15 TV Shows That Were Revived After Getting Canceled

Television can be a very fickle mistress. Just when you're getting into a show, the powers that be come out of nowhere and cancel it — it happens all the time. But while there are plenty of shows that were stricken from the air far too early (check out the most controversial TV show cancellations ever), others have gotten an unexpected reprieve. Because you see, these days a show can't really be considered beyond salvation until all of its actors are dead. Whether they're saved by a rival network, resurrected years later due to fan outcry, or a cancellation order was reversed simply because network execs took the time to reconsider, more shows than you realize have been brought back from the brink of annihilation.

Sure, sometimes these renewals were a mere stay of execution, squeezing out one more season before the show was cancelled again, this time for good. But other times, they rescue a program that, with a few extra years to make an impact with audiences, would go on to become a bona fide classic. Here are some of the most notable shows that were saved after cancellation.

Glenn Howerton became famous as the sociopathic Dennis on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and he brings a lot of that energy to "A.P. Bio." A philosophy professor at Harvard who has been unceremoniously stripped of his tenure and forced to face the indignity of returning to his hometown in Ohio, Jack Griffin (Howerton) takes on a job teaching A.P. Biology at his former high school. Only here's the thing: He has no intention of actually teaching his students anything. Instead, he's going to use their collective brain power to plot revenge against Miles Leonard, his fellow philosophy professor who he believes to be the architect of his misfortune.

It took "A.P. Bio" a little while to find its footing — and to realize that it should lean into the delightfully weird crew of students in Jack's class rather than relying exclusively on Howerton for the comedy — but once it did, it became one of the most bizarrely endearing shows on television. Unfortunately, its ratings didn't necessarily reflect this. After two seasons, NBC cancelled "A.P. Bio." But then two months later, they rolled the cancellation back, opting instead to send the show directly to their Peacock streaming service, where it lasted two more seasons.

"Baywatch" was kind of a '90s institution. Beautiful lifeguards running around the beach in red bathing suits, David Hasselhoff cultivating the kind of celebrity status that saw him make an appearance at the fall of the Berlin Wall (which happened the same year that "Baywatch" premiered) — even people who have never seen "Baywatch" know what its whole vibe is about. So it might be surprising to learn that its massive cultural impact almost never happened. 

In fact, "Baywatch" was originally cancelled after just one season. But Hasselhoff believed in the show so much that he and the producers used their personal piggy banks to keep "Baywatch" alive by striking a direct syndication deal. With its fortunes reversed, "Baywatch" was given a second chance to capture the attention of viewers, and so it did. After a little bit of television CPR, the show ended up lasting an additional 10 seasons before wrapping with dignity in 2001.

What's better than aliens? Teen aliens desperately trying to fit in while living in Roswell, New Mexico, of all places. "Roswell" revolves around a group of aliens who crash landed on Earth as children and were adopted by human families, but have to keep their true identities (and powers) a secret for ... well, obvious reasons. This becomes a little more complicated when Max (Jason Behr) uses his powers to save the life of his classmate Liz (Shiri Appleby), exposing himself and his compatriots to much more scrutiny as she learns the truth.

"Roswell" ran for two seasons on the WB, battling cancellation at every turn, as fans sent in bottles of Tabasco sauce (a favorite of the alien characters) in a desperate bid to keep it around. After those two seasons, WB washed their hands of the sci-fi teen drama, but it was saved by UPN, who orchestrated a deal to pick up not just "Roswell," but WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as well. It lasted just one additional season at its new home on UPN, but was rebooted in 2019 as "Roswell, New Mexico."

You know the kind of ensemble comedies where it takes the better part of a season for the writers to figure out exactly how each of the characters tick, but once they do, they have sitcom gold on their hands? That's "Community." While it started off focusing almost exclusively on the perspective of Jeff (Joel McHale), a smarmy lawyer who is forced to attend community college after it's revealed that he never actually got his degree, "Community" quickly shifted to take full advantage of the oddball misfits in his Spanish study group. 

While McHale's character was still a key element of the show, it became much more of an ensemble, with talented up-and-comers building out beloved characters. But despite these shifts that changed "Community" for the better, it still flirted with cancellation throughout most of its run. After five seasons (and several bouts of behind-the-scenes drama that included showrunner Dan Harmon leaving the production after sexual harassment allegations and actor Chevy Chase getting booted off the show after butting heads with Harmon), "Community" was saved at the 11th hour by Yahoo! Screen, a now-defunct streaming service run by Yahoo. And who knows? We might still get that "Community" film they've been teasing for almost a decade now.

