Good Grief, they're adorable. They're like babies that KNOW stuff. Happy to see Freaks & Geeks on the list, as well as the practically invisible to anyone but us Wonderfalls. Of course Firefly deservedly gets the top slot.

Willowy | June 27, 13:31 CET

Wonderfalls was canceled after 3 or 4 eps here in the states, even though all 13 had already been made. And yes, the ones that aired were not aired in order. Go Fox. I would also put Angle on this list. It was canceled despite having its best ratings to date just to make room for more reality TV and then the executive who made the decision was fired, though sadly too late to save a show that was building to next season. My other add would be Bunheads.

Wesbi | June 27, 16:37 CET

They're so young. One of my biggest upsets was Doctor Who. Thankfully, it came back but for a long time that was real pain.

I loved a show called Most Deadly Game. 1970. I don't remember much about it, except it was the first time a cancellation hit me in the butt.

redeem147 | June 27, 18:32 CET

Ditto Willowy on all of the above. I also have to admit a soft spot for the show "Moonlight" even if it was poached from familiar territory - Vampire with a soul and haircut to die for, decides to redeem his evil past by becoming a private detective in L.A., ends up taking up with a blonde reporter who knows nothing about slaying the undead. Despite the superficial resemblances, the show had a very different feel to it, a little campier, a lot less camaraderie, and I was really curious to see were it would go. Which was into the pits of the writers' stike. Oh well. Maybe they can type of the strings with a movie.

barboo | June 27, 21:43 CET

At least all of Wonderfalls is available on DVD.

And yes, this was surprisingly well done!

Jocelyn | June 28, 05:07 CET

Wonderfalls is still the one that kills me more than any other. I fell hard, I fell fast and the still beating heart was ripped out of my chest.

Overall, a good list, but off the top of my head, I'd also give mention to Twin Peaks, Deadwood and Space: Above and Beyond.

BringItOn5x5 | June 28, 07:01 CET

I would add Joan of Arcadia to the list. That was a heartbreaker.

ActualSize | June 28, 10:04 CET

I LOVED Wonderfalls. Every member of the cast, every line was perfect.
The end result of all these shows I fell for getting cancelled quick, I rarely watch new shows anymore. If I do, I'm kind of steeling myself to not care too much.

Xane | June 28, 11:12 CET

There's never a cancellation that hurt me more than Stella.

ImmaDeker | June 28, 13:03 CET

Dollhouse... it was my first real experience with a show I love getting cancelled. Confession time: I was applying to universities at the time, and there was a point when every day I'd come home and check Dollhouse hadn't been cancelled before I'd check for news about my applications.

I miss Bunheads. I haven't seen it on these lists yet, and I wonder why no one seems to be discovering it after the fact like these other shows.

Bluelark | June 28, 15:15 CET

Willowy, is that really you? Missed you!

Wonderfalls was only the first, You may add "Firefly" and "Dollhouse" to the list. What I fear are people remembering these great shows are growing smaller in numbers. Soon, we'll be extinct.

Madhatter | June 28, 19:09 CET

6 of the 10 were canceled by FOX, and we can all come up with more FOX carnage, especially involving Joss-connected folks, and truly unique, critically-acclaimed shows. FOX (and let's face it, pretty much all network programming execs) knows how to screw the most brilliant writers and showrunners out there.

Nebula1400 | June 28, 19:58 CET

I got really excited when I saw Wonderfalls on that list. Thought for sure most people, other than visitors to this website of course, hadn't heard of it. Always happy to be wrong in that sort of situation.

I know it's not Whedon related(that I know of) but Dead Like Me should have been on that list too!

Startswithaj | June 29, 00:33 CET

Flashforward should be on the list

DeathJim | June 29, 01:00 CET

Dead Like Me - definitely. Should have been on my list too.

