Off-topic: what if Kickstarter had been around in 2006 for Arrested Development? Perhaps we wouldn't just now be getting a season 4.
But...back in 2006 there was no Netflix to bid against Showtime. I've never been able to discover what Showtime was offering other than that Hurwitz seemed a bit insulted by the offer ("half the money for twice the work" is the quote that stands out in my mind, but I can't find a citation). If there'd been other competition for the show from a Kickstarterish platform perhaps the Showtime offer would have been more reasonable. Maybe. Who the hell knows. :)
At least those shows do stand a chance with fan-backing. Something like 'Rubicon' would, I think, totally fail at kickstarter even though it was good.
[1] A great show. I'm not sure how well it would have lasted with the traditional US "spin out a series for as long as possible" format. But, with careful plotting, it would have been an amazing 3 season (12 episodes per season) show.
EDIT: Fox hates the Firefly fanbase. (http://io9.com/fox-bans-the-sale-of-unlicensed-jayne-hats-fr...) Really, this is just open contempt for people who are willingly promoting your content.
[2] I really wanted to like this. I did like the first series. I really wanted an OQO (the tiny handheld computer that one of the characters has). But the second series was daft. This could have been a pretty good show and it's a shame it's gone.
[3] Caprica was good, I thought. Had some interesting concepts.
I think Joss Whedon has shown himself to be capable of maintaining quality in long running shows with Buffy and Angel. There are a few dips in both, but on the whole they pretty much just get better and better.