Some of my favourites (more later):

Misfits of Science: Fun upbeat superhero series. Likeable characters, effects that hold up reasonably well give the show's age.

Boomtown: Cancelled very early in season 2. Cop drama showing the events from a range of characters' perspectives.

That's My Bush!: George W. Bush is the main character in this sitcom which was more about poiking fun at sitcom tropes than about politics. Caveat: Creators Try Parker and matt Stone have admitted that they had covered much of the ground they intended to. Even if the show had been renewed, it's very possible they would have ended it soon enough anyway.

Fantasy Island (1998 version): Of the various incarnations this one was probably the most darkly humorous.

Alien Nation: Cop with alien partner series based on the movie. Really delved into the prejudices and cultural differences. Caveat: Multiple TV movies followed the only season.

The Gifted: Fun superhero series focussing on an undreground movement. Made it to a second season but that was it.

Pushing Daisies: A pieman could revive the dead, but if he touched them again, they died permamantly, and if be didn't something similar nearby would die (without negating the first rule). After the previous Writers Strike, the audience sadly largely didn't come back for the second season.

Cloak and Dagger: Great chemistry between the two main characters based on the Marvel comics.

The Flash (first series): One of the first superhero shows to really focus on it's main and supporting cast. Nice special effects, unique sets, Danny Elfman music.

Krypton: Looked at the conflicts including of social class in the doomed planet. Plus it posed the question of whether Earth's greatest champion should be preserved if it means the planet still gets destroyed.

 

zuckyd1 wrote:

Eerie, Indiana
Freaks and Geeks

Can you elaborate please? If you were trying to convince someone to hunt these series down, what would you say?
 

The show that got me thinking of this thread hadn't been cancelled when I started it (so I was hoping I wiouldn't have to add it) but has now:

Gotham Knights: I hadn't expected to like this show from the preview but it turned out to be a lot of fun. A nice mix of characters who are misfits in different ways forced to come together after some of them were framed for Batman's murder. There's still a couple episodes left and well worth giving a try despite the cancellation.

Nowhere Man: After taking a picture of executions in South America, photojournalist Thomas Veil finds his entire life erased, and is forced to go on the run throughout America to keep himself and the negatives out of the clutches of a conspiracy.The closest there has ever been to an American version of the Prisoner. Canceled because the network thought viewers would find the series too confusing, although it was one of the highest rated shows.

In the Flesh. Ran two seasons and a total of nine episodes (3 and 6 respectively for season 1 and 2). Set after the Rising, a zombie apocalypse that was narrowly averted initially by hastily formed local human militias and then by the discovery of drugs that can restore the original human minds of the zombies not destroyed by the militia. Now those suffering from PCD (Partially Deceased Syndrome) are attempting to reintegrate into society, but this isn't easy, both because they are haunted by memories of what they did while flesh-eating monsters and because former militia members are less than happy to be letting "rotters" back into their communities. A surprisingly deep and thoughtful tale, which won multiple awards and had very strong ratings...so the BBC cancelled it after the second season ended on a cliffhanger, with their excuse being that they needed to use the money for more diverse programming. Which turned out to be a really naff reality TV game show called I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse. Seriously, the BBC actually made the excuse that it was part of their remit that they had to make a wider range of shows, and since they already produced Doctor Who then they already had a SF/fantasy genre show and so had to make something to appeal to different tastes. And then they immediately made another zombie show, just a much poorer one.