5. Firefly
I'm sorry for the seemingly low placement of what is regarded as an absolute essential to any culture guru's viewing, but I have not watched Firefly yet, and reserved the highest places for those shows that I have. Nevertheless, if I had compiled this list based on notorious cancellations, this would of been number one, regardless of my familiarity with it. It's safe to assume that in the wake of Joss Whedon's becoming so-hot-right-now, that many people have been introduced to Firefly, and the outrage that still lingers over it's cancellation. Blending space opera with Westerns, the show only ran for 11 episodes before it's cancellation, and despite this it has still become a hallmark of Whedon's influence over everything. It even featured in a joke on Community, where Troy and Abed agree that if the other should die, they will stage it as a suicide over the unjust cancellation of Firefly. Not having seen the show, I suppose those like me can gather from the joke how much it is loved. And amongst every Top 10 TV Shows list, Firefly is named, more often in the upper digits than the lower. It certainly seems to fit the term "Groundbreaking", and 11 episodes is unarguably too little for almost any show. The American iteration of the Inbetweeners ran for 12 episodes. For shame, planet Earth. For shame.