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was to police work what "Parks and Recreation" was to local politics. With a merry band of police officers operating out of a department in Brooklyn with a dramatic range in competency, the show quickly endeared itself to viewers who have a soft spot for this type of quirky workplace comedy. And when Fox made the decision to cancel the series after five seasons, other networks went into overdrive to pick it up. 

Within 30 hours from the initial cancellation announcement, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" had found a new home on NBC, where executive Robert Greenblatt saw the opportunity to right a past wrong. "Ever since we sold this show to Fox I've regretted letting it get away, and it's high time it came back to its rightful home," he explained in a press statement (via Variety). While there, it lasted an additional three seasons, after which it went off into the sunset secure in its legacy as one of the best sitcoms of the 2010s.

Based on a popular Danish crime drama, "The Killing" starred Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos as a pair of detectives investigating the brutal murder of a local teenager, a hunt that stretches over the course of the entire two first seasons of the show, after which they move on to other cases. Things with "The Killing" ran swimmingly for those two seasons, but once the central mystery of Rosie Larson's death was resolved, questions began to emerge of where the show would go from there. 

In July 2012, AMC cancelled the series, although they kept the door open to shop it around to other networks. Ultimately, AMC ended up going in on a deal with Fox and Netflix to bring it back for a third season, after which it was cancelled by AMC again. This time around, Netflix came to the rescue, offering the show a fourth and final series on their streaming platform.

Riffing on the sitcom trope of a boorish husband married to an inexplicably attractive, intelligent, and together wife, "Family Guy" joined the Fox animation lineup in 1999. It revolves around the Griffin family, which is frequently thrown into chaos by the antics of Peter (Seth Macfarlane), its ersatz patriarch (although the rest of the family is not exempt from their own bouts of ridiculous behavior). The show lasted for three seasons on Fox before it was cancelled in 2003. But then something unusual happened. 

When the first three seasons of "Family Guy" were released on DVD, sales were so high that the network thought better of removing it from their lineup and in 2004, it was brought back on the air. Since then, the show has become a cornerstone of adult animation, running strong for 23 seasons. And with the April 2025 announcement that "Family Guy" would be renewed for four additional seasons, it doesn't seem like it'll be going anywhere anytime soon.

Based on an unpublished draft of a novel by Jane Austen, "Sanditon" had an established pedigree that should have guaranteed its success on television. But it found itself floundering after just one season. Perhaps because — since Austen never actually finished the story — the writers adapting it weren't sure what direction to take "Sanditon" in. The adventures of Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) in the bustling seaside resort town of Sanditon were interesting to watch, but the show was met with setbacks almost immediately. 

First, it was cancelled by ITV in the U.K. before it had even had a chance to air on PBS in the U.S. When it was announced that "Sanditon" would be returning for both a second and third season two years after the initial season aired, several cast members were unavailable to return having already moved on to other projects, including Charlotte's primary love interest, played by Theo James. Still, "Sanditon" ultimately ended up with three seasons — not bad for an unfinished novel.

Much like Fry, who somehow manages to live much past his original expiration date, "Futurama" has survived longer than anyone could have imagined when it first premiered on Fox. The show revolves around a man who is inadvertently frozen at the turn of the 21st century and thawed out a thousand years later. Now in the distant future with no way of returning home, Fry has to adapt to his new circumstances, getting a job as an interplanetary delivery boy (not unlike his job in 1999, when he delivered pizzas). 

Fox hosted the first four seasons of "Futurama," after which it was cancelled. But it found new viewers in syndication, and in 2009 Comedy Central revived the show for an additional three seasons. When it ran its course at Comedy Central, "Futurama" went off the air. But you can't keep a good show down. In 2023, Hulu brought it back for a second time, airing two additional seasons. And who knows? At this point, "Futurama" might just keep coming back periodically until 2999.

Set in Jericho, Kansas, "Jericho" revolves around a community grappling with the fallout of nuclear war. After several nuclear explosions occur all around the United States, the citizens of Jericho are faced with a suddenly changed world that lacks many of the comforts and communication tools they'd become accustomed to. At the heart of this all is Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), the prodigal son of the mayor who had only recently returned to town after several years away when this all began to go down. Over the course of the show, he becomes a leader and voice of reason in the community.

