A few days ago, I was thinking about the controversy over the current series season of Game of Thrones, and how disappointed so many of the fans are. I admit, after the very first episode this season I said, “It’s okay, but it feels like they took twice as long to do everything as was necessary.”
Pacing is king, gang.
The final season of GOT? It’s just not very good.
And that made me think…
Shows should just get canceled.
Now, I don’t like it when a show I watch gets canceled. Think about it. You’re enjoying the show and then all of a sudden they come and say, “You can’t have any more of this. We’re going away, and we’re not saying where.” And you’re like, no! No, no, no, no. I want my show! And then you love the show and you watch it in reruns…
Versus…
When the show decides to leave on its own terms.
The last episode of The Sopranos sucked. The last episode of Seinfeld sucked. (I don’t know about the last episode of Friends but I think that one was pretty good.) And I had a great feeling that this whole last season of Game of Thrones was going to suck (it has) so that the last episode might suck a little less and people will think it was good. Because otherwise it was probably really going to suck bad. Really bad. Horribly bad. Write letters to TV stations bad.
Which they’re already doing…
It’s probably like getting dumped versus dumping somebody. Something like that.
In the end, if your show gets canceled, you remain a fan and want to see more and that’s what you carry forward.
When it ends and it sucks, you’re disgruntled – and that’s what you carry forward.
Which is better?
Yeah.
Cancelled, you get to imagine its ending – the one that’s best for you. We all do.
Remember the rule of show biz: “Always leave them wanting more.”
There was too much at stake to not end the series on its own terms, and I’d say they did the best they could with the finale. I was okay with it. But the season as a whole was the worst.
Bad season, good ending.
Still a great series. I’d watch the whole thing again (except for the last season). Like the Harry Potter books and movies, I was happiest with the first ones. I didn’t care to see what happened after. The joy was gone.
Same here.
I’ll watch the shows again and stop somewhere in the third or fourth season, while I’m still enjoying it – still wanting more.
Wonder if there’s a lesson in there for us book writers?
Anyway, what was YOUR show that ended or got cancelled – and how did you like its demise?
Dan Alatorre 
Yay! A blog post. Even if it’s about GOT. I thought the way Lost ended was really strange. I think we want endings to be satisfying and it’s tough to satisfy everyone.
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Exactly.
My brother was a huge fan of the TV show “lost.“ I watched a few episodes and thought it was a pretty good show but it just seem to get more and more convoluted to the point where I don’t even think the writers knew what was going on. And at that point, who cared how it ended.
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I agree about the Sopranos finale. What a total cop-out to make the audience try to figure out what happened. On the other hand, I thought the Seinfeld finale was rather clever, even if it went a little overboard. Same with the MASH finale.
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I think mash was… Everybody knew it was coming and it had been on for so long that it kind of just needed to go. I think people were a little more accepting back then.
Seinfeld was clever. That’s true. But they went out more with a whimper than a bang.
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Haven’t watched the final GOT series yet, but one that was cancelled was Buffy, yes, Buffy. It was our go-to show of a generation, -cries-, only joking. It ended on a high and it would’ve sucked any other way. But, I agree writers can learn a lot from shows which go out with a whimper. Leave them wanting more is a strategy for us all to use.
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Shows that finish will are rare, I think. But they exist!
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Can you really count Buffy as a cancellation? Joss designed it to only last 5 seasons and the WB pumped two extra seasons of life into it.
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Hmm.
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When I wrote it this, after I went argh, not a cancellation, you’re right. Witchblade, it got cancelled and never heard of it since.
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Cancelled is better. Look at Star Trek. Because it was cancelled it became legendary. Conventions. Movies. Spinoff series.
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That’s true and Firefly it has a cult following which reaches all over the world.
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Makes total sense to me.
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The list of good shows gone early is long.
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Yep.
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The Glades. Got canceled midway through season 4 I think it was, but they knew the cancellation was coming, while they were still filming. So half way through the 7 or so episodes in season 4, it suddenly takes a right turn, speeds up the plot, and then bam! They leave the lead character bleeding out on the floor and fade to black. Worst cancellation ever.
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Ha! Awful. But they tried.
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NOOOOOOO. No points for that. That’s a minus in points.
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I totally agree with you about The Glades! I was like what the heck! I was soo mad!
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😎
The anger is palpable!
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You know, now that I think about it, I think I was watching that show! Of course, not enough to where I realized it went away. Well, I probably realized but it didn’t impact me very much. But yeah, I was watching that one.
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Excellent, Dan. I completely agree.
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That’s all I ever ask.
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🙂
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This last season wasn’t as good because the show outpaced George R.R. Martin’s work. So who knows what the actual end to the story will be. I’m guessing that whatever he does, will be better than what happened in the show.
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No doubt.
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An interesting analogy, Dan, and good commentary on GOT which I have never watched but which disappointed everyone else in my family this season.
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Ha.
I saw recently that it was the most popular television series ever in the history of the world. So I don’t feel bad for watching.
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