It really is amazing how Fox has become the network that gives a spotlight to amazing and excellent and innovative shows......and then cancels them near-immediately. I don't think you could name that many ABC/CBS/NBC shows that got cancelled before their time. If anything, the other networks tend to let good shows drag on too long.
The only non-Fox show I can think of would be Twin Peaks. It wasn't doing that well, but they had shuffled around its timeslot far too much. They didn't even tell the producers of the cancellation so it was ended on a major cliffhanger rather than a story that wrapped up the series. It still boggles my mind how Twin Peaks went from being on the cover of every magazine in the country to "cancelled" within the span of a year. You would have thought that the phenomenal success of the early episodes would have bought some kind of grace from network executives.
Farscape got totally fucked over too. There were press releases sent out that stated that they had been signed on for a 5th season, but SciFi decided to cancel because the show couldn't regain its old momentum (after a huge 9-10 month hiatus). Sadly, I think that the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries will be the show's swan song. Producers talk about wanting to do anime or a movie, but I doubt that the following is big enough.
