10 TV Shows That Should Have Ended With Season 1

Not all television shows are meant to last 15 seasons, no matter how much producers might think they can get there.

Some of the best television series are built on premises that should not — but very often are — stretched much farther than they should, which causes many fan-favorite new series to end up with terrible second or third seasons we wish we could forget.

Below you’ll find a list of shows we thought were great when they first started, but that should have wrapped up after their thought-provoking, creatively innovative (and at times hilarious) first seasons.

Scroll through to see the shows we think should have called it quits after one season.

13 Reasons Why

We are still mad about the downfall of 13 Reasons Why.

The first season of the teen drama explored themes of bullying, teen suicide, sexual assault and mental health in an honest, haunting and at-times controversial manner… but it worked. As the audience listened to Hannah Baker’s cassette tapes, the show painted a picture of life a modern-age teenager that ended in tragedy despite many people that could have prevented it.

Following its popularity the show was greenlit for a second (and now third) season that deviated from that honest storytelling into a PSA-filled, shock value-filled mess. But hey, at least the cast got their pay raises for season 3.

New Girl

We loved New Girl from start to finish, but the show would have probably been better if it had stayed the adorable one-season wonder it was when it first started.

Filled with hilarious jokes as Jessica Day moved in with three male roommates who did not seem to be fighting for her romantic affections was refreshing, and we’ll never think of Thanksgiving the same way again thanks to the series’ epic holiday episode.

We didn’t really need 100+ episodes of this show though.

Revenge

When Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke first arrived at the Hamptons marking her father’s enemies with her vicious Red Sharpie, this ABC Sunday night drama was the best guilty pleasure in town.

But as seasons went by with the introduction of government agencies, weird forgettable villains and more than one return from the dead, Revenge remained its soapy self, but it just wasn’t as fun.

UnReal

Lifetime’s ambitious series exploring the behind-the-scenes world of a Bachelor-style reality series was a a revelation during its first season, showing a lot of promise to what it could be in the long run.

But the second season went off topic slightly as it tried to tell stories of racial bias and police brutality, which sent the show off its buzzy ride and led to its last season being released on Hulu with no notice, slightly unfair to fans who stuck around the series.

Maybe if it has ended after one season, UnReal would have kept its high praise and open-ended mystery forever.

Heroes

After an explosive season 1 finale, culminating a year’s worth of anticipation, the show went on to slow-burn the heck out of season two.

The creative mishap led to creator Tim Kring apologizing publicly for spending so much screen time on new characters, and not enough of what people actually cared about.

The Killing

Viewers finally learned who killed Rosie Larsen after two seasons, despite a promise the killer would be revealed in season one.

Murder mystery series like this can only slow-burn for so long before audiences get tired, no matter how much chemistry there is between the two leads.

True Detective

Season of HBO’s True Detective was a master class in television storytelling, with brilliant performances and a grim mystery that captivated audiences for many months after it aired… and then Season 2 premiered.

Despite a strong ensemble cast led by Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, the writing just wasn’t as good, the mystery was not as compelling and it just seemed like a lazy attempt at recapturing season one’s buzz.

We are holding out hope that the upcoming third season led by Mahershala Ali might bring the franchise back to its former glory… we can just pretend season two never happened.

The Fall

The first season of The Fall was dark, smart and a joy to watch. Viewers knew from the start that Jamie Dornan’s Paul Spector was a serial killer as Gillian Anderson’s Stella Gibson led her squad to finding out the truth.

The performances were amazing and the plot left us with a knot in our stomach every time. Why didn’t they end it there? Season two included a strange game of cat and mouse and young murderers. The third season even had an amnesia plot. Seriously.

Weeds

Although the cast was amazing throughout the series’ run, Weeds was never better than during its first season.

A show exploring the secret life of suburbia through the world of marijuana growth and sales was the comedy we didn’t know we wanted, but that we needed when it first premiered. But as seasons went on, Nancy and her family’s soapy problems invaded the storylines we loved and led the series to very strange, and nonsensical places.

We’ll always have early Weeds though.

Barry

Bill Hader’s HBO dramedy is one of the most surprising hits of 2018 so far. The story of a hitman who falls in love with acting is equal parts funny and tragic.

The first season ended with Barry swearing to himself he’ll never kill again, so as to preserve his perfect new relationship. Except for one last unplanned murder he must commit to keep his secret past safe. Had the series ended there, it would have made for a poetic and brilliant ending to a show we didn’t think we’d actually love this much.

Season two is expected to premiere in 2019 and we hope we regret adding it to this list.