Welcome to IGN TV Show Obituary, formerly known as "IGN's Endangered Series List." Now that the major networks have announced their renewals and new series pick-ups, we have a more definite answer to what will and won't be back next season.

The focus here is on primetime network series, but we've also included some notable cable shows. Note also that our "What Won't Be Back" section means just that and includes shows that died a "natural" death, getting a proper and planned finale, along with others that were unceremoniously yanked from the schedule, giving fans no closure.



Update (5/28): ABC has passed on Ghost Whisperer, and the show is now officially finished and added below to the "Won't Be Back" page.



Update (6/05): ABC has now also passed on picking up The New Adventures of Old Christine - leaving just one lonely show on the Endangered page!

24 Most assumed this was probably the final season for 24, but then its fate became a bit more cloudy, especially after NBC hinted they might pick up the series, should FOX decide not to renew it. However, that is no longer be an option and FOX, in the wake of dwindling ratings and rising costs, decided Jack Bauer's time on television has indeed come to an end, after an impressive eight season run. But don't fret too much, Bauer fans – a 24 movie is in development.

Accidentally on Purpose This Jenna Elfman series was the weak link on Monday nights for CBS. A move to Wednesday nights for the last few episodes of the season didn't help it make more of an impact, and the network decided to cut it loose after one season.

The Beautiful Life The show with the dubious honor of being fall's first cancellation was this ill-conceived model-centric soap (starring Mischa Barton), which only aired two episodes.

Better Off Ted Only Dollhouse surpassed Better Off Ted in terms of the semi-surprise over its renewal last year, given the very poor ratings the show had in its first season. Unfortunately, despite critical support and a cult following, Better Off Ted continued to barely register when it came to TV ratings this season and has been cancelled.

Brothers This critically lambasted, very low-rated FOX comedy was allowed to air more episodes than one might expect – albeit burnt off, in the little viewed pre-8:00 Sunday night timeslot..

Cold Case Last season, CBS chose renewing this series over Without a Trace. But with the ratings down, Cold Case couldn't survive another round of cancellations.

The Deep End This midseason replacement series performed incredibly poorly for ABC, among an otherwise strong Thursday night lineup.

Dollhouse A miraculous renewal for a second season only put off the inevitable for this ratings starved Joss Whedon series, which has continued to lose viewers most weeks. The series will wrap up with the airing of Season 2's thirteenth episode in January.

Eastwick Despite a trio of attractive stars, few viewers tuned in to this new take on the popular book and film, The Witches of Eastwick. ABC has decided to end the series after episode 13.

FlashForward This much-hyped new series, touted initially by some as ABC's hope to replace the soon-to-end Lost in the zeitgeist, dropped and dropped in the ratings from its strong opening. With little critical support and hard to ignore issues behind the scenes (both of the show's main executive producers departed the series as the season progressed), ABC decided to end FlashForward after just one season.

The Forgotten This Jerry Bruckheimer produced series, starring Christian Slater, was one of several failed shows ABC tried at 10:00 this season. In a vote of no confidence, ABC cut the season short by a couple of weeks. Insert joke about the show's title here.

Ghost Whisperer A strong performer for CBS for several years, this Jennifer Love Hewitt series dropped considerably in the ratings this past season, along with CBS's entire Friday night lineup. In the end, the network decided to save the show they owned completely, Medium, over one they only partially owned – a bit ironic, given Medium aired on NBC until last year. ABC toyed with picking the series up, but ultimately passed, sending Ghost Whisperer into the afterlife.

Hank One of the fall's most critically trashed new series, Hank, starring Kelsey Grammar, was obviously the weak link in ABC's new comedy lineup on Wednesdays and the network pulled the plug after airing five episodes.

Happy Town ABC launched this mystery series late in the season and it failed to make any impact, suffering from some very negative reviews, coupled with low ratings. The producers promise the identity of The Magic Man will be revealed in the finale – but we're not going to see him or her ever caught, since there won't be a second season.

Heroes A cautionary tale for other series, Heroes went from a ratings smash with critical acclaim to a series whose cancellation barely caused much other than a shrug by most, on the heels of a couple of seasons of rapidly dwindling ratings and much-criticized storylines. At first, it seemed it might get one final (shortened) season, but after NBC picked up several promising new shows, they decided it was time to end Heroes. However, the network has said they are considering a TV-Movie wrap up.

Law & Order It was widely believed that this incredibly durable series would come back for a jaw-dropping Season 21. But as NBC picked up more and more new series for fall, they decided it was time to bring this franchise-starter to an end - albeit while simultaneously announcing a new Los Angeles set spinoff.

