No Answer: 10 Good TV Plots Left Unresolved By Cancellation

Image via Complex Original

Network: NBC
Run: September - December, 2007

This NBC sci-fi drama, about a newspaperman, Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd), who suddenly begins jumping back in time, where he's meant to alter people's destinies, was light on serialization but heavy on heart and intrigue. Like many other series, it might have fared better in a different year but, alas, it was a casualty of the 2007 Writer's Strike and did not get the full-year extension its cult audience so desperately desired.

We did receive some answers, or at least solid theories, on why Vasser is called to change destinies via time-travel, as well as offering some kind of closure on his quasi-love triangle between his wife, Katie (Gretchen Egolf), and ex-fiancée/fellow traveler, Livia (Moon Bloodgood). Still, 13 episodes was a cruelly small sample of what this show could offer and we're positive those questions, and others that were left completely unanswered, would have made for many more intriguing episodes.

Network: ABC
Run: October, 2007 - June, 2009

The cult audience supporting Pushing Daisies , a show about a pie-maker (Lee Pace) who could bring dead things back to life, was so fervent that frankly we're surprised the series didn't pull off a Hail Mary renewal a la Chuck. Alas, when creator Bryan Fuller sensed the end of his hyper-quirky comedy-drama was near he wrapped it up in fine enough fashion, but with several tantalizing new developments that had fans all but begging him to continue a "season three" in comic form. The showrunner has attempted to do just that, but a series of delays, including the shutting down of DC Comics' WildStorm imprint, have thus far prevented fans from getting the answers they crave.

Network: HBO
Run: September, 2003 - March 2005

It's rare that HBO and "canceled" are uttered in the same breath—these days the network is notorious for granting insanely early renewals and sticking with series that garner critical acclaim if not huge ratings.

Sometimes acclaim isn't enough to keep the lights on however, and back in the day Carnivale's cost-to-Emmy ratio wasn't good enough for the suits at Home Box Office. As such, Carnivale's publicized six-year plan was cut short more than halfway, forever stalling the epic, heavenly showdown between Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) and Brother Justin (Clancy Brown).

The fan thirst was so real that the show's audience all but demanded that creator Daniel Knauf release the rest of his four year outline. He complied in 2007, releasing the original Pitch Document, the series bible detailing many of the show's answers to its mythology. Still, not quite the same as seeing it unfold on the tube, is it?

Network: FOX, SyFy
Run: March, 1995 - December, 1999

Sometimes showrunners know the unfortunate end is near while in the middle of production and work to craft a suitable conclusion to satisfy their devoted audience. The crack team behind FOX's cult science fiction hit (later dumped on SyFy back when it was still Sci-Fi) Sliders were not so gracious.

The sliders, people who jump from universe to universe, ended the series mid-battle with the villainous Kromaggs because the producers thought it would ignite a save-our-show campaign, thus thugging the increasingly disinterested Sci-Fi into a sixth season. Or maybe they just wanted to deliver a nice fuck-you to the second network to dump them in as many years.

Network: FOX
Run: September - December, 2005

Reunion wasn't a great show, but once a murder mystery sucks us in we can't help but stick it through out of pure curiosity, and unsolved murders are among the most frustrating cliffhangers. Even though the substance wasn't there, Reunion had a cool, gimmicky premise that was enough to sustain interest, or so the producers thought.

A group of friends reconvene at their 20-year high school reunion and one is murdered. Scenes in the present are inter-cut with flashbacks, starting with the year they graduated, with each episode featuring the next year in the 20-year gap.

FOX cut the cord around episode 13, but creator Jon Harmon Feldman was nice enough to reveal the eventual twists, reveals, and motives of the killer on the Internet.

Network: ABC
Run: September, 2009 - May, 2010

Without a doubt the buzziest pilot of that television season, FlashForward, like the many would-be Lost successors that followed, ended up limping to the finish line with only a fraction of its initial audience. The middle of the one and only season was subject to boring placeholder episodes, red herrings, and diversions designed to save the fireworks—the events the characters foresaw—for the season finale.

Whether or not those answers were delivered is up for debate. What's for sure is that all of that forthcoming goodwill was squandered when the final minutes triggered another time-jumping blackout with enough intriguing future snippets to sustain another two seasons. Yes, the obvious pun about the producers wishing they could've flash-forwarded and concluded their show was made ad nauseum.

Network: NBC
Run: September, 2006 - February, 2010

By the time Heroes was put to pasture most of us had jumped ship. The superhero drama became flabby and aimless, relying on fruitless trips to the future and countless retcons to generate more story.

It seemed like cancellation was the best thing for everybody—until the final scene featured Hayden Panettiere's infamously indestructible cheerleader reenacting her high dive from the series pilot...in front of a group of reporters with the cameras rolling. The "heroes" finally coming out to the world was about the only plot line that would've actually made us sorry the show wouldn't continue. Mission accomplished.

Network: AMC
Run: June, 2010 - October, 2010

It's understandable that the network responsible for critically acclaimed water cooler juggernauts such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad would be less impressed with any series that failed to measure up. Our only question is how the hell did they renew The Killing and let this gem go?

The buzz was decidedly low-key but this moody, down-to-Earth spy drama was unlike anything else on TV. Even worse, the war-mongering conspiracy that protagonist Will Travers (James Badge Dale) was right about all along will continue to win. But hey, at least we'll find out who killed Rosie Larsen soon!

Network: USA
Run: July, 2004 - September, 2007

Before all USA shows were interchangeable riffs on the Burn Notice formula, the network was home to this criminally under-watched, consistently entertaining sci-fi series. At its best it incorporated the procedural element of X-Files, the sci-fi societal scope of X-Men, and the future shock of Heroes, and it built to a season-four, game-changing finale. 

Half of Seattle was wiped out while self-proclaimed prophet Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell) and his super-powered flock essentially took over the remains of the city. The dystopian fun of a potential fifth season was nipped in the bud when the Writer's Strike popped off and 4400's revenue didn't promote much in the way of grace from USA.

Network: FOX
Run: October, 2003 - March 2005

Hands down the most frustrating cancellation event is when a bad series with tons of potential finally gets its act together on the eve of getting the axe.

Tru Calling is another doomed Jon Harmon Feldman high-minded concept that finds Eliza Dushku doing her usual tough chick shtick as a morgue attendant who dead bodies sometimes ask for help. Her day rewinds and it's up to her to prevent their death, or right some unfinished business.

It was all very procedural and boring until late season one when Jason Priestley showed up as a drifter also capable of reliving days—only he was of the belief that the dead should stay dead.

The series instantly shifted into a highly entertaining weekly cat-and-mouse dynamic with a cool metaphysical undertone and expansive mythology. It all made for a very promising second season, and the promise was delivered...for all of six episodes. (And yes, that is a pre-Hangover Zach Galifianakis doing his best to hide his face on the left. Think he answers Eliza's calls these days?)