I'm pretty sure the cancellation was completely unexpected. They had to tie up the story fast, and all those loose ends and rushed bits are fleshed out properly in the novels.

I've heard of the novels. How are they? Were they sanctioned by TPTB to make sure the story got wrapped up properly? Was it based on the direction they were planning on going in season 3? Or was it just some writer that got permission and did whatever he wanted?

If it is the former and it was what the story was going to be in S3, I may eventually check out the books when I have money. If it's just some "what if" scenario that has no connection to what was planned, then I can do that with fanfic.

Think what they could have done if they'd snipped that "awesome" fight scene. The only part I liked about that was Logan saving Alec. ;)

But, yeah, I'm fairly certain they didn't have a lot of lead time to tie things up. I wasn't even a dedicated viewer when it was on the air, and I was shocked when I learned it wasn't coming back.

Stupid Fox.

Yeah that scene did go on quite some time, didn't it? it was nice to see Logan in a fight though.

From what I've read, Fox renewed DA for a third season and then later on, during the summer hiatus changed their mind and decided to cancel it - citing that it was too expensive to produce (it was probably the most expensive show to produce at that time). So everyone was basically backstabbed by Fox. Yep, I'm still bitter about it all these years. They fulled expected to return, had plans for the 3rd season, and got.....nothing.

So we ended up with a season finale that became the series finale by accident. There was so much potential left in the show. I still find it difficult to watch that final scene in "Freak Nation". What could have been...

Edited at 2008-07-13 02:46 am (UTC)

That's really too bad. Despite some of its faults, I really enjoyed the characters in S2. I hate when networks do stupid things like that.

No, they didn't know that they were getting canceled. Late in the game, Fox cancelled it to run Firefly, stating that it didn't have the budget for two Sci-Fi shows. And then they cancelled firefly after 1 (half) season. They really screwed up with both of those shows.

Yes, and worse: they ran Firefly out of order, which basically meant it was DOA after they'd killed DA for this new show. I watched the first episode of Firefly to air and turned it off in less than twenty minutes; it started with a bar fight, for heaven's sake, and I wasn't even sure what they were fighting about, because the back story had yet to be shown!

I remember cheering at the DA renewal news and being flabbergasted that they changed their minds; I can't think of another show where I've seen that happen.

I never got into DA when it aired, though I did try one or two episodes (beginning of Heat and then when i tried again I hit Meow - not exactly the best moments). I did watch Firefly, though. I remember when it first aired I figured I would give it a try because I was waiting for John Doe to start. But the first episode they played was a train heist episode and I was so so lost that I gave up on it. I did end up watching it again like in a week or two because I was bored and then got hooked. But I remember the schedule for Firefly was so erratic. They would play an ep and then not play one for like a month. I never knew when the show was on. And since I was dealing or had dealt with the same problem with Futurama, I was ticked. I knew that Firefly didn't have much of a shot.

And then at the end there my worst fear happened. They canned the show right and THEN played the pilot finally. It sucked.

Didn't Farscape get renewed and then over the hiatus it got canned? I never watched the show when it aired, but I've heard it was let go right when SciFi picked up Stargate. It also ended on a cliffhanger, only they were ab;e to wrap the stpry up in a miniseries whereas DA didn't have that opportunity.

I think Farscape had been renewed, or at least they had reason to believe they would be, when the news came down. They weren't on hiatus yet--it was the last day of filming. The whole cast spent the day crying between takes.

Some Scapers blame SG-1 for the cancellation, but SciFi and some insiders from the shows say the decisions were unrelated; I don't claim to know. Farscape was awfully expensive and didn't get the ratings they'd hoped. Then again, SciFi draws such a small slice of audience that I've heard the margin of error for Neilsens is greater than the total ratings for every show they air!

The Sci Fi network made a big deal about renewing Farscape for another two seasons when season 3 ended, then they decided to cancel it after season 4 :/

That really sucks. I was watching Firefly through the whole Firefly/Fox debackle and I'd already been burned to what they were doing to Futurama. I didn't realize that DA had been canceled like that.

I think it's one of the reasons I get really edgy about watching tv shows. I know there is always the chance I'll get realy invested and then just have it canned on me. I really hate that. I'm still ticked off after watching LnC and their finale, even though I knew it would end like that anyway.

I didn't watch DA, but I remember the shock and disappointment from fans (much of it directed at Firefly) when FOX decided to cancel. I believe that they originally rejected Firefly, then Joss wrote a new Pilot script at the last minute to win them over, so they decided to go with Firely and dump DA.

At least Fox can't be accused of being inconsistent...

Pretty much *g* But yeah I think that DA was originally led to expect a third year, and it was very much a last minute thing when they decidied to air Firefly instead

Edited at 2008-07-13 06:10 pm (UTC)

I think the whole story is in the 2nd season DVD extras. They talk about being renewed for a third season and then being cancelled unexpectedly. They talk about what they intended for S3 and clear up the storyline. They had *no* time to close up any of their dangling threads.

That really sucks. I hate when that happens to shows I don't like, let alone the ones I like.

Yea, as was stated above, I think DA was scrapped for Firefly, which was then scrapped. Fox is not having a very good record as far as scifi goes. I'm shocked that they renewed the Sarah Conner Chronicles, actually.

I am unimpressed with Fox.

That's really sucky on Fox's part. I was there for the Firefly cancelling and I was not pleased. I also had to suffer from them axing Futurama.