Overstaying its welcome is worse, and I think Firefly is the perfect example why. Yes, it was cut short before its time, and ended up needing the film to finish off the story, but it's one of the most beloved TV shows of the past decade. I'm not sure it would have the rabid fan base it has if they didn't have the common cause of its cancellation to rally around. Hell, if it weren't for the cancellation, we probably wouldn't have had Serenity, and that was a really good movie.
As for a show that overstayed its welcome... Heroes, anyone? A show that started off so well, with so much promise, and turned to such drivel after the first season. I'm sure it would be much more fondly remembered if everything after Volume One hadn't been complete rubbish.
The worse fate is overstaying the welcome. It has the potential destructive power of staining the whole TV Show. Below I give the example of Millennium, I loved the first season, and I can't watch it anymore because I know how bad it gets during Season 2...
Deadwood was gone too soon, I believe it should have lasted at least one more season, or, as they had planned back then, with a couple of feature films
Sons of Anarchy, as much as I love it, has overstayed it's welcome for a couple of seasons already, it's a Clay/Jax/Opie thing, anyone who's seen it knows what event I'm talking about. Things should have gone differently and ended the TV Show with dignity. Now it seems weak, and trouble keeps pouring over the Samcro for evidently no other reason than to keep the show going; my main point being, there's been opportunities to close the loop around the main plot, but they simply realized the show was bringing a lot of cash so why not forget the main plot and go with a bunch of smaller stories to pester the fans with?
The biggest overstay? Twin Peaks. SADLY. The show has the simple premise of finding out "who killed Laura Palmer", at the middle of season two it gives us the answer (sort of an unsatisfying one at that), until this point we're talking about a murder show that shines due to its cast of very eccentric characters and a strange and depressing feeling of dread lurking around the corners of the lovely tow of Twin Peaks. Well, after the killer is revealed the show degrades to an incomprehensible mess of subplots, many not even linked to the main story line, only to recover it's quality during the insane series finale. Even David Lynch recognizes that he and the crew messed up, hat they should either held on to the mystery a while longer, or ended the show after the reveal. Too bad, because it could easily be one of my favorite shows ever
Millennium was another mess up, thanks to whomever was in charge of Season 2
it ends with a virus being dispersed that, according to the season finale, kills a huge portion of humanity; when Chris Carter came back for Season 3, pretty pissed with how his show got pissed upon, he tried to revert the situation by stating that "the news were exaggerated"...
Best TV Show endings: Breaking Bad and Six Feet Under; both shows have a special place in my heart for knowing exactly when to bring the plot to an end, and do so in a dignified way.
I think I'd rather have a series I like get cancelled rather have it drift into mediocrity. For example, I'm of the opinion that Battlestar Galactica was a much worse show than Firefly, because even though BSG intrigued me more, I thought that the ending of it was nonsensical, and a cheap way to end the series, whereas Firefly I felt ended on a high note, and because of that, I have a much more positive memory of the series.
Two shows I believe were gone too soon were Young Justice and Dollhouse yet another Joss Whedon project. In the latter case he luckily got the memo that it was cancelled so the story does wrap but it was very obviously a rush. Especially in the second season finale. In both you could tell that he might've had a whole season taking place in that scenario. Young Justice on the other hand actually did have a satisfying ending. Only one plot thread remained unresolved and save for the tag at the end of the last episode I would've been perfectly happy and not pissed as hell that it got cancelled.
I can't think of a show I've watched that has overstayed its welcome....actually one I don't watch anymore. Fairly Oddparents.
On a side note other then these two scenarios there is one more that drives me insane is the show that had a good run and was heading for a conclusion but got cut off before it could reach that. Two shows I've seen got that treatment. Teen Titans and Star WArs: The Clone Wars. Both had a respectable 5 season run. Not too long but not too short. The end of both of their 5th seasons though showed they had one or two more major plot points to explore before ending. I would've bet money that each would've gone for 1 maybe 2 more seasons before doing their season finale. Again though in the Teen Titans case it was the very last episode that had a plot point that had been relegated to the background for the last season put right back in front of our face saying "Hey remember this? We are doing this now!" So yeah I went from satisfied to pissed off when it left on a cliffhanger.
