Tower Prep

Tower Prep is a live-action teen science-fiction television series created by Paul Dini for Cartoon Network. It aired 13 episodes between October 16 to December 28, 2010. Prior to "Tower Prep", Dini was a producer and writer of ', ' and other DC animated universe series.
The series aired for one season prior to being canceled by Cartoon Network. It featured Ian Archer, a teenager with supernatural abilities who explored the mysteries of Tower Prep, an isolated institution to which Ian and his classmates arrived with no memory of how they got there.
Premise.
Tower Prep is an exclusive boarding school for people with special abilities. None of the students know where they are or how they arrived there, and there's no way to escape the campus itself, which is a large complex of buildings surrounded by dense forest.
The series starts with Ian Archer sitting at home playing a video game after being suspended for fighting another student at his home high school. Before he knows it, Archer finds himself waking up at Tower Prep with no memory of how he got there and no recognition of the other students around him. Panicking, he tries to escape, and in the course of his failed attempt he meets three other students: Gabe Forrest, Suki Sato and CJ Ward, each with their own unique abilities. Throughout the series, the four friends make it their mission to uncover the mysteries behind Tower Prep and find a way to return to their normal lives.
Through the series, the four determine that they are on Earth in a small peninsula, with steep bluffs, inherited by the founder of Tower Prep. The peninsula is also home to many rare specimens of plants and animals from around the world, such as poison ivy and a venomous fly only found in mid-continental Africa.
Characters.
Tower Prep staff.
The teachers of the school do not use their actual names, and are instead called by the subjects they teach. 
Production.
Development.
Paul Dini wrote the first episode of "Tower Prep", and Cartoon Network picked up the series as part of their initiative to develop live action programming for a family audience. The pilot was shot in 2009, and full production of the first season began in 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Former "X-Files" writer Glen Morgan was hired as executive producer and showrunner, joined by a writing team including Dini, Glen's brother Darin Morgan, Riley Stearns, Aury Wallington, Jeff Eckerle and Marilyn Osborn. Discussing his influences in creating the show, Dini states, "I thought about incidents when I was a kid. I went to a prep school, and I leaned back on my feelings of what it was like at the time – the strangeness and the alienation." From the start, the writers' goals were to create a story that did not talk down to kids, and to write natural dialogue, avoiding unrealistic slang and catchphrases. Many of the characters shift between being perceived as heroes or villains, because, Dini explains, "[throughout high school], your allegiances are switched and relationships change... To a degree, Tower Prep is a real high school. It's just that the elements are blown out of proportion and into caricature."
The promotion for the series began with a fictional storyline, in which Cartoon Network published vlogs from the four main characters. Prior to the series premiere, a sneak peek of the show was released for free download on the iTunes Store featuring half of the first episode. To promote the premiere, the network announced a giveaway of 1,000 iPod Touch devices that would take place during the show. The iPod Touch strongly resembled the PDA devices from the series. The song "Unstoppable" by Foxy Shazam was used in network promos and in the episode "Trust".
The last two episodes of the first season aired on December 28, 2010. In October 2011, Cartoon Network removed all "Tower Prep" content from its website. In December 2011, Paul Dini announced that the series would not return for a second season.
Cancellation.
On March 23, 2011, Cartoon Network announced their new and returning programs for the remainder of 2011 and "Tower Prep" was not mentioned as one of the returning series.
In December 2011, over a year after the series premiered, Dini announced on his Twitter account that the series would not be renewed for a second season, ending the series on a cliffhanger. When asked if he will reveal the ending to the series, Dini replied that he is "sworn to secrecy." In May 2012, Dini also revealed that there were talks of foreign financing for a second season, but the deal fell through because Cartoon Network decided not to air the show regardless.
In January 2013, Paul Dini revealed that Cartoon Network never gave him an answer for the cancellation of the series, though he speculated on Kevin Smith's "Fatman on Batman" podcast that an increased young female viewership over the network's young male target was a principal cause. Per the network's reasoning, according to Dini, the show's female viewers would be less likely to purchase merchandise. "We had a whole, a merchandise line for "Tower Prep" that they shitcanned before it ever got off the launching pad," he said on the show. "Because it's like, ... 'Boys buy the little spinny tops, they buy the action figures; girls buy princesses, we're not selling princesses.'" Alicia Lutes of "Bustle" acknowledged the impact of merchandising on viability of shows, referencing Dini's comments: "An undeniable truth about the television landscape today is that it's largely driven by marketing and advertising sales — or at least, the ability to sell a show to not just a small screen audience, but beyond the confines of that screen. Namely, via products. For a network like Cartoon Network, that would be toys. But they've somehow deduced that girls don't buy toys, or make good enough television viewers."
Dini also added that him and Cartoon Network intended for the series to run for 'five seasons' and had plans for season two to air in February 2011. Dini expressed interest in writing season three where he had planned for Ian to be the leader of the gnomes.
Reception.
"Tower Prep" received critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Brian Lowry of "Variety" said the show's mysteries might appeal to both children and adults, calling it "a series that points the way toward a best-case scenario" for Cartoon Network's live-action programming. Robert Lloyd in his "Los Angeles Times" review praised the show's energy, casting, and writing in spite of its modest production values. Both reviewers noted the series shares elements with "The Prisoner" and other works such as "Harry Potter", "Lost" and "The X-Files". Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club stated that while the pilot episode suffered from low production values and murky fight scenes, it benefited from a strong primary cast, Dini's use of superpowers, and potentially intriguing moments. Further, she specifically pointed to the involvement of creator Paul Dini and producers Glen Morgan and Darin Morgan as reasons she believed the show would grow into a compelling series. In the 2011 Leo Awards, Brenton Spencer was nominated for Best Direction in a Youth or Children's Program or Series for the episode "Dreams".