The history of TV is littered with great shows cut tragically short. Sometimes they get to belatedly tie up loose ends with a movie or a miniseries, and sometimes they’re just left there, a carcass on the road to warn wary travelers against ever trying anything like THAT again.
For the purposes of this list, we’re going to try to look at the tragic cases, the shows that got their legs cut out from under them just before the finish line, or even near the start of the race. So we’re not going to include a show like The Expanse, which could go on longer but is still great the way it is; or Farscape, which was canceled after four seasons but got to wrap up with a pretty robust miniseries.
Weep not for these shows. Do stream them, though.
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Westworld
The robot revolution will not be televised or finished
It’s hard to think of a sci-fi show that was done dirtier than Westworld. HBO made four seasons of this show, about a theme park where the robotic “hosts” gain sentience and turn on their human creators. The fourth season ended with a clear tee-up for one final go-round, and then…cancellation.
Perhaps even worse, the show was removed from HBO Max and can now be streamed with ads on Tubi and The Roku Channel; you can also buy episodes on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube. There’s no prospect of a revival in sight, so this one still hurts. At least there are other sci-fi shows out there that scratch the same itch.
Release Date
2016 – 2022
Network
HBO
Showrunner
Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy
Directors
Fred Toye, Jennifer Getzinger, Stephen Williams, Vincenzo Natali, Craig William Macneill, Anna Foerster, Craig Zobel, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Helen Shaver, Jonny Campbell, Michelle MacLaren, Neil Marshall, Nicole Kassell, Tarik Saleh, Uta Briesewitz, Lisa Joy, Meera Menon
Writers
Roberto Patino, Carly Wray, Ron Fitzgerald, Daniel T. Thomsen, Karrie Crouse, Wes Humphrey
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
It won’t be back
The Sarah Connor Chronicles picked up the story of the Terminator movies after the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the last time those movies were universally beloved. It starred Lena Headey as Sarah Connor and Thomas Dekker as her son John, who teamed up to stop the rise of the tyrannical AI known as Skynet.
The show amassed a large fan base but was too expensive for Fox to keep going, so it was canceled after two seasons and a massive cliffhanger. The easiest way to watch it now is to buy episodes on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.
Release Date
2008 – 2009-00-00
Network
FOX
Showrunner
Josh Friedman
Directors
David Nutter
Writers
David Nutter, Josh Friedman
Firefly
Serenity never
Firefly is a “space western” about a group of mercenaries traveling through the solar system, taking jobs where they can get ’em. It quickly amassed a large following of passionate fans when it premiered on Fox way back in 2002, and those fans were livid when the show was canceled after one season. The show eventually wrapped things up with a movie in 2005, so it has a happier ending than many of the entries on this list, but there was still a sense that much remained undone.
Happily, you can at least stream Firefly easily at Hulu.
Release Date
2002 – 2003-00-00
Network
FOX
Showrunner
Joss Whedon
Directors
Allan Kroeker, David Solomon, James A. Contner, Marita Grabiak, Michael Grossman, Tim Minear, Vern Gillum
Writers
Cheryl Cain, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jane Espenson
Nathan Fillion
Mal Reynolds
Gina Torres
Zoë Washburne
Alan Tudyk
Hoban Washburne
Morena Baccarin
Inara Serra
Terra Nova
In the 2000s, Fox made things so it could destroy them
Terra Nova was about a future in which Earth is dying, and humanity has the opportunity to travel through a wormhole to settle a new, unspoiled land. But will the greedy among us just screw that up, too? We never fully find out the answer, because this was another solid sci-fi show that Fox canceled after one season.
There was talk about Netflix, then just finding its footing as a streaming service, possibly making a second season, but it didn’t happen. These days, you can buy episodes of Terra Nova at Apple TV, Fandango, and Amazon Prime Video.
Release Date
2012 – 2011-00-00
Network
FOX
Showrunner
Craig Silverstein
Directors
Craig Silverstein
Writers
Craig Silverstein, Terry Matalas, Kelly Marcel, Barbara Marshall, Travis Fickett
Landon Liboiron
Dr. Jonathan Guagenti
Allison Miller
Arthur Chang
Christine Adams
Jim Shannon
Sense8
Today, Netflix makes things so it can destroy them
Sense8 was created by the sci-fi dream team of J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, and Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the creators of The Matrix. It’s about a group of people spread across the world who slowly come to realize they are connected, able to share senses, skills, and emotions even when they’re thousands of miles apart. How did this happen, and is it to be embraced or feared?
