A low-rated show that premiered in the early portion of the regular television season may return during the summer, only to have the final episodes "burned off.
Burning off shows was more common on the main broadcast networks before reality television, when that format became a cultural phenomenon in the summer of 2000.
ABC pressured Warner Bros. TV to agree to a settlement to cancel the show before the ninth season, but after WBTV threatened a breach of contract lawsuit, they simply aired all of the episodes during the summer of 2004.
In 2005, after facing insurmountable competition from the revival of Doctor Who, British network ITV burned off its professional wrestling-themed game show Celebrity Wrestling in a Sunday-morning timeslot.
[7] Recent examples of summer burn-offs include Fox's Sons of Tucson (2010), the NBC medical/fantasy drama Do No Harm (2013),[8][9] the NBC sitcom Save Me (2013),[10] and the ABC sitcom United We Fall (2020; it had originally been slated for a midseason premiere that was delayed to fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before ultimately being pushed ahead to July and being cancelled after a single season).
The series had been renewed for a fourth season only after Sony Pictures Television offered Fox a discount on the licensing fee in order to get enough episodes aired to compile a saleable syndication package.