History AbortedArc / LiveActionTV

** During Season 6, there was an arc featuring Dwight trying to hatch a scheme to legitimately get Jim fired, which included forming an alliance with Ryan and planting a bug in Jim's office. It would be one thing if this was Ryan on his own accord (who crossed into {{Jerkass}} territory two seasons prior), but the writers apparently forgot that there was a begrudging respect between Dwight and Jim despite their rivalry, from Dwight [[spoiler: preventing Roy from attacking Jim]] to the two actually having a successful traveling sales run, and co-running the Party Planning Committee together for a while.
** 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. Despite all the build up, 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.

** The episode "Conspiracy" introduces a race of mind-controlling slugs that threaten to infiltrate TheFederation. The episode ended with the revelation that the aliens had sent out a homing signal into deep space, presumably as a prelude to a full-scale invasion. They were never seen nor heard from again in any TV series (though they showed up in the non-{{canon}} novels as being tied to the Trill). They were intended to be a way of introducing the Borg, who were later introduced by other means. The [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse expanded universe]] goes back to this one sometimes; in the comics, [[TheEngineer Geordi]] stumbles on their second invasion attempt, they're trying to start slower by going after a less-advanced race. In the Shatnerverse, Captain Raddison explains to Kirk that her super-secret division exists to protect TheFederation from things that would keep even him up at night. Among her list of incidences, "Parasites of unimaginable power that have three times tried to take over the Federation from within. Ask [[TheCaptain Picard]] to tell you about the time he knows about."
** The Season 1 finale involved outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone being mysteriously destroyed, with each side at first thinking the other was responsible. The Borg were meant to be this new threat, but that doesn't track with their debut appearance the following season. In "Q Who?" it's explicitly suggested, if not outright stated, that the Borg destroyed the Neutral Zone outposts. On the other hand, later Borg {{retcon}}s ''also'' don't track with that debut appearance, and make the Neutral Zone thing more logical.
** There were also the extradimensional abductors in the episode "Schisms", who released a probe into "our" universe which the ''[[CoolStarship Enterprise]]'' lost track of in an obvious attempt to establish them as a continuing menace. They were never seen nor mentioned again (although these guys, like the above-mentioned parasites, were followed-up upon in the comics).

** In the season 2 episode "Loud As A Whisper", there is a scene in which Geordi La Forge goes to see Dr. Pulaski in order to have his visor adjusted, and Pulaski brings up the possibility of restoring his sight. This arose out of actor Creator/LeVarBurton's desire to ditch the visor, which he felt restricted the expressive range of his face by obscuring his eyes. Nothing ever came of it until the series finale years later, where his eyes were restored as a result of anti-time distortion. (It probably didn't help that this scene came in the middle of an episode about a deaf character seeking a way to cope with being stuck without his interpreters.)

** Averted with the episode "Year of Hell". They ''wanted'' it to be an entire season, but the network refused. So they made it a stand-alone episode, which ended with a literal ResetButton.

** After the end of the Gorilla Grodd storyline near the end of season 1 General Eiling tells Barry that he is aware of his SecretIdentity and that this isn't the last time he sees him. Despite that Eiling has yet to appear in the Arrowverse since said episode.

* In the second episode of ''Series/SquidGame'', The Front Man tells the guards to keep an eye on the 14 players who chose not to return to the {{Deadly Game}}s. This doesn't show up as a significant plot point, nor does any action seem to be taken on said players. Their lack of a mention afterwards may be due to them simply succumbing to the debt-ridden, dead-ended lives they returned to.

* In ''Series/{{Cursed}}'', the whole thing about Nimue being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer otracized]] by other Fey for her powers is basically dropped after the second episode and they have no problems accepting her as their leader.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'' we never hear about Mari's hairdressing again and in ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'' [[spoiler:Hiyori being a Worm]] is also dealt with rather quickly.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' had to drop Hana's planned arc when the actress quit suddenly. We still got the reveal of who Hana is and why she is significant to the plot; but her replacement, Kohana (a time-switched version of Hana at ten years old) took a back seat and Airi largely took over as the show's female lead.
** The ''Movie Wars'' crossover between ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' and ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' introduced the concept of homunculi in the OOO universe and hinted that they could reappear in the show, but this didn't happen. WordOfGod confirmed that [[spoiler:Date]] was to have died and been resurrected as a homunculus, but this was changed due to the character's popularity.
** In ''Double'', it seemed that Foundation X was being hyped up as a major antagonist for the Neo-Heisei era Riders. However, they weren't used in ''OOO'' and made one last appearance in the ''Movie Wars'' crossover with ''OOO'' and ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' before being forgotten. They would make their return in a DarkerAndEdgier ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' special, and again in the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover ''Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFinalBuildAndExAidWithLegendRiders''.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'': the much-maligned seventh episode of Season 2 shows Eleven joining a band of other kids led by a girl with psychic abilities coming from the same government facility as her. Despite all the implications, they part ways at the end of the episode and are never seen or referenced again, nor are any other psychics for that matter. The very same episode also implies that Dr. Brenner, the BigBad of Season 1, was still alive, but he's never even mentioned in Season 3.

