What Is The Fastest TV Cancellation Ever?

by Nicholas Lemieux

Cancellation: Every TV show’s worst nightmare. On the one hand, a show’s cancellation could mean it’s a good thing; if it gets the chance to wrap up its storylines, give a final farewell to its characters and go out on its own terms, chances are it’ll be remembered fondly as a show that didn’t outstay its welcome, droving on endlessly like an undead zombie (Season 30 of The Simpsons coming this September!). However, in other circumstances, a show may end up cancelled too soon, potentially ending with a tantalising cliffhanger and untied ends that end up leaving many a fans frustrated until the end of their life. In light of the many recent cancellations of various shows, most notably police procedural sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine getting cancelled by Fox and shortly afterward revived by NBC all within less than 36 hours, I’ve decided to investigate and find out the fastest a show has been cancelled.

Regarding cancellation, there are many a shows that instantly come to mind, and some of which were also revived. Cult sitcom Arrested Development had a great tale, cancelled after three seasons and then seven years later revived by streaming service Netflix (Season 5 premiering May 29!). Sci-Fi western Firefly, despite inheriting a massive cult fandom, was cancelled after one season of fourteen episodes, most of which were aired out of order, until briefly returning with a one-off theatrical film Serenity. Even Netflix, revered for giving cancelled shows another chance, received a mass fan outrage after cancelling Sci-Fi series Sense8 after only two seasons, until they were eventually compelled by to bring the show back for a two-hour series finale.

Among my investigations, I also encountered various obscure shows that were cancelled after only airing one episode. Perhaps the most infamous one I found out was Heil Honey I’m Home!, a short-lived sitcom revolving around Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva dealing with and getting into many antics with their Jewish neighbours. The pilot episode involves Hitler trying to keep his neighbours out of the way whilst Neville Chamberlain comes to dinner. Suffice to say, eleven episodes were produced and only one was aired (later episodes planned to include Joseph Stalin and Hermann Goring as guest stars).  However, in spite of all this, I was still wondering, was there ever a show so bad, so horrible to watch, it couldn’t even air the entirety of one episode, a show cancelled in something of a state of limbo, incomplete and unfinished. The answer, bizarrely, and to my eventual shock and horror, is yes.

1992’s Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos is exactly what it says on the tin. Without going into too much detail, the programme was a one-off special spin-off of Australia’s Funniest Home Videos (basically their version of You’ve Been Framed). Broadcasted on the Nine Network, this programme primarily depicted videos of sexual situations, primarily involving animals, and other risqué content all set to ‘comedic’ narration. While the one-off show was in the middle of airing, Kerry Packer, the owner of the Nine Network at the time, was informed of the show’s vastly offensive content at home whilst having dinner and after viewing the show for himself on his own TV, furiously called the network’s studio operators, demanding that they “get that s**t off the air!”. The show was pulled off the air midway, right in the middle of the show’s host giving a monologue insulting fat kids, and a network announcer [rpmptly informed that due to “technical difficulties”, the show would be unable to continue and in its place aired a rerun of the American comedy Cheers. The day afterwards, Packer fired and blacklisted most of the station employees involved with the show’s conception. Only 36 of the show’s 60 minutes were aired and the remainder of the special remained unaired until 16 years later when the show was rebroadcasted in its entirety for a one night event.

At the end of the day, Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos still holds the bizarre record of the shortest-lived programme ever, only broadcasting approximately 59% of its first (and only) episode. I guess maybe sometimes cancellation is necessary in the world of business, especially if your show happens to have mating animals or Adolf Hitler as a main character.