7 Scripted Shows NBC Shouldnt Have Canceled

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All good shows come to an end, and we all certainly understand that. However, NBC has ended some shows far sooner than they should have.

The thought comes as the network looks to push its scripted lineup again, having so far opted to pilot six dramas.

While the question is where those shows could end up, there is also a bit of bitterness: the network had some great scripted shows before they were canceled for sports, and we have seven that prove it.

Found

I will never stop talking about Found. This NBC drama brought everything we needed and delivered every single week.

There wasn’t a storyline that was dry or boring, and nothing even felt like filler.

Found followed Gabi Mosely and her found family.

They would work together to help find missing people, usually the type of people the cops would overlook due to race, gender, line of work, disability, or something else that made them “undesirable.”

They all made it clear that everyone mattered, and they used their own past trauma to build up their own superpowers.

At the same time, they were dealing with a secret.

Throughout the first season, Gabi was secretly hiding her own captive, who happened to be her former captor.

When that came to light at the end of the first season, the M&A team had to find their way back to each other and decide whether they could forgive and move on.

This series captured hearts with smart storytelling, well-developed characters, and intriguing backstories.

There were a couple of characters, like Dhan and Zeke, who we never really got to delve into that much, and they deserved it with all the clues of what they went through.

It was also clear that this cast loved and supported each other. They became their own Found family, and because of that, it’s a show I’ll never stop missing.

The Irrational

There were multiple victims at the end of the 2024–2025 TV season due to NBC’s decision to focus on sports, including The Irrational.

Now, granted, this show did sit at the bottom of the linear ratings, but it had a loyal and vocal fanbase that deserved better.

Like Found, this show was written smartly and offered some curious insights into a person’s mind.

People aren’t necessarily born bad, and many will act irrationally.

At least, that’s what Alec Mercer on The Irrational explained.

Jesse L. Martin took on the lead role of a professor in behavioral psychology, who would help the police and the feds with various investigations.

What was interesting about this show was that it wasn’t always about murder.

Alec would aid with negotiating with criminals, and he would take on corporate cases to get to the bottom of hacks and data theft.

It didn’t matter what the case was; the focus on behavioral science came into play, and we got to see just how easy it can be to predict behavior when you know what to look for.

The second season also helped build the other characters. We learned more about Rose and Marisa while meeting another intern, Simon.

Unfortunately, the show was canceled abruptly, leaving some characters less well developed than others, because that’s what a third season would have been for!

Grosse Pointe Garden Society

This is one of those shows that could seem controversial to put on. After all, it didn’t quite find its audience, and part of that was airing on a Sunday night!

NBC did try to give this show a chance by moving it to Fridays, but it’s still a slow night for TV.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society had an excellent mixture of comedy, soapy drama, murder mystery, and relationship craziness.

Focusing on a group of four somewhat outcasts in a local garden society, we find out that six months into the future, they will kill someone, and they’re trying to hide the body.

We don’t know who the body belongs to, and we don’t know why they did it, and those become the two questions to work out.

At the same time, there are a few other mysteries along the way, such as who killed Alice’s dog — yes, this show went there with that! — and whether the various couples would be able to make it through their relationship issues.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society didn’t take itself too seriously, but it was clear the cast loved to be part of it.

It was quirky and pure entertainment, offering what we needed during a difficult year.

There was a bit of hope for this show, as it wasn’t canceled immediately in May. There was time for it to find a new home, but in the end, cast options expired, and now we’ll be left wondering who Duck is.

Quantum Leap

Like so many reboots and revivals, when Quantum Leap was first brought up, there was the question of whether it was needed.

Considering the original Quantum Leap was abruptly canceled, and this was set as a revival, I quickly argued that it was.

It didn’t take long for the series to prove it, either, as it paid homage to the original series.

While we never got answers about what happened to Sam, there was an element of hope that we would do so in the future.

Sure, Scott Bakula wasn’t going to be part of it, but there was always the hope of a mention or a cameo later in the series.

It just never got that far to have that chance.

The series wasn’t a complete rehash of the original series, which continued to score it points for the reason it was needed.

Ben figured out how to “fix” the code. At least, he thought he did.

