I don’t know what it is about science fiction, but the shows have the tendency to be short. Sci-fi is one of my favourite genres, and it breaks my heart every time a TV series gets cancelled just because they didn’t meet the numbers the company wished for (it also happens with all genres, but today I want to focus on this one). Another harsh realisation is that TV series produced in the US only track the viewership inside the country. Since I live in Portugal, when the shows are broadcasted here, it doesn’t matter if it has a great success or not when it’s time to decide to renew the show for another season.

So it’s frustrating to see a show after show being cancelled when you watched it religiously every single week, twitting about it, obligating your friends watch it as well, and yet the decision is all in the numbers. I understand a company is made to generate income and blah blah blah… I don’t want to get into that talk. What I want is to pour out my heart for the TV series that got cancelled too soon.

Terra Nova (2011)

It was perhaps with Terra Nova that I started to realise how much I enjoy sci-fi and post-apocalyptic worlds. The whole concept of travelling back in time to live on Earth, at the same time as the dinosaurs, when Humans had not yet interfered with nature was right up my alley. The setting was amazing, and I’m not just talking about the landscape. The buildings, the village, everything about it made me love the show even more. It has been a while since I saw this series, and I don’t remember much, but I do know how it made me feel everytime a new episode was on. Also if I remember correctly, the end of the season was very mysterious, and sadly nothing else will come out from it.

Forever (2014)

Say whatever you want about Forever, but the immortal style fits Ioan Gruffudd like a glove. This is actually one of those examples where the show was cancelled just because it didn’t match the number the network was aiming for. I have to admit that I didn’t watch it when it came out. I can’t remember why I didn’t have the interest to see it, but the day I watched one episode I was hocked. From that day on, I watch the entire season. Then I discovered it got cancelled, raged about it, cried about it, thought about buying the DVD to watch whenever I want, and moved on to another story. I’ve already watched the entire season twice, and as long as it will be on the TV, I will watch it. It still hearts every time I remember the story of Henry Morgan won’t have a continuation. I’m still thinking about buying the DVD, though.

Timeless (2016-2018)

This is by far the most unfortunate TV series yet. After one good season, it got cancelled by the network allegedly because it didn’t meet the expected viewership. After a major online campaign by the fans to try and save the show for another season, NBC started negotiations and they ended backing up in their decision. It was amazing to feel that the fans were heard and actually saved something that wasn’t only entertaining but also educational. By the end of season 2, a lot is happening and the story is left on a cliffhanger, but once again the show is cancelled. A lot of protest and calls for renewal were made but not even the best of the efforts was enough to bring back the show for a third season. Although, the network promised a two-hours long movie to tie in all the loose ends and problems left out open in the season finale (airing in December). Needless to say that a movie can’t replace the entire story and detail a ten-episodes season would have. It really bothered me this going back and forward with the series, but I also wasn’t in favour of renewing it for a third season if by the end it was going to be cancelled again. The show deserved a network that would commit to it and not wanting to cancel it in the first opportunity it gets.

The Librarians (2014-2018)

Fantasy isn’t exactly my cup of tea, and when I first discovered this series I had no idea how much history it had. If you don’t know even before this became a TV series it was a TV-movie series. I’ve only discovered The Librarians last year, and I completely fell in love with the characters. The show deals a lot with mythology, magic, literature, history, math, and much more. I was enjoying the story so much and having so much fun that the news of the cancellation came like a bomb. I was already planning a blog post dedicated to the show and to the movies that I had recently discovered. And then the news came out of nowhere. From the entire list, this is probably the cancellation that bothered me the less just because the season was well wrapped. There wasn’t any loose ends or cliffhangers, the story ended with everyone happy and safe. It still makes me sad to think that there won’t be anymore searching for magical artefacts, no more Library, and no more Ezekiel Jones.

Time After Time (2017)

I have to be honest and say that the development for Time After Time wasn’t exactly the best. The romance happened way too quickly, there were a couple of problems with HG Wells and Dr John being too comfortable in the 21st century, they easily get used to a whole new world filled with technology. But one thing is for sure, I never wanted to read more HG Wells like when I was watching the series. After six episodes, ABC decided to cancel the show. I don’t know if it ended up airing the remain episodes at some point, but luckily in Portugal, the network that bought the rights to broadcast it, aired the entire first season, and I have to say that the final episode was a bomb! It was the most OMG finale I ever saw. For sure, it redeemed every little bit that went wrong in the entire season. Although I already knew that nothing else was going to come out from it, and it didn’t take away the pain.

Colony (2016-2018)

And here is the reason why I decided to write this post. Once again, I was heart-broken. I don’t remember exactly how the third season ended and I’m thankful for it because if I could remember, I would be even more upset. Last month, I was thinking to myself that I had to know when the next season was airing so I wouldn’t miss it, and when I read it was actually cancelled, I just throw away my iPad (not exactly, but I was really pissed off). I don’t get it. If it was cancelled after the first season I would understand, it was confusing and for a long time I had no idea what was happening, but it was intriguing at the same time. When the second season came, everything was explained making the story even better, by that time, I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss an episode and I was always excited for that day of the week to come so I could watch a new one. The characters were so well developed, and by the third season, the story was more like a roller coaster of emotions than anything else. So I don’t understand why it was cancelled. And it’s because of disappointments like this one that I want to read more. At least in books, you get the entire story and there isn’t the risk of being cancelled before it’s done.

As I said in the beginning, it doesn’t matter if a TV series as a lot of success outside of the US because the major TV networks work to produce shows to be viewed by the Americans. But US and European viewers have a very different taste, one example of it is Absentia. The first season was released first in some European countries and a few days later it aired in the US. When the season ended it was clear that it didn’t do well in the US but the numbers went off the charts in Europe. Yet it was renewed for a second season to be aired in Europe and for any US residents that also want to continue watching they can see it on Amazon Prime Video. So I think that some of these series would have found their viewers outside of the US, but sadly we’ll never know.