There is a kind of magic that happens when you stumble upon a TV show that you really love. Sometimes, these productions appear in our lives by chance, or via a friend’s recommendation, but after a few episodes, we get completely caught up in its story and characters. So much so, that waiting patiently for each new episode and then discussing it with friends or on social networks becomes quite a ritual. With each season, the show gradually grows into our daily lives, until it turns into one of the TV series we recommend every time a friend runs out of shows to watch.
However, all of this can be easily frustrated, as networks decide toabruptly cancel showsfor a variety of reasons, leaving audiences in the lurch. Thus, series with enormous potential, such asFreaks and GeeksorSense8, werecanceled before their time, triggering a great deal of confusion and anger among fans. Of course, fans are not the only people who suffer from this: everyone who was involved in the production, from its director to the cast and crew, loses their jobs as a result of these cancelations, which are often justified due to low ratings and other reasons, but not always.
Generally, when a show gets canceled there is little else to do but mourn. Still, some TV series have been lucky enough to get one more chance to stay on air thanks to another network recognizing the show’s potential. Here are eight stories of shows that got a second chance from a new network.
8The Mindy Project
The Mindy Projectis one of MindyKaling’s most successful TV series. She stars as Mindy Lahiri, a gynecologist with a rising career, but a sloppy personal life and no luck at finding love, who decides to change her bad habits to feel better and find the man of her dreams. This series premiered on Fox in 2012, running on the network for three seasons. Eventually, Fox felt the show wasn’t performing as well as they had hoped, so they ended up canceling it. Thankfully, Hulu ultimately decided to commission three more seasons of the show, which wrapped up in 2017.
Related:These Are the Best Reboots and Remakes of Canceled TV Shows, Ranked
7Arrested Development
This Mitchell Hurwitz sitcom is centered on the Bluths, a very dysfunctional and wealthy family that is now in financial trouble. Starring Jason Bateman, it aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006, spanning three seasons. Yet, despite being a critically praised production,Arrested Developmentwas not as well received as expected, so the network pulled the plug. Seven years later, Netflix revisited the series and delivered two new seasons, maintaining the original cast and wrapping up in 2019.
Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley, and Judy Reyes star inScrubs, Bill Lawrence’s sitcom that follows the day-to-day lives of the workers at Sacred Heart Hospital. The series premiered in 2001 and ran for seven seasons on NBC until its cancelation due to low ratings. ABC then decided to pick it up and released an eighth season in 2009, which would serve as the series' finale. A ninth and final season was eventually released, but as the network switch also failed to improve metrics,Scrubswent off the air in 2010.
5Project Runway
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn host and mentorProject Runway, the reality TV series in which contestants battle it out week by week to win enough cash to start their own design line, a feature spread in Marie Claire magazine, and a mentorship from a fashion design firm. It first aired in December 2004 on Bravo, and remained on the network until 2008. It then went on to run on Lifetime for 11 seasons, returning to Bravo in 2019 for an additional three. The latter seasons, however, did not feature Klum and Gunn, both of whom wereworking on a different project. Instead, they were replaced by Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano.
Related:How Brooklyn Nine-Nine Went From Canceled to One of the Best Shows Ever
4Gilmore Girls
Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel star inGilmore Girlsas Lorelai and Rory, a young mother and daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. This series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, first premiered on The WB in 2000, and ran for six popular seasons before moving to The CW after The WB merged with UPN. Its seventh and final season was produced there, premiering in 2007. Nine years later, Netflix picked up the show for a four-episode special calledGilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
3Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nineis one of the many examples of how important it is to give a series its chance to really find its essence. This police procedural comedy TV series created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur premiered on Fox in 2013, starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher. It follows Jake Peralta, an irresponsible but effective detective from Brooklyn’s 99th Precinct, and his day-to-day life alongside his partners and the on-site commanding officer, Captain Raymond Holt (Braugher).Brooklyn Nine-Nineran for five seasons on Fox until it got canceled, but fortunately,NBC stepped into save the day, granting the series another three seasons.
2Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sarah Michelle Gellar stars inBuffy the Vampire Slayeras Buffy Summers, a teenager gifted with the ability to fight the vampires and dark forces haunting our society. This show, now a cult classic, was inspired by the 1992 film of the same name, and created by Joss Whedon. Its first five seasons aired on The WB from 1997 to 2001. Later on,Buffy the Vampire Slayerswitched networks, and aired its last two seasons on UPN.
Tom Ellis stars inLucifer, Tom Kapinos' TV series based on the DC Comics character by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg. Dead tired of hell and sick of his own existence, Lucifer moves to Los Angeles to discover what the mortal world has to offer. Once there, he leverages his specialized skills and becomes a contributor to the LAPD. This show premiered on Fox in 2015, but the network canceled it after only three seasons. One month later, Netflix granted the show an additional three seasons to air on their platform, running from 2019 to 2021.