Sense8 ended up being a bit like Firefly: it amassed a hugely passionate audience, but that wasn’t enough to justify the cost. Netflix canceled the show after two seasons, but did allow the creators to wrap up the story with a movie, which you can still watch on Netflix along with all the episodes. Still, you sense they had more they wanted to do.
Release Date
2015 – 2018-00-00
Showrunner
Lilly Wachowski
Directors
Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Jericho
The show that died a thousand deaths
Jericho was a fascinating series about how people in the small city of Jericho, Kansas, react after the United States is bombarded in a massive nuclear attack. What happened? How do they rebuild? Can they hold things together now that the world as they knew it is gone?
We have yet another familiar story: Jericho gained a passionate fanbase that recoiled when CBS canceled the show after only one season. The blowback was so big that CBS made another season…and then canceled the show again. In 2009, it was announced that there would be a Jericho movie…but that didn’t pan out. The fanbase for this one is long-suffering. At least they can watch the original episodes on Paramount+.
Release Date
2006 – 2008-00-00
Network
CBS
Showrunner
Stephen Chbosky
Directors
Stephen Chbosky
Writers
Stephen Chbosky
V
A good old-fashioned alien invasion
V, a remake of the 1983 miniseries of the same name, is about a technologically advanced alien race that arrives on Earth seemingly in peace, but actually has sinister intentions. V thrilled audiences for two seasons, but in this case, ABC didn’t heed the angry fans who organized letter campaigns after it was canceled.
These days, you can stream V with ads on Tubi, or buy episodes on Fandango, YouTube, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video.
Release Date
2009 – 2011-00-00
Network
NBC
Showrunner
Kenneth Johnson
Directors
Kenneth Johnson
Writers
Scott Peters, Kenneth Johnson
The Event
A good new-fashioned alien invasion
This 2010 series is about a group of extraterrestrials who appear almost identical to human beings, except that they age much more slowly. A bunch of them crashed on Earth near the end of World War II, and the ones who weren’t captured by the government blended into the ordinary human population. Decades later, those few still out there have to decide how to proceed after the government redoubles efforts to find them. Do they try to peacefully assimilate or fight back? We spend time with both the aliens and the humans, getting both sides of the story.
Or we would have if NBC had let this show continue for more than one season. Today, you can stream The Event (technically styled as THE EVƎNT if you want to go authentic) with ads on The Roku Channel, or buy episodes from the usual suspects like Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.
Release Date
2010 – 2011-00-00
Network
NBC
Directors
Nick Wauters
1899
I don’t know what just happened, and now I never will
1899 seems to start as a grim period drama about a group of mismatched people on a steamship bound for New York. Once they encounter a derelict ship floating in the ocean, reality starts to morph and bend and refract in ways that I don’t think I could accurately describe if I wanted to.
The show is made by the team behind Dark, another mind-bending Netflix drama, but while Dark was able to tease out its many mysteries over the course of three seasons, 1899 was canceled after one. You can still watch it on Netflix, although I can’t guarantee you’ll understand it.
Release Date
2022 – 2022-00-00
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Baran Bo Odar
Writers
Jantje Friese, Dario Madrona López Gallego, Emma Ko, Jerome Bucchan-Nelson, Juliana Lima Dehne, Emil Nygaard Albertsen
Defying Gravity
The name might have done it in
Defying Gravity is the opposite of 1899: it’s straightforward sci-fi that, if anything, could stand to be a little weirder. It’s about eight astronauts — four women and two men — from four different countries, chosen to tour the solar system and report back on their lives. There’s a good deal of romance on the show, since what else are these people going to do during their six-year trip? But there’s also sci-fi intrigue in the form of a mysterious pod on board the spaceship that seems to be exerting an influence over the crew.
Personally, when I hear the words “Defying Gravity,” I think of musical theater. Is that why ABC canceled the show after one season? Probably not. In any case, you can buy and stream episodes on places like Amazon and Apple TV.
Release Date
2009 – 2009-00-00
Network
ABC, CTV, Space
Directors
Peter Howitt, Sturla Gunnarsson, David Straiton, Fred Gerber, Jeff Woolnough
Writers
James D. Parriott, Chris Provenzano
Ron Livingston
Eve Weller-Shaw
Paula Garces
Steve Wassenfelder
Gone but (mostly) not forgotten
It’s a shame not just that all of these shows were canceled, but also that many of them aren’t streaming in their entirety on one of the big streaming services. All of them deserve to be remembered, but with several of them only available to people willing to spend a little extra money, some are more likely to be forgotten than others.
If you’d rather look forward than backwards, there are plenty of major sci-fi shows coming out this year, both returning favorites and brand new adventures. Watch the shows destined to be canceled too soon in the future, today!