I'm sure we've all experienced it at one point or another: we find a show we love, we tune in eagerly every week, and then we learn it's getting the ax, oftentimes unfairly. Luckily, that doesn't always mean the end for shows - Veronica Mars earned enough money for a movie thanks to an online campaign, Arrested Development signed a deal with Netflix for 14 episodes this May (with a possible movie in the works), and shows like Star Trek hit their stride long after their cancellation. There are always supremely dedicated fans who will bring things back around - and seeing the success of shows built for an online platform, such as Netflix, or the success of fan-organized campaigns, like the one for Veronica Mars, shows that we're living in a time of change. TV isn't the only creative medium that shows can find anymore, and it's not the be-all, end-all if something doesn't work out there. That's good news for us; higher creativity coming from a multitude of places, and new frontiers opening up for progress. It's all good. That being said, we still have the right to be a little bitter about shows being cancelled. I know I am - which ones are you mad about? This list would be remiss without including the most obvious pick here: Firefly should never have been cancelled, period. To add to that, I'd say Pushing Daisies, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development (which is, luckily, coming back), and Star Trek: The Original Series (yeah yeah, I know, multiple series and movies, but damn it, I wanted more of TOS).
Stargate: Universe. That was a high quality, thought provoking series, which is, of course, why it was axed. It expected the viewers to think.
Twin Peaks - so bizarre - loved it Kidnapped - Jeremy Sisto - he's terrific Soap - amazingly funny My brother loves(d) Stargate Universe- he hated when it got canseled. And to think he started off as major hater of Canadian t.v. shows
Meh, Stargate Universe started rather poorly in my opinion, but then it got much better towards the end of the second series. Stargate Atlantis should have continued, as should have Star Trek Enterprise. On Star Trek Enterprise, the first two seasons seemed lame, with the characters behaving in such a naive manner - really, you go into deep space with a few rubbish missiles and no phase cannons?! Humanity survived a devastating WWIII barely a century before, they know how aggressive people can be and how violence can escalate, and they expect all the aliens they come across to be friendly and give them a hug? It got much better in season three, really loved the on-going Xindi threat, and season four came out with excellent multiple episode story arcs (then they came out with a very lackluster finale, it should have been a double-episode, could still have the same basic storyline, but it looking like this was one time our heroes weren't going to save the girl - pun intended!). Firefly I also agree should never have been cancelled. Wasn't it because Fox showed it in completely the wrong order, mucking it up and putting people off? Serenity was great, and makes me sad Firefly never got a good run. It would have been excellent! Although not cancelled, Star Trek Deep Space Nine could have continued, the ending felt a bit rushed. I do understand they didn't want to wrap everything in a neat little package and give the feeling the story will go on after the final time the credits roll, but still...poor Jake and Kassidy! And Kira!
Firefly and arrested development are the obvious answers. I never had to much of an interest in SG:U, I felt like it was overwrought, like the writers were trying to hard to make it serious and dramatic. I enjoyed it at first, but there was never a break in the melodrama... Anyway, I don't want to start a debate about that... I was really starting to get into Jericho when it got cancelled, I wanted to know who blew up the world! And another one that I really liked was The Good Guys. Great comedic cop show that Fox inexplicably canceled, those bastards...
Obviously Firefly. I think there were only about 3 people on the planet who thought cancelling that show was a good plan - unfortunately they all worked on Fox's commissioning board. American Gothic.
Firefly - yes, obviously. SG:U - where was the plot going? I like the characters, not so much the story. ST:E - I'm sad whenever any Star Trek is gone, but the overarching Xindi plot is really what killed it. ST is a one plot per show show. Characters overarch, not plots. (for this particular show). BSG - love it. But it had to end sometime, and even though I didn't care for the ending, at least it ended. But it had two(?) spin-offs. The one pilot: Blood and Chrome, and Caprica which sorta faded away. Syfy channel blows (wrestling? give me a break).
I'm glad you said 'for this particular show', since DS9 had huge plots going through entire seasons. Dukat was intent on awakening the Pah Wraiths from part way through season 6 right up up the final episodes, and the Dominion never went away after the end of season 2, and the war raged throughout seasons 6 and 7. Voyager had the Borg return now and then, but largely stuck to single episodes and two-parters.
I'm inclined to say The Prisoner. The original one, with Patrick McGoohan, not the horrible remake. But The Prisoner was never cancelled. It completed its planned arc brilliantly, and left many TV pundits scratching their pointy little heads. There was also a three-episode miniseries on SciFi, before they abandoned any pretenses of offering science fiction and changed their name to Syfy. It was called The Lost Room, and felt it potential to become a great series. Plenty of unanswered questions that could have been explored.
Firefly - it's just a shame the film didn't make enough money for the series to be restarted I'd love to see Friends again somehow I never got tired of it. At the very least I'd like to see a film! I do wonder why they never made one.
The Lost room was a great miniseries ! Nowhere Man - I don't recall the end of it - they played muscial-chair airtime with that one. But the premise was cool. Bizarre 90's sci-fi shows Earth 2 White Dwarf Roar
Farscape was an awesome show that shouldn't have been cancelled. They made a two episode miniseries to wrap it up though, which made it somewhat ok that it was cancelled before that.
It's hard to say. I mean you can say "Arrested Development", but who knows if the writers would have run out of ideas had it not been cancelled.
I don't think I've ever recovered from the cancellation of "My World And Welcome To It", which was my introduction to James Thurber.
A town called Eureka - it was so much fun and a sci-fi to boot. Fringe - The first and second seasons were great but when they started up with a continuous story, the magic left it.
What baffles me are all those great shows that get cancelled while other shows that are terribly written, terribly acted, get renewed year after year after year....(ugh). And then there are those beloved shows that end gracefully, but I still wish they were around (I'm talking to you, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Fringe). I think all the really good ones have already been mentioned, though I was intrigued by a new show that barely lasted on season last year: The River. Hard to say if it would have ever amounted to anything after one season, but I enjoyed it. I'll throw my vote in for Firefly, Arrested Development (one of the best comedies ever made!) and Twin Peaks. I know I'm in the minority, but I really like ST:E and miss it, too. Okay, so maybe I just miss gazing at Scott Bakula in a uniform....
Farscape. Ok, we got the miniseries which tied up the story arcs (quite well, too) but damn, that show deserved to go out on a high, not a whimper. My favourite show EVER. And of course, Firefly.
