Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon has become something of a tortured artist since ’Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ ended its highly successful seven-season run in 2003. Since Sunnydale was destroyed and ’Angel’ got pulled right when it was finding its own identity post-’Buffy,’ Whedon has yet to find another long-running hit. It’s still hard to believe that a show as great as ’Firefly’ only lasted one season!

Whedon’s bad luck continues with the recent announcement that Fox is pulling the plug on ’Dollhouse,’ a series that had enough of a following — and potential — to warrant another season. Would ’Dollhouse’ have really hit its stride further down the road? We’ll never know. Here are some other sci-fi television series that met their makers too soon.

’Angel’

Number of Seasons: 5 (1999-2004)

Number of Episodes Aired: 110

Number of Episodes Unaired: 0

Network: The WB

Yes, ’Angel’ did just fine, running for five seasons and enjoying a fan following that was almost as large and powerful as that of ’Buffy’’s. By all means, ’Angel’ was a success — the problem is that it was canceled just when it started to get really good. By season 5, ’Angel’ was its own show, not just "a ’Buffy’ spin-off," and it could’ve gone in some very interesting and exciting directions if it had stayed alive — or undead, as it were.

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’Firefly’

Number of Seasons: 1 (2002)

Number of Episodes Aired: 11

Number of Episodes Unaired: 3

Network: Fox

Another Joss Whedon Special, ’Firefly’ was actually top-notch science fiction, mixing swaggering Western elements and high Space Opera melodrama with the trademark Whedon sarcasm and attitude we’ve come to know and at least sort-of love. The ragtag crew of the good ship Serenity was good company for all of 11 aired episodes — Whedon, however, ended up having something of the last laugh, as DVD sales of the series were good enough to warrant a follow-up feature length film, the equally excellent ’Serenity’ (2005).

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http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/11/14/sci-fi-shows-that-were-cancelled-too-soon/