With filming having wrapped on Party Down‘s revival for Season 3, the cult comedy has, sadly, lost its vaunted place on TVLine’s Best Two-Season Shows ranking, which has been freshly updated and revisited since its last publication in November 2021.
Why this list, in addition to our ranking of One-Season Wonders? Because frankly it is rare for a series to get renewed for a second season and then be cancelled before reaching Season 3. You’d think if a network went to the trouble of renewing a show, they’d stick with it for a while, right? That, however, is not always the case — especially if you’re ABC, which was home to nine of our Top 35. (HBO followed with five total entries.)
As a result, the two-season show is a strange bird indeed, with many fondly remembered cult favorites landing among its ranks.
Which two-season shows are our favorites? TVLine presents this updated list of what in our collective opinion are the Top 35 two-and-dones that ever aired. In fact, this ranking contains some of our favorite shows of all time. But before you keep scrolling, let’s cover some ground rules for the ranking.
THE PARAMETERS:
♦ The TVLine staff’s personal picks for the best two-season shows ever!
♦ We did not include UK series, so the likes of The End of the F***ing World, Fleabag and Fawlty Towers were not eligible.
♦ Two-season shows that are poised to return for Season 3 (like the aforementioned Party Down), or came back for more episodes in some capacity (a la the miniseries event Twin Peaks: The Return) were also not eligible.
Check out our rankings below, then hit the comments to tell us your favorites and point out any two-season gems you personally would include!
This fever dream of a musical drama may have flirted with a few nonsensical storylines (sabotage by poisoned smoothie!), but the toe-tapping, show-stopping numbers — written by the minds behind some of Broadway’s biggest shows, including Hairspray and Dear Evan Hansen — kept us coming back every week, even when NBC banished the doomed drama to escrow Saturdays.
Sure, Sex and the City is the far more widely recognized Carrie Bradshaw series, but The CW’s high school-set prequel starred the charming AnnaSophia Robb as a far more likable version of the future writer. Add in a killer ’80s soundtrack and a solid supporting cast (featuring Freema Agyeman, Matt Letscher, and Lindsey Gort as a young Samantha!), and you’ve got a truly delightful binge-watch that deserved a longer TV life.
Comedy doesn’t get any blacker than this children’s show parody that satirizes politics, religion, sex and other controversial subjects. The absolutely-NOT-for-kids sketch series was almost too perverse, making spectacles out of the Bible, the Constitution, the American flag and more — which were smart and subversive, yes, but also borderline sacrilegious. This one was not for the faint of heart.
Sure, it could be argued that The Mick star Kaitlin Olson was only playing a slightly altered version of her character from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but is that really such a bad thing? This underrated comedy about a hot mess forced to raise her M.I.A. sister’s kids was an absolute gem. And besides being consistently, gut-bustingly funny, the show’s most impressive feat was that it featured child actors we actually enjoyed watching — a rarity on television, if we’re being honest.
The supernatural drama based on Charlaine Harris’ novels had a compelling ensemble, a scorching slow-burn love story and a charmingly anything-goes air. (Werewolf tigers! Really!) Unfortunately, it also had cheap-looking special effects, time slot troubles and abysmal ratings, which led NBC to put a stake through its heart after Season 2.
Inspired by the life of Isaac Wright Jr., this fictional legal drama about an imprisoned man (played by Counterpart‘s Nicholas Pinnock) who becomes a lawyer, litigating cases for other inmates while fighting to overturn his own life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit, pulled no punches in telling its quite-serious tale. Thankfully, Season 2 nicely tied up the overarching storyline, leaving viewers with some closure (though of course wishing for more).
With its quirky warmth, ensemble chemistry and endless string of one-liners, Single Parents was the kind of cozy comedy we could have watched for years. But ABC dashed our hopes of doing so, then salted that wound by cancelling the series juuust when Taran Killam’s Will and Leighton Meester’s Angie were finally confronting their romantic feelings for each other.
We know it isn’t healthy to hold grudges, but we’ll never forgive Lifetime for axing this guilt-free pleasure about the all-powerful Beauchamp family of witches. Magical escapades? Check. Satisfying romances? Big check. A stellar cast of female forces that included Julia Ormond, Madchen Amick, Rachel Boston and Jenna Dewan? Don’t even get us started.