BringItOn5x5 | June 29, 04:20 CET

Wonderfalls and Studio 60 are my most heartreaking cacellations and prouves of tv channels managements stupidt, while Smallville and One Tree Hill gone so far. Bunheads also warmed my soul to be ripped alway sooner.

Brasilian Chaos Man | June 29, 04:59 CET

I don't have 18 minutes to watch the video. Is "Life" on the list? I loved that show. The series finale was one of the best single hours of TV I've ever seen.

Amrita | June 29, 06:32 CET

OK, I confess I just skipped to the end to make sure Firefly was #1. Good to see Willowy getting postery again. Welcome back!

RBB | June 29, 10:57 CET

Personally, I'd have added Terriers to the list, but that would have meant Tim Minear being involved in five devastating cancellations, rather than a completely reasonable four.

[ edited by Tin Ear Tom on 2014-06-30 02:25 ]

Tin Ear Tom | June 29, 17:14 CET

How about "Almost Human"? That one stings - I was just getting into the flow.

And if people want to rant about FOX stupidity (And who doesn't?), how about the way they treated "Stripes"? Yet another case of airing episodes out of order - they aired a middle episode in the beginning so they could tie in with the Super Bowl (the plot had to do w/a reunion @a football game) and then bounced the rest of the episodes around and cancelled it square in the middle of the season. Hmm... Doesn't sound at all familiar. (I never watched the show - I caught the tail end of one episode & ended up watching it online strictly because of a guest star.)

ShadowQuest | June 29, 19:51 CET

Vr.5
Space:Above and Beyond
Wolf Lake

Not only left open storylines hanging, every bleedin' one of them ended on a cliffhanger.

Rowan Hawthorn | June 30, 05:29 CET

VR5! *sniff*

redeem147 | June 30, 15:03 CET

ShadowQuest, you mean Enlisted? It gets compared to Stripes a lot, but they're separate things :) I liked Enlisted a lot. If you're especially interested, a fan on Badass Digest who is an active member of the military wrote a recap, along with his review and observation for each Enlisted episode. He really liked it, too.

I think Space: Above and Beyond is particularly harsh because it was sudden and there was no opportunity for closure. Nowadays, your ratings are in by the next morning and you get an idea in the middle of your run whether you should start preparing for the end of your season or for the show's complete end.

the ninja report | June 30, 16:13 CET

I've been a fan of so many shows *edit* that have been cancelled *end edit* that I was beginning to wonder if I was cursed, but Firefly still hurts. The illogic of it all, that someone could seemingly have such disregard for the show despite it's obvious (to me anyway) quality and it's potential just baffles and angers me. Yes, actually angers. I get that TV is about making money, but if you're going to put money into a project at least pretend to support it, because if a channel isn't going to bother supporting a show why should the audience? I don't bother getting invested in shows anymore until they have at least one season now.

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2014-07-03 17:25 ]

NYPinTA | July 01, 17:30 CET

the ninja report Yeah, that's what I meant. I didn't think "Stripes" was the right name, but since I didn't watch the show I couldn't remember the name. :-P

I did read a few reviews saying how wonderful it was, and complaining about FOX bouncing it all over the schedule, but, like I said, I only watched the one episode, and that strictly for the guest star. I hadn't seen him in anything recently, and was surprised to catch a glimpse of him at the end of the episode - I had it on, but the sound down, and was on the computer. I turned around for a moment and saw him for all of 10 seconds.

For what it's worth, I did enjoy that episode, despite not knowing anything about the show (other than it was about three brothers on an Army base populated by misfits). Although I'm not sure if I enjoyed it strictly for the guest stars (Three veteran actors) or on its own merits. Some of the things were a bit too goofy for my taste (the DI taking off his artificial leg, for instance) but I watched it a couple times and laughed throughout.

NYPinTA It seems like quality shows get the axe early and drivel continues to air for too many years. And some quality shows that do get more than one season end up running longer than they should, and the quality disappears.

It's a weird business.

ShadowQuest | July 01, 21:24 CET