History AbortedArc / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Eureka}}''
** Despite The Artifact being one of the central {{plot point}}s of the first two seasons, everything concerning it and The Consortium was inexplicably dropped, without any sort of closure or explanation. FridgeLogic makes this even worse, due to one of the characters explicitly saying that "Power of that magnitude doesn't just disappear." Creator/EdQuinn (Nathan Stark's actor) actually left the show due to this, as Nathan Stark's obsession with The Artifact was his defining character trait.
** The fourth season brought back The Consortium but with new plot line about having to send someone from the future (aka Jack) or Dr. Grant who was from time displaced from the past in order to save the history of the consortium. It was also teased twice that Stark had returned, but he never did.
** [[ManipulativeBastard Beverley]] returned for the end of an episode and then disappeared again, despite being a BigBad for the series. Allison's son was also all but deleted from the series, also possibly in part because of the dropping of The Artifact arc.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has Raj initiating a relationship with an older Puerto Rican woman who works as a cleaner at his lab. After all the build-up she disappears and is never seen or referred to again.

* When season 2 of ''Series/FridayNightLights'' was cut short by the writers' strike, the showrunners decided to cut their losses and abandon several storylines, including Smash Williams' decision to play football for a small, academically-minded historically black college after losing his scholarship, Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity's will they or won't they subplot (season 3 began with them together), Lyla Garrity's Christian radio career, and the entire character of juvenile delinquent-turned-star defensive player Santiago Herrera.

** Despite The Artifact being one of the central {{plot point}}s of the first two seasons, everything concerning it and The Consortium was inexplicably dropped, without any sort of closure or explanation. FridgeLogic makes this even worse, due to one of the characters explicitly saying that "Power of that magnitude doesn't just disappear." Ed Quinn (Nathan Stark's actor) actually left the show due to this, as Nathan Stark's obsession with The Artifact was his defining character trait.

* Kate Lockley's storyline was dropped from ''Series/{{Angel}}'' after Elisabeth Rohm got a better job offer from the folks at ''Series/LawAndOrder''.

** The ''entire'' arc about the twelve villains that were supposed to be the worst villains ever, but all the characters stopped caring after Arthur came back to life. [[FridgeBrilliance Though given the]] [[CentralTheme theme of that season were "Villains"]] one can argue it went to show just how much of a [[BiggerBad bigger threat]] [[TheDreaded Arthur Petrelli]] was.

** The ''entire'' arc about the twelve villains that were supposed to be the worst villains ever, but all the characters stopped caring after Arthur came back to life.

* ''Series/ThePractice'''s final season shakeup, which saw the departure of four cast members and addition of two, killed the burgeoning romantic relationship between Eugene and Jamie.

** Scorpina was a major villain in Season 1, who (thanks to Japanese stock footage, mostly) seemed to be a close friend or romantic interest of Goldar's.[[note]]In the [[Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger Japanese show]] they're married.[[/note]] She appeared in a single Season 2 episode, at the end of which she swore she would return... and then she was never seen or mentioned again, even in "Countdown to Destruction." Years later, the ''[[ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangersBoomStudios Soul of the Dragon]]'' graphic novel explained that she'd been banished to Lokar's dimension (dubbed the Talos Dimension) as punishment for betraying Rita Repulsa and seeking more power for herself; she eventually returns as Lokar's servant [[spoiler:and tries to sacrifice Tommy's son J.J. to him in exchange for greater power, only for J.J. to escape; Lokar kills Scorpina for her failure]].

* ''Series/NewsRadio'''s writers made a point of [[WriterRevolt intentionally]] abandoning every arc the [[ExecutiveMeddling network forced on them]], since they preferred stand-alone episodes to arcs. For example, the storyline about Lisa wanting a baby plodded along for several episodes, never went anywhere, and was quietly dropped.

** Jim destroyed Dwight's respect when he went over Michael's head to Jo and talked himself into the Regional Manager job that Dwight thinks belongs to him. In Season 8, Andy gets the same job after Dwight screwed up his chance and Dwight immediately turns on him too.
** Dwight makes very clear that he didn't view the event as special and didn't even understand why Jim was grateful. Roy could have gone after anyone and Dwight would have done the same thing. The real dropped arc is the scheme itself. Despite all the build up mentioned above across several episodes, eventually Jim steps down from his position willingly for unrelated reasons and Dwight and Ryan dissolve the alliance thinking they succeeded in bringing him down.

* ''Series/SchittsCreek'': The Rose family, as ImpoverishedPatricians who find themselves still owning the small town of Schitt's Creek, are initially focused on selling the town and getting back some portion of their lost wealth. After the first season, however, the idea of selling the town fades out and eventually just stops being brought up. The fact that the family still owns the town isn't even addressed in the final episode.

* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' had the Twilight of the Gods storyline, one that caused the deaths of all the Greek Gods save for Ares and Aphrodite who both lost their godhood. Once Michael makes an apparent FaceHeelTurn and strips Xena of the God of Love's blessing, the plot is never picked up again save for a small cameo in the next episode. The crux of the plot that is Eve leaves in the episode after that, never to be seen again.

** Jonas Quinn did get a proper send-off and [[TheBusCameBack turned up in a later episode]], but it had been hinted, especially in "Prophecy", that his brain was special in some potentially plot-important way, and it was never revealed what this was or what it had to do with anything. His brain was special because [[InstantExpert he could memorize all Jackson's notes in between seasons]]. If they ever explained ''why'' it was special, but as for ''how'' it was special, his super-learning made him a good SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.

* The 2017 revival of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' continues the storyline of the original series, resolving most of the cliffhangers and dangling threads ([[MindScrew while adding a whole pile of new ones]]). One thing that is abandoned, though, is the character of Annie Blackburn. Despite being Cooper's LoveInterest who was implied to have some sort of connection to both Laura Palmer and Cooper's dead fiance, she is one of the few characters to be completely absent. [[AllThereInTheManual Additional material]] claims that she continued to live a quiet life due to the trauma from the original series finale, seemingly putting an end to her story.

* The 2014 revival of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' continues the storyline of the original series, resolving most of the cliffhangers and dangling threads ([[MindScrew while adding a whole pile of new ones]]). One thing that is abandoned, though, is the character of Annie Blackburn. Despite being Cooper's LoveInterest who was implied to have some sort of connection to both Laura Palmer and Cooper's dead fiance, she is one of the few characters to be completely absent. [[AllThereInTheManual Additional material]] claims that she continued to live a quiet life due to the trauma from the original series finale, seemingly putting an end to her story.

* Peyton's return in the end of the sixth season of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' was hyped as the beginning of a love triangle. The season would have ended with Mac trying to choose between the feelings he still had for Peyton and the early-stage relationship he was beginning with Aubrey. Who he picked would have been revealed in the beginning of season seven. However, Claire Forliani got a part on ''{{Series/Camelot}}'' and couldn't return for more episodes, plus Melina Kanakaredes decided to leave the series, pushing the writers to put aside that plot to focus on the newly-arrived Jo.

* ''Series/ColdCase'' has several storylines in Season 6 unresolved due to cancellation. These include new love interests for Lilly, Kat, Vera, and Stillman, Lilly receiving a job offer from the FBI, and [[spoiler:Scotty's quest for justice for his robbed and raped mother ultimately leading to his becoming accessory to the murder of the perpetrator]].

* ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred':

** The First Doctor drops a heavy hint in one story that he doesn't ''really'' [[HumanAliens look like a human being]]. This was ignored forever after[[note]]Except possibly in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''Sky Pirates!'', which suggests that not only does he have "another body" that can only be seen by beings who are ''really'' in tune with the time vortex, but ''that's'' not his true form either, which is even worse[[/note]]. Unless the Doctor meant his [[BizarreAlienBiology Time Lord organs and organ systems]], which are vastly different than those of a human's, and are unable to be seen beyond his exterior.
** Barry Letts had been planning to reveal the identity of the Master in the Third Doctor's final episode -- the intention was that he would be the [[EnemyWithout metaphysical embodiment of the Doctor's dark side]] who would have done a HeroicSacrifice to save the Doctor. There isn't much {{Foreshadowing}}, but an exchange does remain in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster "The Time Monster"]], the last Master script written with Barry Letts' input, clearly intended to imply this relationship between them. When Roger Delgado [[ActorExistenceFailure died in a shock accident]], the storyline was abandoned, as was the character. When he returned, he had been [[SameCharacterButDifferent drastically overhauled offscreen]] and was now clearly just an evil Time Lord. The reason for the Master's turning towards evil was left a RiddleForTheAges for the rest of the Classic run to [[FanDislikedExplanation avoid disappointment]] (although both the ExpandedUniverse and the New Series attempted explanations), and due to PromotedFanboy influence, the concept of the Doctor having a dark metaphysical projection played a large part in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis "Logopolis"]], the final story of the Fourth Doctor, and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe "The Ultimate Foe"]], the final story of the Sixth Doctor.

** Series 7 kickstarted a storyline where the TARDIS refused to cooperate with Clara Oswald. When quizzed in 2014, Steven Moffat teased, "It's almost like it's all building to something... Oh! What's this I'm writing today?" The last we heard of it would be a throwaway line in Series 8's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon "Kill the Moon"]]. Moffat finally explained this away in a ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' Q & A column in 2017 when a fan brought it up: The TARDIS was sour with her because, being able to see all of time at once, [[spoiler: she knew Clara and the Doctor were the Hybrid and that he would suffer greatly for their relationship]]. This references the Series 9 StoryArc. As Moffat and company did not initially plan for Series 9 to involve Clara ''at all'', it's a {{Retcon}}, not something he had in mind from the the start.