Uncanceled: Difference between revisions

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More common is creating a [[Revival]] or [[SeriesMedia Franchise]].

If the show got enough of a notice to have a [[Grand Finale]], being [['''Uncanceled]]''' transforms it into a [[Series Fauxnale]], followed by [[Post Script Season]].

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'''s original run in the US was cut short after only 65 episodes in it'sits original syndicated run. After leaving syndication, it re-surfaced on USA Network, where it was once again, cancelled after failing to find an audience. However, once the show ended up on Toonami, it finally garnered itself an audience, which resulted in the show being continued with more episodes.

* ''[[Ranma One Half½]]'' was originally canceled in Japan after only 18 episodes due to it'sits time slot being in competition with another, more popular show. It however, continued several months later with a different time slot.

* ''[[Manhunter (Comic Bookcomics)|Manhunter]]'' was originally slated to be canceled after issue #25, but fan demand convinced DC to continue for 5 more issues. After those five, it was canceled again until fan demand convinced DC to give Manhunter another chance. Then it became a backup Feature for ''Batman Streets of Gotham''. The backup feature was cancelled after only a year.

* The comic book ''[[Spider-Girl (Comic Book)|Spider-Girl]]'' has been canceled and uncanceled so many times it's easy to lose track, including the latest time at issue 100 to restart again with 1 (which was far from guaranteed at the time).

== Literature ==

* [[Liaden Universe]]: The first three books of the Liaden series did not sell well enough for the original publisher to want to commission sequels. Disappointed, the authors got day jobs and went on with their lives for the next several years while, unbeknownst to them, a significant Liad fandom was growing on the Internet (to the point where "When will the next Liaden book come out?" was a question in the SF fandom newsgroup's FAQ).<br /><br />When the Internet arrived in Lee & Miller's neck of Maine, they were startled to find that not only were fans clamoring for the next book, but the title of it, ''Plan B'', had already been decided for them. With this fandom behind them, Lee & Miller were able to find a publisher to continue the series, and cranked out seven more books (as well as two collections of the short stories they continue to self-publish in chapbook form every year).<br /><br />Then the series was uncanceled ''again'' when Baen picked it up after that other publisher, Meisha Merlin, went out of business. Four more books were added to the series (though two of them had already been written as fan-funded draft manuscripts), then other sequels and prequels were contracted. To the fans' delight, the series now shows no signs of stopping.

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' was canceledcancelled by PTEN one year short of its 5 year arch. They wrapped it up as best they could by the end of season 4 but then had contrive a whole new story arch when they were picked up for a final season by TNT.

* MTV's ''[[Headbanger's Ball]]'' was finally brought back in 2003 after the original show was cancelled almost a decade earlier.

* One of the shortest uncancelation cycles on record belongs to ''[[AmericasAmerica's Most Wanted]]''. In 1996, Fox canceled the series even though it was still one of fledgling network's highest-rated shows, as Fox attempted to establish a Saturday night comedy block to take advantage of NBC's dwindling dominance of the evening. After then FBI director Louis Freeh, police departments across the country, the governors of 37 states and more than 200,000 letter-writers complained about the decision, Fox hastily reinstated the series, and it suffered only a six-week hiatus. It also kind of helped that the new sitcoms bombed badly and that Fox realized ''[[Married... with Children]]'' and ''Martin'' should have never been moved to Saturday night in the first place. In 2011, the show was reduced to a series of quarterly specials on Fox, as well as regular showings on Lifetime TV, but it's still chugging along.

* ''[[Battlebots]]'' was canceled in 2002 after five seasons on [[Comedy Central]], but got brought back by CBS College Sports in December of 2009.

* Apparently the first anyone working on ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven7]]'' knew of the fourth series was when it was announced at the end of the last episode of the third. [[The BBC]]'s Director of Television, Bill Cotton, was enjoying the episode so much he phoned the transmission staff mid-episode and told them to announce that the show was returning.

* ''[[Cagney and Lacey]]'' was canceled by [[CBS]] in 1983, after two seasons. A letter-writing campaign persuaded the network to bring the show back; four more full seasons aired, plus four (!) [[Made for TV Movie|MadeForTVMovies]]s in the mid-1990s. Thus, unlike many of the shows on this list, its post-uncancelation run was much longer than its pre-cancellation run

* After an incredible 10 years, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] greenlighted the return of ''[[Cupid]]''. It was described as a reimagining and was as [[Too Good to Last]] as the original and quickly faded away.

* ''~[[Mama's Family~]]'': Canceled by NBC in 1984 after only two seasons, it was brought back in 1986 in first-run syndication, lasting for four more seasons. (Thankfully, as most fans seem to enjoy the syndicated seasons more.)

* ABC's reality show ''[[The Mole (TV series)|The Mole]]'' became this when it returned to ABC in the summer of 2008 in its original format.

