# Burning off

**Burning off** is the practice in American television programming of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a series, usually one that has already been canceled or is planned to be canceled, without the intent to attract a large number of viewers.<sup>[18](https://variety.com/2007/more/news/tv-fires-up-summer-burnoff-1117965857/)</sup> Networks hold the first-run broadcast rights to episodes they have paid for, so they have sole discretion over when, how, and whether the episodes run; burning off is one of the main options for completed episodes left on the shelf after a cancellation.<sup>[1](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/14794/what-happens-to-unbroadcasted-episodes-of-cancelled-series/14798)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | Quickly airing the remaining episodes of a canceled or soon-to-be-canceled program, without intent to attract a large audience<sup>[13](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dvd-heaven-for-canceled-tv-shows/)</sup> |
| Typical slots | Unusual time slots such as Saturday, mostly during the summer; 3% of finale episodes aired on Saturdays versus 0.2% of premieres in one study of broadcast networks<sup>[2](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/10840/files/jeong_jae-hoon_201808_phd.pdf)</sup> |
| Scale of the problem | About 75% of new TV series do not last beyond their first year, leaving unaired episodes from low-rated fall and midseason series<sup>[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-10-ca-201-story.html)</sup> |
| Economic motive | Networks contractually pay producers for two broadcasts per episode and need advertising revenue from both airings to make a profit<sup>[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-10-ca-201-story.html)</sup> |
| Accounting motive | An episode's cost sits on the balance sheet as un-aired inventory until broadcast; airing it, even at 6 a.m., lets the network expense the cost without a public content impairment charge<sup>[4](https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/research-article-about-cns-long-history-of-tax-write-offs-and-burning-off-shows.5803664/)</sup> |
| Notable examples | NBC's *Boomtown* (2003), Syfy's *Caprica* (2011), ABC's *The Assets* (2014), and CBS's *Me, Myself & I* and *Living Biblically* (2018)<sup>[5](https://www.deseret.com/2003/12/17/19801572/burning-off-boomtown/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.tvweek.com/broadcast/2010/11/syfy-reveals-plans-to-burn-off/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-assets-unaired-episodes-to-run-sunday-afternoons-33047/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.tvobscurities.com/2018/06/unaired-episodes-2017-2018-tv-season/)</sup> |

## Why episodes go unaired

Television series are filmed well in advance of broadcast, and a drama canceled in the middle of its production season typically has several finished episodes that have never run.<sup>[1](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/14794/what-happens-to-unbroadcasted-episodes-of-cancelled-series/14798)</sup> In a typical arrangement the network orders a fixed number of episodes up front and pays for all of them, so the episodes exist whether or not the network wants to schedule them.<sup>[1](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/14794/what-happens-to-unbroadcasted-episodes-of-cancelled-series/14798)</sup> The scale is large: in 1992 the Los Angeles Times reported that about 75% of all new series do not last beyond their first year, and that ABC alone held 13 unseen episodes of the sitcom *Sibs* while CBS held nine unaired episodes of *Teech*.<sup>[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-10-ca-201-story.html)</sup>

**Contractual obligations.** Networks contractually pay program producers for two broadcasts per episode, and they need the advertising revenue from both airings to make a profit on the license fee.<sup>[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-10-ca-201-story.html)</sup> Deals with production studios or merchandising partners also commonly include performance clauses: if the broadcaster does not air all the episodes, the partner can sue for the value of the lost advertising and product exposure.<sup>[4](https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/research-article-about-cns-long-history-of-tax-write-offs-and-burning-off-shows.5803664/)</sup> A broadcaster may agree to burn off a show's final episodes partly to help the studio reach an episode count for syndication (licensing reruns to other stations), sometimes in exchange for a share of future syndication profits.<sup>[4](https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/research-article-about-cns-long-history-of-tax-write-offs-and-burning-off-shows.5803664/)</sup>

**Accounting.** Until an episode is broadcast, its production cost sits on the network's balance sheet as an asset, un-aired inventory. If the show is canceled and the episodes never air, that asset becomes worthless and the company must declare a content impairment charge, a public acknowledgment that it spent money on nothing. Airing the episodes, even in a 6 a.m. slot, officially consumes the inventory so the costs can be filed as ordinary business expenses.<sup>[4](https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/research-article-about-cns-long-history-of-tax-write-offs-and-burning-off-shows.5803664/)</sup>

