US networks axe 14 shows including three iconic reboots

Yesterday (May 12) proved to be a bloodbath for US TV dramas and comedies as no fewer than 14 were canceled in a single day. 

The brunt of the cancelations was given out by The CW, the network jointly owned by Paramount and Warner Bros, with no less than seven shows given their marching orders. 

As well as the CW, CBS and NBC also had a cull, with a number of high-profile dramas and comedies given the boot, leaving stars like Jason Isaacs, Morena Baccarin and Jay Hernandez with a lot more space in their diaries. 

Early summer tends to be when the US networks announce what is staying and what is going in anticipation of work beginning again after the summer. Unlike Netflix, which seems to announce cancelations constantly, these cancelations tend to come in bursts, at precisely the same time as the pilots of new shows are competing to make it to series. 

Sadly for 14 such shows, their last rites have now been performed...

So what got canceled?

We won't be seeing any more of the reboot of teen drama Charmed as that received its marching orders after four seasons on the air, meaning its run lasted exactly half as long as the original series. 

Charmed wasn't the only high-profile reboot to be given the elbow, the Jay Hernandez-led Magnum P.I. is at an end after four seasons on CBS and Paramount Plus, while Dynasty, the reimagining of the highly-strung 1980s drama is done too after seasons. 

Roswell, New Mexico, which followed on the success of 1990s sci-fi saga Roswell, has also been axed after a four-season run. 

As well as that, Legacies, the spin-off of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, has been canceled after four seasons, marking the first time in 13 years that some iteration of that franchise has not been on the air.

Naomi, Ava Duvernay's comic book adaptation where a teenager who runs a Superman fan site and discovers that she has superpowers, is done after just one season. The show joins Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and Supergirl, which were previously confirmed to be coming to an end on The CW. 

In The Dark, the Ben Stiller-backed drama which follows a blind woman who attempts to turn her life around while solving a friend's murder, is done after four seasons, as is The 4400, with the post-apocalyptic drama only getting one season. 

The 4400 wasn't the only show to be one series and done, Good Sam, which starred Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs and followed Bush's Dr. Samantha Griffith, a heart surgeon who is forced to step up after her boss and father, Dr. Rob Griffith (Isaacs), falls into a coma, is done after one season, as is The Endgame, the Morena Baccarin-led thriller where a criminal mastermind and an FBI agent face off. 

The cancelations were so vast and sweeping that Julie Plec, the veteran showrunner and executive-producer behind Roswell, New Mexico, The Endgame and Legacies, quipped it was a day reminiscent of Game Of Thrones' brutal episode The Red Wedding. She was not wrong...

So many canceled dramas, what about comedies?

Plenty of those hit the buffers too. 

Kenan, the comedy built around Kenan and Kel and Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson, where he stars as a single dad and local news anchor trying to balance his kids and his career, is over after two seasons, while Mr. Mayor, in which Ted Danson starred as a retired businessman who decides to run for mayor of Los Angeles and somehow wins, is also out after two seasons. 

Two comedies from Chuck Lorre, the man behind megahits like The Big Bang Theory, Roseanne and Cybil, have also been culled. 

The United States Of Al, which told the story of the unlikely friendship between a Marine combat veteran and his unit's interpreter as they tried to build a new life in the US, is done after two seasons. As well as that, B Positive, which starred Annaleigh Ashford and Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch, has only lasted for two seasons. 

How We Roll, the comedy which starred Crashing’s Pete Holmes as a middle-aged man who decides to pursue his dream of becoming a professional bowler after being laid off, is also at an end after only one season. 

So many cancelations, and, for once, we're not talking about Netflix...

• What are the best shows on Hulu right now? We've got you covered...