# How would you have ended a TV series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601 "2016-08-31T21:12:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/61 "2016-09-07T01:44:12Z")
I think I mentioned this in another thread some time back. Dexter’s final season should have started with the mother of one of Harrison’s classmates asking Dexter if Harrison could be her daughters escort in a “Toddlers & Tiaras” type pageant. While attending the pageant Dexter would be so horrified at the treatment of the girls that he would start going after the higher ups in the pageant organization. The investigation into the string of disappearances reveals atrocities that lead even the D.A. into being convinced that the murders were justified. Dexter realizes that his work is finished, the Dark Passenger goes away for good, and he slips fully into his normal life as a blood spatter expert, never tempted to kill again. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/62 "2016-09-07T02:25:12Z")
Firefly: A pajama-clad Nathan Fillion sits bolt upright in bed. He looks to his left where Sarah Michelle Gellar is sitting in bed, wearing a nightgown. “I just had the weirdest dream…” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/63 "2016-09-07T03:37:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > But just before they are hanged, a high ranking nazi stops at the camp and insists on piano music before dinner. Hilarity ensues. The **real** Stalag 13\* (yes, there was a real one, and like the one in the show was located near Hammelburg) was taken by the allies in 1945. So, I would have ended the show with the prisoners preparing for the allies to arrive (they would have known via their radio) and at the last minute decide to hide Schulz among the prisoners, cause, you know, he’s Schulz! At the last minute Hogan takes pity on Klink and along with the disguised Schulz makes sure both former enemies get taken back to America to be free.\*\*\*\*\*\* Hell, they could have made a spin-off, Schulz and Klink set up shop and open a deli in New York City. Hilarity is had by all! \*\*\*\*\* - General Patton’s son-in-law was held in the real Stalag 13 \*\*\*\*\*\* - But as for Burkhalter and Hochstetter, they were captured by the allies, put on trial and hung. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/64 "2016-09-07T03:54:36Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Schulz and Klink set up shop and open a deli in New York City. Hilarity is had by all! I’ve already added that to my Netflix queue. Can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/65 "2016-09-07T04:22:36Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Hell, they could have made a spin-off, Schulz and Klink set up shop and open a deli in New York City. But who’d put up the money for that? I mean, you’d have to give him a cut of the profits, _and_ agree to name the sandwich shop after him; call it – Hogan’s Heroes? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/66 "2016-09-07T05:00:13Z")
Wally and Lumpy pound the living crap out of Eddie. While the pounding is taking place, Mary Ellen Rogers is introducing Beaver to another interpretation of the phrase “Beaver Cleaver”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/67 "2016-09-07T05:59:30Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > The **real** Stalag 13\* (yes, there was a real one, and like the one in the show was located near Hammelburg) was taken by the allies in 1945. > > So, I would have ended the show with the prisoners preparing for the allies to arrive (they would have known via their radio) and at the last minute decide to hide Schulz among the prisoners, cause, you know, he’s Schulz! At the last minute Hogan takes pity on Klink and along with the disguised Schulz makes sure both former enemies get taken back to America to be free.\*\*\*\*\*\* > > Hell, they could have made a spin-off, Schulz and Klink set up shop and open a deli in New York City. Hilarity is had by all! > \*\*\*\*\* - General Patton’s son-in-law was held in the real Stalag 13 > > \*\*\*\*\*\* - But as for Burkhalter and Hochstetter, they were captured by the allies, put on trial and hung. I actually had a post a long time ago about a _Hogan’s Heroes_ movie, but it could have worked as a series finale, too. The gang are reunited some years after the war. It’s a special reunion because their missions have been declassified and they’re finally going to meet the mysterious Papa Bear who was in charge of the whole operation. They start reminiscing about the last days of the war and their last major sabotage mission to create a gap in the German lines for the liberating soldiers to come through (which we see in flashbacks). Back at the party, Papa Bear arrives, and it’s Klink. There’s also [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661142) excellent post on how _The Big Bang Theory_ should end, although it’s a bit out of date. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/68 "2016-09-07T13:59:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Peremensoe** : > > None of that has anything to do with how FTL travel is supposed to actually happen. This is just how it’s dressed, to provide for plot complications and general atmosphere. But no SF show or story ever actually says anything meaningful about how the FTL is supposed to actually happen. Some (like Trek) will give meaningless technobabble, but that and three bucks will buy you a cup of coffee. All that’s important is knowing how the FTL tech is _used_, and Galactica does a lot better job on that than Trek does. