Joss Whedon

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

We end with our Summer Glau double-header, as the actress was a crucial part of two awesome sci-fi series that had a far too-brief life on FOX. With Terminator, we acknowledge the network for actually giving this show two seasons and 31 episodes, considering its struggle in the ratings. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t want more and still wish somehow, someway, this show could have continued.

Terminator was a very cool and intelligent show – something few of us expected initially, from what could have so easily been a lame cash-in of a successful movie franchise. Yet, what we got was very clever and thoughtful storylines and excellent new characters like Glau’s fascinating Terminator, Cameron, and Derek Reese, played by an amazingly kick ass Brian Austin Green. Season 2 ended with a hell of a cliffhanger that set up so much potential awesomeness for Season 3 that it felt cruel we’d never get to see it.

Firefly

Was there any doubt this would make the list? This is pretty much the patron saint of "cancelled too soon" TV series. We noted that FOX (several years later and under a different regime) gave Terminator a chance, but Firefly wasn’t treated nearly as well. The network simply didn’t seem to like the show, refusing to air the (great) pilot and airing the episodes completely out of order. It was shoddy treatment for Joss Whedon’s excellent sci-fi western and while this article is about show’s we wish got another season, it’s worth noting that Firefly didn’t even get a full season – with no proper season finale – much less series finale.

Of course, while Firefly’s run on TV was brief, its legacy has proven to be incredibly powerful via a very passionate (and only occasionally scary) fandom. Even though it may not have been a big hit, it’s obviously a huge victory that Whedon was able to make the feature film Serenity and bring some form of closure to the story. But wouldn’t it have been even better if he’d simply been allowed to keep making this show – which he clearly had so much investment in – for several more years?