** Creator/BarryLetts 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 Letts' input, clearly intended to imply this relationship between them. When Creator/RogerDelgado [[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.

** The fifth season introduces the kingdom of Dorne and establishes a new storyline about political intrigue revolving around Prince Doran and his nieces, the "Sand Snakes." The comparable storyline from the books has th Sand Snakes plotting against Doran, but he eventually outwits them and reveals he has a complex, large-scale plot in mind to betray the Lannisters at the most inopportune moment for them by siding with Daenerys Targaryen. However, in the TV series the Dorne plot of Season 5 was widely despised, causing the writers to switch gears and simply murder most of the Dornish cast in the opening episode of Season 6, with the survivors returning in a minor role in Season 7. Actor Alexander Siddig (Prince Doran) even noted his confusion at being told of a long-term, multi-season story for his character only to be brutally killed off at short notice.

** One part of the plot survived in the form of Seska, a Maquis-cum-saboteur who chose to work with the Kazon rather than integrate into the crew.

** Kate Lockley's storyline was dropped after Creator/ElisabethRohm got a better job offer from the folks at ''Series/LawAndOrder''.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has three examples in Season 2 alone:
** It was hinted that Mr. Snyder was conspiring with Mayor Wilkins to eliminate Buffy as a threat by bullying her, and later by expelling her from school on trumped-up murder charges. Season 3 revealed that while he was doing some work with the mayor, Snyder was still as much in the dark about what was going on as [[WeirdnessCensor the rest of the adults of Sunnydale]].
** Willow suddenly becomes a lot stronger in magic and seems possessed while performing the curse to restore Angel's soul. The other characters are notably frightened. Despite this being a good starting explanation for Willow's developing magical powers, the possession is never mentioned again.
** The Anointed One -- a prepubescent child who'd been made a vampire in the first season -- was meant to be the main villain of the season. The problem was, while vampires don't age, the actor playing the role had had something of a growth spurt and clearly wouldn't be able to hold up as an immortal, ageless vampire. As a result, his storyline was scrapped and he was killed off rather anticlimactically -- if satisfyingly -- by Spike three episodes into the season.

** Also, when it was decided that the show would continue following the central characters of season 1 (and not a new group each year, as Tim Kring had planned) numerous possible future arcs were hinted, but ultimately never came to be. Many of them can be seen in Isaac's paintings, such as one of Hiro facing down a ''T. rex'' (obviously, the show never had the budget to do that one). That one actually was wrapped up; right after stealing the sword, Hiro runs into a ''T. rex'' display in a museum.

** One episode suggested that Professor Arturo had been replaced by his EvilTwin, but this was never followed up on in-show, aside from being teased at in a couple of episodes, and the plot effectively ended when [[spoiler: he was unceremoniously killed off]]. Tormé did eventually confirm, in a 2009 interview, that the wrong Arturo had indeed slid. Arturo's terminal illness from another episode was mentioned once again and then forgotten.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'': the much-maligned seventh episode of Season 2 shows Eleven joining a band of other kids with psychic abilities coming from the same government facility as her. Despite all the implications, they part ways at the end of the episode and are never seen or referenced again, nor are any other psychics for that matter. The very same episode also implies that Dr. Brenner, the BigBad of Season 1, was still alive, but he's never even mentioned in Season 3.

** 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.

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': The party never arrives in Baerlon before Shadar Logoth, removing much of the build up and evidence of Rand being the Dragon Reborn and the prophecies that foreshadow rest of the series.

** Georgie and Jana broke up in the third season due to Georgie wanting to see other girls. Season four ignores this and the two are back together. Only for them to part ways again following a [[spoiler:pregnancy scare]] as Georgie told her that he didn't want to get married, but what he meant to say was he was hoping not to have a shotgun wedding, but then, Georgie and Jana are together again in "A Virus, Heartbreak and a World of Possibilities".