## Scheduling patterns

Burned-off episodes go into time slots where low ratings do the least damage. A study of broadcast-network scheduling found that 3% of finale episodes aired on Saturdays, against only 0.2% of premiere episodes, and identified the practice directly: networks "burned off" unaired episodes of canceled originals by allocating unusual time slots like Saturday, mostly during the summer, citing ABC's *Zero Hour* and NBC's *Do No Harm* as examples.<sup>[2](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/10840/files/jeong_jae-hoon_201808_phd.pdf)</sup> Broadcast networks historically paid little attention to summer, when reruns and unaired episodes of canceled shows were mostly scheduled.<sup>[9](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/10840/files/jeong_jae-hoon_201808_phd.pdf?register_download=0)</sup>

The episodes may be scheduled immediately or held until the network needs filler.<sup>[1](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/14794/what-happens-to-unbroadcasted-episodes-of-cancelled-series/14798)</sup> Some networks brand the slots: CBS's *Comedytime Saturday*, a one-hour block in the 2011-12 season, aired sitcom reruns and burned off episodes of underperforming series such as *How to Be a Gentleman*.<sup>[10](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/21906)</sup> When a show rates even too low for Saturday night, a network may drop it into weekday afternoons; ABC ran the remaining four episodes of the canceled miniseries *The Assets* on Sunday afternoons in July and August 2014.<sup>[7](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-assets-unaired-episodes-to-run-sunday-afternoons-33047/)</sup>

## Examples

- NBC canceled the well-reviewed drama *Boomtown* in late 2003 and burned off the four completed episodes the following week, three back-to-back on Saturday, December 27, and the fourth on Sunday, December 28.<sup>[5](https://www.deseret.com/2003/12/17/19801572/burning-off-boomtown/)</sup>
- After fan campaigns failed to save *Caprica*, Syfy devoted five hours on January 4, 2011, from 6 to 11 p.m. ET, to a one-day burnoff ending the series.<sup>[6](https://www.tvweek.com/broadcast/2010/11/syfy-reveals-plans-to-burn-off/)</sup>
- In 2012 ABC canceled the freshman dramas *[Last Resort](https://www.edgepedia.org/last-resort-tv-series)* and *666 Park Avenue* and let both play out their remaining episodes within their initial 13-episode orders without back orders.<sup>[11](https://www.tvweek.com/broadcast/2012/11/abc-cancels-two-drama-series/)</sup>
- In 2018 CBS burned off unaired episodes of *Me, Myself & I* and *Living Biblically* in Saturday blocks in July.<sup>[8](https://www.tvobscurities.com/2018/06/unaired-episodes-2017-2018-tv-season/)</sup>
- Burning off can cross network lines: FX aired the final four episodes of the Fox-canceled comedy *Running Wilde*, and the remaining seven episodes of the Fox series *Time of Your Life* aired on TBS six years after cancellation.<sup>[12](https://www.buddytv.com/final-four-episodes-of-running-wilde-to-air-on-fx/)</sup>

Not every producer accepts the practice. Fox canceled *[Firefly](https://www.edgepedia.org/firefly-tv-series)* in 2002 after 11 episodes, with three more finished but unaired, and creator [Joss Whedon](https://www.edgepedia.org/joss-whedon) resisted burning those installments off as summer filler; the episodes instead reached viewers through a DVD release.<sup>[13](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dvd-heaven-for-canceled-tv-shows/)</sup> Networks may also simply abandon burn-off plans: NBC intended to burn off remaining episodes of the game show *[The Wall](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wall-american-game-show)* in summer 2019 but abruptly scrapped the plan without explanation.<sup>[14](https://www.tvline.com/gallery/cancellation-list-tv-shows-cancelled-feud-fx/)</sup>

