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I may be the sole voice wailing in the darkness. But news of cancellation of the television series “Defying Gravity” struck me with a blow.

It was ominous enough when the show was unceremoniously yanked off the broadcast schedule in September to make room for the return of “Brothers & Sisters.” However, from the beginning, “Defying Gravity” was never intended to be a full season show. It was a venture between the BBC, Fox, Omni Film, CTV, Space and ProSiebien for international broadcast.

Yet, after some soul-searching and head-scratching, ABC thought maybe it should pluck it from obscurity, re-brand it as “Grey’s Anatomy in space” and then selected Aug. 2 as its premiere date, with little to no promotional campaign. (Hey, I was at San Diego Comic-Con and there was absolutely no mention of it at all – more than 100,000 sci-fi buffs and geeks attending the largest sci-fi convention of the year just days before the premier and no one thought to promote it there?!)

It also had no branding behind it. I mean ask anyone if they have seen “Defying Gravity” and you’ll get a host of mixed reactions, mostly confusion.

“Defying Gravity” is a phrase better associated with the hit song from the play “Wicked,” which was recently featured on the Fox show “Glee.” Additionally, many people think it is the same show as Fox’s “Virtuality,” which actually never made it to series, but they opted to broadcast the pilot anyway, after some heavy mass-marketing and promotion.

It was unreal to see such a push for name recognition and viewers for a show that was ultimately passed on! But that is another story. So you may have heard of “Virtuality.”

But prior to Aug. 1, had you ever heard of “Defying Gravity”? I hadn’t until one of my editors asked me if I had heard anything about it. Curious, I tuned in and was pleasantly surprised.

While the title alone was not gripping enough to get my attention, the premise was intriguing. It was a show about eight astronauts on a six-year mission to sevent planets – and, after just one episode, I was hooked. With the solid and appealing casting of Ron Livingston, Laura Harris and Christina Cox, and a host of fresh new faces, the show was both interesting and fun to watch. It was also intriguing and thought-provoking as it took the time to address the small stuff, like food, hair, plumbing, gardening, no sex, cross-training for medical emergencies, or even how spilt blood and vomit can clog air filters.

Yet no amount of fun casting, cool characters and attention to detail can save a show that is not treated with a little respect.

These days, television audiences are not simply going to turn on the television and watch whatever is there. No, in today’s television landscape, there are more than 100 regular channels to choose from, and each of them caters to a specific niche audience.

Unfortunately, ABC is not known as a sci-fi network. (“Lost” doesn’t count because most people don’t even think of it as a sci-fi show.) ABC is known as the chick’s network. That’s where you go to watch “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Brothers & Sisters” and “Dancing With the Stars.” No self-respecting sci-fi aficionado would be caught dead watching ABC – though I suspect a few are closet “Lost” fans and sneak over there just to watch it when it’s on.

Also, as a regular television viewer, even I was caught by surprise by the launch date. Typically, summer run series are launched in June or July – not August – and with only 13 episodes filmed initially, “Defying Gravity” was never intended to be a fall season show. So it was doomed from the start: No promotion, wrong network, bad launch date and the ultimate kiss-of-death, it was described as “Grey’s Anatomy” in space.

To prove my point, it took a solid week of nagging my dad and begging him to give “Defying Gravity” a chance before he would deign to watch it. Like many other Internet-savvy consumers, my dad believes that everything should be researched thoroughly before ordering or viewing. A simple Internet search brought up the phrase “Grey’s Anatomy in space” and he was bound and determined that it was not a show he would ever be caught dead watching.

Fortunately, a daughter’s wheedling can be very persuasive.

And so without much fanfare or celebration, “Defying Gravity” launched on Aug. 2 to a total of 3.83 million viewers in the United States. (That’s not good – you could practically hear the crickets in that deafening silence.) Then over the course of the next seven episodes ratings fell even further to an unspectacular low of 2.53 million viewers for its last U.S.-aired episode “Love, Honor, Obey,” which aired on Sept. 13.

Labeled as both a “season finale” or “series finale” depending on which Web site you read it at, this was the end as we knew it. Eight episodes and “Defying Gravity’s” run was cut short.

Sickening as it was that the show vanished so quickly, it also had the gall to leave the viewers with a cliffhanger! Just when the Antares crew went to see who or what Beta was -- all we saw was them standing their awestruck. I mean, seriously?! Not even a peek for the viewers? Sheez.