Hulu’s journey into Stephen King’s fictional universe was, at times, a bumpy one: Across its two seasons, the show occasionally suffered from glacial pacing and narratives that got lost in themselves. But when Castle Rock was good, it was very, very good, from its ability to build and sustain horror-movie tension to its often-creative approaches to storytelling (as seen in Season 1’s mind-bending episode “The Queen”). Plus, Lizzy Caplan as a young Annie Wilkes… need we say more?
Andrea Savage’s semi-autobiographical comedy about an outwardly confident comedy writer whose verbal diarrhea, coupled with her general neuroses, lands her in uncomfortable social situations — think Curb Your Enthusiasm, but with heart — had the misfortune of being un-renewed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately for us, there are 20 endlessly rewatchable episodes streaming on HBO Max (for now, at least).
We’ll admit we were a little nervous when Netflix announced its adaptation of The Baby-Sitters Club, given its iconic and beloved source material. But the TV series turned out delightful in every way, beautifully capturing the warmth and camaraderie of the female friendships at its center, while embracing the terror that is being a middle schooler. We only wish the club hadn’t been forced to disband after only two seasons.
Two seasons-and-a movie (and barely that!) is all that #Clockblockers would get of this timey-wimey thriller, in which three heroes of varying likeliness (played by Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter and Malcolm Barrett) travel in a time ship to keep the mysterious Rittenhouse organization from tinkering with history. The aforementioned “Christmas movie,” which arrived seven months after the show’s second cancellation, delivered some nice closure (and a heart-tugging flash-forward), but loyal fans would gladly have made time for more seasons/episodes.
Created by Dan Fogelman (who was on his way from the film Crazy, Stupid Love and ABC’s The Neighbors to Pitch and then This Is Us), co-starring Timothy Omundson as an irrepresible king, and with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the musical adventure saga was the Friends trifle of mid-2010s programming. When the titular knight’s tale came to a decent end after 18 total episodes, we had to wonder why ABC burned through the series at a rate of two episodes per week.
Series creator Tracey Wigfield has the distinct honor of having two shows on this list. In addition to a certain mother-daughter workplace comedy (more on that one in a bit), the 30 Rock vet shepherded this improbably smart, righteously meta sequel series for Peacock, which reunited nearly the entire OG Bayside gang and introduced an equally terrific young ensemble featuring breakout star Josie Totah as mean girl Lexi.
Before musical dramas and shows about a higher calling were all the rage, Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim brought us this delightful dramedy starring Jonny Lee Miller as a lawyer who has musical hallucinations (sometimes featuring George Michael tunes — with George Michael in the flesh!). Did we mention it also had musical numbers performed by Victor Garber and Loretta Devine?
Come for the intelligent sci-fi, stay for Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman’s performances. Heaps of standalone episodes distracted from the underlying (and far more interesting) mythology; plus, a main character whose memory is repeatedly wiped is both a tricky sell and a sloooow burn. That said, those who stuck around until the end certainly earned a rewarding payoff.
David Fincher’s underrated, serial killer-centered psychological thriller was admittedly a very slow burn, but it was a super suspenseful, profoundly thought-provoking and hypnotically atmospheric one. And leads Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv had lightning in a bottle-level chemistry.
Yeah, in retrospect, this excessively quirky dramedy — starring Wyatt Russell as an aimless ex-surfer who finds a new lease on life at his local fraternal lodge — was probably too weird to live. So we’re thankful we even got two seasons out of it, especially for Russell’s charmingly laid-back lead performance.
Boasting a dynamite cast (including Aldis Hodge, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Alano Miller and Amirah Vann), Season 1 of this pre-Civil War drama played out like an episode of Prison Break. Season 2, having introduced the legendary Harriet Tubman, then dove deeper into the difficult material and explored the fine points of the Underground Railroad. But when WGN America opted to get out of the originals game, Noah and Rosalee’s journey ended.
We’d pay good money for a third season of this short-lived drama, especially after that “OMG!” Season 2 finale cliffhanger, which found Thomas Dekker’s John Connor transported to the post-apocalyptic future, where he met his father Kyle Reese (Jonathan Jackson) and the human version of Summer Glau’s character.
