26% Of Fans Think This Canceled Sci-Fi Show Most Deserves A Reboot — Here's How We Feel
(Welcome to Survey Says, a feature where we conduct a movie-related survey for a random group of people and explain why they're completely right, completely wrong, or somewhere in-between.)
For years, science fiction fans often needed to steel themselves for the possibility that their favorite show could be canceled at any time. Things have improved a bit in the streaming era: more platforms mean more places are willing to roll the dice on making a big sci-fi show (see: "Foundation" on Apple TV+), and companies like Netflix have been known to swoop in and "save" a network show from cancellation. But as our latest survey confirms, the pain of cancellations can sometimes be hard for fans to forget.
We Crunched the Numbers
Using SurveyMonkey, we asked 588 random strangers in the United States to choose which of these canceled sci-fi shows most deserves a reboot. Here's how they voted:
Firefly 25.85%
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 19.05%
Dark Angel 19.05%
Jericho 17.01%
Dollhouse 9.69%
Journeyman 4.76%
Terra Nova 4.59%
The Voters Have Spoken...
"Terra Nova" pulled up the rear — not too surprising, since that show felt like stale leftovers from the moment it premiered. Another time travel-centric show, the ill-fated "Journeyman," sounds like it should stay in the grave, while Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," which showed the occasional flash of promise while it was on, also didn't inspire much of a passionate reaction from the folks who responded to this survey.
"Jericho," which already had its own successful "save this show!" campaign upon its initial cancellation, landed in the middle of the pack, and interestingly, the Jessica Alba series "Dark Angel" and the Lena Headey-led "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" both tied with the exact same percentage. But one sci-fi series reigned supreme in these voters' minds...
...But Sometimes, Good Things Need to End
"Firefly," Joss Whedon's series about a crew of smugglers struggling to stay afloat in the galaxy, ended up running away with this survey. If you've been a part of sci-fi fandom for the past 20 years, you'll know why: that show is hugely beloved, and for good reason. The chemistry of its cast was palpable, the production design suggested a world far beyond what the show's budget could conceivably convey, and the character arcs were both compelling and rich (shout-out to my man Ron Burgundy for that one). If you were making a list of the most beloved "canceled-too-soon" shows across any genre, "Firefly" would probably still be at or near the top to this day.
But unlike so many others, this story didn't get completely cut off by the swift axe of a network executive. Whedon (a complicated figure whose history we won't dig into here in the interest of keeping this article a reasonable length) was able to pick up where the show left off with "Serenity," a whole-ass feature film — and a pretty damn good one! — which tied up the loose ends from the series and completed its arc in a neat, tidy, and ultimately satisfying way.
I understand the impulse to want more of a beloved thing that ended too soon: I was a huge fan of "Terriers," the FX series that got the boot after just one season despite ending on a cliffhanger. But sometimes it's better to be thankful for the great thing we got instead of wanting it to continue or be revived with a new paint job. Look no further than the later seasons of "Arrested Development" as proof.
"Firefly" doesn't need a reboot, because it exists as a perfect time capsule from that period of early 2000s sci-fi history. It would be downright incredible for a reboot, either with some of the same cast members or with a whole new crew, to be able to recapture a fraction of the original's magic, so isn't it better to just relish the memories of the thing you loved instead of watching its legacy potentially be tarnished? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go rewatch "Serenity" again because that's all of the extra "Firefly" that I'll ever need.