24 LGBTQ+ TV shows canceled after just one season (but deserved more)

Some of the best queer shows only last one season.

Whether or not you love a TV series in particular, it's always great news to hear that an LGBTQ+ show is getting renewed. In recent years, projects like Euphoria, Heated Rivalry, The L Word: Generation Q, Heartstopper, and Peacemaker have all been greenlit for at least one more season.

Unfortunately, the trend — or terrible coincidence — of queer shows being canceled after just one season (despite having so much potential and online buzz) continues. And these shows deserve some love, too! So, here's a list of some of our favorite LGBTQ-inclusive shows that, unfortunately, didn't go the distance.

Check out a (longer that we'd like it to be) list of queer TV shows that only lasted one season, even though they definitely deserved to get renewed and expanded.

'Boots'

One of the most recent entries to this list is Netflix's Boots, which was canceled after just one season despite receiving critical acclaim, having intense momentum on social media, and including a strong cast of young actors who promoted the series as regularly as they could.

'A League of Their Own'

LGBTQ+ fans were incredibly excited about the A League of Their Own reboot series on Prime Video. However, the series didn’t get renewed on the streaming service despite garnering a pretty big fanbase right off the bat.

'Uncoupled'

Neil Patrick Harris’ Uncoupled had a pretty big push once its first season dropped on Netflix, and fans were surprised that the streamer didn’t renew it for a second season. Showtime subsequently picked up the show for season 2, but then also dropped it before filming even began.

'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies'

The girls, gays, and theys who love musicals were immediately obsessed with the Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies prequel show — which ran for a full season on Paramount+ but ultimately wasn’t picked up for season 2.

'Mid-Century Modern'

Starring an iconic trio of Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham, Mid-Century Modern as a TV show felt like assembling "the gay Avengers." Even though the series didn't take off in a way that was expected, it was still recognized with a couple of Emmy Award nominations. Nonetheless, Hulu ultimately canceled the show after its first season.

'Willow'

Fans were obsessed with the Willow series, released on Disney+, that featured a queer main character. When fans received confirmation that the show wasn't picked up for a second season, it felt pretty heartbreaking, to say the least.

'Smiley'

Another LGBTQ+ show that quickly developed a large following was Netflix’s Smiley. While some insist that this series was only supposed to have a one-season limited run, its writers went on record to say that they already had the plot for season 2 in mind.

'High Fidelity'

Hulu's gender-swapped adaptation of the novel by Nick Hornby and the classic John Cusack film -- which starred Zoe Kravitz as the record-store-owning, list-loving, bad-at-love Rob and featured gay romance storylines via gay main character Simon (David H. Holmes) -- was loved by critics, but didn't make it past season one. Kravitz recently said Hulu made a mistake canceling the show, and we can't help but agree.

'The New Normal'

It is possible that The New Normal was a little bit ahead of its time. This show was very well-received by LGBTQ+ audiences when it premiered on NBC, but maybe 2012 just wasn’t the right time for a series like this to take off and sustain itself on broadcast television.

'Super Drags'

Super Drags was a fun, hilarious, and daring animated series featuring drag queens as its main characters. Considering how long most of the adult animated series from Netflix have run, it felt pretty disappointing when Super Drags wasn’t even picked up for season 2.

'Genera+ion'

The HBO Max original series Genera+ion was one of our favorite shows of 2021, highlighting life for queer Gen Z youth. It starred Justice Smith along a diverse ensemble of young actors as a group of high school students in Orange County navigating what it's like to be young and different in a conservative town.

'1899'

Élite heartthrob Miguel Bernardeau played a queer character while starring in this new Netflix series from the same creators of Dark. Unfortunately, 1899 was canceled after just one season.

'I Am Not Okay With This'

This coming-of-age black comedy had so much potential, yet it was canceled after just seven episodes, again, due in large part to the global pandemic. Starring Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff from It, the show followed Sydney Novak, a 17-year-old girl who is simultaneously discovering she is a lesbian and has psychic powers.

'Stumptown'

Based on Greg Rucka's comic book, Stumptown starred Cobie Smulders as bisexual private investigator Dex Parios. A former marine with PTSD, Dex worked as an investigator in Portland, solving problems the police can't get involved in. The show lasted for just 18 episodes before being canceled partially due to the global pandemic.

On the other hand, ABC did reportedly try to sell the series to another network or streaming service, so it's possible that Stumptown could come back in the future.

