How long ' should ' a t.v. show last ?

POSTED BY: AURaptor
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 14:59
VIEWED: 6576
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CHRISTHECYNIC

Sunday, June 4, 2006 6:06 PM

As long as it should.

Babylon 5 was a five year deal, they were going to cancel it at four seasons so the end of season 4 was scrunched and season 5 got off to a slow start.

That's not how it should be.

Firefly died before we found out how long it could last, and Earth Final Conflict lasted a bare minimum of one season too late.

I think it's more of a, "You know it when you see it," deal than anything else. Every story has the same length: it's over when it's done, not sooner, not later.

ZZETTA13

Monday, June 5, 2006 1:49 PM

Speaking of Firefly and I don't want to step on toes or make anyone mad here( Ok I realy don't care if I do) but I do believe FF was not ment to last by the tv exects.

I mean it was ment as a filler and would have been considered a dead show by Fox even if it had had good ratings.The only thing that would have saved FF on Fox would have been if it would have become a phenomenon after the 3rd or 4th eps. Thats it in a nutshell.

Its just my opinion but who in their right mind would think a tv series would survive with the advertising they did,then airing the show out of sequence.

You as a television viewer are considered to have poor taste or no taste.You're just one of the mass viewing public that can be fed poop on a stick ( and like it) as for as the tv powers that be are concerned.

Although we love the show and are hopeful for its return don't ever think that the higher ups would give you the time of day if there weren't a nickel in it for them.

Z

HERO

Monday, June 5, 2006 3:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
So, is 5 years the target by which most shows idealy look toward ? Is 10 yrs too much ? Those who are Buffy/Angel fans, are 7 and 5 yrs about what you'd have expected ? Too long ? What do ya think?

Its always nice when shows come to a natural conclusion. Thats when the SHOULD go off the air. But some lose their creative focus, their characters, or their energy and should go off without necessarily coming to that final wrap up.

A good example is Stargate SG-1 which keeps going and going. Also the various daytime soap operas seem to have an endless supply of meaningless pulp drama. Other shows like Farscape end too soon, but have nice wrap ups in the form of life after cancelation. Some shows, like John Doe, hardly even get started.

So there is no real answer to your question. I say if its a good show and people are watching, then it should stay on until the story is done, but few have ever managed it properly, I think Babylon 5 or maybe MASH came the closest in my opinion.

H

GIXXER

Monday, June 5, 2006 6:39 PM

ZedZed.

I'm sure the execs wanted it to succeed, and would have been plenty willing to fund it until it dropped dead of old age.

I reckon they just couldn't understand the lack of:

Phone-in audience voting;
Actual video phootage phrom Police vehicles;
Sound of rockets in space;
The Enterprise. Anywhere;
A laugh track;
Bill Cosby;
Ray guns in greater numbers than two;
Animals doing the Craziest Things;
Donald Trump still not firing his hairdresser;
The Osbournes;
Paris Hilton;
A makeover against the clock;
A big theological secret spelt out in words of half a syllable. In crayon.

So they panicked. Understandable.

MSG

Monday, June 5, 2006 7:16 PM

hmm so really what we should be doing to ressurect the show is get Paris Hilton and say Jessica Simpson to agree to wander through and make a few painfully unintelligent comments and we should be set. Or we could vote characters on or off the show...or even better play who's gonna sleep with Inara this week and vote which crew member gets her each week...ok it's scaring me that I can keep going with this horrible idea thing

You're only young once, but you can be immature any time!

CHRISTHECYNIC

Monday, June 5, 2006 9:38 PM

It has occured to me that the real solution is to create a really lousy reality show, which will of course do great and get huge ratings and lots of money, then use the profits from that to fund Firefly.

Is Paris Hilton's soul still on the market? Does she even have one? Perhaps we could buy it, and her income along with it, and use the profits from The Simple Life something-or-other to get a season of Firefly.

CITIZEN

Monday, June 5, 2006 10:15 PM

Two episodes before they go down hill...

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
So there is no real answer to your question. I say if its a good show and people are watching, then it should stay on until the story is done, but few have ever managed it properly, I think Babylon 5 or maybe MASH came the closest in my opinion.

Amen to that. The problem with B5 was it ended too soon, so the fourth and fifth seasons were shoehorned into one.

Then it didn't so they had to come up with a 'sixth' season that was never planned for to go out as the fifth.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
"I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall'." -- Eleanor Roosevelt.

ZZETTA13

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 2:28 PM

If I recall "Gunsmoke" the tv western lasted 20 someodd years. Not that FF should have lasted that long but it should have been given a second season. Time for its core audience to find it. Then recommend it to their friends.

waiting 25 years for a sequel is just to long. Read list:

Captain Mal: Hobbling around Serenity with the help of a cane.

Zoe & Wash: in their bunk having sex at 50+ (please I'm eating)

Inara: in her shuttle having sex at 55 (please, I've stopped eating)

Jayne:in his bunk polishing "Vera" to the point where now the weapons the size of a tooth-pick.

Book: the shephards character died 3 years earlier and is stuffed and stored in the cargo bay. Arm raised as if hes waving.

Simon: a drunk that keeps cutting himself with his own med lab instruments.

Kaylee: is down to one arm. The other one got caught in the whirling engine when she was 39.

River: " I can kill you with my......I forgot what I was going to say." the old brain ceils have began to cement.

Yep if we are going to have more FF,the next 2-5 years if not NOW is better.

Z

DEEPGIRL187

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 2:59 PM

I really think it depends on the nature of the series. Some shows are only meant to run for so long, while others are more open ended. Take Lost for example. Unless they want it to turn into Gilligan's Island, the writers will have to let them leave the island at some point. First Wave (for those of you who remember it) is another example. Since it was a given that the Gua were coming at some point, it also meant that the series would have to end once they got there (course, they could have done a better job of ending said series, but that's a different story entirely).

Sitcoms and many primetime dramas (House, CSI) are more open-ended. Not to say they should last forever (Friends, anyone?), but they're designed to be more flexible about running time.

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