Author: johnnyjay Published Date: October 25, 2025 Comments: Leave a comment 0 2014’s High Moon had all of Bryan Fuller’s quirkiness and excesses on display, and not surprisingly, Syfy passed on picking it up to series. What Is It? This television movie is (very) loosely based on the book The Lotus Caves by John Christopher and served as a pilot for a proposed TV series. It takes place on the Moon, where several countries have established bases to mine Helium-3, but rivalries have developed between them, resulting in frequent encroachments on each other’s territory. The plot involves the deaths of several men that may be linked to terrorism but the investigation also reveals signs of vegetation potentially growing on the Moon, unraveling deeper mysteries in the process. Aired: September 15, 2014 Starring: Jonathan Tucker, Chris Diamantopoulos, Constance Wu, Dana Davis Why Didn’t it Fly? Syfy ordered this pilot with the intent of developing it into a full series, but network executives were almost certainly left scratching their heads after viewing the completed telefilm. Bryan Fuller’s trademark quirkiness was on full display, and this bat-shit-crazy production was anything but Prime Time friendly. The network decided not to move forward with the series, though it did air the pilot as a movie-of-the-week. It apparently failed to draw enough viewership to change that decision, and it has since mostly faded from memory (in fact, it’s so obscure that it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry). Would It Have Worked as a Series? I’m a fan of Bryan Fuller’s work—particularly Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls—but High Moon amplified all of his excesses to the nth degree, making it a bit of a challenge to digest. It’s a whirlwind, mind-bending affair bursting at the seams with eccentricities and the just plain bizarre. Visually, the film employs a bright color palette reminiscent of Pushing Daisies, but it delivers an all-too-clean, artificial retro-future look that misfires when trying to establish a distinctive aesthetic. And if that’s not enough, stick around as it goes full-on Lovecraft toward the end (and not necessarily in a good way). Then there’s the giant robot dinosaur, but I don’t even know where to begin explaining that. The movie definitely has Fuller’s fingerprints all over it and includes plenty of his trademark rapid-fire, witty dialogue. It also carries a definite sense of fun, something sorely lacking in many sci-fi entries these days. The cast meets Fuller’s usual standards and gives off that “where-did-I-see-them-before” vibe, though most (apart from Constance Wu) have only minor genre credits to their names. As for whether this would have worked as a weekly series, I don’t think so. The setup goes far over the top while frequently diverging into non-sequiturs. High Moon can be entertaining as it revels in its idiosyncrasies and is worth a look for Fuller fans (intoxicating substances may be required, though), but I can see why Syfy ultimately passed on making it a full-time series. Should It Be Rebooted? John Christopher’s The Lotus Caves definitely deserves another look (though his Tripods series is an even better candidate for TV, more on that one at Cult-SciFi.com ). Fuller’s version, however, should probably remain a one-off curiosity. As mentioned above, it’s entertaining at times but leans too hard into the WTF? to sustain an ongoing series. Christopher wrote some solid sci-fi stories—he was one of the original YA genre authors—and The Lotus Caves has a premise worth revisiting in a more faithful adaptation. If someone were to take that approach, it could be worth exploring. But if there’s any movement on reviving one of Fuller’s works, I’d much rather see Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, or Hannibal return. Where Can You Watch It? To my knowledge, the film did not get a release on DVD or Blu-ray, but you can purchase it VOD from Fandango . It is not currently available for streaming on any of the major services, though it’s possible it could show up on one of the second-tier streamers at some point. Keep up with the status of all the current sci fi and fantasy shows as well as news and updates on new and upcoming shows at CancelledSciFi.com . Cancellation Watch: Status updates and breaking news on renewals and cancellations Sci Fi TV Highlights: Listings for the upcoming week along with the latest sci fi TV news and trailers. Sci Fi TV Production Report: News on which sci fi TV shows are moving into production. Source: https://www.cancelledscifi.com/2025/10/25/cancelled-before-it-began-high-moon-2014/