TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endings

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MusicallyInspired
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TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endings

Post by MusicallyInspired »

These are the shows I just get sick about every time I think about them or watch through them again. The missed potential and unfair abrupt endings are just incredibly maddening to me as a big fan:
  • Heroes - I loved this show. Through and through. The first two seasons were definitely better and the show waned as it went on, partly I think due to the writer's strike which, if that would not have happened, would have greatly influenced the storyline of season three. But I still thought it was incredibly interesting right up until the end of the fourth season when it stopped abruptly with a "to be continued...". There were talks that it would get a two-hour TV movie conclusion but that never materialized, sadly. The characters and stories were extremely interesting and brilliant. The only thing I really complain about is the fact that we never ever got to truly see a whole complete fighting seen without hiding it behind a closed door or portraying it with flashing lights from a keyhole. And that's something every superhero movie or tv show needs. Yes, it was a show about people more than special effects, but we should have had some decent fighting scenes. I actually think that Heroes would be a perfect candidate for Telltale Games to pick up and expand upon. And seeing that it's owned by NBC Universal (who granted Telltale licenses to Jurassic Park and Back to the Future) it seems like a nice match. That's one game that I wouldn't care how cinematic it would be simply for the fact that I so badly want to see what happens in Volume 6! Assuming it's done well.
  • The Dead Zone - Based on Steven King's original story. Another show I just adored. It wasn't so much with that horror aspect that King is known for but with elements of thriller, suspense, science fiction, and even a detective show in a way. It also started to lose quality, intrigue, and in this show's case, it's unique sense of surreal atmosphere it maintained in the first three seasons. But I think this was mostly due to the fact that Michael Piller, the man who created the show, died of cancer after the third season. The last season (6th) was again supposed to go on for one more season but it was axed early and we never got to see what was going to unfold with Stilson and Armageddon (what a perfect rivalry and awesome chemistry between Johnny Smith and Stilson! I loved every scene of them together). Anthony Michael Hall and the supporting cast were brilliant and played their roles perfectly. The network cancelled this along with The 4400 to make room for "more original shows"....like yet another variation of CSI or Law & Order or a reality show of some nature.
  • Stargate Atlantis - This was a great show. Better than SG-1, in my opinion. The sci-fi feel just felt more fitting than SG-1. I enjoyed the fact that it was based a lot more on Atlantean myth rather than Egyptian, even though SG-1 weaned away from Egyptian and embraced a lot of other lore as it went on, mostly after season 5 I think, which interestingly was when the show was handed off to Fox from Showtime. Anyway, the last season of Atlantis was slightly under average from the first three, but it still had a lot of great moments. It ended well enough (if simply), but a movie follow-up was promised to explain a lot of the loose ends (much like how The Ark of Truth did for SG-1) but because of the economy and the fact that TV DVD sales were plummeting for some reason (according to Fox) it never happened. SG-1 had a bit of a dumb ending as well, but it went on for 10 years so it's not like they couldn't have gotten it right. And they did get two movies afterwards which tied up all loose ends and even had room to tell a completely unrelated story just for the fun of it.

    Also, I hated Stargate Universe and I'm glad it was cancelled.
  • The X-Files - Though this show wasn't really cancelled per se, it did end off with a handful of unanswered questions. Whatever happened to the cloned alien bounty hunter? Whatever happened the hybrid alien that was evolving in that power plant with Gibson Praise? Speaking of which, how did Gibson ever get out of there and end up at a school for deaf kids in the middle of the desert? How did Crychek (I'm probably getting the spelling of these names all wrong, btw) escape from that missile silo? I know it explained it that some freedom fighters or something "found him" and he joined with them, but what were THEY doing in those silos miles underground? Just slightly annoying. And whatever happened to Dogget and that other chick at the end of the series finale? They just drive off and we never hear from them again. Not even in either of the two movies. And what happened to Skinner in the finale when he walks into the room with the alien hybrids with that forboding feeling of him never coming out of there alive....and then we see him in the second film just fine. What about the fact that certain mestizo people (descendants of the Anasazi tribe or something who encountered the aliens and disappeared without a trace) were immune to the black oil? Why wasn't that ever expanded upon? The ending of the show was decent enough I suppose, though. The best way you could close it off. Just a lot of annoying loose ends that never were explained. Unlike most people, though, I preferred the alien conspiracy stories over the random generic paranormal stories.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
  • Firefly - I never got into this show but I've seen a few episodes which were quite good and I of course saw and loved Serenity as well. But a lot of people adore this show. The idea of its cancellation was a blasphemy and a sin to many many people. Moreso seemingly than any other cancelled show out there.
I can't think of anymore.


On the flip side, one of the shows I'm still interested in now and that is still going on is Eureka. It seems like the kind of show that would get cancelled, but I'm glad it isn't because it's fantastic. Great cast, great stories, great sci-fi. It's like The Andy Griffith show meets Star Trek or something.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Collector »

While I am not a big Egyptian fan, either, but I think that some of the earlier SG1 were some of the best of the franchise. One of my favorites is The Fifth Race. I liked most of them that involved the Asgard. Some of the later ones were real throw aways, especially when they got to the point of the Ori. The ten year run was probably too long.

I found Stargate Atlantis to be very enjoyable, too. They manages to turn the McKay into an interesting character from the POS twit he was in his first couple of appearances in SG1. The dialog in both SG1 and Atlantis is some of the best of any SF series, with interesting characters. One of the reasons that the science of both series was as tight as it was is that the writers used to comb through scientific journals looking for ideas.