Despite its interesting premise, "Jericho" struggled with low ratings and was officially cancelled after its first season. But by this point, the underrated post-apocalyptic series had amassed an army of dedicated fans, who promptly began a renewal campaign that resulted in literal tons of nuts being sent to CBS headquarters, referencing a moment in the first season finale. Moved by this gesture, they granted "Jericho" a 10-episode second season — although it didn't stop them from cancelling it again after that.

You can't keep a good devil down — that's the takeaway of "Lucifer." This cheeky supernatural drama stars Tom Ellis as Lucifer, the bad boy former angel who has abdicated his responsibility of running Hell to open up a club in Los Angeles. But when he gets mixed up in a suspicious death, he crosses paths with Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), who he's immediately attracted to in part because she's the only human who seems immune to his considerable powers of persuasion. What follows is a perfect blend of supernatural romance and police procedural. 

"Lucifer" ran for three seasons on Fox, before being cancelled in 2018 (even after the third season finale ended on a cliffhanger, probably in a bid to prevent it from being axed). But fans of "Lucifer" came to the rescue, launching an internet campaign that saw the show saved by Netflix. While there, it ran for another three seasons — even though Netflix signaled that they would be ending the show after its fifth season, it ended up performing well enough that they greenlit a sixth season.

Unlike many other great medical shows, which tend to be dramatic procedurals, "Scrubs" took a comedic approach to life as a doctor-in-training at a busy hospital. Zach Braff stars as J.D. who, along with his best friend Turk (Donald Faison) begins the show as an intern. And over the course of the series, they learn, they laugh, they cry, they fall in love, they have a shockingly codependent bromance, etc. 

To be entirely fair, "Scrubs" is one of the few shows on this list that probably could have ended when it was initially cancelled by NBC after its seventh season. It was well past its prime, after all, and it had nowhere to go but down. Still, it moved over to ABC for what was supposed to be its eighth and final season, allowing the beloved medical comedy a chance to wrap things up. But in an unexpected move, they ended up renewing it for a ninth season, only with a largely new cast (only Donald Faison and John McGinley returned full time) and a shift from the hospital to a med school classroom. 

Perhaps keeping in line with its underdog football team, "Friday Night Lights" never had an easy go of it. The teen drama focuses on a high school in Texas where football is king. But the players on the team all have their own personal drama, and it's up to the stalwart coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) to keep everything running smoothly. The second season of the show fell victim to the writers' strike, leading to its episode run being cut, creating a truncated narrative arc that was confusing for viewers. (The beginning of the third season basically just explains what was supposed to happen on screen in those cut episodes.) 

It was that third season that almost didn't happen, as NBC had plans to cancel the show by that point. But instead, they ended up making a deal with DirecTV to co-produce the show, where the third through the fifth seasons would be broadcast first on DirecTV's The 101 Network, then reshown on NBC months later.

A reboot of the cop drama of the same name that was on the air in the '70s, "S.W.A.T." centers itself on an elite S.W.A.T. team operating out the Los Angeles Police Department, led by Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson (Shemar Moore). Like many police procedurals, it quickly found an audience, and was renewed each year without too much trouble for its first several seasons. But despite a handful of Emmy nominations, "S.W.A.T." was cancelled following its sixth season. At least, temporarily. 

Just days later, CBS walked back their decision, with a press statement saying, "We have listened to our viewers and their outpouring of passion for 'S.W.A.T.' and we have reached an agreement to renew it for a final season of 13 episodes to air during the 2023-2024 broadcast year" (via Deadline). At the end of that season, they ate their words again, bringing the show back for an eighth go-around. But after that, the show's number was up, and "S.W.A.T." concluded in 2025. 

"Southland" taps into a narrative that we've seen many times before, even just within this article — cops working for the Los Angeles Police Department — although this focuses more on their personal and professional lives rather than a crime-of-the-week procedural. It stars Ben McKenzie as rookie officer Ben Sherman and Michael Cudlitz as his training officer, John Cooper. "Southland" aired for one season on NBC, where it received generally positive reviews. 

But then things started to get a little hairy. First, NBC pushed back the premiere of its second season, which usually isn't a great sign. And then two weeks before it was scheduled to air in October 2009, the network announced that it had been cancelled. A month later, TNT picked up the police drama, airing the second season that had already been produced. While TNT renewed it for a third (and later fourth) season, there was a catch: The series had a massive budget cut, resulting in the loss of several characters as they shaved down the ensemble element of the show.