Last month I shared with my fellow Mashers the cutting of The Cape‘s season from the original thirteen episodes down to ten due to poor ratings. The other day we learned once and for all that NBC will be cutting the series all together. Check the break for details.

We learned (via ScreenRant) that NBC has decided to cancel it’s superhero drama The Cape without allowing the show to finish it’s first season. It was announced that NBC would drop the show entirely and immediately. For anyone waiting till next Monday to tune in for the tenth and final episode of The Cape, unfortunately you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The series finale will not be aired on NBC but on the stations website later this month. Starting next week NBC will be replacing The Cape‘s Monday night time slot with new episodes of The Event.

The Cape has been slipping ever since its pilot episode back in January. With its poor character development, cheesy plot lines, and in my opinion lack of cool (well any) super powers, the audience never really caught on to the show long enough to stick around. While the shows main character, Vince Faraday (aka The Cape), was able to do some pretty cool stuff with his cape, it never really made it past the point of a martial arts version of ribbon dancing. Those flaws along with his “family drama” just didn’t do it for me. It was a poor “Call to Adventure,” or this show’s version of the Hero’s Journey.

For me the only real attraction to the show was Summer Glau and her portrayal of the mysterious computer hacker Orwell. She helped The Cape in his attempt to take down the villainous Chess and anyone else who threatens Palm City. Also Keith David‘s character Max Malini and his ‘Carnival of Crime’ were another highlight of the show. It is not a good indicator for any show when you’d much rather be watching secondary characters instead of the protagonist.

From the beginning it sounded like a good idea. The story seemed decent enough. The drama was there, the action wasn’t too bad, but it just didn’t work in the long run. It’s okay though, these things happen. With the ever changing demands of the audience, it is impossible to appeal to them all. Unfortunately The Cape did not hold this appeal for long.

There are still those die-hard fans trying to hold on to The Cape’s, well, cape. On the official NBC forums, fans of the show have begun an online petition to save The Cape. These type of petitions have worked in the past, NBC‘s Chuck was headed for cancellation soon after it’s second season; but thanks to faithful viewers, the show was renewed and is still on air today (knock on wood). After the cancellation of the sci-fi space western Firefly (which also featured Summer Glau), the fans stood strong with petitions and were able to see the fruits of their labor — the series was continued in the form of the movie Serenity. Hell, they are still holding out. Even after almost ten years of the series being off air fans are trying to get the show back again. However, I don’t think much will come to fruition in the case of The Cape.

The Cape is now defeated, but the series finale will be available some time later this month on NBC.com.

What Do You Think? Did The Cape Deserve To Be Canceled?