One Season Wonders
Let us mourn the loss of some science-fiction one-season-wonders that aren't Firefly. In chronological order:
Space: Above and Beyond (1995). Known as the "stay alive, I will find you!" show, this had the elements for great space drama: Humans fighting a strange alien race ("Chigs"), robots that have turned on humans ("The Silicates"), replicants ("In Vitroes"), and psychic abilities ("anomalous intuition").
Missing would be: time travel, ancient alien species, hybrid species, terraforming, and forces so powerful they could only be described as God-like-- We'll call this the Star Trek Space Drama set. And we'll never know what happened after the cliffhanger ending, but this show, like most such space dramas, could have made a fine five season arc with a satisfying ending.
Crusade (1999). Being a spin-off of Babylon 5, this show automatically inherits the full Star Trek Space Drama set. (It was a major credit to Firefly that it came far short of anything near this set, containing only psychic abilities and terraforming-- and not even having FTL travel!)
Babylon creator J. Michael Straczynski got a raw deal from this one, as the network aired the shows out of order and required several overhauls in the process. The show was supposed to follow a five season arc, which would have been great. However, given the episodes of Babylon 5 taking place in the far future, we already know that our heroes ultimately won.
Surface (2005). This short lived show managed to lay out all of its cards on the table, revealing almost everything in the last episode. Wishy-washy writing (can he communicate with his missing brother, or is he dreaming?) and a large set of characters you couldn't care about doomed this one. It involves a "perfect" water creature (was it "evolution" in the incorrect Heroes abuse of the term, or was it genetically engineered?) rising from seeming nowhere and taking over the planet.
Threshold (2005). Excellent casting, starting with Peter Dinklage, Carla Gugino, and Brent Spiner, this show was kind of like "Andromeda Strain: The Series." The premise of a fractal pattern taking over brains and computers was a bit weak in terms of the science, but it at least gave more plausible Monster of Weeks than The X-Files could have hoped for. Based on the DVD interviews with the shows producers and writers, they also were going to take it into some interesting areas.
The Dresden Files (2007). An amusing show about a magician detective and a quirky ghost that helps him. It was worth watching, but not a show that you end up missing. Given the premise, it could have extended for an indefinite number of seasons (as I believe it goes with all detective shows done right).
Journeyman (2007). A Quantum Leap for a post-9/11 world? Maybe. It was interesting how making changes to the past could have devastating consequences in the future, but each episode lacked tension. If the journeymen are to "follow their instincts" to solve the problem, where is the drama? We know it will work, or otherwise that mysterious force wouldn't be doing it.
Moonlight (2007). A rip-off of Angel, but with only vampires and no other kinds of demons. The vampires aren't inherently evil and instead are shades of gray.
Cavemen (2007). I was never a fan of the commercials, so I thought this show was a bad idea from conception. However, I watched it and found out why it worked so well: It's a show about nerdy people (graduate students, accountants) doing nerdy and pompous things (think "Frasier") but with the twist that they all have beards and thick foreheads. It did cover issues of racism, but always at the level appropriate for a sit-com. How this one got canceled and the lame "The Big Bang Theory" stuck on for another season is beyond me. (Nerds shouldn't like "The Big Bang Theory" because it makes fun of a rather outdated stereotype of nerds; and non-nerds shouldn't find it all appealing either, because it doesn't make fun of them in the right way, like "House" would with his clinic patients in the earlier seasons of that show.)
Bionic Woman (2007). A reboot of a franchise that looked great on paper. Any sci-fi about "women kicking ass" is already off to a great start: None of that militaryesque testosterone getting in the way, and it's satisfying to see her win. (This is why Joss Whedon shows are interesting.) Unfortunately, an "attractive but plain looking by TV standards"-female lead lead to sagging ratings.
New Amsterdam (2008). Think of this as "The Man from Earth: The Series." A non-vampire who has lived for centuries is now a street/culture/science smart cop. He will become a mortal once he finds his true love (in New York), and so it is a bit like "How I Met Your Mother" too: Will he ever find her? Was that her in the train? Naturally, we'll never know because the show was canceled. It was very promising; although, for someone so accomplished, he sure held a lot of uninteresting jobs in his past. (Coach driver? Really?)
My Own Worst Enemy (2008). Christian Slater plays an everyday man who just so happens to boot into a superspy when he believes he's on business trips. The premise never seemed quite so clear: Why exactly fabricate an "everyman" for this purpose? Why not just keep the spy undercover? Not experiencing anything at all can't be an improvement over being in some secure, undisclosed location? This one ended early and yet the writers could have neatly wrapped it up: Toward the end, his regular guy side and his spy side were rapidly switching, and each were coming to terms with the existence of the other. It could have ended with the team merging their personalities, into a superspy who loves his family, "and they lived happily ever after."