You are right that Atlantis ended too abruptly. It needed another season or two, but the SyFy had to get in its dose of WWE. :roll: Good Lord that channel has become near worthless. The couple of shows that they have that I like enough to watch are broken up into tiny seasons of just a handful of shows that you have to wait half a year of more to see any more of them. A couple of series I gave up on because of this. By the time that the new shows came along I had lost interest in them. As it is, I only watch SyFi a small fraction of what I used to.
MusicallyInspired wrote:Also, I hated Stargate Universe and I'm glad it was cancelled.
I was so happy when I heard it was canned. I detested it, too. It was a blight on the franchise.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by AndreaDraco »

Among the shows the ended to soon, all I can think of is Twin Peaks. Lynch should have had another season to tie everything up. And also John from Cincinnati.

Shows with lame ending, on the other hand, abound: after Lost, whose ending I didn't like at all, every show who tried to be "the new Lost" has been a complete disappointment, like The Event. And the endings of these short-lived shows are usually zany and laughable. Rome also had a slightly disappointing ending, due to the shortened production, and the finale of Deadwood was perhaps to abrupt for its own good.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Tawmis »

AndreaDraco wrote:Rome also had a slightly disappointing ending, due to the shortened production
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by BBP »

Jonathan Creek is a British detective with elements of comedy and magic. The first two series are utterly fantastic: with surprising plot twists, magic tricks, good jokes, great acting starring Alan Davies, and to top it off my personal favourite music piece Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns) as theme song.
Due to budget cuts, the extensive magic in the show had to be tamed, and because the series asked for a complex plot every time (like locked room murders) the third series lost the magic touch and became a lot more grim. Fourth series saw a different leading lady, making it even less interesting.
Occasionally the BBC has aired specials. The last three specials I saw unfortunately had such an unbelievable plot (as in: plot holes and unsympathetic characters) that I'm not too interested in its future.

And I never liked the wrap-up of Man About The House. And the later series of Are You Being Served, when every episode spends ten minutes of characters arriving at work too late in more and more ridiculous outfits with increasingly bizarre stories on why they were late.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Tawmis »

Dollhouse... But then, despite being Joss Whedon and having Eliza Dushku (drool!!!)... I just couldn't really get into it... and it ended, because the show was cut short, very strangely...
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by jujigatame »

The best answer is Deadwood. One of the best and most ambitious shows in modern TV history and it just ends completely unceremoniously with no wrap-up or resolution at all. The worst part of it all is that the creator of the show followed it up with the godawful "John From Cincinnati" which was mercifully killed after 1 season.

Another good answer is Rubicon. A show that started slow and a bit boring, but by mid-season had gotten to be really riveting and one of the best things on TV. Canceled after 1 season even though the season finale had major plot developments and zero closure.

You should make a companion topic called "shows that went on too long". My nominees for that would be 24, Weeds, and Entourage.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by MusicallyInspired »

And Prison Break. I got bored by the third season lol. I know it was only 4 seasons or so, but that was too long...
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by DeadPoolX »

I definitely agree with MI on Heroes. That show had such potential and it started off great. Unfortunately, there was some really crappy writing later on, which I think killed it.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Angel (the spinoff of BtVS) yet, considering the extremely disappointing "ending" it had. I put ending in quotes because it was more of a "don't-give-a-shit-cliffhanger" than anything else. I can't go into more detail without totally spoiling the last season, but for those of you who've seen it already, you probably know what I'm taking about.
Tawmis wrote:Dollhouse... But then, despite being Joss Whedon and having Eliza Dushku (drool!!!)... I just couldn't really get into it... and it ended, because the show was cut short, very strangely...
I think that show's problem was it took too long to get anywhere interesting and by constantly changing the character (as was the premise of the show), viewers had trouble relating or understanding her. It's difficult to like or dislike the main character when she has an entirely different personality each week.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by MusicallyInspired »

I forgot to mention that the initial idea for Heroes was to have a rotating cast each season. So every new season would have new characters. They gave in and abandoned that idea probably under network pressure or something so actors would be secured. I suppose there'd be a danger of seeing new people discovering their abilities for the first time a million times, but it could have been done well. But I definitely would have missed Sylar.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Moon Dragon »

I'm with BBP on Jonathan Creek. The few episodes I've seen with the new side kick where no where near as good as the earlier ones.

A show that had a way too abrubt and forced ending is Pushing Daisies. The last episode concluded with a sort of recap of what could have been an entire season if it had gotten it's chance. Unfortunately this magical show that helped med through a though time was untimely canceled :-(.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Rath Darkblade »

It's possible that some of the young 'uns here haven't heard of Happy Days, but it jumped the shark (literally) and was never as cheesy after that. ;)
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by BBP »

Ooh I loved Happy Days as a kid, though I'm not sure I understood too much of it back then. I gave up on it when my favourite character (don't even remember the name) left and then came back with a moustache.
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by DeadPoolX »

Rath Darkblade wrote:It's possible that some of the young 'uns here haven't heard of Happy Days, but it jumped the shark (literally) and was never as cheesy after that. ;)
The Fonz didn't just "jump the shark" in the show, his ridiculous act created the phrase itself! :P
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Re: TV shows you loved that ended too soon or had lame endin

Post by Maxor127 »

I hated Lost's ending, and in retrospect the entire final season. Arrested Development ended too soon. I hated Seinfeld's ending. Stargate Universe ended too soon. Terriers ended too soon. I liked Heroes for the first season, but the second season was horrible. I'd say season 2 was the worst, and the show limped to a slow improvement after that, but it was too little, too late. Firefly ended too soon. I never even watched it because it was on so fast and then gone, but from what I've seen, I liked. Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles was surprisingly good and ended too soon. X-Files has a crap ending. Twin Peaks ended too soon and had a crap ending. Most of the other choices I agree with or didn't see so I can't form an opinion, but I trust I'd agree.
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