10 Failed TV Shows That Became Cult Classics
9. Dollhouse
You've been pre-warned: Fox is going to show up on this list quite a few times.
Years after Fox binned off Firefly - which we'll get to later - the network extended an olive branch to Joss Whedon by committing to a 13-episode first season order for his new sci-fi show Dollhouse, and even allowing him to forego the usual path of making a pilot episode first.
The show certainly got off to a rough start regardless, though. Despite an inspired premise - protagonist Echo (Eliza Dushku) is a blank slate "doll" who has a new persona implanted each episode for whatever her mission requires - the first half of season one was a real slog, unaided by the WGA strike of 2007-2008, which left Whedon with just two months to prep the entire season.
Furthermore, Fox's meddlesome tendencies soon enough resurfaced, ditching the season's first episode yet still considering it part of a 13-episode order, requiring Whedon to beg the network to allow him to create a true 13th episode on a lower budget.
Though the first season certainly picked up near the end, it received generally middling reviews and pulled mediocre viewing figures, so a surprise it was that Fox actually renewed it for a second run. Firefly guilt, perhaps?
Season two was considered a vast improvement by fans who stuck with it, even if most prominent critics had already abandoned the show by this point.
With viewing figures dropping below 2 million, Fox cancelled Dollhouse near the end of its second season, breaking the hearts of fans who felt the show and lead actress Dushku - whose season one performance was admittedly pretty iffy - had just found its stride.
Dollhouse never had the chance to become a great Whedon show like Buffy or Firefly, but it nevertheless lives on as an intriguing experiment with a legion of devoted fans.