The end of the TV season is always heartbreaking.
Not only do our favorites wrap up for the season, but some shows end forever. And the 2024 season is one of the worst ever.
There are at least seven series ending that we don’t want to say goodbye to, but the finales are coming up fast.
The 2024 season was more heartbreaking than most. The season was truncated because of the WGA writers’ and SGA-AFTRA actors’ strikes.
Many beloved shows had short seasons of 10-13 episodes, and some with even fewer new shows. There have been long hiatuses that seemed to begin almost as soon as shows finally started airing. Worst of all, many series cancelations were announced just as shows began airing.
There was a bloodbath over at many networks, but CBS had the highest number of casualties, with five of the seven shows we’re most heartbroken about leaving that network.
There were many reasons for all these cancelations, but the most likely culprit was finances. The strikes dealt a hefty blow to the TV industry’s bottom line, and broadcast TV had already been struggling due to the popularity of streaming services.
Networks can’t afford to produce many popular shows, leading to seemingly bizarre decisions such as canceling Blue Bloods, one of CBS’ top-rated and longest-running series. (Blue Bloods will air the second half of its final season in the fall, so it’s not included in the list of heartbreaking finales.)
Understanding the reasons for your favorite show’s cancelation doesn’t make it any easier to bear. Check out the list below to find out when the series finales that most break our hearts are airing.
Bob <3 Ablishola (CBS) – May 13
This series has been part of CBS’ Monday night comedy block for five years, airing after The Neighborhood, which has been renewed. Unfortunately, the groundbreaking comedy is too expensive, and the production team expected this to be the final season.
Having the Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola air back-to-back gave the network a Monday night block celebrating racial and ethnic diversity.
While The Neighborhood focuses on the relationship between a Black family and the only white couple in their neighborhood, Bob <3 Ablishola featured a businessman who fell in love with a Nigerian immigrant who served as his cardiac nurse after his heart attack.
This cancellation shows CBS’s sad state of affairs, as it routinely won the night, set new ratings records, and was very popular among Black viewers. CBS is clearly having serious financial problems if it has to cancel several super popular shows like this one for financial reasons!
CSI: Vegas (CBS) – May 17
CBS’ recent announcement that they were canceling CSI: Vegas is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.
The three-year-old procedural was a reboot of the original CSI, which ran for 15 years and was a groundbreaking police procedural.
CSI was the first to incorporate forensic science into the plot rather than using a quirky detective whose weirdness allowed them to solve cases, setting the tone for many procedurals that followed. However, like many other canceled CBS shows, CSI: Vegas was expensive to produce.
CBS seems to have reversed that trend, canceling CSI: Vegas after three seasons and heavily promoting Elsbeth, which returns to the cozy mystery format with an oddball detective at the center of the series.
The Good Doctor (ABC) – (TBA, Most Likely May 21)
ABC’s The Good Doctor offered some controversial takes on autism. Still, its ending will leave us without an autistic character on a primetime series, especially now that they’ve added a second neurodivergent character played by an autistic actress — a first in primetime TV.
The final season has already been heartbreaking thanks to the death of Asher Wolke, which the writers intended to raise awareness of hate crimes against gay and Jewish people but which also reinforced the tired TV trope of gay people meeting grisly ends just as they were about to achieve happiness.
Still, we’ll miss this series, even if its abbreviated final season did seem to jump the shark a bit between Asher’s death and the way newcomer Charlie was written. Claire (Antonia Thomas) is slated to return for two episodes before the end, but there’s no word yet whether she will appear in the finale.
NCIS Hawai’i (CBS) – May 6
So sorry, NCIS Hawai’i fans. The series finale is coming up fast, right on the heels of the announcement that the series is ending.
The NCIS franchise seems like it should be a sure winner for CBS, considering they ordered yet another spinoff and will likely renew NCIS: Sydney. However, we can’t entirely blame finances this time, as Hawa’ii was lower rated than its sister shows and had been on the bubble for a while.
The worst part is that the decision was made after the season finale was filmed, so there will be no satisfying conclusion. Showrunners promise there won’t be any cliffhangers, but that doesn’t mean the ending will give anyone closure.
So Help Me Todd (CBS) – May 16
May 16 will be a sad night indeed, as both So Help Me Todd and Young Sheldon broadcast their series finales.
Although CBS claims that the ratings on the two-season legal comedy/drama fell after its freshman year, canceling So Help Me Todd seems like a big mistake.
To add insult to injury, the decision was made after the season finale was filmed, and showrunners say it will end on a major cliffhanger that will never be resolved. That’s so unfair to fans, and people who love this series are already protesting its cancellation loudly.
The least CBS should do is give the series an extra episode to wrap things up. That wouldn’t be as good as another season, but at least it would give viewers closure.
Station 19 (ABC) – TBA
ABC’s Station 19 had a respectable seven seasons, but that doesn’t make its ending any less heartbreaking.
The Grey’s Anatomy spinoff will end sometime in May. Upset fans petitioned for it to remain on schedule, but it didn’t work, so now we’ll have to say goodbye. ABC justified its decision by pointing to low ratings, but a vocal fanbase still loves the show.
The only good news here is that, reportedly, the series was given this final season so things could wrap up properly. Hopefully, the finale will be memorable and provide us with closure even though we’re heartbroken.
Young Sheldon (CBS) – May 16
We all knew Young Sheldon had to end eventually. At some point, Sheldon and the actors who played him and Missy would grow up.
Still, we’re not nearly ready to say goodbye, and it’s cold comfort that Georgie and Mandy are getting their own Young Sheldon spinoff.
The only good news is that Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik are set to reprise their roles as the adult Sheldon and his wife Amy for the series finale.
Still, we’ll miss the quirky Cooper family. Missy had better get a proper storyline before the finale, too!
Over to you, brokenhearted TV fanatics.
Which of these shows will you miss the most? Is there a canceled series that didn’t make our list but that has shattered your heart?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.