Fox Fock Ups
by StantonDrew | created - 26 Nov 2020 | updated - 7 months ago | PublicWhat does Fox have against sci-fi?
A list of shows cancelled by Fox either without being given a chance to find an audience or completing their story arc.
None of these shows has an IMDB rating of less than 7.0 at time of adding to the list.
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1. Firefly (2002–2003)
TV-14 | 45 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin
Votes: 281,821
The gold standard of shows that should never have been cancelled. A decision they should never be forgiven for.
Cancelled after only 11 shows were aired and several of those weren't even broadcast in order!
2. Almost Human (2013–2014)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In a not-so-distant future, a human cop and an android partner team up to serve and protect.
Stars: Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Minka Kelly, Mackenzie Crook
Votes: 52,099
Cut down after just one season. Again, several episodes were broadcast out of order.
3. Wayward Pines (2015–2016)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A Secret Service agent goes to Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two federal agents who have gone missing in the bucolic town. He soon learns that he might never get out of Wayward Pines alive.
Stars: Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Hope Davis
Votes: 60,189
Cancelled after 2 seasons (although the 2nd season was admittedly terrible!)
4. Fringe (2008–2013)
TV-14 | 46 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.
Stars: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Jasika Nicole
Votes: 257,595
The exception that proves the rule. Was renewed for a fifth and final season which allowed the show to come to a conclusion.
However, even here Fox did its best to kill it off by shunting it into the 'Friday Night Death Slot'
5. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
Set after the events in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Sarah Connor and her son, John, try to stay under-the-radar from the government, as they plot to destroy the computer network, Skynet, in hopes of preventing Armageddon.
Stars: Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, Richard T. Jones
Votes: 62,844
Cancelled after 2 seasons
6. Dollhouse (2009–2010)
TV-14 | 44 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A top secret organization erases the identities of attractive young people, turning them into blank "dolls" ready for imprints of temporary identities they need to fulfill assignments for clients.
Stars: Eliza Dushku, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz, Tahmoh Penikett
Votes: 51,812
Cancelled after 2 seasons
7. Alcatraz (2012)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In 1963, all the prisoners and guards mysteriously disappear from Alcatraz. In the present day, they resurface and a secret agency are tasked with re-capturing them.
Stars: Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia, Jonny Coyne, Parminder Nagra
Votes: 40,287
Lasted just 1 season
8. The Lone Gunmen (2001)
45 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
The X-Files' Lone Gunmen, their action-loving man-childish sidekick and patron, Jimmy Bond, and their sexy master thief frienemy, Yves, investigate crimes and conspiracies, often in a silly, comedic and over the top fashion.
Stars: Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, Zuleikha Robinson
Votes: 5,743
Another show cut after one season
9. New Amsterdam (2008)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A New York homicide detective is cursed with immortality.
Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Alexie Gilmore, Stephen McKinley Henderson
Votes: 7,433
Didn't even get to complete one full season. Cut after just 8 episodes were filmed
10. Sliders (1995–2000)
TV-PG | 60 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
A boy genius and his comrades travel to different parallel universes, trying to find their way back home.
Stars: Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyd, John Rhys-Davies, Cleavant Derricks
Votes: 20,405
Cancelled after 3 seasons. Rescued by Sci-Fi Channel for a further 2 seasons.
11. The Passage (2019)
TV-14 | 434 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When a botched U.S. government experiment turns a group of death row inmates into highly infectious vampires, an orphan girl might be the only person able to stop the ensuing crisis.
Stars: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Saniyya Sidney, Jamie McShane, Caroline Chikezie
Votes: 12,559
Cancelled after just 1 season
12. John Doe (2002–2003)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man who seems to know everything but his own name helps police solve crimes as he searches for his identity.
Stars: Dominic Purcell, Jayne Brook, John Marshall Jones, William Forsythe
Votes: 8,320
Just the one season before cancellation
13. FreakyLinks (2000–2001)
TV-14 | 60 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A take-off on "The Blair Witch Project," in which a guy finds out that his supposedly dead brother isn't dead after all when he sees him on the Internet. It's all about his spooky adventures in finding the truth.
Stars: Ethan Embry, Lisa Sheridan, Karim Prince, Lizette Carrion
Votes: 963
Pulled from schedules midway through its debut season. Remaining episodes finally broadcast after a lengthy hiatus.
14. Dark Angel (2000–2002)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A group of genetically-enhanced children escape from a lab project. Years later we meet Max, one of the escapees who now works for a messenger service in the post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest.
Stars: Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, Richard Gunn, J.C. MacKenzie
Votes: 34,607
2nd season got shunted into a less desirable time slot, viewing figures went down, show got cancelled.
15. Second Chance (I) (2016)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A billionaire bio-engineer brings a dead police officer back to life.
