I'm sure all sci-fi fans now know about the tragic cancellation of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. This got me thinking about other cancelled series, and made me want to go blog about them. Here we go:
Firefly
Starting with the cancellation that made the least sense. Firefly is probably one of the greatest science fiction tv series ever made, and yet only 14 episodes were ever made. I also heard that only 11 were actually aired by FOX in the US, and that they weren't even shown in order. I really don't get it. This was a series with humour, drama, real characters, exciting stories, mystery, Joss Whedon's genius and a whole load of potential.
Sure, thanks to the persistance of the cast and crew and the militant fans, Firefly got it's conclusion in the form of the film Serenity. It wasn't enough though. This was a series that could have gone on for several seasons. So many stories were left unresolved. What was the Shepherd's story? The Hands of Blue guys? Mal and Inara? I know there are comics, but it's not the same.
I'm not sure what went wrong with Firefly. Lack of support by FOX can't have helped. Maybe sci-fi snobbery stopped people from tuning in too. I've recently watched season 1 of Joss Whedon's other great work, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's really no better than Firefly. No spaceships though, so maybe that's why it was more popular. I still think Buffy is probably the better series overall, but that's because it had seven seasons to keep getting better. Firefly was killed long before it should have been. It's turned into something of a cult hit though, which is some consolation I guess.
Star Trek: Enterprise
I'm sure many people think this deserved it's cancellation. To be honest, before I watched any of it, I didn't like the concept of a prequel Star Trek series at all. The first couple of seasons were actually quite good though. Kind of TNG like in the idea of mostly random, not story arc adventure episodes. They were a decent insight into the early Star Trek universe. I get why people thought it was a little slow though. It couldn't have gone on much longer without some major twists to add some excitement. What they came up with was the season 3 Xindi story arc, with several characters becoming a lot darker, and T'Pol being naked a lot more often. Don't get me wrong, I did thing the Xindi arc was exciting and definitely a decent story, but the changes to the format of the series were too radical in my opinion. I can see that they might have alienated a lot of fans.
However daft the changes were, and however lame that season 4 opener was as a conclusion to the Temporal Cold War (lame story in itself), season 4 of Enterprise showed a series that should not have been cancelled for a long time. Season 4 was one of the best seasons of any Star Trek I've seen. The Vulcan stories, the Augments, and the beginnings of the Federation. This really was something special, and it just kept getting better. And then...cancelled. A stupid ending with a needless death, totally ruined by the fact that it wasn't even from the Enterprise character's point of view. If they'd cancelled it after season 2, or season 3, I could have understood. To cancel it when they did was just cruel.
Stargate Atlantis
As much as I love Stargate and loved Atlantis especially, I will accept that it was definitely on the decline when we found out it was about to be cancelled. I think a lot of mistakes were made in the last two seasons. The team wasn't together as often as they used to be, the Michael story was resolved in a rather disappointing way, Amanda Tapping was seriously underused...and I'm sure there were other problems. Atlantis did seem to peak in season 3. However, there were some truly great episodes in the last couple of seasons. Great Replicator stores, introduction of evil Asgard as bad guys, and that fantastic finale.
Even if you can argue that Atlantis was on it's way out, the real tragedy is that this was cancelled with the promise that it wasn't over. There would be movies to carry it on, but the tv series was being sacrificed for the sake of Stargate Universe. The films haven't happened, and are on hold indefinitely. Stargate Universe is not like Stargate SG1 or Atlantis at all. It's not nearly as good and I doubt it will be. I went into it with an open mind, hoping that it might actually be the best of the franchise, and it's not delivered. I'd much rather have seen Atlantis go a few more seasons.
Stargate SG1
I guess you can hardly say it was tragic for a series to finally be cut after ten good seasons, but it was still a shame. The biggest shame was, again, the time they decided to do it. It was announced during the first half of season 10, which was some of the best SG1 ever aired. I know some think it should have finished after season 8, and I do agree that the change between 8 and 9 was a bit too big, but it was still a damn good show. I think if there had been more transition rather than just a load of huge changes all at once, it would have been better, but it was still worth watching for those last two seasons. I won't dwell because SG1 obviously had a great run and is still the longest running sci-fi show in history, but it was still a bit of a shame.
Angel
I think a lot of things went wrong in Angel and could have been handled better. Joss Whedon rarely messes up, but the last two seasons of Angel weren't what they could have been. Cordelia's demise didn't seem worthy of the character she'd become. It took three seasons to get to the point where she was a Champion like Angel. She was on his level. And then she wasn't herself for season 4 (even though it was a cracking story with some excellent twists, it was still harsh on Cordy) and then she appeared once in season 5, just to die. I wasn't so keen on that. Also wasn't keen on how owning Wolfram and Hart was handled. Another great twist, but it could have been better.
