I just finished watching season 3 of Dark Matter, and as the trend goes of late, it's been cancelled. I've enjoyed a lot of shows, especially sci-fi shows, that end up getting cancelled after two or three seasons. Beyond the irritation of having to hunt down a new series to get into, it's quite disheartening when you take into account the sort of tripe that gets 10-12 seasons these days.
Dark Matter was a fantastic sci-fi series; a group of scoundrels are forced to work together when they all wake up with amnesia. You could see the sources of inspiration from countless other sci-fi shows in this one, and it really paid off. But, just when the stakes couldn't get any higher...
Stargate Universe only got two seasons, and considering the fact that I've already written a rather long blog post about this series I won't got into it overly much. I'll just say that it's still my favorite series ever, it was the perfect amalgamation of a few different sci-fi shows. It may come back one day, but it's looking like the comics are where it's at for the foreseeable future.
Revolution was a great post apocalyptic series that only got 2 seasons before it was canned, it was all about electricity suddenly disappearing one day and the ramifications of that. I really don't know why it was cancelled; it had a young female lead, a great cast of supporting characters around her and it was always action packed. It seemingly had everything it needed, but still it was canned.
Jericho got two seasons before it was canned, but Jericho has a seriously dedicated fan base that pushed for two follow up seasons in the form of graphic novels. I really dug this series, despite how over the top all the Americana was - it had this "small town against the world" feel to it.
Dominion, again, two seasons before it was cancelled. Heaven invades earth and humanity is forced back to a few strongholds, and their only hope of survival is an archangel that sided with them and the Chosen One that walks among them. It had it's weak points in terms of story, and the special effects were always budget, but it was always interesting.
Jeremiah only got 2 seasons, but that was released so many years ago that it barely counts anymore. All the adults are killed and the remaining children grow to shape the world. The creators knew the end was coming so they managed to rush a proper ending in, which was good.
Dollhouse is another post apocalyptic series that saw the end coming, and thus managed to get in a half decent ending. This show had so goddamn much potential that I'm simply stupefied that some jackass decided to cancel it. Body hoping technology aside, this show explored some heavy issues and the cast was superb - this is legitimately a point of confusion for me.
Defiance got 3 seasons before it was cancelled. This show was about this zany earth where aliens invaded and terraformed the planet, so it's earth but just a little bit different... with alien monsters running around. It was pretty good and had a good selection of species that the cast were comprised of. It wasn't always top notch but it was always original.
Outcasts got a single season before it was cancelled, and this one is a damn shame. Earth is becoming uninhabitable and so humanity is colonizing this distant planet, but it's not as uninhabited as they first thought. A great setting and an interesting cast of characters played by some A-grade talent, I was keen to see where this show would go.
Zoo is another one that I've just found out got cancelled after three seasons. I wanted to avoid this one at first, it looked ridiculous, but a mate on Twitter talked me into it and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Just when it was getting good, boom. Just like with Revolution; Billy Burke and the post apocalypse don't mix.
This list goes on, and I could sit here all night going on about how many times I've been let down by a great series being cancelled... but I wont. At best you can take this list as a suggested watching list. While you're waiting for the next season of Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead or Westworld to start, hunt down a few of these and give them a watch. They may not last long, but they're always worth the effort.