Where to Watch
Pick: What was the greatest one-season wonder in TV history?
Did Kato and Kolchak deserve more love?
Television is a competitive business. The pressure is on from the first episode. It seems as if half of the shows made last a single season.
This is not always a knock on their quality. Perhaps a series received a tough time slot. Maybe it was too ahead of its time. In some cases, it might have just been too high quality — too expensive to produce.
There are many single-season shows with rabid fanbases. In fact, we show several such shows on MeTV. We call them one-season wonders.
Below, we gathered some of our favorite one-season wonders from the 1950s through the 2000s. They range from sci-fi to drama to Westerns. Which one is your favorite?
Of course, there are too many to list. Did we not include your favorite? Tell us in the comments!
-
Which is your favorite television show that only lasted one season?
-
Pick: What was the greatest one-season wonder in TV history?
Your Result...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque nec ante ipsum. Mauris viverra, urna et porta sagittis, lorem diam dapibus diam, et lacinia libero quam id risus.
75 Comments
Post a comment
I picked the one that it seems NO ONE else picked- The Powers of Matthew Star. I think that show had great potential, if only they didn’t try changing the whole style of it halfway through… that, and it was up against some pretty stiff competition when it originally aired, I believe. Another one that I LOVE that wasn’t on this list, and that I think would’ve been an absolute HIT if it were on any other channel, was that show titled Jake 2.0, starring Christopher Gorham.
Very old one season favorites of mine are The Buccaneers with Robert Shaw, and The Last of the Mohicans with John Hart and Lon Chaney Jr. The Last of the Mohicans featured character actor John Vernon a couple of times.
Still remember some of the gags on “Police Squad”... “sorry, Champ, no sax before a fight.” It was a hilarious show!
Loved Coronet Blue show and theme song. I was sad when it ended. Only on for the summer of 1967.
Kolchak the night stalker? Yeesh.
The Cowboys, a TV version of the John Wayne movie, was one of my favorite shows. I do not know if it was only one season, it may have been shorter, or maybe one season and into the second. Also I did like The Swiss Family Robinson that is listed as only one season. These two would probably be good shows for MeTV to start running again, maybe during the night as some not-so-well-known shows run then in addition to popular ones. MeTV, that I get over-the-air, has great shows!
Haven't watched Freaks and Geeks, but Undeclared was great.
Firefly was great, but Wonderfalls is my favorite. Cancelled after four episodes...
Firefly was great, but Wonderfalls is my favorite. Cancelled after four episodes...
The Coronet Blue actor was Frank Converse. I haven't seen it but I'd like to. The best one year wonders were Hondo and Brisco County. Phenomenal programs!
Tales of the Gold Monkey, Hondo and Shane are old favorites of mine.
Voted for Battle Star Galactica but in 1984-1985 Cover-up a spy show was good starring Jon-Erik Hexum, Jenifer O'Neil, Richard Anderson and after Hexum's accidental death on the set Antony Hamilton who is no longer with us R.I.P. The bad press and death of Hexum an upcoming star ended the series that was quite good.
Was a huge fan of Kolchak!
Does anyone remember "Coronet Blue?" LOVED the theme song!
Yes!! I loved that show, was so mysterious & that actor was so different & handsome! Always wondered what happened to him, never heard from him again. Thanks for reminding me, I couldn't remember the name of it
Coronet Blue was on the Fall 1965 schedule but was bumped when Slattery’s People was renewed. It was shown in the summer of 1967 but its star, Frank Converse, was committed to be in NYPD, which started in Fall 1967. No new episodes were filmed.
Voted for Firefly, but have to give a shout out to Profit starring Adrian Pasdar. Amazing pilot, rest of the short season was great too.
One of the other commenters mentioned Strange Luck, also an amazing pilot and great 3rd episode.
One of the other commenters mentioned Strange Luck, also an amazing pilot and great 3rd episode.
Kolchak was unforgettable.
He and She. Great sitcom 67-68. Dick Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Jack Cassidy and Peter Boyle.
It was a tough choice for me between Firefly, Freaks & Geeks and Alien Nation, but in the end, I had to go with Alien Nation. One that wasn't listed that I loved was Fox's Fastlane. I was also a fan of Fox's Key West. Others that I saw mentioned in other people's comments that I also miss were Legend and Strange Luck.
I hated that we got caught up in it only to be left in the lurch with no finish to the story. They obviously expected to be renewed.
Oh wow. This was hard to pick.
That's mean of you to make me choose between Firefly and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. :-)
I almost went with Brisco County, Jr. or Firefly, but nothing in TV history compares to Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
20% similar. And Brisco County Jr. deserved more love.