Legend of the Seeker This syndicated fantasy series was having trouble in the ratings, and things got bleak when Tribune -- who own a large number of stations that carried the series -- decided to drop it for next fall. Seeker's producer, ABC Studios, attempted to find other stations to pick up the series, but it was to no avail, and Season 2 will be the last.

Lost What the hell?! They cancelled Lost?! Let's boycott everyone, everywhere! …Oh wait, no. Lost is just coming to the ending we've all been prepared for since 2007, when it was announced Season 6 would be the final year for the show.

Richard+(Nestor+Carbonell)+explains+how+upset+he+is+to+be+made+a+series+regular,+only+for+<i>Lost</i>+to+come+to+an+end.

Melrose Place Ratings were terrible for this new version of the popular 1990s series, and the slight and momentary increase from Heather Locklear's inclusion was not enough to save it.

Mercy In previous years, the numbers Mercy got would have led to a quick cancellation. But NBC is not the network it used to be, and so the so-so numbers for this medical drama led to a full-season pickup. But as the network plans for a much more ambitious slate of new series next fall, Mercy's time as a schedule place-holder has come to an end.

Miami Medical Ratings were good for the premiere of this new medical drama, but it seemed most who sampled it didn't like what they saw, as those numbers fell rapidly in the subsequent weeks. As it quickly dropped, CBS made the quick decision not to renew the series.

The New Adventures of Old Christine This was the third year in a row CBS waited until the last minute to make a decision on this series , but this time they actually cancelled it. However, for the third year in a row, ABC considered picking it up - only to pass this time, in the wake of launching their own successful comedies this past year.

Numb3rs The numbers (ahem) for this CBS procedural, which made it a respectable six seasons, had been dropping of late. The network cut the season back from 22 to 16 episodes, deciding it was time to end the story of guys solving crimes with math.

Past Life One could say this critically trashed, low-rated FOX series was dead on arrival! Get it, cause it's about people who… Oh, never mind.

Romantically Challenged This Alyssa Milano comedy was a recent addition to ABC's Monday night lineup, sandwiched between two hits – Dancing With the Stars and Castle. It debuted to so-so numbers, and its fate was decided rather quickly, as it was clearly the weak link among a strong night of programming.

Scrubs ABC resurrected this long-running comedy, after airing what most considered a wonderful series finale. The revamped show, with a new setting and mostly new cast, was something of a non-entity in the ratings this year - made even more obvious because ABC has done so well with most of their new comedies, such as Modern Family. It's a bit sad to have this show end so awkwardly after nine seasons, but this time, Scrubs is truly over.

Sons of Tucson FOX quickly pulled this live-action comedy, starring Reaper's Tyler Labine. It aired during the network's animation block on Sunday nights, making for an odd pairing – but a necessary one, given the lack of other FOX live-action comedies. With the failure of Sons, this is an arena the network needs to work extra hard at, if they're ever going to find a niche.

The Spectacular Spider-Man The ratings and critical support were strong for this animated series out of the gate, but several factors way outside the creators' control affected it – including a change in networks and a long delay between US airings of episodes, while those episodes became easy to find online. In the wake of Sony (who produced the show) relinquishing the TV rights to Spider-Man and the huge Disney/Marvel deal, Spectacular became a sad casualty, as Disney/Marvel decided to start anew with their own, in-house produced Ultimate Spider-Man series.

Three Rivers This medical procedural starring Moonlight's Alex O'Loughlin struggled out of the gate, and its minimal ratings improvements were not enough to save it. At January's TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, CBS admitted it was not coming back to the schedule.

'Til Death Inexplicably lasting fourth seasons, this always terribly rated (and reviewed!) sitcom seemed likely to outlast us all, despite frequently being pulled from FOX's schedule for months at a time. But it's finally been confirmed that this time, 'Til Death is indeed dead.

Trauma This show was considered cancelled last fall, until an about face had the network deciding to order more episodes. It was only prolonging the inevitable however, as Trauma suffered weak ratings from the start and has now been sent to the TV morgue.

Ugly Betty Once a very buzzed about show, Betty was doing terribly in its new Friday night timeslot last fall. A move to Wednesdays was not enough to improve matters, and ABC the series would be ending a few months ago, allowing the producers enough time to give the show a proper ending.

Wolverine and the X-Men The circumstances were unusual for this animated series, as we had heard last year it was renewed and would be back for another full season. But Marvel recently confirmed growing rumors of trouble, saying the series was ending because, "we have been unable to work out the financing for the show with our financing partner."

Continue on to Page 2 to see what shows are returning.