15 Sci-fi TV Shows That Ended Too Soon

5. Dollhouse

Firefly Nathan Fillion
Fox

The Beginning:

Not lured away from the flame following the premature demise of his Firefly, Joss Whedon had high hopes for his next sci-fi venture. Set in an alternate present, where humans can be programmed for anything and put up for hire, this show focuses on a Los Angeles ‘House’, where main ‘Doll’, Echo, starts to wriggle out of the various personalities that are being imprinted on her.

First airing in February 2009, viewers were at first tentative; this was, after all, a fairly high concept show with a protagonist that can one minute be a high-kicking assassin and the next a femme fatale, all the while talking about being sent up to something called ‘The Attic’. It took a near cancellation and a strong season two for this to find its way into people’s hearts

The End:

At the close of season one rumours were flinging about that Fox were going to pull the plug on Dollhouse. But strong fan support saw a second season commissioned, which ended up being an altogether grittier affair.

Summer Glau and Battlestar’s Jamie Bamber became series regulars and, despite reviews being strong, come futuristic season finale ‘Epitaph Two: Return’, the writing was on the wall: Fox had cancelled the series once and for all.

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Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.