OK, returning to my original premise: How does one exactly kill a sci-fi show in eight episodes? I have come up with a few creative ideas here:

1. Premiere it in August knowing perfectly well there will only be seven to eight weeks before the primetime fall programming to begin and there will be no “space” on the schedule for it – thus, it will have to be kicked aside or killed regardless of ratings.

2. Provide virtually no advertising. I live in Los Angeles and I never saw a billboard, bus bench (like the brilliant “District 9” advertising campaign), or a poster plastered at every bus stop (like the summer sensation “Drop Dead Diva”).

3. Make sure you put it on a night where no one will see it. Such as, stick it on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. – a notorious sci-fi wasteland. I mean, name the last sci-fi show that succeeded on a Sunday night. Even “Battlestar Galactica” was finally yanked off of Sundays and stuck on Friday nights.

4. Have one of the principal storylines be about the characters not being allowed to have sex. No sex – seriously?! While a cool sci-fi concept, it kind of turns off its adult demographic. Why not just put it on Thursdays at 8 p.m. if it’s going to be so tame?

5. Do not advertise to teenagers. I mean, do teenagers even watch television these days? Aren’t they plugged into their iPods and other PDAs stuck on Youtube or some other trendy social networking site?

6. Make sure to emphasize that the show was created outside of the United States for foreign markets. Nothing attracts U.S. viewers faster than by marking something “Made in Canada” or “Made for German distribution.”

7. Throw tens of millions of dollars away in a half-hearted attempt to launch the show. Nothing says commitment and support like tossing money at something like there is a never-ending supply on a money-tree in the backyard.

8. Do not bother inviting the cast to Comic-Con, the Television Critics Association or any other televised or heavily promoted event – particularly if launching within a week or two of those events.

9. Do not schedule any talk shows or engage in any type of media blitz, such as getting the television bloggers to talk about the show. Definitely don’t set up a Twitter account to encourage live chats and to get the show trending on the day it airs.

10. Do not offer any contests which reward the fans with giveaways, an exclusive chance to meet the cast or a chance to watch filming.

11. Do not approach NASA or other space-related advertiser for a lucrative tie-in; and especially don’t bother making any visits to schools with NASA representatives to generate interest. I mean this is a show that thinks sex in space is bad. That’s got to be good for teenagers – abstinence is after all the latest thing.

12. Make sure to use the catch phrase “Grey’s Anatomy in space” as much as possible to alienate your primary audience: men and sci-fi buffs.

13. Do not bother with attempting to launch the show in the foreign market and allow it to build a core audience with positive critical buzz before trying to prematurely launch it in the United States. Just go for broke and toss it in with the sharks of other television shows currently populating the television landscape.

14. Totally avoid doing any provocative or eye-catching print ads or television spots to generate buzz/excitement. Do as much as possible to downplay the cooler aspects of the show or any of the recognizable actors.

15. When you do decide to pull the show off the air, be sure to reassure the fans that it will be back – thereby preventing any last ditch effort to save the show or persuade another network to pick it up.

Looking back, these 15 ideas on how to kill a television show worked pretty good at putting the nail in “Defying Gravity.” Kudos to ABC for employing these strategies so effectively and decisively.

In case you think I am in jest, I refer you to the article “How 'Defying Gravity' Would Have Progressed, Straight From the Creator” by Keith McDuffee at CliqueClack.com. In that story, James Parriott, creator of “Defying Gravity,” was kind enough to provide some insight on the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of ABC.

Mr. Parriott verified that ABC did not bother to pick up the show until three weeks before it aired on Aug. 2, which provided little time for a marketing campaign or promotion of the show. He also verified that the tagline “Grey’s Anatomy in space” hurt the show more than any negative review could have ever done.

And, last but not least, he verified that once “Defying Gravity” aired on ABC, there was no way that another network would pick it up – even after cancellation. Syfy was only interested in shows that it could call their own – it is not taking any castoffs from other networks. It would hurt their image too much. So in the end, there was no hope. “Defying Gravity” was doomed from the start.

As you continue to watch and enjoy other sci-fi shows, I caution you to remember this dire tale. Any one of the glossy, new, slick sci-fi shows that you, too, have become suddenly attached to could just vanish overnight. Be watchful and wary and cherish each and every second of the time you have left. You just never know when that last moment will in fact be the last.

R.I.P. “Defying Gravity.”