Limping Toward the Finish Line

[Jimmy Todd]

I just finished season 13 of American Horror Story. I was intrigued throughout the season and generally enjoyed it, but the climatic battle was underwhelming to say theleast. The same was true for the Carrie series. Good until the climax. I recall the final wrap up of The original X-Files' overall arc being a lot of build up to nothing. Chris Carter later admitted he had no idea where it was going. I know that's a much older reference, but I loved that show and the "answers " they kept the viewers looking forward were a nothing burger.
Finales must be very hard to write in that the buuldup can so often be more interesting than the payoff, but is that just true about life?

 

[Daniel Avery]

I would suspect a lot of people who enjoyed the show are hoping that a good ending will justify their decision to follow the show. I mean, no one wants to feel they've wasted their time. More often though, the fans pin their hopes on a good ending because their allegiance to the show has been tested in the later episodes/seasons, hoping the good ending will be remembered rather than an image of "limping to the finish line". The problem I see is that the same writers/producers in charge of those lackluster final seasons/episodes are the ones tasked with producing that finale. They might be tired, lacking any new ideas, ready to move on, maybe even a bit resentful of the higher-ups who ended the show. For every producer who decides the fans deserve a good ending, there are likely five times as many who see the show as just another job and it never even occurs to them that fans deserve anything.

There are certain shows that are developed with a planned life span, with the beginning, middle and end all mapped out in advance. American TV networks tend to hate this model because they want to have shows that just keep on going well past their sell-by date (Lost was a debacle in part because the network wanted them to deviate from their plans). Producers also tend to shy away from these types of shows because there is no guarantee they will be allowed to play out the show's entire arc (for example: Soap had a five-year "Bible" of stories mapped out but was cancelled in the fourth year, leaving tons of cliffhangers and angry fans). Every show has its own peculiarities, though.

 

[James from London]

I think a lifetime of watching soap operas has taught me that it's all about the journey not the eventual destination. The X-Files was the first US show I became obsessed with after the demise of the '80s supersoaps and I was especially enthralled by the mythology episodes, with their endless peelings away of layer after layer, but I don't remember giving much thought to what was waiting at the end of it. When the original series ended with Mulder and Scully still out there, still looking for the truth, I was fine with that. It felt true to the characters and the world they inhabited.

As Daniel says, every show is its own beast, but very generally speaking, I like an open-ended finale -- Peyton Place, Dynasty, Knots, The Sopranos, The X-Files, New Dallas (aside from the fact that I really didn't want New Dallas to end at all). I don't necessarily require everything to be neatly resolved.

 

[Toni]

I think a lifetime of watching soap operas has taught me that it's all about the journey not the eventual destination. The X-Files was the first US show I became obsessed with after the demise of the '80s supersoaps and I was especially enthralled by the mythology episodes, with their endless peelings away of layer after layer, but I don't remember giving much thought to what was waiting at the end of it. When the original series ended with Mulder and Scully still out there, still looking for the truth, I was fine with that. It felt true to the characters and the world they inhabited.

As Daniel says, every show is its own beast, but very generally speaking, I like an open-ended finale -- Peyton Place, Dynasty, Knots, The Sopranos, The X-Files, New Dallas (aside from the fact that I really didn't want New Dallas to end at all). I don't necessarily require everything to be neatly resolved.

Me too, generally speaking (too). Maybe you should give a try at "The OA" on Netflix. 2 great seasons that ended in the most open ending ever in the TV history. There are elements of "X-Files" and has its own big mythology. We´re still hoping it will be reprised 7 years later because...it actually had a 5-season plan initially.

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[Willie Oleson]

American TV networks tend to hate this model because they want to have shows that just keep on going well past their sell-by date

If the idea is to keep TV series and especially soaps viable for as long as possible then it makes sense that a series ends when it ends, no matter how it ends.
I mean, it could be worse: that the soap outlives you.

More often though, the fans pin their hopes on a good ending because their allegiance to the show has been tested in the later episodes/seasons

If I'm watching something in a completist fashion (even if I'm no longer enjoying it) then I'll probably just want relief (and then, somehow, I'm still upset that it has ended).

DAMAGES, TYRANT, THE GOOD WIFE, NIP/TUCK all had satisfying endings. THE AMERICANS came up with a beautiful ending, that doesn't happen very often.
Overall I think the real payoff is in the season finales, to see how the most recent storylines come together.

As for that "most infamous TV series ending", it was based on a series of books that still needs to be finished.
Yeah, what could possibly go wrong.

 

[Daniel Avery]

If the idea is to keep TV series and especially soaps viable for as long as possible then it makes sense that a series ends when it ends, no matter how it ends.
I mean, it could be worse: that the soap outlives you.

Most of the people in positions of power at studios and networks only care about the financial viability of their shows, not creative flow or fan service. They certainly have no qualms about pulling the plug on something they perceive to be unviable or unpopular, even if it has creative potential, simply because of numbers. If it continues to make money for the network, that's all many of them care about, not "preserving its storyline integrity" or any of that. If they make decisions that allow a show to survive creatively as well as financially, that's a happy coincidence.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Most of the people in positions of power at studios and networks only care about the financial viability of their shows, not creative flow or fan service

I had posted the comment with the corporate angle in mind but perhaps I should have clarified that.

If they make decisions that allow a show to survive creatively as well as financially, that's a happy coincidence.

Now now, that sounds a bit depressing and doom-laden. I'm sure what you say is true but that doesn't change the fact that many TV series got a decent run (according to the many, many hours I've spent watching them). The ones that didn't are just more noticeable.