'The Get Down'

Baz Luhrmann's ambitious musical drama reached some great heights, but never stuck with audiences enough to get a second season. It's one season was split into two parts, exploring a group of young Black men trying to break into the world of rap and hip hop. One character named Dizzee (played by Jaden Smith) has a budding romance with another graffiti artist named Thor. Unfortunately, we never got to see where they could've gone.

'The Society'

This sci-fi series starring Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, and Sean Berdy was about a group of teens who are forced to run their own community after the rest of their town disappears. The series featured a cute gay couple, Sam and Grizz, who had a cute first kiss after Grizz asked Sam, who uses sign language, to teach him the sign for "kiss me." Sadly, the show only lasted for one, ten-episode season because of the global pandemic.

'My So-Called Life'

When it aired on ABC from August 1994 to January 1995, My So-Called Life introduced us to some of this generation's most celebrated actors, including Claire Danes and Jared Leto. It also introduced the world to Rickie Vasquez, played by Out cover star Wilson Cruz, the first gay character played by a gay actor in a leading role in American television history. We still miss him. My So-Called Life ran for 19 episodes and is streaming on Hulu.

'Everything Sucks!'

Yes, yet another Netflix series canceled after just one season. Everything Sucks! was one of our favorite shows about what it's like being a teen, and in many ways, felt like a worthy successor to another one-season wonder, Freaks and Geeks. It was set in the real-life small town of Boring, Oregon and followed a group of teens at the local high school who join the A/V Club and Drama Club and team up to make a movie. The principal's daughter Kate starts out dating one of the boys, but quickly develops a crush on older Drama student Emaline, and later comes out.

'Queer As Folk'

Though it was highly-anticipated and featured an ensemble cast that included some of our queer faves like Jesse James Keitel, CG, Devin Way, Fin Argus, Johnny Sibilly, Ryan O'Connell, Kim Cattrall, and Juliette Lewis, Peacock axed the first and only season of Stephen Dunn's modern, rebooted version of the beloved gay series from the 2000s by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, which was based off of Russell T Davies' 1999 British TV series of the same name.

The 2022 Queer As Folk followed a group of queer friends as they dealt with the aftermath and fallout of a tragic event that affected the LGBTQ+ community in New Orleans, and was praised for its fearless depictions of modern queer life.

'Q-Force'

Not during Pride Month!!! Netflix canceled the truly terrific animated series Q-Force, making it just the latest great queer show to only last one season. The show, which faced unfair and uninformed criticism across social media and the internet when it came out, was actually one of the funniest and most accurate depictions of queer life ever put in cartoon form.

The show starred Sean Hayes as secret agent Steve Maryweather, the golden boy of the American Intelligence Agency who was forced into obscurity in West Hollywood after he publicly came out as gay. It also starred Matt Rogers as master of drag and disguise Twink, Wanda Sykes as the butch mechanic Deb, Patti Harrison as the trans hacker Stat, and David Harbour as the team's token straight.

The show had some of the best queer comedy you'll find on TV and gave us representation like we'd never seen before. Q-Force we will miss you.

'Tom Swift'

The CW continued its canceling spree, adding Nancy Drew spinoff Tom Swift to its list of canceled shows. The show, which just premiered on May 31, follows a Black, young, gay, billionaire, genius inventor (played by Tian Richards) who is "thrust into a world of sci-fi conspiracy and unexplained phenomena" after his father disappears.

'First Kill'

Though the campy, supernatural teen series wasn't a hit with the critics, it did garner a considerable LGBTQ+ fanbase, especially for its portrayal of young, queer love between two girls.

But the representation and visibility it provided to sapphics who just want a cute teen show to stan wasn't enough to save it from getting the ax after just one season on the streamer.

'Cruel Summer' (2024 TV Series)

The original, 1999 film Cruel Summer was always a fan-favorite among the gays — and that audience was taken into consideration even more on Prime Video's 2024 TV series reboot. For one, a character like Scott Russell (played by Khobe Clarke) had a much more outwardly queer identity in this iteration. Moreover, the always-there undertones of queerness from the original film became more literal on the TV show. Unfortunately, the show was canceled after just one season on Prime Video.

'The 4400'

This reboot of the 2004 series, The 4400, about the titular number of people who mysteriously vanished over the last century suddenly reappearing with no memories of what happened, was also canceled after just one season. The show featured trans characters Dr. Andre Davis and Noah, as well as several lesbian characters like Keisha Taylor, Soraya Voss, and Jessica Tanner.