Sadly, as each broadcast season comes to an end and networks begin looking to the next, not every show survives. The 2023-2024 season, looking ahead to 2024-2025, is no different.
In fact, this year, we’ll be losing some fan favorites and series part of some major franchises. And while S.W.A.T. was lucky enough to be uncanceled again, it’s more likely than not that none of these others will be as well. Instead, dramas like CSI: Vegas, NCIS: Hawai’i, and more received word in recent weeks that this season is it. Quantum Leap was canceled a month and a half after its finale aired. And hey, at least we’ll have a little more time with Blue Bloods.
Below, we’re taking a look at broadcast TV’s most painful cancellations of 2024. Scroll down to check out our picks, then let us know yours in the comments section, below.
Blue Bloods
Sure, we don’t have to say goodbye to the Reagans just yet, with the final season airing in two parts, this spring and fall 2024, but our days with the cops (and lawyer) of this family, those weekly dinners, Frank (Tom Selleck) and his inner circle, and more are numbered. Friday nights just won’t be the same without the CBS drama after 14 seasons, and sadly, it doesn’t look like the fan and cast push for a reversal on CBS’ decision is going to pay off.
Series finale date: December 2024
CSI: Vegas
It’s been so good to watch a new team of CSIs—with help from some of the OGs, like William Petersen, Jorja Fox, and Marg Helgenberger‘s characters—follow the evidence once again in Las Vegas in this sequel to the original series (which aired 15 seasons, ending in 2015). The only thing that’s helping? The fact that Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, told Deadline that “that franchise is alive and well and we continue to be in discussions.”
Series finale date: May 19
The Good Doctor
Those who work on the show didn’t want the ABC medical drama to end this season, and neither do we! For seven seasons, we’ve watched Freddie Highmore‘s Dr. Shaun Murphy grow as a doctor and a person—and become a father!—and if the additions and exits of characters over the years tell us anything, it’s that this show can continue on as long as there are great people around the main cast.
Series finale date: May 21
NCIS: Hawai’i
Oh how we’re going to miss this ohana! The NCIS franchise may be continuing to thrive (with the mothership returning as well as two new spinoffs coming) but each series stands out, with this one benefiting from, in addition to being a great procedural, a female lead (Vanessa Lachey), an LGBTQ+ couple with a relationship that hasn’t been easy but has made watching their journey all the more satisfying (Kacy), and a gorgeous location.
Series finale date: May 6
Quantum Leap
On the one hand, the finale did serve up an ending that worked as the wrap-up of the series, reuniting Ben (Raymond Lee) and Addison (Caitlin Bassett). On the other hand, it also opened the door for so much more to be explored: What do two-person leaps look like? Would Ben and Addison be able to now make a romantic relationship work? Who else might leap? Could that code bring home Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett?
Series finale date: February 20
So Help Me Todd
There’s so much to enjoy about this legal dramedy. Sure, there’s a bit of a procedural element to fit right in with CBS’ lineup, but it’s not just a courtroom show. At the center of it is the relationship between mom (Marcia Gay Harden‘s Margaret, a lawyer) and son (Skylar Astin‘s Todd, a private investigator) and how that has evolved so much just over the two seasons as the latter has gotten his life together. Add in a great supporting cast and plenty of laughs, and it’s a must-watch.
Series finale date: May 16
Station 19
The firefighters of the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff are going to be missed, and not just because of the entertainment value of those crossovers Thursday nights. Just like on any Shondaland show, their lives and relationships are messy (making for great drama), and the emergencies have not been easy over the years, but it’s come to stand on its own, separate from Grey’s, and has done so because of the heart at the center of each story.
Series finale date: May 30
Superman & Lois
It’s the end of a superhero era on The CW! Sure, it turned out that this series, led by Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch as the titular Man of Steel and intrepid reporter, isn’t part of the Arrowverse, which was a major part of the network for years, but it allowed for the expansion of the multiverse and the characters that could be introduced.
Series finale date: TBA
