Wire's Top 10 Brilliant But Canceled

It's the sad fate of every science fiction fan to fall in love with
amazing, creative television shows only to see them struggle in the
ratings and eventually disappear into the land of repeats and DVD box
sets ("Own the complete series for just $24.95!").

It happened just this spring for /Jericho/ fans, who got a mini-reprieve
of seven episodes thanks to a whole lot of nuts (the kind you eat, not
the fans themselves), but they too would eventually see their show ride
off into the sunset like so many others before it. For too many of these
on-the-bubble shows, the bubble popped before the rest of the world
caught on to the genius that went into them. Fortunately, they live on
in the memories of fans, including those of us here at SCI FI Wire.

We now present a list of the top 10 brilliant-but-canceled SF&F shows,
as determined by SCI FI Wire's news editor and contributors. For the
purposes of this list, the selections were made based on quality network
shows that were not renewed after their first season. Bonus fan points
(and sympathy hugs) if you remember them all.

1. */Firefly/*, created by Joss Whedon. Fox. Original run: September
2002 to August 2003. Number of episodes produced: 14

Joss Whedon's high-concept space western was a difficult sell to
mainstream audiences, television critics and even its own network, but
it inspired a group of dedicated fans (called Browncoats, after the
show's rebel fighters), who are still active today (as evidenced by
their booth at this year's Comic-Con). Through their active campaigning,
the Browncoats got more than some fans do. The 2005 feature film
/Serenity/ brought back the characters, resolved the relationships and
tied up loose narrative ends. And it continues to live on in comic
books, novels and games. Still, we can only imagine where the crew would
have gone, say, in season six or seven.

2. */Wonderfalls/*, created by Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland. Fox.
Original run: March 2004 to December 2004. Number of episodes produced: 14

Before /Pushing Daisies/ on ABC, Bryan Fuller teamed up with Todd
Holland (/Malcolm in the Middle/) and Tim Minear (/Angel/, /Firefly/) to
create this quirky series, about a cynical twentysomething
souvenir-store clerk (Caroline Dhavernas) in Niagara Falls. When she
begins hearing the voices of talking animal figures, she finds herself
forced to actually care about helping others. The show expertly blended
dry wit, unpredictable plots, a sharp cast and an unsentimental approach
to sentimental material. Unfortunately, it got lost in a season of shows
with similar concepts (like /Joan of Arcadia/, which lasted one season
longer). Considering the network never really had any idea what it had,
let alone how to properly promote it, the writing was probably on the
wall from the beginning for this lost gem.

3. */Now and Again/*, created by Glenn Gordon Caron. CBS. Original run:
September 1999 to May 2000. Number of episodes produced: 22

Why CBS chose not to renew this inventive, funny, sad, well-cast,
newfangled take on /The Six Million Dollar Man/ is no mystery. Despite
the intriguing concept of a man who is hit by a subway train and wakes
up in a perfect, government-built body, the ratings for this show were
not exactly stellar. Stars Eric Close (/Without a Trace/) and Dennis
Haysbert (/24/) have since gone on to more high-profile gigs, but once
upon a time they had great chemistry together as the restless,
super-powered secret agent and his by-the-book handler.

4. */Alien Nation/*, created by Kenneth Johnson. Fox. Original run:
September 1989 to May 1990. Number of episodes: 22

The not-so-subtle pun in the title gives some indication of the
allegorical themes at work in this series, based on the film of the same
name. Picking up where the film left off, the show is set in a world
where an alien slave ship has crashed on Earth and left its passengers
stranded. Forced to assimilate into human society, they encounter the
same kinds of struggles as any every other immigrant group throughout
history. Except that they get drunk on sour milk and require three
partners to procreate. Through the mixed-species partnership of a pair
of police detectives--one human, one alien--the show explored issues of
immigration, racism and cultural identity. Although it was canceled
after one season due to budgetary pressures, Fox did bring it back in a
series of five television movies.

