CBS is one of the longest existing and active TV networks. As such, it has produced dozens of show over the decades. Some of them went on to become huge hits that ran for multiple seasons. However, not every CBS show became a stellar success. A lot of them were canceled after just one season, even though there were some who didn't deserve this type of treatment.

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Several canceled CBS shows are either better than the viewers usually give them credit for or they simply became the victims of a bad timing. Whatever the case, a few great CBS shows that were canceled after a single season have the power to entertain the audience even today.

5 Clarice

Working as an agent and catching murderers is no easy task as Clarice Starling could confirm. Set one year after the events of the Oscar-winning crime thriller Silence of the Lambs (1991), Clarice offers the audience a further look into the titular heroine's life and her difficult line of work. While it didn't have the same intense atmosphere as the 1991 movie, Clarice offered multiple intriguing criminal cases and kept the audience hooked thanks to the insecurity about which terrible murder(er) would Clarice face.

Some fans missed seeing Jodie Foster as Clarice and Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter, yet the series' cast gave a solid performance. Overall, Clarice was rated as an enjoyable crime series by a majority of the viewers, but CBS has canceled it anyway, even though there have been rumors that the series could move to Paramount+ instead.

4 The Flash

The Flash 1990

Back in the early 1990s, the golden age of live-action TV shows and movies was yet to come, was more than a decade away. As such, the cancelation of The Flash didn't come as a surprise. However, while the series' special effects aren't on the same level as in the case of its Arrowverse successor, this version of the fastest man alive still has a lot of charm and is the ideal adventurous story for superhero fans who want to watch something relaxing.

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John Wesley Shipp gives a convincing performance as Barry Allen, so much so that he later portrayed another version of the Flash, Jay Garrick, in the 2014 Arrowverse series The Flash as well as Barry Allen's father Henry. So even though the show was canceled prematurely, its legacy lives on.

3 Good Sam

Good Sam

Medical shows are a popular genre as they allow the audience to get a more detailed glimpse into the lives of doctors and nurses, professionals who save other people's lives. Considering many series taking place in this setting, it's inevitable that some don't get to run as long as others do. Good Sam has a positive rating of 6.0 on IMDb, but its results weren't good enough to sway the network and give another season to the series. That's despite the fact that the characters were portrayed by talented actors, such as Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs.

Even though there are plenty of medical shows, Good Sam brought something new to the genre not only by focusing on the main character Sam's work but also on her complicated relationship with her father (Isaacs) who works in the same hospital as she does. With just thirteen episodes, Good Sam is one of the underappreciated shows that keeps the audience invested thanks to the mixture of work drama and a personal one that it offers.

2 Limitless

Limitless

Shows that deal with the topic of special powers continue to be popular. Based on a successful movie of the same name from 2013, Limitless asks what would happen if one man got the power to use 100 percent of his brain. He could use it to improve the world or solve crimes, for example. The main topic is enough to keep the viewers interested as it remains unclear for quite a while what the main hero Brian can do with his newfound ability.

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The series has a futuristic feeling to it but still comes across as something that could happen one day, unlike other science fiction shows. While it was canceled after just one season, the consolation is that Limitless received a fair number of episodes, 22 in total, which is more than many other shows canceled after the first season can say. Other than Jake McDornan as Brian, Limitless stars a face well-known from another crime series - Jennifer Carpenter from Dexter who plays the F.B.I. agent Rebecca Harris.

1 Planet Of The Apes

Planet of the Apes 1974

The cases of recently canceled CBS shows are understandably more prominent. However, CBS has been canceling TV shows after just one season for decades. Airing in 1974, Planet of the Apes follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the 1968 iconic science fiction movie, and tells the story of two astronauts and a friendly ape who are surviving on Earth ruled by intelligent apes. The series is one of the underappreciated 1970s sci-fi TV shows as it has less than 5 thousand ratings on IMDb at the moment.

While it doesn't reach the same level of quality as the best movies from the Planet of the Apes franchise, it's still an enjoyable and thought-provoking story with an excellent cast that includes some names well familiar to sci-fi fans, such as Roddy McDowall or Mark Lenard. The show was canceled after one season due to low ratings, a danger that many modern shows face as well.

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