This is a list of television series canceled before airing an episode. While many television shows are produced as pilots that never air on television or in any medium, this article lists shows whose broadcasts were officially announced but then canceled prior to the debut on the original network. Shows are listed in alphabetical order, and include the slated year of debut, known cast and plot information, the reason for cancellation (if known), and what happened to the series after cancellation.
13 Bourbon Street (1997) Created by Michael Malone and Josh Griffith, and executive producer of One Life to Live, Linda Gottlieb, this soap opera was supposed to air late nights on the Fox Broadcasting Company, but it never materialized after Peter Roth joined Fox Broadcasting Company. A The Activist (2021) Created by Global Citizen and Live Nation, this reality competition show, hosted by Usher, Priyanka Chopra, and Julianne Hough, was to focus on six activists working to bring change to one of three causes (health, education, and the environment), with the finalists attending the 2021 G20 summit. The activist who raised the most funds would be crowned "The Activist". The methodology of how the contestants' success would have been judged (via social media engagement and assessments by the hosts) drew immense backlash. Originally slated for an October premiere date on CBS for the 2021–22 season, the show was reportedly reformatted to a documentary special following the controversy.
All My Babies' Mamas (2013) An American reality show set to air on Oxygen starring rapper Shawty Lo (who died in 2016), showcasing his life as the father of eleven children by ten different women. The series was canceled after an online petition and public outcry.
All-Star Celebrity Bowling (2014) Revival of the 1970s bowling game show Celebrity Bowling that was to air on AMC. The channel had picked up the show in May 2014 before deciding in October to cancel all but one of its unscripted programs. All-Star Celebrity Bowling was one of at least three shows canceled in this manner.Littleton, Cynthia (October 9, 2014). AMC Scraps Second Season of 'Game of Arms', Other Shows as Cabler Reconsiders Unscripted Genre. Variety. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
Amazon High (1997) Selma Blair starred as a present-day high school student who accidentally travels back in time to the mythical days of the Amazons. Amazon High, co-starring Karl Urban, was proposed as a third show set in the Hercules and Xena mythological genre, but was never aired. Later, portions of the pilot were adapted and edited into the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "Lifeblood" in 2000.
Angels '88/'89 (1988 and 1989) Attempted revival of Charlie's Angels that was proposed for the then-new Fox network produced by Aaron Spelling in the wake of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike. This would allow for the re-use of scripts from the original series without the need for writers. Four women (including Téa Leoni) were cast in the starring roles. It was renamed Angels 89 due to production delays taking it into the following calendar year. It was eventually abandoned the next year after the settlement of the writer's strike.
Aquaman (2006) A live-action failed pilot for The CW that never aired on the network. It was later released digitally on iTunes on July 25, 2006. Within a week, it reached the number-one spot on the list of most downloaded TV shows on the digital store's list and held that spot for over a week.
El ático (2022) Spanish talk show meant to be hosted by Ion Aramendi on Telecinco on the weekday 8 p.m. timeslot. Four pilots were taped before Telecinco's parent company Mediaset España decided against moving ahead with the format. Archie (1976) A live-action television pilot that was pitched to ABC. Based on Archie Comics characters, it would have starred Dennis Bowen as Archie Andrews, alongside Audrey Landers as Betty Cooper and Hilary Thompson as Veronica Lodge.
B Bastards (2019) A dark drama series based on the Israeli series Nevelot starring Richard Gere that was given a straight-to-series order in late 2018 by Apple TV. It was said to focus on two Vietnam veterans and best friends, and would have been Gere's highest-profile television role. Howard Gordon and Warren Leight collaborated on two scripts for Bastards, but Apple was concerned about the "show's tone of vigilante justice" and scrapped the show. A previous attempt at an American adaptation of Nevelot had been in development at HBO in 2015 before it was eventually scrapped.
The Big D (2022) An American reality dating competition show that was scheduled to air on TBS, hosted by JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers. It was set to focus on divorced couples living together and looking for love with other contestants, with one single participant eliminated each episode. On June 16, 2022, the series was canceled after Discovery took over Warner Bros. from AT&T and removed several aired and unaired series from their platforms for tax purposes. The series was eventually picked up by the USA Network and aired in 2023.
Bill and Martha (1964) An American situational comedy starring William Bendix and Martha Raye that was scheduled to air on CBS, but was not aired due to the purported shaky health of Bendix. This action resulted in a lawsuit from Bendix for $2.658 million in May with the actor stating that the decision hurt his career, he was in excellent health, and he could perform all of the requirements of the agreement. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Bendix subsequently died on 14 December 1964 from complications of stomach cancer and pneumonia.
