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15 Cancelled Comic Book, Sci-Fi, Fantasy Shows
The Flash, CBS (1990-91)
No, this isn’t some Earth-2 alternate universe: There really was another, much less successful TV version of The Flash, starring John Wesley Shipp as spry speedster Barry Allen. (Shipp went on to play Barry’s father in The CW’s current version.) Despite a memorable villain arc from Mark Hamill as The Trickster, this Flash lagged behind The Simpsons and The Cosby Show in the ratings and never made it to a second season.
Moonlight, CBS (2007-08)
Hawaii Five-0 hunk Alex O’Loughlin starring as a vampire private eye? How was this not a huge hit? Moonlight might have the least fortunate timing of any show on this list: Its first and only season was hampered by the 2007 writers’ strike, and it was cancelled less than six months before Twilight and True Blood triggered a fresh craze for Hollywood bloodsuckers.
No Ordinary Family, ABC (2010-11)
Two years before he launched the Arrowverse, Greg Berlanti co-created this live-action twist on The Incredibles, starring Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz as the parents of a family of superheroes. And the Arrowverse connections don’t stop there: Marc Guggenheim was a writer, Danielle Panabaker’s sister Kay played telepathic daughter Daphne… but the ratings were merely ordinary, and Family split up after one season.
SeaQuest DSV, NBC (1993-96)
This Steven Spielberg-produced sci-fi series was a big swing from NBC, with Roy Scheider starring as the captain of a futuristic submarine that boasted a talking dolphin as a crew member. It’s actually one of the more successful shows on this list, with a total of 57 episodes aired, but a boatload of cast changes and creative retoolings — Scheider infamously called the Season 2 revamp “childish trash” — led to NBC decommissioning the vessel midway through Season 3.
Birds of Prey, The WB (2002-03)
A DC Comics adaptation set in a post-Batman Gotham City and starring a trio of beautiful crime fighters sounds like a can’t-miss — especially with Melissa Rosenberg (Jessica Jones) and Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Once Upon a Time) on the writing staff. (They even had Harley Quinn as the arch-villainess!) But after a soaring debut in the ratings, the series failed to take flight and was grounded after just 13 episodes.
The Tick, Fox (2001-02)
This comic-book adaptation was decidedly goofy, with Seinfeld‘s Patrick Warburton starring as the titular insect superhero. The Tick was a cult hit as an animated show in the mid-’90s, but this live-action take didn’t work as well; Fox swatted it away after just nine episodes. Amazon is trying again, though, with a new live-action Tick set to debut next month.
Mutant X, syndicated (2001-04)
Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad created this syndicated drama about a group of misfit mutants with “X” in the title… but it’s not affiliated with the X-Men in any way! The understandable confusion led to a court battle between Fox and Marvel, and the series suffered; Season 3 ended on a cliffhanger, with the heroes racing to escape a collapsing building, but the show itself collapsed before we could find out who survived.
The Cape, NBC (2011)
This moody superhero drama was just slightly ahead of its time, debuting a year before Arrow made masked crime fighters cool again. (He even kind of looks like a costumed Oliver Queen, doesn’t he?) Now it’s probably best known for being a favorite of Community‘s Abed, who demanded “six seasons and a movie!” In the real world, though, fans got just one season, and no movie.
Witchblade, TNT (2001-02)
Yancy Butler headlined this comic-book adaptation about a NYPD detective who discovers an ancient bracelet that grants the wearer incredible powers. The show built a decent following — Butler even won a Saturn Award! — but it still got canned after two seasons. NBC thinks there’s still some magic left in that bracelet, though: They’re developing a reboot written by Vampire Diaries showrunner Caroline Dries.
The Greatest American Hero, ABC (1981-83)
Believe it or not, this kitschy comedy is still fondly remembered by those of us who grew up in the ’80s, with William Katt starring as inept superhero Ralph Hinkley. The show weathered a few scandals — the hero having the same last name as a would-be presidential assassin; Warner Bros. filing suit for ripping off Superman — before it crashed back down to earth after three seasons. But we’ll always have that theme song, right?
Firefly, Fox (2002)
A staple of “cancelled-too-soon” lists, this beloved sci-fi space adventure starred a pre-Castle Nathan Fillion and was the brainchild of Joss Whedon, who went on to make billion-dollar movies for Marvel. But Fox fumbled the rollout, airing episodes out of order and preempting it for World Series games, resulting in a swift cancellation. The Serenity crew did reunite, though, for a 2005 movie.
Blade: The Series, Spike (2006)
A Marvel comics character fresh off of a hit film trilogy, lots of vampires and a pilot script co-written by a pre-Arrow Geoff Johns… what could go wrong? A lot, apparently: After the most-watched series premiere in Spike’s history, with Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones stepping in for Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire hunter, ratings quickly sank, and Spike rammed a stake through its heart after just one season.
Jake 2.0, UPN (2003-04)
Christopher Gorham starred as computer geek Jake Foley, who acquired superhuman strength and senses from an accidental nanobot infection. It only lasted one season, but creator Silvio Horta went on to create Ugly Betty, and writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach later worked on Lost. Plus, NBC found better luck with a similar premise a few years later, with Chuck.
Legend of the Seeker, syndicated (2008-10)
A medieval fantasy filled with witches, sword battles and the undead? This epic drama from Spider-Man director Sam Raimi felt like a dry run for Game of Thrones, with Craig Horner starring as the Seeker who’s destined to clash with evil emperor Darken Rahl. (And look, Bridget Regan!) But when a majority of syndicated markets dropped the series after Season 2, the tale was abruptly cut short.
Wolf Lake, CBS (2001)
CBS’ Y2K-era stab at supernatural drama, about a town full of werewolves, offered a cast of familiar faces (Lou Diamond Phillips, Tim Matheson) and future stars (Paul Wesley, Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But the full moon didn’t last long: Just five episodes aired before CBS pulled the plug, with the full nine-episode run airing later on UPN.
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Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