** The series ended its second season with Lister (a male character) falling pregnant to his female AlternateUniverse counterpart. The writers had planned to spend an episode on it, but found their proposed script was misogynistic and -- more damningly -- not very funny. Season 3 wrapped up the storyline with a ''Franchise/StarWars''-style text opening that scrolled so quickly it was unreadable unless viewed in slow motion on tape/DVD. This text also halfheartedly explained the sudden recasting of the characters Holly and Kryten. Neither case was inconspicuous: the former gave himself a [[GenderBender sex change]]; the latter was an obscure one-off character "rebuilt" into to a permanent cast member, acquiring a new look and personality in the process. This gave the distinct impression of missing several episodes of major {{character development}}s; perhaps even a season. This was given ''slightly'' more detail in the ''Red Dwarf Smegazine'' comic strip, in which an accident sent Lister from before the accident into traumatic moments from his future. One of them had him about to give birth, while Rimmer explained that it was going to be the Skutters doing the caesarian, "I know you wanted Kryten to do this, but he's still walking funny and talking with a Canadian accent."

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* The first two seasons of ''Series/{{Sons of Anarchy}}'' build up David Hale as the man who will take over the Charming police department, purge it of corruption, and lead the cops in a final showdown against SAMCRO. Then Taylor Sheridan decided to leave, so Hale was killed in a drive-by shooting.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has one episode with 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.
** Raj is supposed to have an arranged marriage with a wedding in India. The wedding is abruptly called off, she moves to London and is dropped from the series.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
** In Season 2, it was hinted that Mr. Snyder was conspiring with Mayor Wilkins to eliminate Buffy as a threat by bullying her, and later by expelling her from school on trumped-up murder charges. Season 3 revealed that while he was doing some work with the mayor, Snyder was still as much in the dark about what was going on as [[WeirdnessCensor the rest of the adults of Sunnydale]].
** Also in Season 2, Willow suddenly becomes a lot stronger in magic and seems possessed while performing the curse to restore Angel's soul. The other characters are notably frightened. Despite this being a good starting explanation for Willow's developing magical powers, the possession is never mentioned again.
** Once more, with feeling: in Season 2, the Anointed One -- a prepubescent child who'd been made a vampire in the first season -- was meant to be the main villain of the season. The problem was, while vampires don't age, the actor playing the role had had something of a growth spurt and clearly wouldn't be able to hold up as an immortal, ageless vampire. As a result, his storyline was scrapped and he was killed off rather anticlimactically -- if satisfyingly -- by Spike three episodes into the season.

* Around episode 300, the original ''Series/DarkShadows'' had a storyline where Victoria and Burke were going to move into a house, Seaview, after they get married. The house was strangely unoccupied and Elizabeth agrees to sell it even though the deed says it shouldn't be sold. The popularity of Barnabas Collins probably led to this arc being canceled; it turned out she wasn't allowed to sell the house after all and what was wrong with it was never followed up on.
** In fact, Victoria's entire presence on the show is one big Aborted Arc. In the very beginning, the show's main storyline was the mystery around the real family of Victoria, who was an orphan who received financial support from an unknown person. Besides many hints that Victoria was somehow linked to the Collins family, the mystery was never resolved. The original series bible held that Victoria was Paul Stoddard's daughter, conceived in an affair he had while married to Elizabeth Collins, and Elizabeth out of a sense of obligation was the one supporting Victoria. Later it was decided that Victoria was actually Elizabeth's daughter, but this was never revealed...except in a tape that Joan Bennett, the actress playing Elizabeth Collins and while speaking for her character, made for fans.

* Over the years, ''Franchise/{{Degrassi}}'' has had a string of abandoned {{plot hole}}s that have never been resolved or acknowledged at whatsoever, but the most infamous arc up to date is Clare's internship job at the Toronto Interpreter in Season 12. Several episodes in the first half followed her trying to please her boss, Asher Shostak, by editing a good story for the Toronto newspaper and one episode has her being sexually assaulted by Asher in his car. That became one of the most jaw-dropping moments of Degrassi history. In the first half finale, Clare is confronted by Asher's former intern, who admits that she was also sexually assaulted by him and convinces her that they should both go to the police together about Asher. The whole storyline was completely dropped from the twelfth season and we never really find out if she went to the police about it or not.
** Another one often referenced is from the Season 7 episode "Talking in Your Sleep". Paige ends up [[spoiler: sleeping with]] Griffin. Later she finds out he [[spoiler:has HIV. She gets tested and is told by doctors that she won't know the results for 6 months.]] Griffin unceremoniously disappears from the show shortly after this revelation when Paige reveals she is moving out, and there is never any follow-up on Paige's results. Actress Lauren Collins who played Paige has referenced this plothole jokingly a few times on her Twitter.

