''{{Dollhouse}}'' may very well have suffered from this. A show on the infamous Fox by the writer of the TropeNamer, JossWhedon? Viewers were probably half convinced it wouldn't last half a season even before the ExecutiveMeddling in the pilot was revealed. This may very well have contributed to the low ratings. To everyone's surprise, it was renewed for a second season, so hopefully viewers will be less wary of committing this time around.

This could be the result of a different sort of "Firefly Effect", as FOX's president of entertainment explained the decision to renew it with the logic that "if we'd canceled Joss' show I'd probably have 110 million e-mails this morning from the fans." Apparently, ''Firefly'''s cult status may have shown that even if they never become mainstream hits, JossWhedon's shows ''will'' get enough fans to justify keeping around. (They ''did'' cut the budget, however, because they're not going to invest big-hit bucks on what they expect to be nothing more than a cult hit that will hold down a less-than-desirable slot and nothing more.)

It's worth noting that Whedon HIMSELF was convinced the show was going to get cancelled, in the face of the myriad statements issued by Fox that there was no way it was getting the chop, to the point that the first season's final (unaired episode) is designed to resolve the entire plotline and contains a fourth-wall breaking jab at Fox ("There's butchers in the green room - nothing but dumbshows out here.")

Oh, and it has been cancelled as of November 11. :( http://whedonesque.com/comments/22328

Switching networks, there originally was some reluctance over the internet concerning ABC's ''{{V}}'', considering it was sci-fi, had an overarching plot, and a remake. Luckily, V still pulled in record numbers for its premier, and unless catastrophe happens, seems to be well on its way.

Flash Forward, on the other hand, seems to be taking a hit from this.

...And, as of May 27, 2010; FlashForward has indeed been cancelled.

...And, as of May 27, 2010; This Troper stopped watching american TV shows and went all-anime. Damned Firefly-effect...

And as of May 2011, it was announced that the new ''V'' would be shelved as well. Which really sucks, as it left so many plot threads dangling... like the result of Lisa clone mating with Tyler.

The strange scheduling FOX has followed with ''{{Glee}}'' so far - putting the show on a four-month break between the pilot and episode 2, and then again putting the series on hold for another four months during ''American Idol'' season - has led some devoted ''Glee'' fans to panic that FOX is trying to "pull another ''Firefly''." (Though others have postulated that FOX does it because the show already has a massive fan base that they can afford to mess with, and that the network uses the long breaks to build hype.)

Actually, the hiatus was due to the fact that Fox originally ordered a half-season, and since the episodes take a ridiculously long time to make, the hiatus was required to film the 9 new episodes that Fox ordered.

Seeing as how Fox has now granted Glee an additional two seasons already, I'm pretty sure we don't need to worry about Glee getting cancelled any time soon.

I'm not sure whether it fits here, but this is the exact reason why I never read incomplete fanfiction. If it's not complete yet, there is too big a risk that it never will be.

Checking how long it's been since the last update is usually reliable. This Troper has more than ten novel-length and several novella-length fics to her name and has only once started a piece without finishing it (it was a parody piece that violated the TOS about only posting narratives).

Late at night my roommate and I were both suffering from a strange case of insomnia. After his cell phone buzzed an emergency alert text message from a university in Indiana (we go to school in Pennsylvania) I suggested we watch the first 12 minutes of the first episode of FlashForward2009 which had been posted as a sneak preview on hulu. Apart from us both thinking it looked stupid, I immediately said it was going to last half a season, maybe one season at most...hate to say I told you so.

This troper went around telling every single person who brought up the show FlashForward that there was no way in heck that that show would ever manage to get a second season, or ever get anywhere near answering the questions it brought up. And lo and behold, he was proven exactly 100% correct. (He also predicted that the finale of ''LOST'' would also be distilled bull#@%! and there you go, an ending that nobody on Earth even began to understand.) If you show is based around a long overarching mystery the producers of the show will never let it be revealed... even in the last episode. So my motto is: unless you're a glutton for disappointment, don't watch LOST clones - also don't watch LOST.

I think this may have been part of what happened to ''{{Kings}}''. My sister and I loved that show with all our hearts, but it was just too cerebral for most listeners. That and NBC did a terrible job advertising for it, highlighting the strip club and lines that ran like "we can do anything" and making it look like it was about party boys. It's allegory for the story of King David and it's got Ian [=McShane=] in it. Consequently, viewers that were looking for wild parties stopped watching when it became apparent that there were none, and Christian viewers who would've watched had they known what the show was actually about never started, and people who liked the show spent all their time trying to talk their friends into watching once it became apparent the show was in danger.

After ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' ended after Season 2, I was reluctant to watch ''WolverineAndTheXMen''. I decided to wait a few seasons. Though I didn't watch it, I don't feel any better for not having done so.

This troper watched both, and can assure you that the cancellations stung, but would definitely recommend going back and watching ''Wolverine'', it's worth it.

This troper had been told by multiple people that ''{{Arrested Development}}'' was fantastic, but I had also heard that it was constantly in danger of being cancelled by FOX, so I always avoided it -- I didn't want to have to watch a good show be cut off in its prime. Being Canadian, I turned on the CBC one day to find an unknown show airing. Having some extremely shaky camerawork, I assumed that the show must have been another low-budget Canadian show. The moment the show made me start laughing, I knew that there was no way it could be Canadian. By then it was too late; I was hooked.

Although not necessarily consciously aware of this at the time, I think I may have engaged at this. I used to regularly watch shows like ''Firefly'', ''{{Wonderfalls}}'', etc. but I just don't watch them anymore.

''{{Caprica}}'', dood. Though partly this was due to a sneaking suspicion that prime-time science fiction was on its way out. Networks can rake in Nielsens with dirt-cheap reality programming, so scripted dramas are little more than a hindrance; which is too bad, because SF shows are guaranteed to offer more variety than the dreaded cop, doctor and lawyer trifecta.

This troper almost didn't watch {{Castle}}, Because Mr. Fillion has a nack for being in show's I love, and having them get canceled before the second season. Three Seasons later, I'm not regretting watching the first episode.

For this troper it was {{TheCape}}, but that could also be in part to hearing every single TV reviewer saying it wasn't very good.

Same here. The Cape struck this troper as a witty, rather cool show that could be pretty good. But the name was just so...stupid.