'Dark Angel' Replaced By 'Firefly'

**James Harvey** · 05-16-2002, 11:06 AM

http://tv.yahoo.com reports:

Not even "Titanic" director James Cameron -- the man behind the biggest movie in history -- can prevent a TV ratings dud from cancellation.

Fox Broadcasting has axed the sci-fi action series "Dark Angel (news - Y! TV)," which Cameron co-created, after two seasons, Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety said in its Thursday edition.

The show's Friday night slot will be filled by "Firefly," a space Western from Joss Whedon, the creator of the hit franchise "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Daily Variety said.

"Dark Angel" starred Jessica Alba as a feisty human prototype who teams up with a cyberjournalist (played by Michael Weatherly) to battle an oppressive regime in the near future.

It made a celebrity out of Alba, a 21-year-old exotic beauty who got engaged to Weatherly, but the show never transcended cult status. Season-to-date, it averaged six million viewers and ranked about 125th among prime-time series, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Cameron, who co-created "Dark Angel" with Charles H. Eglee, made his TV directing debut on what turned out to be the show's series finale, which aired earlier this month.

Comments?

**Calico** · 05-16-2002, 11:12 AM

Ah crap. So we're not going to see a resolution to any of the things left hanging this season. Great, just great.

**wtf** · 05-16-2002, 11:55 AM

i wonder... any chance of having the show shopped to another network?

like jag moving from nbc->cbs, roswell wb->upn

an expensive show, but with the right time slot and writers - it could do very well building on alba's sex appeal. yummy

**joshualane** · 05-16-2002, 12:15 PM

I never really enjoyed the show much, but if it were to be picked up by another network, UPN would be the best candidate considering they picked up Roswell and Buffy and their lineup is rather Sci-Fi friendly.

**Fallout Boy** · 05-16-2002, 12:59 PM

Never thought much of the show or of Jessica Alba's looks or acting ability.

**Joe Wagner** · 05-16-2002, 01:38 PM

I thought the show was fairly enjoyable to watch but I was never home on Fridays and never really thought about taping it. In retrospect the show will be missed but the announcement wasn't a shock at all - esp considering this is the same network that got rid of the immensly funny live action Tick show. The figure that Dark Angel only got 6 million viewers though was shocking, altho I'm sure it would have done a lot better on a different night.

As for another network picking it up - I don't see it happening, unless Sci Fi realizes that they were stupid for canceling the Chronicle and decide to make up for it by obtaining the rights to Dark Angel and creating a third season.

-Joe!

**JohnCrichton** · 05-16-2002, 02:25 PM

Firefly..... Joss Whedon... Space Western.... sounds like my kinda show!

Hope Jessica finds work elsewhere. Her beauty should not leave television, but that Dark Angel show was all kinds of generic.

**czyznyck99** · 05-16-2002, 03:36 PM

Well, if UPN ever had a chance to save itself, now is that time. Get Dark Angel. I liked the show, it was the time slot that killed it. I mean, I had to ditch going to the movies with my roommates (not that I really wanted to go anyway) so I could watch.

til next time kiddies...

**Auggie Doggie** · 05-16-2002, 04:03 PM

Oh, that does it!

FOX, YOU ARE GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But that's for not even airing reruns during the summer or corssing their fingers and hoping it does better on FX.

Firefly seems like a good show, so I'll give it a chance.