TVSquad

In 1994, I was excited about My So-Called Life and Friends, but not much else on the TV schedule caught my eye. A friend of mine loved ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, so I would go over there to hang out and watch it.

Being sci-fi buffs, we decided we should check out Earth 2, a new show that aired an hour before L&C on NBC. I have this tendency to at least try out all the new science-fiction shows, knowing that even if I like them, the odds of them surviving beyond one season are slim. I quickly gave up on M.A.N.T.I.S. over on Fox, but found myself more intrigued by Earth 2.

What a fascinating and sophisticated look at a science fiction world. It was so much more realistic and grounded than the Star Trek series could ever be. The characters were horribly flawed and they felt much more human. As expected, the show failed, but not before I got 22 great episodes that still resonate in my memory.

Sure Lost is a bona fide hit, but who remembers Invasion? In fact, none of the sci fi series premiering that year (Surface and Threshold) made it beyond a single season. And yet, as Brad reported, ABC is developing The Return, a series focusing on how the world handles an "alien landing." You know, like the classic V mini-series of the '80s. In fact, the last episode of V: The Series was called "The Return." Maybe this is a secret code name for the long teased V return!

But that announcement got me thinking about all those sci fi and fantasy shows that never finish on television. It's a phenomenon us long-time science fiction/fantasy fans have learned to live with. We jump on any new genre show on television hoping against hope that the ratings will be strong enough that we'll get the whole story. Alas, we know that more often than not the plug will be pulled mid-stream and we'll be left wanting. And for every Joss Whedon who continues Buffy and Angel in comics, there are tons more who don't.

Let's face it, science fiction on television is always a challenge, and more often than not, these series fail to find a big enough audience to stick around. That's why the year after Lost hit it big on just minor sci-fi elements, we had three ratings flops at once with Invasion, Threshold and Surface. And all three were good, for different reasons. So my question is why did none of them make Sci Fi Wire's list of the top 10 sci fi shows canceled too soon? Because Sci-Fi Wire liked Eerie, Indiana better!

Seriously though, while there were some good elements in their list, and I absolutely agree with their number one choice, there were some real problems and omissions as well. Wonderfalls ranked way too high and Homeboys in Outer Space didn't even make the list? Outrageous! So I've taken it upon myself to make my own list of The Top 10 Sci Fi Short-Lived Sci-Fi Shows That Weren't Pulitzer Worthy But Went Great With Popcorn. And I intentionally didn't include any of the shows on their list, because I'm acting like a spoiled brat and I don't want to play with their toys.

• Remember Earth 2? It was a short-lived sci-fi series on NBC in 1994 that starred Debrah Farentino, Antonio Sabato, Jr, Clancy Brown, and Rebecca Gayheart. It was actually a pretty good show, rather unpredictable and engrossing, and I'm happy to see that the complete series is being released on July 19. 
• Welcome back, Welcome Back, Kotter! (Admit it, you knew that line was coming.) Warner is releasing a set later this year. Alas, Sweathoggians (Sweataholics? Sweathoggers?), it's only a "Best Of" and not the first season set.
• This is truly bizarre: Universal has been pretty slow in releasing their TV shows on DVD (and when they do it's hit or miss as to whether there are any extras, photos, etc), but what do they have coming July 19? Cleopatra 2525. Wow, remember this show? It was the syndicated action series from Sam Raimi (Hercules, Xena, the Spiderman flicks and Evil Dead trilogy) about a dancer named Cleopatra who was frozen in present day and revived in the year 2525 to fight the bad guys with two other smokin' chicks dedicated women who swore to protect the world. It was rather terrible, but good if you found yourself in the right mood at one in the morning or a sleepy Sunday afternoon.
• And don't forget that season one of both Lost and Desperate Housewives come out in September!