In doing so, some of the rules of time travel were changed in a realistic and honorable way, allowing the show to travel to times far in the past or the future.

Throughout the storytelling, we got the message of found family, fighting for freedom and liberty, and the hope that people can change.

It brought messages from history that are still important today, whether it involved race, religion, gender, or sexuality.

Unfortunately, the second season hit a bit of a slump, and the ratings followed suit.

As NBC shifted its focus to sports, it was one of the shows cut during the 2023–2024 TV season.

Magnum PI

Originally a CBS show, Magnum PI moved to NBC for its fifth (and what would end up being its final) season.

At first, it was supposed to get two seasons of 10 episodes each, and then somewhere along the line, things changed. The two sets of episodes were combined into one season, split into A and B parts.

I think this was the first sign of Magnum PI’s move being handled poorly.

This was a show that had a huge following when it was on CBS — far more people tuned in than any other NBC show.

It should have been a huge win for the Peacock network, but then poor scheduling decisions led to its failure.

Magnum PI Season 5A was put on after reruns on a Friday night, which didn’t make any sense.

Who is tuning in for a new episode after an hour of reruns?

Then Season 5B wasn’t given the attention it deserved, and NBC canceled the show before it had even aired.

Fans wanted better, and we can’t even fault the storytelling, as that didn’t change.

This was a show that brought love, laughter, crime, and a family that supported each other.

While the cases were thrilling and engaging, the show didn’t forget its characters and overall story development, unlike so many others.

It made us fall in love with the characters, and we wanted to see them all happy and living fulfilling lives.

At the same time, it was one of those shows that let us tune out the whole world and just experience, thanks to its clever writing and beautiful backdrop.

NBC dropped the ball, and there was no reason for it.

New Amsterdam

Now, granted, the fifth season was exactly the strongest in this show, and maybe it doesn’t deserve to be put on the list because of that.

However, the first four seasons of New Amsterdam brought us everything that we needed and wanted in a medical drama.

It focused on many of the real problems people face in healthcare.

We got a look at the cost of medicine, government decision-making making it harder to get the treatments patients actually need, and the stigma of psychiatric patients who need genuine help.

While many medical directors would just throw up their hands and blame red tape, Max Goodwin didn’t. He just asked, “How can I help?”

He wanted to make medicine better and put people first, and it certainly made us wish we could take a trip to the emergency room to see a doctor like him.

In a public hospital, that should have been easy, but it wasn’t. There was still the matter of funding the hospital.

Yet, with every roadblock, Max would try to find a way around it.

Now, he didn’t always do it in the right way, and that’s what made him good and human.

We got to see him accept that some of his kind and generous ideas simply weren’t feasible.

Yet there was this hope and promise of a brighter future in medical care, especially as Max’s methodology spread among the other doctors and nurses.

With the employees caring more, the patients felt more supported, and that’s what we needed to see more of on our screens.

In short, we needed more New Amsterdam.

I’m going a little further back than I intended to with this NBC series, but it continues to stand out as a must-watch show.

At the same time, NBC seemed to shift, holding onto its big dramas while forgetting its smaller shows with cult followings.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist brought us laughter and joy while also raising sensitive and important topics.

It was a show that could have been lost in the fantastical element of it, as Zoey started to hear the innermost thoughts of those around her.

After all, Zoey hearing the thoughts of others — friends and strangers alike — could have led the series to take a wild turn that had us cringing immediately.

Yet, it remained grounded thanks to its emotional storytelling.

There was the overarching plot to Zoey’s new life, but it didn’t dominate the entire story.

Instead, we focused on individual characters, following them through their internalized journeys.

It’s so easy to judge people by what we see on the outside, but you have no idea what is going on deep down.

Yet it didn’t get too heavy, keeping that balance of comedy and drama, and it’s what we needed to escape.

The dance elements were unmatched, creating memorable episodes.

Yes, these dance numbers were better than Glee, and there was just so much more heart to the story.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist never forgot its roots and the initial mystery that started it all, which helped create a comfort show we were all hooked on.

It’s rare that a show can tackle topics like grief, depression, and love all at once without affecting us in heavy ways, but Zoey did it in droves, and we need more of it, especially right now.

It’s like yelling into the void sometimes — so if you’re out there, holler back.
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