10 Cancelled MTV Shows We Wish Would Come Back

The television industry is extremely competitive and things move quickly, so when ratings drop, a show is often cancelled without any chance at redemption. This leads to a large turn over rate on networks like MTV. Sometimes we’re happy to see shows go, but other times our favorite shows are abruptly cancelled while they still have a large fan following! We’ve decided to take a trip down memory lane (some go much farther back than others) to look back on some of our favorite MTV shows that were cancelled and we wish would make a come back!

10. Faking It

This American romantic comedy series won the Teen Choice Award for “Choice TV Breakout Show” after it’s first season aired. Faking It followed the story of two best friends in high school who pretend to be gay in order to gain popularity. Their relationship becomes complicated when Amy ends up actually falling for Karma while Karma falls for one of the guys at their school, Liam Booker. The show only lasted for three seasons but had a strong fan base which made it awful when it was abruptly cancelled without a proper ending.

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9. Road Rules

Road Rules wasn’t necessarily cancelled, but rather morphed into another show. As the sister show of The Real World, Road Rules was the second reality show created on MTV. It was on the air for a whopping 12 years and spawned 14 seasons! The series featured five or six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24, who had to give up their money and live on an RV that traveled between various locations. At each location the cast members had to compete in missions in order to stay on the show. It was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001, but when one of the show creators passed away in 2004, the show went on hiatus. It was eventually turned into a whole new show called The Challenge which has now outlasted Road Rules with 29 seasons.

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8. Laguna Beach

This widely popular reality show tried to continue on after the original cast members graduated from high school and moved on, but it just didn’t work so producers were forced to cancel the show after three seasons. Set in Orange County, California, Laguna Beach aired from 2004 to 2006 and was met with mixed reviews, but ultimately deemed a “guilty pleasure.” It focused on the lives of several students at the local high school and launched careers for many stars like Kristin Cavallari, Lauren Conrad and Stephen Colletti. The success of this show spawned several spin offs like The Hills, The City, and Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County. Despite their lack of success the first time, we think MTV should give a reboot of Laguna Beach another shot!

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7. Singled Out

Singled Out was one of the first dating game shows that ran on MTV from 1995 to 1998. Hosted by Chris Hardwick and Jenny McCarthy, Singled Out featured a group of about 50 men and women who all competed against each other for a date with one main contestant of the opposite sex. In 1997 McCarthy left the show in order to pursue her own sitcom, Jenny, and was replaced with Carmen Electra who then stayed on the show for the last season and a half before it was ultimately cancelled.

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6. My Super Sweet 16

This was most definitely one of those shows we loved to hate. The people on the show were often bratty, entitled and spoiled, but we loved to watch them stomp and pout over having the best sweet 16 party ever. Viewers were undeniably interested in seeing how much money wealthy people would spend (or waste) on their child’s party. My Super Sweet 16 even featured celebrity coming of age parties for stars like Bow Wow, Sean Kingston, Aly and AJ, Chris Brown, Teyana Taylor and Soulja Boy. The show first premiered in January 2005 but was cancelled in June 2008, not before it spawned two more spin offs which were also cancelled by 2010.

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5. Finding Carter

Finding Carter makes this list because it was such a unique show and it received positive reviews from critics which made it shocking when the show was abruptly cancelled after two seasons. The series followed a girl named Carter, who’s life is turned upside down when she realizes the woman she thought was her mother isn’t. She learns she was abducted as a small child and then spends her life trying to reconnect with her real family. The first season only had 12 episodes, but was renewed for a second season almost immediately. The second season was again 12 episodes, but later extended to 24 before it was eventually cancelled.

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4. Room Raiders

This silly reality show wasn’t all that complex, but it was hilarious and entertaining! Room Raiders was a cheesy dating show that aired for only two seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2006. The whole premise of the show was that a single man or woman had someone pick who they wanted to date based on what they found in their bedroom. Three suitors would sit in a van and watch as one individual raided all of their bedrooms. At the end of the episode the bedroom raider would choose one of the three candidates based on what he/she found in the rooms and then be introduced to who that person was, along with the other potential candidates.

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3. Next

Next was another dating show created by MTV that definitely didn’t lead to any real relationships, but was entertaining to watch. A group of single candidates gathered together on an RV to date one stranger. They would get off the RV one by one and go on a date with this one person. The twist of the show was that the individual who was being courted could say “Next!” at any point in the date when they didn’t feel that person was a match for them. The daters got $1 for every minute the date lasted — some would only last a matter of seconds! The show aired from 2005 until 2008 and spawned an impressive six seasons.

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2. The Osbournes

No matter what anyone might think about the Osbourne family, their reality show The Osbournes went down in history as the most-viewed series on MTV ever! It started back in 2002 and ran for four seasons until 2008. As expected, the show featured the life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family, his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, and his two children Jack and Kelly. The family has another daughter named Aimee who chose not to be apart of the show. Cameras followed the family around as they dealt with major issues like Sharon’s battle with cancer and the aftermath of Ozzy’s ATV accident. The reality show almost came back for a revival in 2015, but VH1 pulled the plug before things moved forward. It would definitely be interesting to see the family dynamic nowadays, especially now that Jack is a dad and Kelly has made quite the career for herself in fashion and reality TV!

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1. Total Request Live (TRL)

It should come as no surprise that this show landed in the number one spot on this list. Total Request Live was any teenager’s go-to show after school. Before there was any such thing as YouTube or social media, TRL was our main source for music videos and artists main source of promotion. Hosted by Carson Daly and located right in Times Square of New York City, the show featured special guests on a daily basis, basically any artist or musical group who was popular at the time. They would play the most requested music videos of the day as voted by viewers on the phone or online. Sadly the show was cancelled in 2008 after a decade on air. We would love to see this show come back!