* ''[[New Amsterdam]]'', about an [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|immortal]] detective, was [[Captain Obvious|canceled by Fox]] before the first episode even aired. However, due to the WGA writer's strike, they ended up airing it, and it got a fairly good response. But it ''is'' [[FoxFOX]], so they rendered the show [[Too Good to Last]] just the same.

* ''[[Police, Camera, Action!]]'': Uncanceled in 2002, then 2007, and then 2008, and again in 2010!

{{quote| No-one can ever take them down/ the power lies on their si~i~i~ide!}}

** When ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' was first aired in 1993 the network executives of [[FoxFOX]] had so little insight and faith in the show's potential that the show was only expected to last, at best, for one season. So before the show even began it was prescheduled for cancellation after it had completed its one season of 40 episodes total. Due to the show's unforeseen popularity however, what was supposed to be the grand finale was edited last minute into a standard multi-part episode to leave the show open ended for continuation. Fox ordered an additional 20 episodes, using new Toei footage and costumes bought exclusively for ''Power Rangers'' by Saban (having exhausted the ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger]]'' footage), for the first season. At the same time Saban also secured the rights to more ''[[Super Sentai]]'' series for future seasons of the show.

**** And just to take it one step further, this attitude was not exclusive to just the network executives of [[FoxFOX]]. Saban had attempted for several years unsuccessfully to market the show to virtually all other networks at the time (both cable and standard broadcast television) that aired kids programming. The only reason Margaret Loesch had any faith in Saban's vision and gave it a chance was that she could personally [[Network to the Rescue|sympathize]] with his cause. In the early 1980's Stan Lee (yes that [[Stan Lee]]) and Loesch (when she worked at Marvel Productions). [http://www.blastfromthepasttv.com/mloeschinterview.html had met with similar marketing failure] due to resistance from various network executives when they teamed up to market a similar show concept also using ''[[Super Sentai]]''. Their failure eventually caused Marvel to give the rights back to Toei, allowing Saban to buy them in the mid-80s, which brings us back to the beginning of this bullet point.

** In 1998, after a significant continual decline in viewers following the ''[[Power Rangers Zeo]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'' seasons, ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' was intially meant to wrap up the show as a whole as it was to be canceled. However, due to that season's space travel theme and [[Grand Finale]] of six seasons worth of stories, the audience interest was increased enough that it was renewed for the [[Post Script Season|postscript]] ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]'' season. This would become the lead way into the show's restructuring of seasons to mirror a [[SeriesMedia Franchise]], similar to ''Super Sentai''.

** The series was canceled for a fifth time with it ending in December 2009, after production problems and a mid-season staff shake-up struck ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]''. This problem was in addition to the [[Screwed by the Network|continuation]] of most, though [[Growing the Beard|not]] [[Win Back the Crowd|all]], of the same problems that were perceived to have prompted the cancellation following ''Jungle Fury''. The NZ production company even publicly stated that ''RPM'' would be the last series. Bandai countered by saying that there would be an eighteenth season by Disney in 2010 a few weeks later. Official confirmation one way or the other by Disney themselves wasn't directly made, however Bandai later revealed in another statement in October 2009 that Disney would begin showing a [[Re CutRecut]] of ''Mighty Morphin'' starting January 2010. It is now believed this was the season eighteen Bandai mentioned. Not that it matters much anymore. Saban, now reformed as a new umbrella venture named Saban Brands, has [[Network to the Rescue|bought the series back]] from Disney and is now planning a true eighteenth season, ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'', for [[Nickelodeon]].

* The 2007-2008 season of ''[[Scrubs]]'' was supposed to be the last but, due to the Writer's Strike, the show didn't exactly end in a satisfying fashion. It [[Channel Hop|moved]] to [[ABC Warriors|ABC]].

* ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'' was canceled after the 1st season, only to be renewed for a second season after the last episode got higher than expected ratings, which created something of a dilemma for the writers. Expecting to be cancelled after the first season, the season finale featured Los Angeles as well as the titular character being vaporized by an nuclear bomb.

** This doesn't really count, since the show wasn't actually cancelled and brought back. At most, it was at risk of cancellation -- andcancellation—and even that claim has been disputed.

* ''[[Taxi]]'' was axed by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], but [[Channel Hop|jumped to]] [[NBC]] and survived.

* [[Game Show|Game Shows]]s, in spades.

** CBS canceled ''The $25,000 [[Pyramid]]'' in December 1987 and replaced it with a game show called ''[[Blackout (TVgame seriesshow)|Blackout]]''. When that show tanked, ''$25,000'' came back from April to July 1988 but only as a stop-gap measure until the revival of [[Family Feud]] was ready.