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/69 "2016-09-07T15:02:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I actually had a post a long time ago about a _Hogan’s Heroes_ movie, but it could have worked as a series finale, too. The gang are reunited some years after the war. It’s a special reunion because their missions have been declassified and they’re finally going to meet the mysterious Papa Bear who was in charge of the whole operation. They start reminiscing about the last days of the war and their last major sabotage mission to create a gap in the German lines for the liberating soldiers to come through (which we see in flashbacks). > > Back at the party, Papa Bear arrives, and it’s Klink. > > There’s also [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661142) excellent post on how _The Big Bang Theory_ should end, although it’s a bit out of date. Well, they _kind-of_ already made a **Hogan’s Heroes movie** back in 1968. [_The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicked_Dreams_of_Paula_Schultz) which starred Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner & Leon Askin. Yes, it was about Americans vs. Soviets in Berlin, but since Elke Sommer played the title character, Paula Schultz, Werner Klemperer was still able to yell “Schultz!” throughout the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/70 "2016-09-07T15:23:29Z")
Did _Hogan’s Heroes_ really have a series finale, as such, or was the last-episode-aired just like any other? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/71 "2016-09-07T15:34:41Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Seinfeld, Jerry and George are sitting in Jerry’s dressing room having the discussion about the shirt button, then Jerry gets called to the set of his sitcom and the director says action and the credits roll. I seem to remember reading that Larry David originally wanted the last episode of “Seinfeld” to be when Jerry started filming the show, like you proposed. It seemed like they were heading in that direction. I’m guessing that NBC offered them truckloads of money to keep going. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/72 "2016-09-07T16:12:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Did _Hogan’s Heroes_ really have a series finale, as such, or was the last-episode-aired just like any other? I’m not aware they did a finale, and the description of the last episode on IMDb doesn’t sound like it was anything out of the ordinary. That was pretty common at the time. TV shows back then seemed to bend over backwards to never do anything that might cause continuity problems. Every episode ended with the characters in exactly the same circumstances as when it began. It was probably a lot simpler; writers of one episode didn’t have to know what the other writers were doing; didn’t have to incorporate someone else’s changes into the world they were writing. _The Fugitive_ got to do a proper finale in 1967, and _the Mary Tyler Moore Show_ in 1977, but those are about the only two I can think of from that era. The crew of _Hogan’s Heroes_ probably didn’t even suspect they’d be cancelled. The show was still doing okay in the ratings in its last season, but was killed in CBS’s [Rural Purge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/73 "2016-09-07T17:06:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not aware they did a finale, and the description of the last episode on IMDb doesn’t sound like it was anything out of the ordinary. > > That was pretty common at the time. TV shows back then seemed to bend over backwards to never do anything that might cause continuity problems. Every episode ended with the characters in exactly the same circumstances as when it began. It was probably a lot simpler; writers of one episode didn’t have to know what the other writers were doing; didn’t have to incorporate someone else’s changes into the world they were writing. _The Fugitive_ got to do a proper finale in 1967, and _the Mary Tyler Moore Show_ in 1977, but those are about the only two I can think of from that era. > > The crew of _Hogan’s Heroes_ probably didn’t even suspect they’d be cancelled. The show was still doing okay in the ratings in its last season, but was killed in CBS’s [Rural Purge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge). You’re right, they didn’t film a finale and like most shows during televisions first few decades they never bothered. I think there are two reasons. 1. Most shows were considered nothing more than weekly entertainment with ads to sell. 2. As the 1960’s progressed, networks and more importantly studios saw big bucks in syndication (Jackie Gleason was the first to really realize this with the famous **Honeymooners** 39 episodes). With syndication many stations didn’t want to be tied down to showing programs in a rigid order. That’s why for the longest time pilot episodes that told the premise of the show, specifically with a “first” episode ( **Hogan’s Heroes** , **Get Smart** , **Bewitched** , **I Dream of Jeannie** , etc… were rarely if ever rebroadcast. (well, that and they were all filmed in black & white) If a series doesn’t have a specific ending, and if they never show the pilot, syndicated shows, in the mind of station owners, can be shown over and over in a continuous loop. Many shows that have continuing stories, like most all dramas in the last 10 years, do horribly in syndication since they have to be watched in a specific order. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/74 "2016-09-07T17:34:08Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Many shows that have continuing stories, like most all dramas in the last 10 years, do horribly in syndication since they have to be watched in a specific order. That may not be the reason they don’t syndicate well. There’s a lot more competition in the TV landscape now; more channels, and even streaming. If you do want to revisit an old series, no need to find it in syndication, just binge watch it on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/75 "2016-09-07T17:45:31Z")