Also one final show that never got a real shot. Terra Nova....on Fox. So I guess it makes sense. They don't seem to like fun, smart, genre shows there apparently between Dollhouse, Firefly, and Terra Nova all getting cancelled with only 1 getting a second season.
A while back I would have said gone too soon... but we're living in a time where two certain Fox shows are clinging to life long past their cultural relevance, actively sabotaging attempts to move forward. They're like the CoD of television, bringing their bland non-entertainment to bear on a confused public while pre-teens and lizard people give them money for it.
What shows are those? Glee and something else? I stay away from them since I finally found out why Firefly fans hate them with a passion. Because they did that to me when they cancelled Terra Nova.
If everybody wants to hear something silly, when Breaking Bad ended, all I kept saying to myself was "Awww... Gone too soon...."
That has been driving me nuts consistently since last week, and that's stupid, especially since the show went as far as it could go, in all honesty, and I was rooting for the end of the series.
I guess that's just the depression that follows that sort of thing.
I think shows that end before their time can be the lesser of two evils, just because while you can't see what is on the horizon for some shows, you at least have that concentrated brilliance to keep you happy, instead of the show and its overly long stay clouding any sort of goodness you may have had for it.
*Clings to King Billi*
Someone else that saw and liked Universe? WE MUST NEVER SEPERATE!
I'd rather a show go on for too long. That way, at least we get more of it. I thought Jericho (05) was a great show, but it got cancelled after it's first season, then got brought back for a nine episode second seasons before being cancelled. There are the comics, but they aren't a good enough replacement. And there is so much shit left unanswered. Stargate SG-1 on the other hand shou;d have neded in season 8. 9 and 10 weren't bad, but they weren't as good. But because of that, we did get 8 fantastic seasons of a fantastic TV series. Not to mention Atlantis and the aforementioned Universe.
With TV and entertainment, I would rather have a show go on for too long than to be gone too soon.
If a show is amazing for 50 episodes, but just ends, that sucks more because everything feels unfinished.
If a show goes on for 200 episodes, and the last 50 suck, well I can just ignore them (it's worked for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Star Wars prequels).
You can't ignore something that never happened though
Two of my favourite shows ever exhibit one of each, and I can tell you that overstaying its welcome is far, far worse.
I was in tears when Pushing Daisies was cancelled. I couldn't comprehend how a show that wonderful, that glorious, that damn good could be so uncermoniously dumped, and I still can't. I still love every single one of the measly twenty-two episodes (spread over two half seasons) that it got.
Skins made it to seven seasons. The seventh is the most determined effort I've ever seen from a TV show to piss all over its own legacy to satisfy the whims of some clearly disinterested and/or disgruntled and/or plain incompetent writers. It makes me mad to know that a show that was as brilliant at its height in S2/3 could go that far downhill and get that pathetic a non-resolution.
A show cut down in its prime still has its love. A show that went on too long loses most of it. I know which is worse.
A while back I would have said gone too soon... but we're living in a time where two certain Fox shows are clinging to life long past their cultural relevance, actively sabotaging attempts to move forward. They're like the CoD of television, bringing their bland non-entertainment to bear on a confused public while pre-teens and lizard people give them money for it.
What shows are those? Glee and something else? I stay away from them since I finally found out why Firefly fans hate them with a passion. Because they did that to me when they cancelled Terra Nova.
A while back I would have said gone too soon... but we're living in a time where two certain Fox shows are clinging to life long past their cultural relevance, actively sabotaging attempts to move forward. They're like the CoD of television, bringing their bland non-entertainment to bear on a confused public while pre-teens and lizard people give them money for it.
What shows are those? Glee and something else? I stay away from them since I finally found out why Firefly fans hate them with a passion. Because they did that to me when they cancelled Terra Nova.
Ah. I've never actively ever watched either of them. Parents said no to Simpsons and I just didn't care to watch Family Guy. Also when I did see an episode thanks to my friends they decided to show me the Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This episode with full knowledge that I am a devout Catholic. I can take a joke and all but honestly not the best episode to start out on for someone like me.
overstayed is worse IMO, i would rather remember it fondly then have my memories tarnished, because even when i try not to, i just remember if it got shit and can't easily put it out of my memory
*grins* Well me personally I think its an interesting concept of an episode that is killed by silliness like what's in your Avatar. It wasn't -horrible- by any means but it also was a sign that TOS was losing steam.