5. */Space: Above and Beyond/*, created by Glen Morgan and James Wong.
Fox. Original run: September 1995 to June 1996. Number of episodes: 24

This futuristic war drama followed a squadron of marines known as the
Wildcards aboard the USS /Saratoga/, the space-faring equivalent of an
aircraft carrier. In addition to an alien threat and rebel AI
mercenaries, the soldiers also faced conflicts closer to home, with the
introduction of artificially bred humans and a potential government
conspiracy. The show's dark tone, desaturated look, military backdrop
and exploration of complex topics such as the moral ambiguity of war
make this a predecessor of sorts to the more successful /Battlestar
Galactica/ <http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/>. But back in 1995, the
public wasn't quite ready for this kind of series, and the show failed
to attract an audience wide enough to justify renewal.

6. */The Adventures of Brisco County Jr./*, created by Jeffrey Boam and
Carlton Cuse. Fox. Original run: August 1993 to May 1994. Number of
episodes: 27

Clever writing, great production values and a brilliant turn in the
title role by the one and only Bruce Campbell made this genre-bending
SF-western-comedy a pleasure for those who were hip to its
self-referential humor, witty dialogue and memorable performances.
Unfortunately, that didn't include most of the viewing audience. Fox
scheduled the show on Friday nights, a timeslot notorious for low
ratings, with the exception of /The X-Files/, which just happened to
premiere the same year. Seems that the network could only afford to take
a chance on one low-rated show, and we all know how that turned out, so
they're probably not regretting their decision (though they may be
regretting that second movie right about now).

7. */American Gothic/*, created by Shaun Cassidy. CBS. Original run:
September 1995 to July 1996. Number of episodes: 22

Moody, atmospheric and sinister, this show from creator Cassidy and
executive producer Sam Raimi was the epitome of subtle, character-driven
horror. Featuring career-making performances by Gary Cole and Lucas
Black, the series centered on a boy (Black) whose soul is desperately
sought by the competing forces of good--represented by a small-town
doctor and the ghost of the boy's dead sister--and evil--represented by
Cole as the demonic Sheriff Buck. Notable veterans of this promising,
terminated-before-its-time show also include /Battlestar Galactica/'s
David Eick and Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan (/Traffic/).

8. */Jake 2.0/*, created by Silvio Horta. UPN. Original run: September
2003 to February 2003. Number of episodes produced: 16

NBC seems to have a hit on its hands with /Chuck/, but it's a safe bet
that few of the show's viewers realize that the exact premise was
already done in a little-seen show called /Jake 2.0/. Like its
successor, /Jake/ dealt with an affable, lovelorn geek (/Ugly Betty/'s
Christopher Gorham) who receives a computer upgrade to his brain (thanks
to nanobots, in this case) and is recruited by the government as a spy.
This was back in the early days of UPN, when the network was still
trying to find its identity and looking for a breakout hit to complement
/Star Trek: Voyager/. This didn't turn out to be it.

9. */Nowhere Man/*, created by Lawrence Hertzog. UPN. Original run:
August 1995 to May 1996. Number of episodes: 25

One of the most frustrating things that can happen when a show is yanked
before its time is a denial of answers to a big, overarching mystery.
That's what happened in the case of /Nowhere Man/, about a photographer
(played by Bruce Greenwood) who takes a controversial picture in a South
American war zone and suddenly finds his identity erased by a covert,
possibly governmental, organization. /Nowhere Man/ incorporated elements
of /The Fugitive/ and /The Prisoner/, but unlike those shows, it never
got an epic final episode, leaving fans (dozens of them) to wonder
forever (or for a few weeks, at least) about the significance of that
fateful photograph.

10. */Eerie, Indiana/*, created by Jose Rivera and Karl Schaefer. NBC.
Original run: September 1991 to April 1992. Number of episodes: 19

Although it may not have featured big-name stars, this semi-anthology
series engaged the few viewers it attracted with the story of a boy
(Omri Kats) who moves to the titular town and becomes best friends with
the only other normal kid on his block (Justin Shenkarow). Together,
they investigate a series of strange phenomena in their neighborhood,
including a Tupperware lady who seals her kids up in large tubs every
night to keep them immortal and a pack of intelligent dogs who scheme to
take over the world. The show's bizarre plots and offbeat tone helped
keep it in the public consciousness, inspiring the creators to continue
the storyline in a series of books.
*/
--Cindy White

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