Ringer: axe falls on Sarah Michelle Gellar's TV comeback

Sarah Michelle Gellar's first TV role since Buffy the Vampire Slayer will probably be regarded as a disaster. In addition to playing identical twins, Sarah also played a leading off-camera role as an executive producer.

But the Sky Living acquisition struggled in the US so it has been axed after just one season.

Speaking before its debut, the star had said she wasn't trying to duplicate Buffy with Ringer. "I have the most incredible fan base and I also had the most incredible show. You don't repeat history, but you also want to honour that and my fans are smart and like evocative television and with this all the pieces fell into place."

Sarah Michelle Gellar also played opposite herself as a robot Buffy in the fifth season of the hit supernatural show.

There was so much excitement when Ringer premiered, it's a shame the star's TV comeback floundered.

The fate of other shows

If you're a huge fan of certain US series, it's a time for celebration or commiseration. Or both. America's broadcast networks are currently unveiling their TV line-ups for the new season start in the autumn. But in order to fit in fresh programming, there have to be casualties.

The axe has swung and the bloodied corpses of dramas and comedies are littered all over the place. Some series have been dropped because they've underperformed in the ratings. Others, such as long-running favourites House and Desperate Housewives, have naturally reached the end of the line.

Here are the shows airing in the UK that have been given the boot by ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC and The CW. Cougar Town excepted, they will not be on air in the US when the new telly season starts in September.

CSI: Miami

It's goodbye to Horatio Caine's posing, dramatic pauses... (see what I did there?) and sunglasses as the crime drama is axed after 10 seasons. The show currently has a home on Channel 5, and will - no doubt - air endlessly in repeats.

Cougar Town

"Penny caaaaan!" Courteney Cox's quirky comedy will live on. But it has only been saved following a move from US network ABC to cable network TBS. Heck, I don't care. I'll take Cougar Town any way I can get it. Let's hope it will still air on Sky Living.

Charlie's Angels

Eight episodes into its run, ABC cancelled this utterly lamentable update. Poor old E4 was stuck with a lame duck as it was axed in the US a couple of months before its UK debut.

Desperate Housewives

The Wisteria Lane ladies have come to the end of the road in the US. Here on E4, there's still weeks to go before we get a chance to find out who did the... [spoiler!].

One Tree Hill

E4's glossy drama has concluded its run in the US after nine seasons. It tackled issues as diverse as a school shooting and teen marriage.

Pan Am

Set in the 1960s, this series about the famous airline never really took off. Over here, BBC2 received a good deal of criticism over its sporadic time slot placements. They probably realised that with ratings heading south in the US, the show - starring Christina Ricci - was doomed. It's gone after one season.

The Secret Circle

Sky Living's supernatural import chronicled the story of a young girl who discovers that she is a witch and part of a secret coven. Guess it didn't bewitch enough people...

Unforgettable

A drama about a woman who can remember every moment of her life should indeed be unforgettable. Too bad this Sky Living import turned out to be the opposite. To be fair, its US ratings weren't that bad. However, ABC probably preferred to bump it in preference to new programming. It's also canned after one season.

Alcatraz

No-one can accuse J.J. Abrams of a lack of imagination when it comes to devising TV shows. But how do you follow a series as successful as Lost? The answer is with great difficulty. Although Alcatraz did well for UK digital channel Watch, its performance for Fox in the US wasn't as impressive, hence its axing after one season.

Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite

The former centres on a precocious and pretentious schoolboy while the latter is based on the movie of the same name. Both of these animation series were snapped up by E4, and they have now been cancelled.

House

From day one, way back in 2004, this series has been driven by a reliable formula; misanthropic maverick Dr Gregory House (the ridiculously multi-talented Hugh Laurie) and his team race against time to diagnose and treat patients before it's too late.

Universal Channel, Channel 5 and Sky1 air House. It's officially over for the long-running series, but the beginning of the end surely came with the departure of Lisa Edelstein, who played Dr Lisa Cuddy.

Terra Nova

It arrived in a blaze of hype back in the autumn of 2011, but US network Fox has axed Steven Spielberg's Terra Nova after just one season. The epic (in every sense, including the budget) dinosaur drama averaged around 7.5 million viewers in the US, simply not enough considering the outlay costs.

Terra Nova's disappointing numbers in America are a stark contrast to its performance here in the UK where it regularly averaged a million viewers for Sky1 in the overnights.

Awake

Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) was the latest British actor rolling out an American accent and headlining a US drama. He played a detective living in two worlds in Awake, which has only just made its debut on Sky Atlantic. Such a shame it's been cancelled in its first season. Maybe American viewers have gone off high-concept dramas.

Chuck

The US series about a computer geek-turned-secret agent is a huge cult favourite; its fans were instrumental in saving it from cancellation time and time again. The show, broadcast on Sky Living and Channel 5, has ended after five fun-filled seasons.

Harry's Law

This legal drama, starring Kathy Bates, is actually one of NBC's most popular shows. However, its viewer demographic was not advertiser-friendly as most fell outside the valued 18-49 age range. In the US, that's enough to get your favourite show cancelled. For the time being, tune into the Universal Channel UK for your Harry's Law fix as there won't be a third season.

Personally, I'm mourning a number of shows on this list, especially Awake. It's new, it had an intriguing premise and it's compelling TV. But there will only ever be 13 episodes. Which of these shows will you miss the most?