Bimbos et Intellos (2007) A French adaptation of the American reality television series Beauty and the Geek that was to air on TF1. The show was hosted by Laurent Ournac, produced by Endemol, and was filmed in Hammamet, Tunisia. Six episodes of the show were filmed in March and April 2007. While the show was first scheduled to air in summer of 2007, the show faced constant delays before it was ultimately scrapped by TF1 with no episodes aired.
Blonde Charity Mafia (2009 and 2010) An American reality series developed by Lifetime, it followed three Washington, D.C. socialites whose lives revolved around charity events. After production was completed on one six-episode season, Lifetime decided to sell the show to the CW network rather than air the show themselves. The CW scheduled the July premiere date for the series, but later decided to forgo all original programming for that summer and programed the show as a midseason replacement for the 2009–10 season. Sometime after that decision, the network apparently lost interest in the series; references to it were removed from CW websites, and on December 29 the network officially confirmed that it would not air the show at all. It was apparently dropped in favor of two other reality series developed by The CW, Fly Girls and High Society. The series did air on MTV Australia and MTV New Zealand in August and September 2009.
Bridge & Tunnel (2010) An MTV slice of life documentary-style reality show that follows the lives of young residents on Staten Island. The show was in production and had a scheduled air date for October 2010, but was ultimately pulled for being too similar to the network's hit Jersey Shore. The concept of a Staten Island-based reality program was revisited by MTV at the start of 2019 with Made in Staten Island. However, that project would air only three episodes on the network in January 2019 before being pulled due to low ratings and general criticism of a focus on younger people with possible organized crime/mob ties, which MTV exploited with a Sopranos-inspired launch campaign. Some of that cast would be involved in another series, Families of the Mafia, meant to take a less confrontational view of mob families in general; that series would air all six of its episodes in the spring of 2020.
C Captain America (1998) The animated series, based on the comic book character of the same name, was meant to premiere in February on Fox Kids. However, the show was pulled due to Marvel's bankruptcy and conflicts about whether it was appropriate to use Nazi imagery when portraying the villains.
The Cheetah Girls (2003) Based on the novel series of the same name, ABC canceled this television series before producing any episodes. However, three TV movies were made: The Cheetah Girls (film), The Cheetah Girls 2, and The Cheetah Girls: One World.
Coach (2015) A revival of the 1990s sitcom of the same name, Coach was picked up by NBC without a pilot. Shortly after the series began production, unspecified problems with NBC staff prompted the network to cancel the series before any of its 13-episode order made it to air.
Coastocoast (1978) This hour-long sitcom about two airline stewardesses from Bud Yorkin's production company was originally announced for NBC's Thursday night schedule. Yorkin stated he preferred a delayed debut. When Fred Silverman took over the network in June, the show was pulled for "further development" and eventually scrapped.
Codes of Conduct (2015) HBO was producing Codes of Conduct, the Steve McQueen-Matthew Michael Carnahan written drama series about an African American man from Queens attempt in join Manhattan high society, with Devon Terrell, Paul Dano, Helena Bonham Carter, and Rebecca Hall as the leads of the limited series. The limited series was canceled due to its expensive production.
Commando Nanny (2004) A sitcom series for The WB, created by Survivor producer Mark Burnett, was based on his life as an au pair (he is also a former squaddie, serving in No3 Para). Scheduled for the WB's Friday comedy block, the show's September 17 debut was delayed due to Phillip Winchester breaking his foot and being replaced by Owain Yeoman, followed by Gerald McRaney undergoing lung surgery. After the pilot was reshot, Rachel Sweet departed as showrunner, forcing The WB to shelve the sitcom permanently. A marginally longer version of the story appears at . Retrieved May 31, 2015.
Confederate (2020) Confederate was a planned American alternate history drama television series developed for the network HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who had previously developed the HBO series Game of Thrones. The series was to be set in a timeline where the American Civil War ended in a stalemate. The announcement was followed by anger and criticism on social media with some describing it as slavery fan fiction, leading to the hashtag #NoConfederate, which trended number one in the United States and number two worldwide on Twitter in mid 2017. In April 2018, Variety reported that the future of Confederate was uncertain. In July 2018, HBO president Casey Bloys confirmed the series was still in development, and hoped it would resume once Benioff and Weiss finished their ongoing commitments. In February 2019, Bloys said the series was still in development and not affected by the controversy, but stated in May 2019 that it was "not on the front burner". In August 2019, it was announced that Benioff and Weiss had closed a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix and it was reported that the deal "wipes Confederate off HBO's books." In January 2020, Bloys confirmed that the project had been officially canceled without an episode being made.
The Cops (2017 and 2018)