10 Insane TV Theories You Won't Believe

7. The Government Cancelled Firefly, Jericho

If there's one thing we know for sure about television - and this isn't a crackpot theory, as there's indisputable proof - it's that channels just love to cancel cult shows. Because "cult show" is often a euphemism for "show with such low viewing figures it's not financially viable to continue making it". Still, try telling that to the obsessives who still mourn the loss of two such cult shows: namely, the CBS post-apocalyptic drama Jericho (which ended after two seasons) and Joss Whedon's Fox space western Firefly (which barely made it through its first).

In both cases the lack of a significant audience was given as the reason the series got the chop, but surely that can't be the whole story? Why would they be so willing to suddenly drop shows which, sure, weren't the most popular, but were critically acclaimed and were producing high quality television? Well, if you believe what you read on the internet - and in most cases you probably shouldn't - the truth is actually far more insidious.

Yes, there are conspiracy theories about the cancellation of TV shows and yes, they are as ridiculous as all conspiracy theories tend to be. Apparently no less than the US government ordered that both Jericho and Firefly be pulled from the airwaves - Jericho because its second series on a public rise against the repressive, corrupt police state, possibly instigating a Second American Civil War; Firefly because it features "a free-trade economy based on bartering and simple living and implemented by a diverse, bipartisan crew of federation outsiders". So Jericho had to go because it would encourage the sort of revolution the Tea Party was agitating for, and Firefly because it was a Libertarian fantasy that would ruin the upcoming election. These are things people actually believe.