## Burn-off versus summer originals

The label carries a stigma, and the line between a burn-off and a planned summer series can blur. The television critic Matt Roush of TV Guide classified Fox's *Gang Related* as a summer burn-off because the network had included its pilot in fall screener mailings a year earlier, suggesting it was once considered for the regular season, while acknowledging that it was getting harder to distinguish burn-offs from shows designed for summer viewing such as CBS's *[Under the Dome](https://www.edgepedia.org/under-the-dome-tv-series)* and *Extant*.<sup>[15](https://www.tvguide.com/news/ask-matt-24-1083294/)</sup>

The term has also been applied to shows that were not failures. When NBC scheduled the final 13-episode season of *Parks and Recreation* two episodes a week starting January 13, 2015, with the finale on February 24, commentators described it as burning off a beloved but low-rated comedy as fast as possible, though the network framed it as a sendoff maximizing the show's cultural impact.<sup>[16](https://time.com/3612697/parks-and-recreation-finale-nbc/)</sup> In 2016 TBS aired all ten episodes of its new comedy *Search Party* in five days starting November 21, a pace the Ringer described as showing that the burn-off is no longer necessarily an insult.<sup>[17](https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/29/tv/tbs-streaming-search-party-10492526dd3)</sup>

The practice extends beyond individual shows.

## References

1. [What happens to unbroadcasted episodes of cancelled series? Movies & TV Stack Exchange](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/14794/what-happens-to-unbroadcasted-episodes-of-cancelled-series/14798)
2. [Jeong, Jae-hoon (2018). PhD dissertation, University of Georgia](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/10840/files/jeong_jae-hoon_201808_phd.pdf)
3. [TV Heats Up the Leftovers: Unaired Episodes on Summer Lineup, Los Angeles Times (June 10, 1992)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-10-ca-201-story.html)
4. [Research Article about CN's Long History of Tax Write Offs and Burning Off Shows, Anime Superhero Forum](https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/research-article-about-cns-long-history-of-tax-write-offs-and-burning-off-shows.5803664/)
5. [Burning off 'Boomtown', Deseret News (December 17, 2003)](https://www.deseret.com/2003/12/17/19801572/burning-off-boomtown/)
6. [Syfy Reveals Plans to Burn Off Remaining Episodes of 'Caprica', TVWeek (November 22, 2010)](https://www.tvweek.com/broadcast/2010/11/syfy-reveals-plans-to-burn-off/)
7. [The Assets: Unaired Episodes to Run Sunday Afternoons, TV Series Finale (July 2, 2014)](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-assets-unaired-episodes-to-run-sunday-afternoons-33047/)
8. [Unaired Episodes from the 2017-2018 TV Season, Television Obscurities](https://www.tvobscurities.com/2018/06/unaired-episodes-2017-2018-tv-season/)
9. [Jeong, Jae-hoon (2018), download copy, University of Georgia](https://openscholar.uga.edu/record/10840/files/jeong_jae-hoon_201808_phd.pdf?register_download=0)
10. [Comedytime Saturday, Allegsa Online Encyclopedia](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/21906)
11. [ABC Cancels Two Drama Series, TVWeek (November 19, 2012)](https://www.tvweek.com/broadcast/2012/11/abc-cancels-two-drama-series/)
12. [Final Four Episodes of 'Running Wilde' to Air on FX, BuddyTV](https://www.buddytv.com/final-four-episodes-of-running-wilde-to-air-on-fx/)
13. [DVD 'Heaven' For Canceled TV Shows, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dvd-heaven-for-canceled-tv-shows/)
14. [Cancelled TV Shows List, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/gallery/cancellation-list-tv-shows-cancelled-feud-fx/)
15. [Ask Matt: 24, Game of Thrones, Louie, Summer "Burn-Offs," TV Pirates, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/ask-matt-24-1083294/)
16. [NBC Announces Plans to Burn Off Final Parks and Recreation Season, Time (December 1, 2014)](https://time.com/3612697/parks-and-recreation-finale-nbc/)
17. [TBS Takes a Swing at Streaming TV, The Ringer (November 29, 2016)](https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/29/tv/tbs-streaming-search-party-10492526dd3)
18. [TV fires up summer burnoff, variety.com](https://variety.com/2007/more/news/tv-fires-up-summer-burnoff-1117965857/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Fictional worlds and series reference apparatus › Episode lists, seasons, and broadcast lifecycle*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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