OK, thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/76 "2016-09-07T17:50:27Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Hell, they could have made a spin-off, Schulz and Klink set up shop and open a deli in New York City. Hilarity is had by all! > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But who’d put up the money for that? I mean, you’d have to give him a cut of the profits, _and_ agree to name the sandwich shop after him; call it – Hogan’s Heroes? You’re both missing the opportunity here. They don’t open a Deli in NY, they go to NY and open a Greek food stand. The show is called Hogan’s Gyros ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/77 "2016-09-07T17:51:05Z")
I always thought that Schultz would have been a better choice for “Papa Bear” than Klink. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/78 "2016-09-07T17:56:07Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That may not be the reason they don’t syndicate well. There’s a lot more competition in the TV landscape now; more channels, and even streaming. If you do want to revisit an old series, no need to find it in syndication, just binge watch it on Netflix. Well, you said it right there though, more channels. Look at cable & satellite alone. TNT TBS Lifetime We USA TV LAND ION Plus many, many more. Channels that have become nothing more than broadcasting, along with movies, syndicated TV shows. But, none of their choices, especially for drama series, are any of the recent (in the last 20 years) shows that feature continuing episodes in one long story. Over the last few decades, LOST, The West Wing, The Sopranos (edited version), among others have bombed in syndication. The shows that succeed in syndication, which can be found on those above stations are Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, Law & Order Criminal Intent, Criminal Minds, CSI, NCSI, CSI Miami, House, etc… shows that, for the most part, feature an hour contained story. Sure, streaming is growing, but it’s not the \*\*main \*\* way people watch TV. Not yet. Perhaps in a decade this subject will be completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/79 "2016-09-07T18:12:05Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I always thought that Schultz would have been a better choice for “Papa Bear” than Klink. Someone else suggested that (or maybe it was you), but I don’t like it as much. Schultz didn’t really do anything except turn a blind eye to everything the Heroes were doing. If he turns out to be Papa Bear, it doesn’t really change anything. But if Klink turns out to have been in on it the whole time, now you get to re-watch the series with different eyes. When we all thought that Hogan had to avoid Klink, how many times was Klink actually running interference for him? When he says there has never been an escape from Stalag 13, it’s not arrogant boasting. It’s part of the con; in the same way that Hogan played Klink, Klink is playing his superiors. By mollifying them they’ll exercise less oversight on the camp, allowing the sabotage program to continue. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601/80 "2016-09-08T02:08:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not aware they did a finale, and the description of the last episode on IMDb doesn’t sound like it was anything out of the ordinary. > > That was pretty common at the time. TV shows back then seemed to bend over backwards to never do anything that might cause continuity problems. Every episode ended with the characters in exactly the same circumstances as when it began. It was probably a lot simpler; writers of one episode didn’t have to know what the other writers were doing; didn’t have to incorporate someone else’s changes into the world they were writing. _The Fugitive_ got to do a proper finale in 1967, and _the Mary Tyler Moore Show_ in 1977, but those are about the only two I can think of from that era. > > The crew of _Hogan’s Heroes_ probably didn’t even suspect they’d be cancelled. The show was still doing okay in the ratings in its last season, but was killed in CBS’s [Rural Purge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge). One show of that era which did have an ending was a one season show “The Cara Williams Show”. The show revolved around the premise that two divorced people get married when they work for a company that doesn’t allow a married couple to both work there. Lots of situations trying to explain why the two are together at night when the supervisor happens to drop by. Anyways, knowing the show was going to be cancelled, they had a final episode where the company policy is changed. I think a number of shows back then were cancelled after the filming for one season was finished. Erin Murphy, who played Tabitha on “Bewitched” (and is one of the few surviving members besides Bernard Fox) says they cancelled “Bewitched” that way and it was “okay, I can go to summer camp now”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-ended-a-tv-series/764601.md?page=5)