Space: Above and Beyond (1995). Known as the "stay alive, I will find you!" show, this had the elements for great space drama: Humans fighting a strange alien race ("Chigs"), robots that have turned on humans ("The Silicates"), replicants ("In Vitroes"), and psychic abilities ("anomalous intuition").
Missing would be: time travel, ancient alien species, hybrid species, terraforming, and forces so powerful they could only be described as God-like-- We'll call this the Star Trek Space Drama set. And we'll never know what happened after the cliffhanger ending, but this show, like most such space dramas, could have made a fine five season arc with a satisfying ending.
Crusade (1999). Being a spin-off of Babylon 5, this show automatically inherits the full Star Trek Space Drama set. (It was a major credit to Firefly that it came far short of anything near this set, containing only psychic abilities and terraforming-- and not even having FTL travel!)
Babylon creator J. Michael Straczynski got a raw deal from this one, as the network aired the shows out of order and required several overhauls in the process. The show was supposed to follow a five season arc, which would have been great. However, given the episodes of Babylon 5 taking place in the far future, we already know that our heroes ultimately won.
Surface (2005). This short lived show managed to lay out all of its cards on the table, revealing almost everything in the last episode. Wishy-washy writing (can he communicate with his missing brother, or is he dreaming?) and a large set of characters you couldn't care about doomed this one. It involves a "perfect" water creature (was it "evolution" in the incorrect Heroes abuse of the term, or was it genetically engineered?) rising from seeming nowhere and taking over the planet.
Threshold (2005). Excellent casting, starting with Peter Dinklage, Carla Gugino, and Brent Spiner, this show was kind of like "Andromeda Strain: The Series." The premise of a fractal pattern taking over brains and computers was a bit weak in terms of the science, but it at least gave more plausible Monster of Weeks than The X-Files could have hoped for. Based on the DVD interviews with the shows producers and writers, they also were going to take it into some interesting areas.
The Dresden Files (2007). An amusing show about a magician detective and a quirky ghost that helps him. It was worth watching, but not a show that you end up missing. Given the premise, it could have extended for an indefinite number of seasons (as I believe it goes with all detective shows done right).
Journeyman (2007). A Quantum Leap for a post-9/11 world? Maybe. It was interesting how making changes to the past could have devastating consequences in the future, but each episode lacked tension. If the journeymen are to "follow their instincts" to solve the problem, where is the drama? We know it will work, or otherwise that mysterious force wouldn't be doing it.
Moonlight (2007). A rip-off of Angel, but with only vampires and no other kinds of demons. The vampires aren't inherently evil and instead are shades of gray.
Cavemen (2007). I was never a fan of the commercials, so I thought this show was a bad idea from conception. However, I watched it and found out why it worked so well: It's a show about nerdy people (graduate students, accountants) doing nerdy and pompous things (think "Frasier") but with the twist that they all have beards and thick foreheads. It did cover issues of racism, but always at the level appropriate for a sit-com. How this one got canceled and the lame "The Big Bang Theory" stuck on for another season is beyond me. (Nerds shouldn't like "The Big Bang Theory" because it makes fun of a rather outdated stereotype of nerds; and non-nerds shouldn't find it all appealing either, because it doesn't make fun of them in the right way, like "House" would with his clinic patients in the earlier seasons of that show.)
Bionic Woman (2007). A reboot of a franchise that looked great on paper. Any sci-fi about "women kicking ass" is already off to a great start: None of that militaryesque testosterone getting in the way, and it's satisfying to see her win. (This is why Joss Whedon shows are interesting.) Unfortunately, an "attractive but plain looking by TV standards"-female lead lead to sagging ratings.
New Amsterdam (2008). Think of this as "The Man from Earth: The Series." A non-vampire who has lived for centuries is now a street/culture/science smart cop. He will become a mortal once he finds his true love (in New York), and so it is a bit like "How I Met Your Mother" too: Will he ever find her? Was that her in the train? Naturally, we'll never know because the show was canceled. It was very promising; although, for someone so accomplished, he sure held a lot of uninteresting jobs in his past. (Coach driver? Really?)
My Own Worst Enemy (2008). Christian Slater plays an everyday man who just so happens to boot into a superspy when he believes he's on business trips. The premise never seemed quite so clear: Why exactly fabricate an "everyman" for this purpose? Why not just keep the spy undercover? Not experiencing anything at all can't be an improvement over being in some secure, undisclosed location? This one ended early and yet the writers could have neatly wrapped it up: Toward the end, his regular guy side and his spy side were rapidly switching, and each were coming to terms with the existence of the other. It could have ended with the team merging their personalities, into a superspy who loves his family, "and they lived happily ever after."