17 May 2009

TV Addiction: Cancellation rant....

So, I recently finished watching Veronica Mars... and wondering why on earth I never saw it when it aired on TV?! My guess is it never crossed the Atlantic, sigh! Why do we only get the more commercial stuff (and frequent crap) over here?

The bigger mystery is why the *@*@ do such great TV series get cancelled before their time?! And most of the time without enough advance notice for the show-runners and writers to give the fans a semi-satisfying ending?! grrrrrrrrrrr.... damn suits and their ratings-addiction!!! I'm not going to go into the unsolvable mystery as to why so many intelligent and original shows are ratings-challenged... if only to avoid saying something nasty about the TV-watching public in general (my grandma taught me "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all").

Nope, not going into all that. I'm just here to vent!!! Vent my frustration at witnessing the end of yet another series on a (semi-) cliffhanger. At realising it probably disappeared in favour of some lame, no-brain-required replacement. And again remembering this isn't the first time it's happened and won't be the last. snif, snif, snif! :o(

Other frustratingly cancelled series (that I can think of off the top of my head):

Angel: cancelled towards the end of the 5th season, they left us with L.A. having gone to Hell in a handbasket, thanks for Whedon and co. for at least wrapping up the story-line in comics!

Eli Stone: quirky legal drama with great music?! interesting characters?! what's not to like?!?!? well, at least the final episode was semi-satisfying and we can imagine it ending there. But we wanted MORE!

Firefly: no mystery as to why the ratings went south on this one, Fox aired episodes out of order and kept switching nights on it, cabrones! Makes you wonder at Whedon's leap of faith in trying a new project with them again this year... But at least we got another chapter on the big screen with Serenity! Although, gulp! I cried, and cried, and cried. Damn Whedon's penchant for tearing our hearts out by suddenly killing off beloved characters!

Jericho: well, at least thanks to all those NUTS we got a (way-too-short) second season that didn't leave us hanging and at least gave the writers the chance to wrap up this part of the story, but what about that looming Civil War?! Please suits, give us that movie we keep hearing rumors about!!!

Star Trek Enterprise: Ok so the first two seasons weren't all that great, but after the whole Xindi arc and getting into the conception of the Federation you don't continue?! And let's not even talk about that final episode... grrr

Veronica Mars: I heard the 4th season was going to have Veronica in the FBI. Now that's something I would have luuuuuuuvd to see! Plus, now we'll never know who won the elections for Sheriff!!! Another one with regular movie rumors... please make it so!

I'll sign off with a video by Thomas Dekker a.k.a. John Connor from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, another excellent show that appears to be "on the bubble" (i.e. low probability of renewal). Is a nice gesture to fans of the show who've worked to get it renewed, and I have my fingers (and toes!) crossed hoping that they've succeded.



Any of your favourites you'd like join me in a rant about? ;o)

2 comments:

  1. I have my own list! Like Dirty Sexy Money - loved the clothes and the spoiled family with a dark secret, Lipstick Jungle - again the jewelry was beautiful and I really liked the characters. Lets see... Pushing Daiseys - how cool was that show?

    They are making a big mistake just stopping shows without some kind of ending. I never used to watch TV - and then it changed, sporting a bunch of really good programs. I am tired of CSI, and all the cop shows - too much like real life. Now I think I'll stick to Netflix and books.

    Don't they know we want escapism??

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  2. Oh! I forgot Lipstick Jungle! One of my guilty pleasures last year!!!

    Haven't seen either Dirty Sexy Money or Pushing Daisies. By the time I heard about the first one it was cancelled and I decided I couldn't bear getting invested in something doomed to an early death. And Pushing Daisies has been on my list of series to get hold of for a while now, but also mitigated by the cancellation factor.

    I too think there are waaaay too many "cop" shows / legal procedurals out there. They're all pretty much the same too! The only ones I got into had very quirky characters and at least part of the story was centered around character development: NCIS, Bones and Eli Stone.

    Escapism is expensive... *sigh*

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Hey there! Yes you! The quiet one in the back... I'd love it if you hung out for a bit and shared your thoughts!

I might stop by your place with an answer, but I'm more likely to reply right here so click on "email follow up comments" if you'd like to see what I and others have to say and come continue the conversation! ;o)