Aw man, you didn't have to respond seriously. It kinda ruined the joke.
You're right though. It wasn't a stupid episode, but it was clear that they had no idea how to fill 50 minutes with that concept, and they didn't even bother with a B plot when it desperately needed one.
*grins* Well me personally I think its an interesting concept of an episode that is killed by silliness like what's in your Avatar. It wasn't -horrible- by any means but it also was a sign that TOS was losing steam.
Aw man, you didn't have to respond seriously. It kinda ruined the joke.
You're right though. It wasn't a stupid episode, but it was clear that they had no idea how to fill 50 minutes with that concept, and they didn't even bother with a B plot when it desperately needed one.
Of the two, I would GREATLY prefer that a show overstayed it welcome, for 2 reasons:
1. If it turns into crap I'll be burned out on it by the time it actually goes and not really care that it's gone.
2. The show will have the chance to improve as long as it keeps running.
Both are much better than the alternative of dealing with a show that was great that ended up getting screwed.
That said, I can't really think of a show that I'd really consider as having overstayed it welcome that I can remember, if I liked it in the first place I'm probably going to at least be able to tolerate it by it's end. Quite the opposite, I almost seem to cursed as a great deal of the shows I end up really liking only end up lasting a season or 2.
I would rather have it overstay its welcome - that way, I can just ignore the filler or feel only mildly entertained by bland stuff. If it's too short, I'll feel annoyed forever, if it's a bit too long, I'll just feel bored during the filler.
Overstaying it's welcome is the worst fate of any piece of fiction. I miss Firefly, but I'd rather have one great season then eleven terrible seasons. Atleast then it becomes a martyr and gains cult status. That said, I consider television the worst story telling medium in history, since it's nearly impossible to have good story structure on a medium that is by its nature self perpetuating. Shown benefit from filler and story styles that make things up as they go along, both of which are terrible habits for a professional fiction writer. The Twilight Zone is the exception, since it's more of a collection of short stories.
overstayed without a doubt. gone too soon at least leaves a positive feel for the show makes you more pissed at whoever axed it. Whats worse though is tv/direct dvd movies that fail to provide closure to shows. Dead like me is a perfect example, i was so sad when it got the axe and was pretty excited when I heard it was getting a movie. Rather then answer questions/let me say goodbye to the characters it kind of sadly stumbled along while Ellen Muth ran to cash the check before it bounced
Gone too soon is waaaaay worse. At least with overstayed its welcome, I can just pause the show in my head past a certain point and say "it ended there". I can choose to let it continue to its canon stopping point or headcanon it instead.
With gone too soon, there's always that feeling of having missed out on something that could have been epic. Hey Arnold! was supposed to have a movie where Arnold discovers his parents on some grand adventure with Helga, Gerald, Phoebe and the gang. I want to know how it would have gone and some part of me will always wish for that. Now DBZ should never have continued onto DBGT, but I can always pretend that it didn't and Goku didn't abandon his family to train a complete stranger.
I'd rather have completion.
Captcha: perfect world
Why yes Captcha. If this was a perfect world, I'd have seen that movie at least ten years ago.
I disagree with (most?) of my nerdy peers here *g*
Ending too soon is WAY worse than overstaying.
Overstaying and "jumping the shark" or "losing steam" or getting milked to death just ruins the later episodes. As long as you remember and clearly can divide good from bad everything is fine (Maybe you can see a lonely flicker of the old genius in even the "everything is terribad"-episodes. For example Family Guy still has a funny scene on occasion.
Now Firefly is of course first on the list of "WTF - why didn't they make more?"
To bring myself under fire here i will add "The Cape" to my list of never had a chance... gone after 2/3 of a season.
The Pilot of "The Cape" was fucking TERRIBLE. It was a hastened mess of an origin story. Absolutely atrociously paced, acted and directed. But since it was a superhero show with good production values i stayed and kept watching. And it totally got better all the time: The villain(s) were hammy - the characters were creative. The show itself was "dark" but had a sense of humor and didn't take itself so serious.
Was a bit like "Arrow" in tone - just with a more The Shadow/Batman-like character and all original. So it got like 10 episodes. Curses...
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