Convert pandas data frame to series

You can transpose the single-row dataframe (which still results in a dataframe) and then squeeze the results into a series (the inverse of to_frame).

df = pd.DataFrame([list(range(5))], columns=["a{}".format(i) for i in range(5)])

>>> df.squeeze(axis=0)
a0    0
a1    1
a2    2
a3    3
a4    4
Name: 0, dtype: int64

Note: To accommodate the point raised by @IanS (even though it is not in the OP’s question), test for the dataframe’s size. I am assuming that df is a dataframe, but the edge cases are an empty dataframe, a dataframe of shape (1, 1), and a dataframe with more than one row in which case the use should implement their desired functionality.

if df.empty:
    # Empty dataframe, so convert to empty Series.
    result = pd.Series()
elif df.shape == (1, 1)
    # DataFrame with one value, so convert to series with appropriate index.
    result = pd.Series(df.iat[0, 0], index=df.columns)
elif len(df) == 1:
    # Convert to series per OP's question.
    result = df.T.squeeze()
else:
    # Dataframe with multiple rows.  Implement desired behavior.
    pass

This can also be simplified along the lines of the answer provided by @themachinist.

if len(df) > 1:
    # Dataframe with multiple rows.  Implement desired behavior.
    pass
else:
    result = pd.Series() if df.empty else df.iloc[0, :]