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The fall 2021 TV schedule is almost here. While there are some excellent shows coming back, there are some canceled TV shows we’ll miss.

There are certainly some great TV shows heading to the fall schedule. We’ve got NCIS coming back, even if it is on a different night. New seasons of The Flash and All American will arrive on The CW. We have Young Sheldon and The Conners among the comedies coming back.

While there are some excellent shows arriving, we can’t help but mourn the shows that won’t. There were a fair few canceled TV shows that we’d love to see more of. They’re not part of the fall 2021, and they’re not even going to be part of the midseason lineup. They’re canceled TV shows that we’ll always be left wondering about.

Some canceled TV shows mean more to us than others. They connect to us in ways that others don’t, or they stand out in ways that most others simply can’t. Here are five shows we wish were returning to the fall lineup this year.

5 canceled TV shows we wish would be part of the fall 2021 schedule

The shows are listed in alphabetical order. With multiple genres, there’s no way we can rank these because you just can’t compare genres.

For Life

We start with one of the dramas from ABC. There were a couple of ABC dramas canceled that deserved better, and For Life is certainly at the top of the list.

The series is an important one for today’s social climate. It’s based on true events of a Black man convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. There are plenty of stories like his, and the world needs to hear about them. The best way is to fictionalize them for network TV.

Sadly, For Life didn’t get the audience is needed to keep it on the air. Network TV still relies on live ratings due to the way the networks make money. We certainly need to see a change, especially as the way of watching TV changes.

Good Girls

Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat. Good Girls was never a fall series. That doesn’t stop us wishing it wasn’t on the list of canceled TV shows. The NBC dramedy was one of the most entertaining stories on TV.

Good Girls ended with Beth finally taking over the operations. Rio would now work for her, but just how long would that last? What type of drama would that lead to? And how would they get Annie out of jail?

There was so much more potential to this story and it deserved the time to wrap up the story in full. Just one shortened season would have been enough.

NCIS: New Orleans

CBS made a few shocking cancellations, and NCIS: New Orleans was one of them. There’s no doubt that it’s a show we needed more of. While it did follow the same format as all the other NCIS shows, there was something different about this one that made it stand out.

NCIS: New Orleans had a bit of a supernatural element to it. Remember the guy in the red suit? And there was all the great music, even if the later seasons lost some of that.

There was no reason to cancel this show. The ratings weren’t terrible. In fact, there were renewed shows with worse live ratings. The characters deserved time to have their stories wrapped up.

Prodigal Son

FOX has a bad habit of canceling TV shows early, and I think we can all agree that Prodigal Son was one of them. The crime drama was over the top and had its campy moments, but those are what made it so great. They’re what made it stand out so much.

Prodigal Son characters had some great dynamics. There’s no way we didn’t love The Surgeon’s obsession with his children or the way Gil and Jessica would interact. And yes, we needed more Bright and Dani!

The story left on a major cliffhanger. There’s no doubt we need to know what was coming next, so we need this show to come back.

Prodigal Son: Season 2 ($)

The Unicorn

Finally, it’s all about a heartfelt comedy. The Unicorn was more than just a show with laughter and fun. It was a series that brought a serious topic that is often overlooked: moving on after the death of a spouse.

It focused on a widow with two teen daughters to raise. As he tries to move on, he moves back into the dating world. Things aren’t all that easy, but they do have some hilarious moments. At the same time, the show offers heart and family.

There are a few new comedies arriving on CBS, but we’d love to see The Unicorn still around.

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Which canceled TV shows do you want to see back on the fall schedule? What are you going to miss the most? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The fall 2021 season starts on Monday, Sept. 20.