Favorite Short-Lived TV or Streaming Series?

Farscape and I’m with @paranoid marvin on Caprica. Absolutely wonderful show with some phenomenal actors.

I miss Helix (also RDM) as its first two seasons were great.

Archive 81 and 1899 sadly show the direction Netflix is headed when it come to cancelling unique programmes. And now I hear Black Summer has had the chop. Lunatics!
 
I have heard a season 2 and possibly 3 is being planned.

The series pretty much covered James Clavall's novel and he wrote no direct sequels. They're going to have come up with a whole new story angle for those two upcoming seasons. That's not going to be easy.
 
The series pretty much covered James Clavall's novel and he wrote no direct sequels. They're going to have come up with a whole new story angle for those two upcoming seasons. That's not going to be easy.
Considering the novels are based on actual history, is it all that hard?
 
Wonderfalls - I loved its off-beat sense of humour.
 
One I enjoyed from 2010 was Rubicon, a (conspiracy within conspiracy) spy and tech thriller series.

It was a "blink and you'll miss the hint" production and I think that was it's downfall, too many viewers couldn't follow the plots twists and turns so they switched off.

 
I remember Quark.


Eerie Indiana, I was disappointed when it was cancelled.


Kolchak--that's the most obvious show to have wanted more episodes of--but I think it was impossible to work as a sustained series.
Beyond the problem of finding monsters for it, the nature of the characters makes it so difficult to have them constantly facing monsters without any sense of continuity.
The show requires that people have some amnesia.
I can see it going for another season maybe--but that's it.
I think they should have done it like Banacek and made it 70 minutes or so per episode. Less episodes but more substance to them.

Cliffhangers I liked too.
 
One series I really miss was Search; not the series In Search Of.

Search, from 1971 or 1972, only lasted maybe 1 year. It was a high-tech investigative service almost like spies. The 3 agents (Hugh O'Brian, Tony Franciosa, and Doug McClure) all had embedded radio transceivers that someone standing next to them couldn't hear. They also had a monitoring device - bio functions, a sort-of short range radar, and video uplink. Back at HQ, Burgess Meredith managed the operation, with his handy-dandy computer techs (principally featuring Angel Tompkins) , medical resources, and any additional resources. Each episode featured 1 of the 3 agents with occasional team-ups, once with all 3.

It was one of my favorite sci-fi shows.

I haven't found any episodes online anywhere. :cry:
 
Falling Skies. Okay, they gave it four seasons, but after the first brilliant season, it died an unnatural death. Pity.
Falling Skies had a fifth season and proper ending. I think the second season was my favourite. There was a Falling Skies discussion thread on the Chrons.
 
I remember Quark.


Eerie Indiana, I was disappointed when it was cancelled.


Kolchak--that's the most obvious show to have wanted more episodes of--but I think it was impossible to work as a sustained series.
Beyond the problem of finding monsters for it, the nature of the characters makes it so difficult to have them constantly facing monsters without any sense of continuity.
The show requires that people have some amnesia.
I can see it going for another season maybe--but that's it.
I think they should have done it like Banacek and made it 70 minutes or so per episode. Less episodes but more substance to them.

Cliffhangers I liked too.

The only way Kolchak could have worked was if they had continued making tv movies, 3 to 5 of theses films per year would have worked,


In the case of Cliffhangers the Network cancelled the show and didn't play the very last episode which resolved The Secret Empire segment.
 
Last edited:
Firefly -- kinda the de rigor entry, right?
Dollhouse -- no, I'm not starting a theme; was hitting its stride when they axed it
American Gothic -- about 10 years ahead of its time; Gary Cole as a probably evil, corrupt sheriff was excellent
Eerie, Indiana -- another vote
Karen Sisco -- Gina Gugino, as a U.S. Marshall, with Robert Forster as her dad; this was fun but after 5 or 6 episodes, axed
VR5 -- Interesting and might have developed into something really entertaining; on the other hand, its cancellation freed up Anthony Head to play Giles, but on the other other hand, an oldie from the '40s, Turhan Bey, showed up in a late episode and it would have been interesting to see where that went
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. -- we need more funny Westerns
Penny Dreadful -- meant, I think, as an anthology series, the first story was great; the second story got one year but has not been finished and I enjoyed watching Nathan Lane play tough
Millennium -- decent run, but probably could have gone a couple more years without running out of steam
China Beach -- idiots running ABC killed it a couple of years sooner than it should have died
Stumptown -- one of the better recent private detective series, with a strong cast, Cobie Smulders, Jake Johnson, Michael Ealy, Camryn Manheim, Tatoo Cardinal; series killed by Covid
Perry Mason -- recent incarnation: two strong seasons and gone, though it could easily have sustain five or more strong seasons
 

Similar threads


Back
Top