** Starting from Grayza's introduction at the end of season three, leading a Luxan delegation, the show implied all the galaxy's prominent species would be drawn into the looming Peacekeeper/Scarran war, and that the factional politics among the various planets (including Hyneria, and possibly Nebari) would be crucially important to the story. However, since the promised fifth season was gutted from twenty-two episodes to a four-episode miniseries, it amounted to pretty much nothing in the end, aside from [[spoiler: Jothee's Luxan commando squad showing up at the eleventh hour]].

** 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 bigger threat [[TheDreaded Arthur Petrelli]] was.

** There's also the issue of Peter's season 2 girlfriend Caitlin, who got lost in an alternate future that no longer exists. They kind of completely forgot about her after that, and Peter doesn't seem too concerned with getting her back. (In an interview, one of the writers jokingly said that no, Peter didn't really care, then backpedaled and said that she was originally meant to be rescued in the second half of season 2. "But sadly that will never happen...")

* ''Series/LoisAndClark''
** Towards the end of an arc, the CorruptCorporateExecutive was defeated and killed, and his (apparently) dumb-blonde trophy wife Mindy was last seen saying that she would be in charge from now on, with an implication that perhaps she had been the prime mover all along. She made one subsequent appearance (again successfully framing someone else for her crimes), and was never mentioned again.

* The first episode of the second season of ''Series/TheMusketeers'' makes a huge thing about how the dead Cardinal Richelieu has set all kinds of plans in motion for posthumous revenge on the Musketeers. Absolutely nothing of the kind ever develops.
** Before that, the first season finale dropped hints that the Cardinal had some clue about [[spoiler: Aramis' affair with the Queen]]. However this obviously didn't lead to anything, since the Cardinal was killed off after Peter Capaldi left the show for ''Doctor Who''.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' spent a few seasons setting up a plot in which Director Jenny Shepherd learns that [[spoiler:her apparently dead father was, in fact, still alive]] (despite the fact that [[spoiler:he'd shot himself in the head and '''she was the one who found his body''']]). Just as she's beginning to accept it may be true, [[spoiler:she's killed in a gun-battle related to one of her first cases as an agent]], and so the whole story is now apparently done, with no resolution either way.
** This was actually explained in a blink and you'll miss it scene. Midway through the season Abby speculates that this was a plot by someone (most likely from the CIA) to make Director Shephard look mentally unstable. Leon Vance's remark that Abby is smarter than she looks is about the only answer we'll ever get. It is believed that the reason this plotline was swept under the rug was due to Donald Bellasario stepping down as showrunner and his successor deciding to drop the arc quickly.
* ''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.

** Possibly the most jarring example of this trope was in the "Andrea" arc. Station owner Jimmy James hires an "efficiency expert" named Andrea, who proceeds to fire Matthew, demote Dave from News Director to reporter and fill the vacant Director's office by promoting Lisa. It was also not-so-subtly implied that she was a [[PsychoLesbian lesbian with a fairly violent criminal history]] and a crush on Lisa. After four episodes, Andrea disappeared without so much as an off-camera farewell, Matthew was un-fired by Mr. James and given back his old job, [[StatusQuoIsGod all other changes made by Andrea were undone]] (except for Dave and Lisa's job-swap, which took a few more episodes to resolve) and not a single explanation was ever given.

** ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' used Billy as a RedHerring for the Gold Ranger's true identity; he would often be mysteriously absent working on some sort of "project" whenever the Gold Ranger showed up. Once the Gold Ranger's real identity was revealed, his project was never brought up again.[[note]]According to WordOfGod, had David Yost not left the show, the project would have been revealed to be the Turbo powers.[[/note]]
** ''Zeo'' had a huge number of aborted arcs. Here are some other examples:

** ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' had Dimitria's missing twin sister. She was implicitly Divatox, judging by the fact that they were both played by Carol Hoyt... then again, [[TheOtherDarrin she was a replacement]] while the actress who played Divatox in the PilotMovie, Hilary Shepard Turner, was on maternity leave. When Divatox is "purified" in "Countdown to Destruction", she's wearing an outfit identical to Dimitria's, which is as good an answer as we're ever going to get about the twin sister thing.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' ended its second season with Lister (a male character) falling pregnant to his female AlternateUniverse counterpart. The writers had planned to spend an episode on it, but found their proposed script was misogynistic and -- more damningly -- not very funny. Season 3 wrapped up the storyline with a ''Franchise/StarWars''-style text opening that scrolled so quickly it was unreadable unless viewed in slow motion on tape/DVD. This text also halfheartedly explained the sudden recasting of the characters Holly and Kryten. (Neither case was inconspicuous: the former gave himself a [[GenderBender sex change]]; the latter was an obscure one-off character "rebuilt" into to a permanent cast member, acquiring a new look and personality in the process.) This gave the distinct impression of missing several episodes of major {{character development}}s; perhaps even a season. (This was given ''slightly'' more detail in the ''Red Dwarf Smegazine'' comic strip, in which an accident sent Lister from before the accident into traumatic moments from his future. One of them had him about to give birth, while Rimmer explained that it was going to be the Skutters doing the caesarian, "I know you wanted Kryten to do this, but he's still walking funny and talking with a Canadian accent.")
** The show had a habit of developing aborted arcs. Season 6 ends with the entire crew and Starbug being destroyed to end on a more dramatic cliffhanger, but an enforced four-year hiatus before the next season (caused by the original writing team breaking up and one of the actors spending time in jail) meant it was never really developed and was resolved in the opening to Season 7 with a brief burst of handwaving and then never mentioned again.

* ''Series/{{Revenge}}''
** In many ways, the series aborted many promising story arcs introduced in the second season finale, such as [[spoiler:Charlotte's pregnancy, Nolan being arrested for terrorism, Conrad being a member of the Initiative]] and moved on with only brief explanations of what happened.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' is infamous for introducing characters, races, and enemies that are never seen again. Examples: Nem (an advanced alien who befriended Daniel in the first season), Nyan (a man who supposedly became Daniel's assistant), the Re'tu faction (who supposedly wanted to wipe out all humans), and the general idea of the great alliance introduced in the "Fifth Race" (Asgard and Ancients get their share of plot, but Nox are never to be seen after helping free Skaara; the Furlings are more a running gag than anything). All planets whose Stargate has been lost/destroyed have not been mentioned again even after the SGC started building ships (such as Heliopolis, on which the "meaning of life" machine is housed).

** 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]]. It wasn't explained ''why'' it was special, but as for ''how'' it was special, his super-learning made him a good SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.
*** His planet gets a guest appearance on SGU, he doesn't. Blink and you'll miss it -- his planet is mentioned as one of those which fell to the Ori in season 9 or 10. Season 2 of ''Series/StargateUniverse'' even has his planet as the focus of an episode (it's one of the only planets that can safely dial Destiny), but Jonas is again absent.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' was far from better. What effect did Sheppard's "Blending" with an ascended being have? None. What about the [[spoiler:last Asgards?]] Or the travelers after their brief help in fighting the [[spoiler:Asgards]]. Or what about Lt. Ford, who Sheppard was convinced had survived? Or that Ancient-worshipping cult that hoarded a ZPM? The list goes on...
** On the subject of the [[spoiler:Asgard Outcasts]], The heroes have [[spoiler:an OmniscientDatabase containing all of the achievements, both scientific and cultural, of the mainstream Asgard race, something that could be used to negotiate an alliance with those {{jerkass}} Asgards who have been reduced to using vastly inferior technology to their extinct mainstream counterparts. There could have been a whole plot on the rebirth of the Asgards.]] Presumably the series just ran out of time to tell it.
*** Two of these plot threads were given closure in the Fandemonium Stargate Atlantis novels Unascended and The Third Path which both take place after Season 5. Ford was found by the team living among the Travelers and has a family and returned with them to Earth after being honorally discharged from the military. The Vanir got the help of ascended Asgard named Ran who was born prior to their species cloning and genetic degradation began and descended to help the Vanir fix their genetic degradation issues and use her eggs to hopefully restore the Asgard species.

** Starting from Greyza's introduction at the end of season three, leading a Luxan delegation, the show implied all the galaxy's prominent species would be drawn into the looming Peacekeeper/Scarran war, and that the factional politics among the various planets (including Hyneria, and possibly Nebari) would be crucially important to the story. However, since the promised fifth season was gutted from twenty-two episodes to a four-episode miniseries, it amounted to pretty much nothing in the end, aside from [[spoiler: Jothee's Luxan commando squad showing up at the eleventh hour]].

** 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 Creator/RogerDelgado [[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.

** [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E26S5E1Redemption The two-part episode "Redemption"]] is concerned largely with introducing Sela, with the last shot of Part 1 (and the cliffhanger for the season) revealing that she is the spitting image of dead crew member Tasha Yar. But Sela (and her connection to Tasha) barely even factors into Part 2 of her introductory episode, let alone the rest of the series; she only appears once afterward, in a non-essential role.

** 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 [bigger threat [[TheDreaded Arthur Petrelli]] was.