Angel was definitely on the decline when it got cancelled, but I feel like it could have been so much better with more time. The cancellation lead to the final story arc being rushed through, and that ruined it. I would have liked that final season a lot more if I'd known it was going to continue. Mind you, never liked Spike being in it. He got his heroes death in Buffy. He didn't need to come back. Whatever the faults though, it should have got another season.
Invasion
This was a slow one. Didn't grip a lot of people from the start, and that was it's major problem. It got more and more interesting as it got going, but it was still a little too slow. That final episode was really exciting though, and from the sounds of it season 2 would have been a big improvement. Unfortunately it never got that far though. It really should have done. This was a show with a lot of potential.
Farscape
Tragedy doesn't even begin to cover the magnitude of this criminal cancellation. Probably one of the greatest sci-fi series ever made, and that ever will be made. Farscape was not on the decline. Every season was different with new and unexpected twists, and it always threw out something exciting. The season 4 finale was such a massive cliffhanger. I really cannot believe it got cancelled there. Season 4 was brilliant! With Scorpy on board, Grayza as baddie, Scarrans vs Peacekeepers...it was amazing.
I will really never understand it. The good thing about Farscape though is that it did get four seasons, unlike Firefly. The concluding mini-series did manage to conclude nearly everything. There were a few jumps and unexplained things that would have benefitted from a season 5, but it worked anyway. Farscape was probably a season away from a good conclusion anyway, and the mini-series did a damn good job. Still would have prefered another season and it was a stupid thing to cancel, but it was enough.
Dollhouse
And this is the reason I thought of this post. WHY FOX, WHY?! I understand it's had poor ratings, but I really can't understand why. Sci-fi snobbery again? Lack of advertising? I can't imagine it's because the show isn't up to it, because it really was turning into something brilliant. Perhaps it had a bit of a slow start, since there was a lot of explaining to do and a lot of getting into the characters. Took a while not to see them as Faith and Helo. Still, it really came into it's own towards the end of season 1. Alpha made a huge difference. Season 2 so far has been brilliant. Loads of new twists, and loads of links to that fantastic season 1 episode 13, Epitaph One.
I really feel for Joss Whedon. This was a very different show, and it had the potential to be something special. I don't believe that season 1 matched up to seaon 1 of Buffy or Firefly, but it would have got there. Definitely tragedy.
(this post will be added to when I have more time/ideas)
Firefly
Starting with the cancellation that made the least sense. Firefly is probably one of the greatest science fiction tv series ever made, and yet only 14 episodes were ever made. I also heard that only 11 were actually aired by FOX in the US, and that they weren't even shown in order. I really don't get it. This was a series with humour, drama, real characters, exciting stories, mystery, Joss Whedon's genius and a whole load of potential.
Sure, thanks to the persistance of the cast and crew and the militant fans, Firefly got it's conclusion in the form of the film Serenity. It wasn't enough though. This was a series that could have gone on for several seasons. So many stories were left unresolved. What was the Shepherd's story? The Hands of Blue guys? Mal and Inara? I know there are comics, but it's not the same.
I'm not sure what went wrong with Firefly. Lack of support by FOX can't have helped. Maybe sci-fi snobbery stopped people from tuning in too. I've recently watched season 1 of Joss Whedon's other great work, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's really no better than Firefly. No spaceships though, so maybe that's why it was more popular. I still think Buffy is probably the better series overall, but that's because it had seven seasons to keep getting better. Firefly was killed long before it should have been. It's turned into something of a cult hit though, which is some consolation I guess.
Star Trek: Enterprise
I'm sure many people think this deserved it's cancellation. To be honest, before I watched any of it, I didn't like the concept of a prequel Star Trek series at all. The first couple of seasons were actually quite good though. Kind of TNG like in the idea of mostly random, not story arc adventure episodes. They were a decent insight into the early Star Trek universe. I get why people thought it was a little slow though. It couldn't have gone on much longer without some major twists to add some excitement. What they came up with was the season 3 Xindi story arc, with several characters becoming a lot darker, and T'Pol being naked a lot more often. Don't get me wrong, I did thing the Xindi arc was exciting and definitely a decent story, but the changes to the format of the series were too radical in my opinion. I can see that they might have alienated a lot of fans.
However daft the changes were, and however lame that season 4 opener was as a conclusion to the Temporal Cold War (lame story in itself), season 4 of Enterprise showed a series that should not have been cancelled for a long time. Season 4 was one of the best seasons of any Star Trek I've seen. The Vulcan stories, the Augments, and the beginnings of the Federation. This really was something special, and it just kept getting better. And then...cancelled. A stupid ending with a needless death, totally ruined by the fact that it wasn't even from the Enterprise character's point of view. If they'd cancelled it after season 2, or season 3, I could have understood. To cancel it when they did was just cruel.
