In the past ten years, a tragically short television life became a badge of honor for some television series; certain shows were just too smart, quirky or under-advertised to be appreciated by the mainstream. Like most rock stars whose early deaths made them icons, hasty cancellations have immortalized some of this decade's best programs. After the jump, seven series that flamed out too soon.
Your own contributions are welcome in the comments section.
[In order of premiere]
Wonderland (2000, ABC)
Peter Berg's directorial television debut -- a series showing the inner workings of a mental hospital from the doctors' and the patients' perspectives -- was as gritty and bleak as a network series has come in the past decade. Ted Levine and Martin Donovan starred as physicians within the hospital, afflicted with some of the same feelings of anger, self-loathing and fear that their patients felt. Although the writing, directing and acting were impeccable, ABC audience members were just not ready to see a vicious Times Square shooting directly after Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. ABC canceled the series after two episodes but DirecTV's Channel 101 has since aired the previously unseen episodes.
Undeclared (2001, Fox)
After Judd Apatow spent a season in high school with NBC's equally short-lived Freaks and Geeks, he moved onto college with Undeclared. About a group of freshmen including Jay Baruchel's geek, Seth Rogen's chubby Canadian and Carla Gallo's neurotic psychology major, the show followed the highs and lows of dorm life. Although the series never reached the cult-status of Freaks and Geeks, it boasted glowing reviews and a star-studded roster of visitors including Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler and Ben Stiller. Fox canceled the series after airing 15 of the 17 finished episodes.
Firefly (2002, Fox)
One of the most ambitious programs conceived in the 2000's, Joss Whedon's Emmy-winning "sci-fi western with existential underpinnings" won over a die hard band of fans that have kept the Firefly flame burning the past seven years. Starring Nathan Fillion as Malcolm Reynolds, the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity in the year 2517, the series centered on his renegade crew existing on the outskirts of society. Even though the series was critically appreciated as a "wonderful, imaginative mess" with unlimited potential for its rich cast of characters, Whedon-esque witty dialogue and quirk appeal, the series was canceled after eleven (out of order) episodes aired to low ratings. Details of Firefly's painstaking production, from Whedon's battle for the series to be displayed in widescreen format to the "cultural fusion" of its musical score, has been recorded as Firefly lore.
Last Ditch Fan Efforts: Firefly fans AKA Browncoats (named after the brown uniforms worn by characters on the series) raised money for an ad in Variety, launched a postcard-writing campaign to other networks and raised enough money to supply 250 U.S. Navy ships with Firefly DVD sets. Passionate fans helped convince Universal Studios to produce a feature film based on the series called Serenity and a NASA astronaut later took Firefly and Serenity DVDs with him on the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-117 mission.
Wonderfalls (2004, Fox)
Before Pushing Daisies, Bryan Fuller created another whimsical series that only aired four episodes on Fox before being yanked from the network. Also co-starring Daisies' Lee Pace, Wonderfalls featured Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye, a sarcastic, Ivy League graduate stuck working in a Niagara Falls gift shop when inanimate animal figurines begin communicating with her. Jaye was one of the coolest young female characters on television in the last decade, as a sarcastic underachiever living in a trailer park with little motivation to help anyone (including herself) until those pesky animals started convincing her to do out-of-character deeds, like help coordinate a high school reunion. Although some critics declared the series the "best new drama of the 2003 - 2004 season", it's quirky appeal and phenomenal-but-lesser-known actors (Diana Scarwid, Katie Finneran, William Sadler) could not secure ratings worthy enough of a full season.
Last Ditch Fan Efforts: After the Wonderfalls ardent fans launched a campaign to save the show, 20th Century Fox released the entire 13 episodes along with cast and producer commentary in a DVD set.
The Comeback (2005, HBO)
A year after Friends wrapped, Lisa Kudrow tried her hand at a premium cable show-about-a-show-within-a-show about a one-time hit sitcom actress who tries to reclaim her television career with a reality program. The script was clever but not quite clever enough to top Curb Your Enthusiasm and Showtime's Fat Actress, which both circled the same conceit. Despite the combination of Sex and the City executive producer Michael Patrick King, a prime time slot following Entourage and Malin Akerman in skimpy wardrobe, the Comeback premiered to dismal ratings.
Andy Barker P.I. (2007, NBC)
Two years before Bored to Death popularized recreational detective work on pay cable, Andy Richter fell into a side career as a private eye with this basic cable project. Co-written and executive produced by Conan O'Brien, the series premiered all of its six episodes online before airing on NBC. Richter co-starred alongside Tony Hale (Arrested Development) and colorful guests including Amy Sedaris, Edward Asner and Traci Lords, as an accountant who finds himself solving crimes. Although it did not last as long as Richter's two-season gig controlling the universe, critics agreed that the series was a "joyous, ridiculous, warm, affecting and silly comedy" that would not appeal to everyone. As predicted, NBC pulled the series after airing only four episodes.
In the Motherhood (2009, ABC)
Based on the popular webisodes featuring Chelsea Handler, ABC premiered a television version of the maternal series in 2009 with Megan Mullaly, Cheryl Hines, Horatio Sanz and Jessica St. Clair. Despite the brilliance of Mullaly and Sanz, especially as the season progressed and the pair organized nanny strikes and faked pregnancies together, the show was pulled for reruns of Grey's Anatomy after five episodes.