Sci-fi TV shows, when they hit the public just right, are pop culture sensations like no other. The inevitably dense lore of such programs occupying their own realities captivates the minds of people over the course of multiple seasons. Meanwhile, sci-fi imagery allows for universal human experiences to get realized on-screen in distinctly unique ways that just wouldn’t be possible in any other genre. Unfortunately, when these shows go haywire, they’re inevitably expensive, costly misfires.
Some sci-fi TV shows, in particular, stand out as terrific examples of what happens when behind-the-scenes drama consumes seemingly surefire small screen hits. Even in productions often exploring the farthest corners of space, these sci-fi shows couldn’t avoid very grounded sources of conflict.
1) The Orville
Seth MacFarlane’s big stab at making his own Star Trek pastiche on broadcast television got off to a roaring start in terms of viewership back in fall 2017. However, problems quickly began emerging with its third season, which shifted the show from airing on Fox to airing on Hulu. Shortly afterward, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down shooting of the third season for months. By the time filming wrapped, the third season started streaming roughly three years since The Orville’s second season finale. Seemingly ceaseless problems with filming and finding the proper home for The Orville diluted the program’s chances of cultivating a consistent, sizable fan base.
2) Heroes
“Save the cheerleader, save the world.” Those six words defined the 2006 hit show Heroes, which was an outright phenomenon for then-struggling broadcaster NBC. However, by the time the third season rolled around, fan criticisms over the show’s quality led to a revolving door of writers and key creative personnel. Everyone seemed to be coming and going on this show, including Bryan Fuller and director Greg Beeman. Inevitably, the lack of a constant creative team ensured that the artistic problems plaguing Heroes only got worse. The show would end with a whimper after four seasons before a widely derided short-lived 2015 miniseries revival.
3) The Peripheral
Even with COVID-19 disrupting its principal photography, The Peripheral, a new sci-fi show from the Westworld team starring Chloe Grace Moretz, made it to Amazon Prime Video in 2022 with minimal behind-the-scenes chaos. That element, though, would come into play a few months after its launch. Though Amazon had given the show the go-ahead for a second season, chaos ensued for The Peripheral once the 2023 labor strikes hit Hollywood. Because of these events, Amazon canned a show that was already speeding towards a second season. Even sci-fi shows with initially smooth productions can eventually run into unimaginable speed bumps.
4) Foundation
Adapting Isaac Asimov’s beloved Foundation text into a multi-season television epic was always going to be a challenge. However, Apple TV+’s Foundation hit a massive problem in its third season. This was when the show’s primary creative architect, David S. Goyer, left his showrunner position. This upending occurred in the middle of shooting the third season, ensuring that this costly program would have to undergo a significant creative upheaval during a very vulnerable time. All of this apparently occurred as Foundation’s budget came under immense scrutiny, adding another behind-the-scenes problem for this tumultuous show to deal with.
5) Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman lasted 58 episodes in the late 70s TV landscape. Its 2007 remake, Bionic Woman, wasn’t nearly as lucky. This NBC program languished in development for years before it finally got the green light, an already poor sign that nobody could figure out a compelling new hook on the concept of a crime-fighting cyborg-ish lady. The 2007-2008 Writers’ Guild of America strike, though, really crushed Bionic Woman. Only eight episodes could get produced before the strike started and NBC abandoned the show once this lengthy event was over. All that time gestating and Bionic Woman flamed out so quickly.
6) Secret Invasion
Even among tormented Marvel Studios projects, Secret Invasion takes the cake for the most torturously beleaguered production in the outfit’s history. A June 2023 miniseries focusing on Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Secret Invasion suffered from extensive reshoots, a lack of a concrete creative vision for the entire program, and even losing one of the show’s two initial directors, Thomas Bezucha (Ali Selim ended up directing all six installments). There was absolutely no end to the problems faced by Secret Invasion, which ended up becoming one of the most reviled MCU projects this side of Iron Fist. Secret Invasion is now streaming on Disney+ if you particularly want to watch it.
7) Y: The Last Man
Few TV shows in the history of the medium have had a more chaotic path to the small screen than Y: The Last Man. The series brewed at FX for years before finally going forward in the late 2010s. Less than a year after this adaptation of the popular graphic novel seemed to be firing on all cylinders, showrunners Michael Green and Aida Mashaka Croal left the program. Just a few weeks before shooting was set to start on the first season, Barry Keoghan dropped out of the show’s lead role while COVID-19 delayed the show’s start date by months.
Finally, after all that, Y: The Last Man began airing in September 2021, only to get cancelled a few weeks before its finale. In every single respect, the behind-the-scenes misery of Y: The Last Man was a nightmare more terrifying than any dystopian apocalypse.
