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Joss Whedon has become something of a tortured artist since 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ended its highly successful seven-season run in 2003. Since Sunnydale was destroyed and 'Angel' got pulled right when it was finding its own identity post-'Buffy,' Whedon has yet to find another long-running hit. It's still hard to believe that a show as great as 'Firefly' only lasted one season!

Whedon's bad luck continues with the recent announcement that Fox is pulling the plug on 'Dollhouse,' a series that had enough of a following -- and potential -- to warrant another season. Would 'Dollhouse' have really hit its stride further down the road? We'll never know. Here are some other sci-fi television series that met their makers too soon.

Fans of Joss Whedon's cult phenom 'Dollhouse' will be sorely disappointed to learn that Fox has just dropped the sci-fi series, exactly as we predicted earlier this week (we'll hold off on calling bragging rights -- for now).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show was pulled after a season of disastrous ratings. It's September premiere, for example, was seen by just 2.0 million people, and earned a shockingly low 1.0 rating in the all-important 18-49 demo. Ratings continued to plummet as the season went on, with 'Dollhouse' earning a series-low 0.8 rating just a couple of weeks ago. So, in other words: Nobody should be all that surprised by today's report.

Bad news for fans of Fox's sci-fi drama 'Dollhouse': Entertainment Weekly reports that the show has been pulled from the November sweeps lineup, but is expected to return in December.

The network will air back-to-back episodes of 'Dollhouse' on Friday nights; it seems likely that after the 13-episode order is finished, the show will be officially canceled.

When it debuted last spring, 'Parks and Recreation' already seemed in need of some urban renewal. Sure, Amy Poehler was funny, but the rest of the ensemble didn't gel around her, the plotting was listless and the jokes fell flat.

In its second season, however, the writing has become sharper, the pacing has gathered steam and Poehler's bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur has become someone to sympathize with and root for.

'Parks' deserves a ribbon for improving on a rocky start; after all, few shows that stumble out of the gate are able to recover their footing and race to the forefront. Here are nine more that did ...

Eliza Dushku's jill-of-all-trades operative Echo finds new danger every week on 'Dollhouse' but now she has a new ally at her back: your DVR. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox has granted the modestly-rated series a reprieve -- and an order of 13 episodes -- because its numbers ballooned when viewers who recorded the show and watched it later were accounted for.

The sci-fi drama's season 2 premiere on September 25 drew only a 1.0 share among adults 18-49 during the show's Friday night graveyard airing, but viewership in that group jumped 50 percent when counting 'Dollhouse's' "Live+7" rating -- people who record the show on their DVRs and watch it within seven days.

Arianna Huffington teams with ABC, 'Dancing With the Stars' to pay tribute to the late Patrick Swayze, Ron Howard returns to Fox and more of today's top TV headlines.

Laura Linney has 'The C Word,' TNT renews 'Leverage,' 'American Idol' picks another guest judge and more of today's top TV headlines.

Megan Fox will kick-off 'Saturday Night Live''s 35th season, VH1 cancels 'Megan Wants a Millionaire,' BET may resurrect 'The Game' and more of today's top TV headlines.

ABC is close to picking up 'Romantically Challenged,' a new comedy series starring Alyssa Mliano.

Also in the news today: Fox confirms Kara DioGuardi will return to 'American Idol,' while CBS reveals its plan for 'Flashpoint.'

See more of today's top TV headlines after the jump.