Sucks, but better than overstay your welcome (Dexter) or get cancelled with a big cliffhanger (My name is Earl)
overstay your welcome (Dexter)
I blame the late Manny Coto for that. I blame him for a lot of bad TV, actually. lol (ENT was the exception, somehow)
or get cancelled with a big cliffhanger (My name is Earl)
Wasn’t that due to the Writer’s Strike? Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
During an interview with the “Slick & Thick” podcast, Ethan Suplee, who portrayed Randy Hickey, revealed that, ultimately, the cancellation was due to communication issues between NBC, the show’s network, and Fox, the show’s studio.
“We were a hit. And the network called the studio and said, ‘We want to license the show for another year,’ and the studio said, ‘Well, we want more money. We want to renegotiate our deal with you.’ And the network basically did not respond for two weeks,” said Suplee. “And then the studio called back and said, ‘We’ll take your deal,’ and the network said, ‘Too late.’”
Looks like plain old incompetence killed the show.
Ah, shame, but not surprising.
I always assumed it was a victim of the Writer’s Strike around the same time (not blaming the writers, obviously).
Thanks for that.
Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
I guess if contracts are signed, it’s okay, but even then it’s a risk (e.g. strikes). For the most part I agree, though. You need to end on a note that, at the bare minimum, could serve as a slightly unsatisfying pausing point.
overstay your welcome (Dexter)
That show overstayed its welcome inside the third season. It would have been a better show as a British style 3-episode / 4-season mini-ish series. But there was sooooo much filler and soooo much recycling of plots, the edginess of killing and dismembering a guy was downright trite by the time Jimmy Smits got to the set.
I’m fine with a show grinding itself into a shadow of its former self. Long term shows like It’s always Sunny had downturns but then came back.
With Simpsons, you can pick out a few episodes each new season and put together a full good season out of 4 years of mediocrity.
Especially given that seasons today are 10 episodes whereas DS9 was 20+ episodes a season.
Sucks to see Paramount mismanage the brand over and over again.
But, hey, I still got the 90’s shows on disc, so they can’t take that from me.
Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take Star Trek from me
…
Lost my love, lost my land
Lost the last place I could stand
There’s no place I can be
Since I’ve found the NCC
And you can’t take Star Trek from me
This is why they will not release the 90s shows on 4k BluRay. They don’t want anyone to actually own copies.
They dont want people to own anything.
They want you to pay 10/month, then $12/month, then $16/month, then $22/month, on and on forever instead.
They’re following Rule of Acquisition number 10: Greed is eternal.
Why have your money once when they can have it forever?
I can’t wait for Disney to buy the franchise and we can finally have the Star Trek/Star Wars crossover that we all deserved.
All Good Things…
…must be ended by short-sighted executive meddling.
The modern production house simply hates animation. That’s the only thing I can conclude from how they’ve axed every anime, kid’s cartoon, and live-action/cartoon mash-up on the slate.
They are going to lock Bugs Bunny in the vault and throw away the key.
Meanwhile, they’re pushing ahead with a Kelvinverse Star Trek origin story movie, the film exactly zero people have been clamoring for.
I’m not that surprised. The show’s very nature gives it a limited shelf life. Part of the fun of Trek is watching the characters develop and advance in their careers. Eventually they’re gonna get promoted past what can be called lower decks.
I’m a bit pissed off that they’re canceling this and going ahead with the section 31 project, but I find section 31 to be tedious at best, and that it undermines Star Trek’s message at worst. “Your utopian post-scarcity society that celebrates diversity can only exist because of these unaccountable fascists slinking about behind the scenes.”
Section 31 was a cool concept in ds9 because of the context around it.
Every other time 31 shows up is just… Blech. Feels like those writers want to be writing something bloodier than star trek and this is their way to do it.
My biggest gripe with discovery was the secret plot to blow up the Klingon homeworld foiled at the last second. Almost turned me away from it entirely but they got much better. SNW is up there with TNG for me now.
