JustDave
Well-known Member
I'm not sure why some endure and others carry on to a brilliant finale, where the ending completes a the series with a sense of closure. But in my personal viewing, I experience a lot of series that just die but muddle on without me.
Sometimes the Network cancels a good show and even causes an uproar from a dedicated following. I write that off to bad management, but management is probably more concerned with money than great viewing.
Sometimes the series just doesn't interest me, but goes on anyway. I write that off to personal differences.
But what perplexes me are those series that start off with a great premise and exciting episodes that are so good that I even start buying a couple of seasons of DVDs for future viewing, but then they reach a point where it seems like the writers and producers run out of creativity. There's still a lot more that could be milked out of a good beginning and a solid premise... or maybe not. But the scripts seem to be written with writers deciding to have these character do this or that, while losing the direction that was so important at the beginning.
I have invested in too many "half collections" of series where I saw no point in continuing buying them. There have even been shows long ended that I picked up a year or so after they were over, where I bought the whole series, only to loose interest after two or three seasons. Those bother me.
On the opposite end of this, I picked up on shows long over that I don't know how I missed in the first place, and watch over and over still. Smallville, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Downton Abby, and almost all of the Stargate sequels. And don't forget StarTrek.
What causes a potentially good series to lose it's steam? What makes the difference for other viewers that leads to a series that endures or those that die?
Sometimes the Network cancels a good show and even causes an uproar from a dedicated following. I write that off to bad management, but management is probably more concerned with money than great viewing.
Sometimes the series just doesn't interest me, but goes on anyway. I write that off to personal differences.
But what perplexes me are those series that start off with a great premise and exciting episodes that are so good that I even start buying a couple of seasons of DVDs for future viewing, but then they reach a point where it seems like the writers and producers run out of creativity. There's still a lot more that could be milked out of a good beginning and a solid premise... or maybe not. But the scripts seem to be written with writers deciding to have these character do this or that, while losing the direction that was so important at the beginning.
I have invested in too many "half collections" of series where I saw no point in continuing buying them. There have even been shows long ended that I picked up a year or so after they were over, where I bought the whole series, only to loose interest after two or three seasons. Those bother me.
On the opposite end of this, I picked up on shows long over that I don't know how I missed in the first place, and watch over and over still. Smallville, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Downton Abby, and almost all of the Stargate sequels. And don't forget StarTrek.
What causes a potentially good series to lose it's steam? What makes the difference for other viewers that leads to a series that endures or those that die?
