Cancelled in Infancy:ATS, BTVS, Firefly & Wonderfalls by Angeldove

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Cancelled in Infancy:ATS, BTVS, Firefly & Wonderfalls

POSTED BY: ANGELDOVE
UPDATED: Saturday, May 15, 2004 09:34
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VIEWED: 2352
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Wednesday, May 12, 2004 6:01 PM

Premature Resurrection

Angel has run out of second chances. Although it shared many of the same great writers and actors as Buffy, Angel could never escape the slayer’s shadow. Last spring the WB threatened cancellation but offered a reprieve when Angel’s producers promised to revamp the show. This meant absorbing Buffy’s sarcastic vampire sidekick Spike, a perfect sparring partner for Angel. It also led to a more adventurous attitude. In this season’s most ingenious hour, Angel was transformed into a Muppet while trying to infiltrate a mind-controlling children’s TV show. But to no avail. Fans mounted a campaign to prevent cancellation, buying a billboard on Hollywood Boulevard that declared, "We will follow Angel to hell . . . or another network." The protests didn’t save the series, but the rumor is that Angel may eventually return as a made-for-TV movie.

Died Tragically Young

A heartbreaking category for the true TV connoisseur: inventive shows cut down in their infancy, loved all the more dearly because they never decay before our eyes. The most recent example is Wonderfalls, a wacky and well-written sitcom pulled just four episodes into its midseason run, despite fervent reviews (including mine). It follows in the footsteps of My So-Called Life, possibly the most mourned cancellation of all time. In both cases, viewers rallied round futile letter-writing campaigns. But now that cheap ’n’ nasty reality shows dominate ratings, networks have even less motivation to get behind a slow-blooming beauty like Wonderfalls. Even as the networks force out cult gems, new possibilities are bringing shows back from the grave, though. Freaks and Geeks has just been released as a fetishistic DVD box set; Firefly, the short-lived series by Buffy/Angel creator Joss Whedon, is being reincarnated as a motion picture called Serenity; and the animated show Family Guy, canceled by Fox some years ago, did so well on DVD that the Cartoon Network plans to create new episodes. Wonderfalls too may have a future: Its producer has said he hopes to release the 13 finished episodes on DVD. Just try to keep a dead show down.

The full article is available at: http://www.buffy.nu/article.php3?id_article=4556

It's just all too sad!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss

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Wednesday, May 12, 2004 6:04 PM

DELIA

I'll give you Firefly and Wonderfalls, but Buffy had a very respectable 7 year run, and ended on its own terms, and 5 years is pretty good for a TV show (which doesn't mean I wouldn't be thrilled with a few more of Angel).

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 7:42 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Quote:
Originally posted by Delia:
I'll give you Firefly and Wonderfalls, but Buffy had a very respectable 7 year run, and ended on its own terms, and 5 years is pretty good for a TV show (which doesn't mean I wouldn't be thrilled with a few more of Angel).

I agree w/ Delia. BtVS got 7 years and I think Joss was able to tell the story in its entirety in that time. Great show, one that is one of favorites, but I don't think there was anything left to tell about Buffy. The other characters, possibly, but not Buffy.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 7:53 AM

ELFRENETICO

Don't forget Ben Edlund of Firefly and Angel. "The Tick" got cancelled in it's infancy twice, both as a cartoon and live action. Poor Ben keeps seeing his babies die an early death.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 8:29 AM

PSELUS

I still can't figure out what everyone loved about Wonderfalls...the show was silly (in a bad way) to me...it didn't interest me one bit...

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 9:03 AM

HOWDYROCKERBABY1

I loved The Tick the cartoon, never saw the live action series though.

I wasn't overly impressed with Wonderfall's either

, i just thought it was a kind of satanic version of Joan of Arcadia...but hey i could be wrong...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
MAL: This is my scrap of nowhere. You go on and find your own.
SAFFRON: You can't just leave me here, on this
lifeless piece of crap moon...
MAL: Sure I can.
SAFFRON: I'll die.
MAL: Well, as a courtesy, you might start
getting busy on that, cause all this chatter ain't doin' me any kindness.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 3:58 PM

WILDHEAVENFARM

My instant love for the show must have been part of the jinx that killed it. The last show I obsessed over was cancelled 3 -count 'em 3- times, once each season, by CBS, ABC and USA. 50 bonus points if you know what show it was.

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 5:03 PM

LINDLEY

Wonderfalls was a terrific show. I recently managed to aquire two of the unaired episodes, and the sparc is still there-----they're just as great as any of the four aired ones.

A *very* hilarious show, really. Far funnier than most so-called "comedies". And all the better because it actually throws in a serious moment now and then.

And its not satanic. In fact, the exact nature of what it is hasn't been revealed in any of the eps I've seen. All we know is that its....offbeat.

And its not a Joan of Arcadia clone, either. I thought it was at first too, but while the concept may be similar, the execution is.....well, its more different than B5 is from DS9.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004 5:36 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Out of curiosity, what did you like about FireFly?

For me it was the nuanced, complicated, strange and complete world, which was the same thing I liked about Blade Runner.

The low-key realism about human capacity and deficiency - no superheroes, avatars, or 'The best of the best of the best, sir!' (apologies to MIB)

That those people in that universe WERE the plot, not ideologies. People hedged. People were driven by circumstance. Universal 'statements' were absent.

Its subtlety. There was tragedy, heroism, comedy, boredom, sometimes all at once ... without melodrama.

It was the most effective, interesting, alien, cogent, adult TV show I have ever seen.

Why oh why did they kill it?

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Friday, May 14, 2004 10:34 PM

ANGELDOVE

Quote:
Originally posted by WildHeavenFarm:
My instant love for the show must have been part of the jinx that killed it. The last show I obsessed over was cancelled 3 -count 'em 3- times, once each season, by CBS, ABC and USA. 50 bonus points if you know what show it was.

OK, I gotta know, I have no idea what show you could be talking about...seriously, three networks all cancelled it?

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss

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Saturday, May 15, 2004 9:34 AM

WILDHEAVENFARM

Forever Knight

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

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