7 Canceled TV Shows That Got a Movie Finale — Could ‘Star’ Be Next? (PHOTOS)
ALF
The most lovable Alien Life Form lost his home in 1990 when NBC canceled ALF after four seasons. The sitcom got closure, of a sort, with the ABC movie Project ALF in 1996, but the two-hour movie was widely criticized for omitting the Tanner family.
Deadwood
Fans of this frontier-town drama finally got their long-awaited TV movie this May, 13 years after HBO canceled Deadwood after three seasons. And luckily for those fans, Deadwood: The Movie scored near-universal critical acclaim.
Firefly
If you ask us, Fox did this Joss Whedon space western dirty by airing the first season’s episodes out of order before canceling it outright in 2002. Under three years later, though Captain Mal’s crew flew again in the big-screen continuation Serenity.
Police Squad!
This police procedural spoof lasted just six episodes on ABC in 1982 but begat the big-screen Naked Gun series — which had many of the same cast members, including Leslie Nielsen as Detective Frank Drebin, and many of the same gags. The three films racked up more than $200 million at the box office.
Sense8
This ambitious Netflix series, which starred a multinational cast as strangers with a psychic link and which was filmed all over the world, was given the boot by the streaming giant in June 2017 after Season 2. Amid mass fan outcry, however, Netflix ordered one more episode. That finale, the two-and-a-half-hour “Amor Vincit Omnia,” dropped in June 2018.
Timeless
This century-hopping sci-fi drama cheated death twice. NBC canceled it in May 2017 only to un-cancel it and order a second season three days later. Then, in June 2018, the Peacock Network gave it the ax again before ordering a two-hour finale the following month. That conclusion, titled “The Miracle of Christmas,” aired in December 2018.
Honorary Mention: Veronica Mars
Kristen Bell’s plucky detective had to put away her magnifying glass when The CW canceled the show on a big cliffhanger at the end of its third season in 2006. But fans Kickstarted a movie into fruition, and the big-screen Veronica Mars hit theaters in 2014. We say “honorable mention,” though, because Hulu is reviving the series for another season, due for release on July 26.
We’ve all mourned for TV shows canceled before their time, but occasionally, those gone-too-soon shows will get a chance to wrap up their storylines with a movie on TV or even at the multiplex. And the Fox series Star could be next.
The musical drama was nixed after three seasons this May, but co-creator Lee Daniels told Instagram followers that a two-hour finale movie would tie up the loose ends. As Variety reports, however, 20th Century Fox TV declined to comment on Daniels’ announcement.
While we keep our fingers crossed that a proper Star finale will indeed light up our screens, check out seven other canceled shows that got a movie reprieve.
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