This was one of those quirky comedy gems that just fell through the cracks for some reason — but if you like Sam Richardson on Veep or Tim Robinson on I Think You Should Leave, you’d love them together as goofy best friends who work in advertising, cooking up dumb jingles for local businesses in the Motor City. These two formed a world-class comedy duo, and the show’s oddball sense of humor fit them perfectly. Too bad they couldn’t sell Comedy Central on a third season.
Most people didn’t realize Ray Romano had serious dramatic chops until they saw him on NBC’s Parenthood, but that’s only because they missed out on this terrific TNT dramedy on which he starred opposite Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula. The show took home a Peabody Award in 2010, and even earned Braugher a pair of Emmy nominations, but that didn’t stop the cabler from pulling it just days after its second season came to an end.
A supernatural drama about a traveling band of carnival freaks set during the Great Depression was admittedly a hard sell, but it actually made for quite gorgeous and compelling TV, and even set a record for HBO’s most watched debut. Ratings fell sharply in Season 2, however, and a planned six-season run fell short by, oh, just four seasons.
This workplace comedy, with Briga Heelan starring as a TV news producer whose nosy mom lands a job alongside her, was a loopy delight, with snappy dialogue reminiscent of 30 Rock (Tina Fey was an executive producer) and an excellent supporting cast highlighted by John Michael Higgins’ oblivious anchor Chuck Pierce. Even a guest arc from Fey in Season 2 couldn’t bolster its ratings, though, and it joined the list of dearly departed shows that signed off too soon.
What a shame that one of 2018’s very best series was tucked away on Facebook Watch, a platform that landed firmly in the “Wait, that exists?” category of streaming services. Though it was destined to stay under the radar, Sorry for Your Loss was thoughtful and heartfelt in its exploration of grief via Leigh Shaw, a young widow mourning her husband’s untimely death, and Elizabeth Olsen was magnetic in the lead role. (But if we’re looking for silver linings about the show’s cancellation, Olsen’s freedom to ultimately star in Disney+’s WandaVision is certainly a big one.)
What at the time was TV’s most MCU-adjacent live-action Marvel series found Hayley Atwell reprising her Captain America role, with Peggy fighting to prove herself at the pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) while also abetting the industrious Howard Stark. Season 2 moved the action from NYC to L.A., eventually leaving us with a cliffhanger — who shot [Spoiler] in order to steal an explosive file about Carter? — that, alas, will never be resolved.
Looking back, it’s a little surprising that this talky peek behind the curtain at a SportsCenter-like highlight show lasted just a pair of seasons, considering the talent involved. Aaron Sorkin created the series, juggling its second season with The West Wing, and the cast was top-notch, including a great screwball-comedy pairing in Peter Krause and Felicity Huffman. It also struck a tone between drama and comedy that was ahead of its time… maybe too far ahead, as low ratings led to an unceremonious axing.
This workplace satire about the sinister Veridian Dynamics corporation proved too good for this world, only lasting 26 episodes before ABC pulled the plug. S.W.A.T.‘s Jay Harrington portrayed the title character, the beloved head of a research-and-development team, and Arrested Development‘s Portia de Rossi played his cold and calculating supervisor Veronica — a role that proved every bit as good as Lindsay Bluth.
Starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as a pair of Y2K-era middle school outcasts, this bittersweet comedy was so exquisitely agonizing, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see it graduate. Erskine and Konkle played 13-year-old versions of themselves among a cast of real teens, which could’ve just been a cheap gimmick. But in their hands, it became a howlingly funny, achingly poignant portrayal of teen angst, zits and all. At least they got to end the show on their own terms, and the excellent series finale served as a perfect farewell.
If it had aired on HBO, this rapturously shot and nail-bitingly tense medical drama from Steven Soderbergh, starring Clive Owen as a prickly genius surgeon in New York City circa 1900, would have a shelf full of Emmys and might even still be running to this day. But alas, it aired on Cinemax, where an executive tone shift doomed it to an early date with the mortician.
Any FOTC fans here? Present. This silly, shaggy musical comedy about a pair of New Zealand folk musicians trying to make it in the Big Apple was packed with laughs — Rhys Darby was terrific as the boys’ eager manager Murray — along with memorable original tunes like the classic ode to scheduled sex, “Business Time.” It only ended because the two stars decided it wasn’t fun anymore… which is such a Bret and Jemaine thing to do, isn’t it?