** [[GSN]] ran ''[[Lingo]]'' for five seasons (2002-072002–07), itself a revival of a short-lived 1980s game show. And it's come back in 2011 with a [[Hotter and Sexier]] format and [[Bill Engvall]] hosting - a revival that was also canceled after one series.

** The original ''[[Match Game]]'' (1962-691962–69) was on NBC's chopping block after 13 weeks, until writer Dick DeBartolo suggested to [[Mark Goodson]] that they spice up some of the questions. He approved (given they were already cancelled), viewers picked up on it, and NBC spared it.

* In 1999 the BBC Sci-Fi comedy ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' ended on a cliffhanger. The co-creator and head writer Doug Naylor attempted for some time to get a movie off the ground, but in 2001 approached the BBC about to make a new series and the BBC replied with the comment "we are no longer interested in the audience ''Red Dwarf'' used to provide". The show eventually returned on cable channel Dave in 2009 with a 3-part adventure and was a massive ratings success for the channel, even beating the original channel that ''Red Dwarf'' used to air on in the ratingratings ([[BBC 2]]), a bout of hilarious irony on the BBC. A new series had been announced and will air in Fall 2012.

* ''[[Young Dracula]]'' was canceled. Therefore, leaving it at a cliffhanger in Season 2. A couple years later (thanks to fan-led petitions and general interest), Season 3 is being made and is expected to air in 2012.

* ''[[Roswell]]'' has both cases. It was -''apparently-'' first canceled by the WB on the first season, which promoted the fans to launch a "Tabasco" campaign, in which they managed to send 6,000 bottles of Tabasco to the executives. On the second season, the show was canceled again, even if the fans did send 12,000 Tabasco bottles. UPN picked it up for a third season, after which it was canceled for good.

* ''[[Primeval]]'' was canceled in 2009 only to be revived in 2011.

* ''[[Due South]]'', at least twice. It was cancelled after one season, then renewed and "Letting Go" was filmed to keep the fans from wondering what happened after the finale. After season 2, it happened again and the sets were taken down. That was why Fraser went to live at the consulate. Callum Keith Rennie replaced David Marciano as Marciano had already moved his family after the apparent cancellation and didn't want to move back.

* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' managed to crank even this trope (like every other trope it involves) [[Up to Eleven]]: the ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' spinoff game was released, canceled and Un Canceled ''within the space of a month.'' The game, which fans had been looking forward to for ''decades'', comes out. The entire print run sells out in ''two days''. A few days after that, [[Games Workshop]] says it's getting out of roleplaying games, because literature is easier to publish for profit. Once the gnashing of teeth ties down, [[Fantasy Flight Games]] picks up the license. This had the secondary effect of visiting [[Laser-Guided Karma]] upon the profiteers who had, on announcement of the cancellation, bought up every copy they could in the hope of selling them for silly money on eBay.

== [[Video Game|Video Games]]s ==

* In a rare video game example see ''[[Golden Sun]]''. Originally one game split in two (released in 2001 and 2003, respectively) due to length it received acclaim and developed quite the following, and even though the second game technically wrapped the story up many believed there was enough loose threads to make [[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn|a sequel]].

* ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]''. Just lasted two seasons, though.

* ''[[Family Guy]]'' is most likely the [[Trope Codifier]], as uncancellations have become more common since then. Brought back by [[FoxFOX]] after a long hiatus once DVD sales took off, who realized exactly how much money they stood to make off the most popular cartoon since ''[[South Park]]''. What's especially notable here is how in the returning series premiere, Peter recited [[The Long List|an excruciatingly long list]] of FOX shows that ''Family Guy'' was canceled to make room for but were themselves inevitably, if not always abruptly and swiftly, canned. Peter ended the list with ''[[Greg the Bunny]]'' and a quick glance at Chris ([[Actor Allusion|Seth Green's character]]).

{{quote| '''Lois:''' Is there really no hope?<br />

{{quote| '''The Professor:''' Good news, everyone! [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|Those asinine morons who cancelled us]] were themselves fired for incompetence!<br />

'''Crew:''' Yaaaay!!!!<br />

'''The Professor:''' And not just fired, but beaten up too! And pretty badly.<br />

'''Crew:''' YAAAAAY!!!<br />

** It's since become a running joke that [[Robot Chicken]] gets "canceled" at the end of every season and "renewed" at the beginning of the next. Even if it means they have to get ~[[Seth MacFarlane~]] to help them.

{{quote| ''"Wow, Seth MacFarlane, you can do anything!"''}}

* ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!]]'' was going to end with three seasons, wrapping season three up with [[Heartwarming Moments|June giving Henry a kiss, and them becoming an official couple]]. Fans made noise, and a fourth season was created (to the annoyance of some fans, Henry and June's relation ship was set back to being "just friends" (for a little while)). A fifth season was on the way, but Nick cancelled it before it began.

[[Category:UncanceledRetro Tropes]]