Stargate Atlantis
As much as I love Stargate and loved Atlantis especially, I will accept that it was definitely on the decline when we found out it was about to be cancelled. I think a lot of mistakes were made in the last two seasons. The team wasn't together as often as they used to be, the Michael story was resolved in a rather disappointing way, Amanda Tapping was seriously underused...and I'm sure there were other problems. Atlantis did seem to peak in season 3. However, there were some truly great episodes in the last couple of seasons. Great Replicator stores, introduction of evil Asgard as bad guys, and that fantastic finale.
Even if you can argue that Atlantis was on it's way out, the real tragedy is that this was cancelled with the promise that it wasn't over. There would be movies to carry it on, but the tv series was being sacrificed for the sake of Stargate Universe. The films haven't happened, and are on hold indefinitely. Stargate Universe is not like Stargate SG1 or Atlantis at all. It's not nearly as good and I doubt it will be. I went into it with an open mind, hoping that it might actually be the best of the franchise, and it's not delivered. I'd much rather have seen Atlantis go a few more seasons.
Stargate SG1
I guess you can hardly say it was tragic for a series to finally be cut after ten good seasons, but it was still a shame. The biggest shame was, again, the time they decided to do it. It was announced during the first half of season 10, which was some of the best SG1 ever aired. I know some think it should have finished after season 8, and I do agree that the change between 8 and 9 was a bit too big, but it was still a damn good show. I think if there had been more transition rather than just a load of huge changes all at once, it would have been better, but it was still worth watching for those last two seasons. I won't dwell because SG1 obviously had a great run and is still the longest running sci-fi show in history, but it was still a bit of a shame.
Angel
I think a lot of things went wrong in Angel and could have been handled better. Joss Whedon rarely messes up, but the last two seasons of Angel weren't what they could have been. Cordelia's demise didn't seem worthy of the character she'd become. It took three seasons to get to the point where she was a Champion like Angel. She was on his level. And then she wasn't herself for season 4 (even though it was a cracking story with some excellent twists, it was still harsh on Cordy) and then she appeared once in season 5, just to die. I wasn't so keen on that. Also wasn't keen on how owning Wolfram and Hart was handled. Another great twist, but it could have been better.
Angel was definitely on the decline when it got cancelled, but I feel like it could have been so much better with more time. The cancellation lead to the final story arc being rushed through, and that ruined it. I would have liked that final season a lot more if I'd known it was going to continue. Mind you, never liked Spike being in it. He got his heroes death in Buffy. He didn't need to come back. Whatever the faults though, it should have got another season.
Invasion
This was a slow one. Didn't grip a lot of people from the start, and that was it's major problem. It got more and more interesting as it got going, but it was still a little too slow. That final episode was really exciting though, and from the sounds of it season 2 would have been a big improvement. Unfortunately it never got that far though. It really should have done. This was a show with a lot of potential.
Farscape
Tragedy doesn't even begin to cover the magnitude of this criminal cancellation. Probably one of the greatest sci-fi series ever made, and that ever will be made. Farscape was not on the decline. Every season was different with new and unexpected twists, and it always threw out something exciting. The season 4 finale was such a massive cliffhanger. I really cannot believe it got cancelled there. Season 4 was brilliant! With Scorpy on board, Grayza as baddie, Scarrans vs Peacekeepers...it was amazing.
I will really never understand it. The good thing about Farscape though is that it did get four seasons, unlike Firefly. The concluding mini-series did manage to conclude nearly everything. There were a few jumps and unexplained things that would have benefitted from a season 5, but it worked anyway. Farscape was probably a season away from a good conclusion anyway, and the mini-series did a damn good job. Still would have prefered another season and it was a stupid thing to cancel, but it was enough.
Dollhouse
And this is the reason I thought of this post. WHY FOX, WHY?! I understand it's had poor ratings, but I really can't understand why. Sci-fi snobbery again? Lack of advertising? I can't imagine it's because the show isn't up to it, because it really was turning into something brilliant. Perhaps it had a bit of a slow start, since there was a lot of explaining to do and a lot of getting into the characters. Took a while not to see them as Faith and Helo. Still, it really came into it's own towards the end of season 1. Alpha made a huge difference. Season 2 so far has been brilliant. Loads of new twists, and loads of links to that fantastic season 1 episode 13, Epitaph One.
I really feel for Joss Whedon. This was a very different show, and it had the potential to be something special. I don't believe that season 1 matched up to seaon 1 of Buffy or Firefly, but it would have got there. Definitely tragedy.
(this post will be added to when I have more time/ideas)
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