A lot of shows on this list were doomed by ambitiously weird premises, and this might be the most ambitiously weird one of all. Lee Pace starred as Ned, a pie baker who’s able to bring back the dead with a single touch… but then he can’t touch them again, which becomes a problem when he reanimates his childhood sweetheart Chuck, played by Anna Friel. (They were social distancing before it was cool!) The result was a cavalcade of surreal whimsy from Bryan Fuller, but the writers’ strike stunted its momentum, and tumbling ratings were the last, um, nail in the coffin.
We cherished every last moment we got to spend in the company of Valerie Cherish, the hopelessly self-deluded former sitcom star played by Lisa Kudrow in this wickedly funny showbiz satire. Kudrow gave a career-best performance here — yeah, Friends fans, we said it — and the shots at Hollywood were savagely on target. It got axed after just one season, but then returned nearly a decade later for an even better sophomore run… and yes, we did want to see that.
We’re still upset that it got the pink slip after just 18 episodes, but Mike White and Laura Dern’s acid-tongued takedown of corporate America still stands as a remarkable achievement. As annoyingly earnest corporate crusader Amy Jellicoe, Dern turns in one of the finest TV performances of the last decade, and it walked the tightrope between stinging satire and poignant human drama with astonishing precision. Unfortunately, it was a formula for viewer indifference — the series never topped 300,000 total viewers per episode — but those who stuck with it know that two seasons of something this special are better than most shows’ entire runs.
While I can’t argue against many of these, one of my favorite shows Life (with Damien Lewis on NBC) was sadly cancelled after 2 seasons. Luckily they were given enough warning to at least wrap it up without a major cliffhanger.
My first thought reading this list was “Where is LIFE?!!” Damian Lewis. Sarah Shahi. Loved loved loved it.
Totally agree with Life, but don’t forget another Sarah Shahi 2 season show Fairly Legal. Only have 2 issues with the list. First, Smash at 30 seems way to low. Second, this would have been an excellent category for fans to vote on.
Gravity Falls should be mentioned. Don’t overlook it just because it’s an animated show. It’s one of the best shows of the 2010s.
Spot on! Great show, still miss it
First show that came to my mind. I would definitely watch some type of revival. Victim of the writer’s strike. Killed it’s momentum.
Very overlooked show. The show was hitting on all cylinders when the writers strike happened. NBC had to tinker with it, and while still good, s2 was quite as good (Shahi’s pregnancy player into this). Even so, we got a very satisfying ending.
I was just going to post this! Life was an amazing show, I still miss it.
Where’s Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23????
But also THRILLED to see Better Off Ted there.
I never heard of most of them, but did watch a couple..
🤘
Don’t trust the B was an awesome show!
I loved it too, but it was so badly treated. Got moved around, episodes aired out of order etc that it never really had a chance. Mind you if it hadn’t tanked we might never have got Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones.
Yes it was!!
Agreed. I loved Better Off Ted. Was happy to see it listed here. Another I forgot was The Neighbors (about aliens living in a gated community) is another all time classic for me. The initial few episodes were shaky at best, but it grew into a smartly written show about suburban life)
You forgot Counterpart!!!
You forgot it was a top 30 list, not an all-encompassing list of every show.
Counterpart should absolutely be on this list. Flawless Sci Fi. I will never forgive Starz, and wouldn’t spit on Jeffrey Hirsch if he were on fire.
Everyone forgot Counterpart. A cliched doppelganger episode that got stretched too far.
When Party Down gets removed, Trial & Error can take its place.
Was just about to mention that one :).
The first season of T&E was great, but I thought the second wasn’t nearly as good
Loved this. Everyone who a world building show (aka The Simpsons/Parks and Rec) should check it out.
What about Joan of Arcadia! I still need to know what happened with the devil’s minion!
Loved Joan, but they meandered badly in season 2. It seemed like they were going through the motions until the season 2 finale when suddenly everything happened at once. Had they spread that over the course of the season I think it would’ve done better in the ratings because that cast was insanely talented.
i thought alphas and midnight texas were pretty good 2 season shows
i guess so! It would be perfect if peacock can do a midnight, texas reunion movie that takes place a few years later where all the midnighters and Joe learn that Chuy is still alive but no longer a half demon but he’s now a fae and has no memory of his past and living in Bon Temps with Manfried’s old friend Sookie who has taken Chuy as her new lover/future husband/baby daddy to be thanks to the Faes and maybe Figi’s sister Kiki whom had taken Chuy for themselves and switched him out with another demon to trick Joe and the midnighters into believing he’s dead that sets up a cross-over to HBO Max’s true blood reboot! Imagine the reaction shocks on the faces of the Midnighters and Joe, who would probably go to Bon Temps to see for himself, even if he goes alone!
