves as they try to get their own reunion series off the ground while their lives are falling apart. Though the absence of Luke Perry permeated every episode, watching BH90210 was like hanging with your oldest pals again after a long break. We can only imagine the hijinks the gang could have gotten into in Season 2.—Karen Kemmerle

Stream BH90210 on Hulu