To say that 2020 has been a rough year would be an understatement. It’s also been a strange year for television – with seasons getting cut short and shows being renewed and then cancelled. There have been a lot of great shows that have ended this year, either with final seasons or cancellations. Here are a few that we will miss.
The Good Place
The Good Place may be one of best shows over the past four years. It certainly ranks as one of your writers favorite shows ever. The Good Place spent four seasons trying to answer the question, “What do we owe to each other?” Through the series we see our characters, Michael (Ted Danson), Elenor (Kristen Bell), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Jason (Manny Jacinto), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), and Janet (D’Arcy Carden) grow and evolve other their time together. At the core, the final few episodes is about saying goodbye – all things must come to an end. The Good Place ended on its own terms, but that didn’t make its farewell any easier.
The Baker and the Beauty
The Baker and the Beauty had a lot of fans here at Fangirlish and it has even been covered by Gone Too Soon. Quite frankly it deserved better. There should be more romance on television and for one season, we had a show with family dynamics, romance and a diverse cast. ABC had a gem on their hands and they cancelled it. It shouldn’t have ended this year.
Schitt’s Creek
Few shows are as joyful as Schitt’s Creek. This gem ended its sixth and final season with a wedding and a whole lot of heart. The show followed the formerly wealthy Roses — dad Johnny (Eugene Levy), mom Moira (Catherine O’Hara), son David (Dan Levy), and daughter Alexis (Annie Murphy), as they evolved into better people. Schitt’s Creek provided fans with what they wanted, a happy ending.
Supernatural
Say what you will about the Supernatural finale (the writer is firmly in the camp of people that liked it), but it’s hard to deny that the Supernatural ending isn’t a little bittersweet. Obviously, the show couldn’t run forever and 15 seasons was plenty. What story was there even left to tell? It’s still sad to watch a show that you’ve watched for most of your life play it’s final episodes. At its core, Supernatural was a show about two brothers and it ended the way it started.
Teenage Bounty Hunters
This one hurts. For one season Teenage Bounty Hunters was smart, funny and deeply personal for people who grew up in a very specific environment in the south. Then Netflix cancelled it. Teenage Bounty Hunters ended when it was just getting started, but we were given one great season. If you missed it the first time you should check it out now.
Arrow
Arrow may have been uneven for most of its run, but you can’t deny the empire it created. From Arrow we have gotten The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Stargirl, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. The introduction of Oliver Queen in this interation set in motion the so many other superhero shows, but even the original show must end. Speaking of endings, the finale may have been divisive, but the DC flagship show is still going to be missed.
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds came to an end after 15 seasons this year. This procedural could have gone on for longer and people would have kept tuning in. The show gave viewers a great cast, interesting cases each week and reasons to keep watching. Criminal Minds may be gone, but it will live on in binge watches for years to come. As someone who grew up with and has watched Criminal Minds several times, this goodbye was a little harder to swallow.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
For six seasons Hasan Minhaj made sense of things going on in the world and spoke about topics that many viewers had likely never heard about before. Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj whet deep on everything from fast fashion to the ways that we are doing elections wrong. Netflix had a gem on their hands with Patriot Act and it’s a shame that it’s been canceled.
The Order
The Order wasn’t reinventing the wheel, but it was delightful. The audience was given characters to root for, interesting mythology and ended on a cliffhanger that was incredibly frustrating. This Netflix show focused on werewolves and witches in college. The Order was fun television while it lasted and honestly shouldn’t there be more shows that are just fun?
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
Procedural television shows are a dime a dozen. Seriously, there are so many of them, but Lincoln Rhyme should have been one that lasted for more that one season. By focusing on a case of the week as well as the overarching search for a serial killer known as the bone collector, Lincoln Rhyme felt fresh. It was one of the rare shows that would appeal to your crime solving show loving family members and people that like things where the characters are just as important as the mystery. Lincoln Rhyme is a show that should have lasted longer.
These weren’t the only shows that ended this year. We also lost Bojack Horseman, Altered Carbon, Glow, Castle Rock, Stumptown, Spinning Out, Next in Fashion, and The Society. What shows will you miss that ended this year?