I would watch the F— outta that!
They should have kept Midnight, Texas as a summer show. It couldn’t compete in the fall. I am happy to see it on this list. I would love a movie to revisit it.
Yes, and Chuy coming back to divorce Joe and possibly marry Sookie or another supernatural woman to have his dream of having children. Unless Joe finds away to get pregnant with Chuy ‘s baby and give birth!
Timeless should definitely be higher on the list. That was such a great show. Smash too but only a little bit higher.
I agree, it should be higher.
It really should be higher. Still miss it. Learned so much about unknown or little known historical figures. At least we got some closure with the movie.
Ditto
Add V remake on ABC
Wasn’t that 1 season that had a mid-season break?
What about Reaper?
Yes!!!
How did I forget Reaper? Excellent pull!
Was about to say the exact same thing. Reaper was so good!!
Ah,so many Scifi shows…..Witches of East End,Galavant,The Knick and Midnight Texas had more story to tell.
I wished that Joe Strong had said before leaving Midnight Texas in the final episode to Manfried, “I killed Addie and.. I’m pregnant with Chuy’s baby somehow! Don’t tell the others, especially Walker. They would want answers and I don’t have them to give. I need to leave to deal with this alone and don’t try to stop me!”
ABC had 9 of the 30.
I would like to nominate Popular. It could’ve been that I was only 13 when it ended its run on a cliffhanger, but I loved it. I do appreciate seeing Single Parents, Timeless, and Better Off Ted on the list.
I’d go with Agent Carter, Galavant, Sarah Conner, and Timeless as being my faves on the list above
It’s already been mentioned so I would definitely second Life with Damien Lewis and Sarah Shahi. Loved that show and their relationship.
I love low-investment series. Yes, it’s sad when shows end on cliffhangers, but I’ve binged a few of these shows because I knew they only had two seasons.
My favorite shows on your list are:
1) Eli Stone
2) For Life
3) Galavant
4)Witches of East End
5) Marvel’s Agent Carter
6) Men of a Certain Age
7-30) The Rest
I’m still so salty about Galavant and I will never forgive ABC which I labeled …
always be canceling letting go of the brilliant show Pushing Daisies….. what as it stands had two seasons on NBC… and I am praying gets picked up by Roku is Zoey’s extraordinary playlist which is absolutely amazing if you get a chance go binge it and then what’s the Christmas movie we’re getting from Roku and pray good ratings lots of Buzz will get us another season
Prodigal Son??
I think ABC’s worst transgression is when they pulled the rebooted Night Stalker series completely off the air in the middle of a 2-part episode in 2005
Pretty sure the reboot was on Fox.
I bought the DVDs so I could see the rest of the unaired episodes. I’m one of the few who actually liked the reboot.
Where the * is Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist?
Smash should ranked much, much higher. #30? Really?
IMO, best 2-season shows ever: Twin Peaks and Sports Night.
I’m hoping Zoey’s was omitted because someone somewhere knows a S3 is being picked up somewhere. Or atleast in talks if the Roku special goes well.
Zoe got a Holiday Special last year, so technically would be excluded based off the guidelines from above.
By that logic, Timeless would also be excluded.
So did Timeless and they made the cut
so many good shows! you would get invested in them and then they would be gone!
Watched all but one – miss them all!
Still mourning Single Parents. Don’t usually watch comedies for a multitude of reasons. The cast was stellar
I would add Tru Calling but that’s probably just me.
I loved that show. And Revolution was an okay series.
again have no idea why they moved it as they had it in the perfect spot 10/9 right after the voice, as again it was not 8 pm show
Yes! Great show!
i’m thinking the same thing.. where is Tru Calling
How dare you leave out Counterpart.
Otherwise, looks good.
🤘
Dead like Me was a masterpiece!
Yes!! Miss it so much!!
Buffy the vampire slayer
Math isn’t for everyone.
You listed one Eliza Dushku show (Dollhouse) but you forgot her other great show which was Tru Calling.