Some shows get cancelled before their time

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I always hate getting in to  a show and then it suddenly gets cancelled before it gets to even begin its story (Firefly is a key example). You might say that I should just not watch them until they have run a full season, but I just love experiencing them when they are first shared with an audience. Well Defying Gravity is a recent example of this. It was a show that was on my list to watch but it was cancelled after only 13 episodes. I was offered to review the show which has finally been given a DVD release so I thought it was time to give it a shot.

For those of you that don’t know, Defying Gravity is a drama set on board the international spacecraft Antares as eight astronauts undertake a mysterious, six year mission coverage eight billion miles. The show is from the producers of Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives and stars Ron Livingston (star of Office Space and Sex and the City’s Burger), Malik Yoba (Cool Runnings) and Laura Harris (The Faculty). Every action of the crew is scrutinised and beamed back to earth. There is also more to this mission as they are altered on a genetic level that only a select few back on earth know about.

The DVD release includes bonus features including Mission Accomplished – A Look at the Making of Defying Gravity, deleted scenes and a slideshow of production stills and design pictures of the ship. The DVD boxset is available in the UK priced at £34.99.

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5 Comments

  1. I’m so glad you brought this up. It seems the tragic demise of Firefly and the passion behind its fans (yes, I am one) overshadows a lot of other early terminations of fantastic shows. For me, it was Space – Above and Beyond. The moral tensions of bioengineered humans along with humanity’s desperate battle with the scary Chigs were great storylines, but the special effects were top notch too.

    I have the box set of the one and only season, but I still wish for more.

    Now I’ll be looking for Defying Gravity!

  2. Samantha, thanks for this. I've never heard of this show and after a little research, it looks fascinating. It's a sad fate for a number of interesting, inventive, or just under-viewed shows that get the ax too hastily. One that sticks out in my mind was the Fox show John Doe. It's about this man who wakes with retrograde amnesia on an island off of Seattle. As he makes his way to the city, he realizes that while he has no idea who he is, he knows most ascertainable facts (ie: how many dimples are in a golf ball, the ability to recite MS-DOS in binary, etc). What follows is *almost* a full season of conspiracy and brilliant fact-checking by the writing staff that culminates in a well done cloak and dagger/cop drama. Sadly it got cut at one of the biggest twists/cliff hangers I've seen. So fair warning if you're interested. I started watching knowing it got cut at an important part and it still didn't prepare me, I was definitely shocked.

    It's possible a big factor (at least with a number of shows I enjoy that get cancelled) is the problem with pirating vs. access. With certain shows that air during odd times, many people won't be able to catch it or don't have the capability in recording it on a DVR device. Additionally, since multiple channels don't have any sort of online streaming for their shows, lots of fans resort to pirating them. A good example of this is the fate of Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Community, Gravity Falls, and most notably, Tron: Uprising (that was moved to Monday 12AM halfway through airing and has not been renewed yet.)

    I could go on. but really shouldn't. (I saw this article sitting in the Ready to Go section and sort of had a comment primed)

    1. AHH! Sorry I am still torn up about Young Justice being cancelled. Its a great show. Yeah its a melodrama, but the characters are interesting and multi-dimensional. I like how they balance the issues faced by teenagers and young adults trying to live a normal life while dealing with their incredible powers. Realism might be limited due to it being on Cartoon Network, but they still manage to work adult themes into the show. Plus I find their continuity to be a lot more interesting then the current state of the DC universe. Perhaps on a different channel this could have worked. If HBO ever makes Wild Cards…

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