Stars: Robert Kazinsky, Dilshad Vadsaria, Adhir Kalyan, Ciara Bravo
Votes: 12,786
Cancelled midway through first season with Fox reducing the number of completed episodes to just 11
16. The Gifted (I) (2017–2019)
TV-14 | 43 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
In a world where mutated humans are treated with distrust and fear, an institute for mutants battles to achieve peaceful co-existence with humanity.
Stars: Stephen Moyer, Amy Acker, Sean Teale, Natalie Alyn Lind
Votes: 37,800
Cancelled after 2 seasons
17. Millennium (I) (1996–1999)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A former FBI profiler with the ability to look inside the mind of a killer begins working for the mysterious Millennium Group which investigates serial killers, conspiracies, the occult, and those obsessed with the end of the millennium.
Stars: Lance Henriksen, Megan Gallagher, Terry O'Quinn, Brittany Tiplady
Votes: 12,289
Cancelled after 3 seasons
18. Harsh Realm (1999–2000)
TV-14 | 45 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Lt. Hobbes is sent into a VR wargame simulation where he is to terminate a renegade General who has taken control of the program.
Stars: Scott Bairstow, D.B. Sweeney, Terry O'Quinn, Cameron K. Smith
Votes: 1,200
Fox broadcast just 3 episodes before pulling the plug. The remaining 6 episodes were eventually shown on FX
19. Space: Above and Beyond (1995–1996)
60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The Earth is embroiled in a desperate war against alien invaders, and this series focuses on one squadron of Marine pilots involved in it.
Stars: Morgan Weisser, Kristen Cloke, Rodney Rowland, Joel de la Fuente
Votes: 8,671
Cancelled after 1 season
20. Lucifer (2016–2021)
TV-14 | 4,393 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Lucifer Morningstar has decided he's had enough of being the dutiful servant in Hell and decides to spend some time on Earth to better understand humanity. He settles in Los Angeles - the City of Angels.
Stars: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D.B. Woodside
Votes: 356,268
Ok, so these next few shows are fantasy not a sci-fi but this is my list so they're included!
Lasted longer than most on this list with 3 seasons on Fox before being cancelled. Rescued by Netflix
21. Roar (1997)
60 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
In 5th century Ireland, a young Celtic chieftain and his allies fight against Roman encroachment, the manipulative pro-Roman puppet ruler of Ireland, Queen Diana, and her immortal adviser who seeks the biblical Spear of Longinus.
Stars: Heath Ledger, Lisa Zane, Sebastian Roché, Vera Farmiga
Votes: 1,315
Cancelled after just 8 episodes. Fox couldn't be bothered to air the other 5 episodes for a further three years.
22. Tru Calling (2003–2005)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A university graduate working in the city morgue is able to repeat the same day over again to prevent murders or other disasters.
Stars: Eliza Dushku, Shawn Reaves, Zach Galifianakis, A.J. Cook
Votes: 17,270
Cancelled mid-way through the 2nd season. Viewers had to wait over a year before the last few episodes were finally aired by Fox.
23. Sleepy Hollow (2013–2017)
TV-14 | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
Ichabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.
Stars: Tom Mison, Lyndie Greenwood, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones
Votes: 64,243
Qualifies as a 'long-running show' for Fox sci-fi/fantasy, lasting a full 4 seasons before cancellation
24. Point Pleasant (2005)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A series of supernatural events begins in a small coastal New Jersey town after the arrival of a mysterious teenage girl, who apparently has the ability to influence the people and events around her.
Stars: Elisabeth Harnois, Grant Show, Sam Page, Aubrey Dollar
Votes: 2,522
Cancelled mid-way through its maiden season.
The final 2 episodes were never broadcast (fans had to buy the dvd if they wanted to watch those)
25. The Exorcist (2016–2018)
TV-14 | 45 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Follows two priests dealing with cases of a demonic presence targeting a family and a foster home.
Stars: Alfonso Herrera, Ben Daniels, Kurt Egyiawan, Hannah Kasulka
Votes: 31,620
Cancelled after 2 seasons
26. Brimstone (1998–1999)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A dead cop, sentenced to Hell, is returned to Earth by the Devil to recover 113 escaped evil spirits.
Stars: Peter Horton, John Glover, Lori Petty, Teri Polo
Votes: 1,978
Cancelled midway through season 1 with episodes broadcast out of order. The second half of the season was never broadcast on Fox.
27. Next (2020)
TV-14 | 450 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A former tech CEO joins an FBI Cybersecurity Agent to stop the emergence of a rogue Artificial Intelligence.
Stars: John Slattery, Fernanda Andrade, Michael Mosley, Gerardo Celasco
Votes: 5,751
28. Hieroglyph (2014 TV Movie)
Action, Adventure
A notorious thief is plucked out of the prison to serve a Pharaoh obsessed with maintaining power.
Director: Miguel Sapochnik | Stars: Kelsey Asbille, John Rhys-Davies, Erick Avari, Max Brown
Votes: 109
Cancelled before it even aired
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