Sci-Fi is perhaps the most difficult genre to produce. By definition, it calls for imaginary worlds and creatures to be created. This is extraordinarily expensive compared to your run of the mill talking heads melodrama and also why so many of them don't make it past the first season order.
The minds at Showbiz Hobo looked into the dust bin of nostalgia and forgotten relics to find the Top 5 Sci-Fi shows cancelled after just one season, but deserved another:
Space Above and Beyond (1995)
This Starship Troopers-inspired show was the brainchild of Glenn Morgan and James Wong. Wong and Morgan cut their teeth on the X-Files and pitched the show to Fox. Space tells the story of the US Space Marines 58th Squadron fighting a brutal war against a newly discovered alien race. It featured cutting-edge (at the time) VFX and a cast of young and talented actors. Including the charming and personable Joel de La Fuente, seen recently playing Chief Inspector Kido in The Man in High Castle. I had the pleasure of meeting at the Hemlockgrove Wrap Party, he was a real gent.
When I brought up Space: Above and Beyond he was touched. He told me "you have brought up a very special memory and time for me. It was my first big gig and it changed everything for me." Joel then regaled me with a few anecdotes of his experience.
Unfortunately, this grim sci-fi drama never brought in the audience to justify the big budget it would have needed. It was billed as being “from the creators of X-Files” but would not have necessarily appealed to the same audience. It was also far too dark for the Star Trek audience at the time and lacked the horror and shock factor that X-Files fans sought.
Space: Above & Beyond would be better described as Band of Brothers in space if it didn’t precede Band of Brothers by 5 years. Space was a terrific show and, if you can get past the dated vfx, is still worth a watch. Space is available on DVD….and for now, on YouTube, but don’t tell anyone or they’ll take it down.
Odyssey 5 (2002)
The space shuttle Odyssey is orbiting the Earth and everything is going well when suddenly the planet explodes! While drifting amongst the remains of the Earth, the crew is visited by an alien called The Seeker. The Seeker has witnessed similar destruction to at least 50 other worlds, but this is the first time he has encountered survivors. The Seeker sends the 5 surviving astronauts 5 years into the past to try and prevent the destruction of the Earth. Sounds awesome doesn’t it!!?!!?!?
Starring Peter Weller and Sebastian Roche, Odyssey 5 lasted only one season in 2002. Sci-Fi wasn’t happy with the viewership numbers and decided not to renew the show. This Toronto-based show featured Manny Coro as a showrunner. Manny was one of the best in the biz, and he would go on to run Star Trek Enterprise, 24, Dexter and American Horror Story.
I was and am a huge sci-fi fan and somehow I never found out about this show until it had been off the air for nearly 10 years. I can only surmise from this that they must have had a rotten distribution and marketing campaign. This is confirmed by the fact that it still isn’t easy to find a copy of the show. Despite its elusiveness, Odyssey 5 delivered some terrific and compelling human drama. It asked the question what would you do if you found yourself 5 years in the past, and you knew what was going to happen, not just to the human race, but to yourself?
Odyssey 5 has appeared in its entirety on YouTube, but just in case, you can still buy a physical copy on Amazon.
Terra Nova (2011)
In the mid-22nd century, mankind has all but destroyed the Earth with war and pollution. The only salvation for the human race is a portal in space and time that can take humans and equipment to an alternate universe of Earth 85 million years in the past.
Terra Nova’s plot is centred around the Shannon family. Jason O’Mara plays the father, Jim, a cop-turned-convict to protect their 3rd child who was conceived despite the population laws. Jim escapes just in time to make the trip to the past with the rest of the family, where he eventually becomes a cop in the Tera Nova colony. His boss was played by Stephen Lang....dynamite choice really.
This Spielberg produced flash in the pan was able to bring in 7 million viewers a week at its lowest ratings, but a massive budget that included a digital dinosaur in nearly every episode meant that this show wasn’t going to stay on the air unless it was the highest rated show of all time. Its a real shame too, because the season ended with a great finale and a compelling cliffhanger that promised an intriguing second season.
Featuring plenty of whodunnits and corporate conspiracies, Tear Nova is worth a watch. You can still check it out on Disney+.
Babylon 5 Crusade (1999)
A spin-off to J. Michael Straczynski’s successful Babylon 5, Crusade follows the rag-tag crew of the Starship Excalibur as they search the cosmos for a cure to a plague that will wipe out all life on Earth in 5 years.
With the success of Babylon 5, Crusade was able to attract enough of an audience to ensure its continuance for at least its first season and perhaps even more. Unfortunately, butting heads between TBS and JMS spelled the end of what could have been a long-lasting show. While JMS wanted to focus on plot and drama TBS wanted to turn the show into an action set piece that would compliment their core audience which tuned in for World Championship Wrestling. This is a match made in hell, pun intended, and would lead to the premature demise of the show when JMS decided to pull the plug. Crusade is one of the very few shows that met an early demise for reasons other than poor ratings, but perhaps it ended for the best of reasons.
You can still find Crusade on DVD. If you’re a Babylon 5 fan, it is a worthy companion.
Dark Skies (1996)
To compete for the X-Files audience, NBC produced Dark Skies. Dark Skies is a conspiracy theorist's wet dream taking place in an alternate history starting in 1960. The show follows John Loengard, a congressional investigator turned black ops agent for Majestic 12, a covert US government agency that fights aliens.
Who killed JFK? Aliens. Who is responsible for the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? Aliens. How was Gary Francis Bauer’s U2 Plane shot down? Aliens. You get the idea. Dark Skies navigates the 1960s and presents a compelling interweaving of history and science fiction. It also featured historical figures ranging from Jack Ruby to Jim Morrison.
Unfortunately, a dead-end Saturday night time slot combined with a high budget due to VFX and the period setting spelled a way too early demise for this show. Even the addition of a then-unknown Jeri Ryan could not pull Dark Skies out of the ratings basement.
I can’t recommend this show enough if you can find a copy somewhere. If one of the streamers wanted to reboot this one I’d be all for it.
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