# Television-Now we'll NEVER know! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905 "2010-05-18T17:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/61 "2010-05-20T16:45:28Z")
Another one for _Veronica Mars_. It was rather nice having a teen-oriented drama where the protagonist wasn’t a vapid idiot. And of course it was also nice to have mysteries that were solvable without being predictable. Grrr. The (non-)ending of _Reaper_ pissed me off, with the promise that God had some Big Plan that would make everything better that we never got to see because the show was cancelled. I still can’t decide how I feel about the abrupt ending of _Dark Skies_, the sci-fi version of Forrest Gump. It started out interesting, sputtered for a bit, got cancelled and had a tacked-on ending that sort of vaguely closed it off but not really. Then Eric Close became a cowboy, Jeri Ryan became an alien and JT Walsh died. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/62 "2010-05-20T17:06:23Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > My pet peeve is people who won’t leave this alone, followed by people who get it wrong. (He was a Czech “Interior Decorator” (because Paulie and Chris couldn’t remember Ministry of the Interior)). Thus, my “It has to be said…” I goofed on the Russian/Czech thing, but I included the show because it always comes up. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/63 "2010-05-20T17:10:46Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Also, it has to be said: _Sopranos_. Russian. Pine Barrens. What is there to resolve? He got away because Paulie and Christopher are idiots. The end. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/64 "2010-05-21T07:27:57Z")
As much as the sudden end of mystery shows resulting in an open ended finale have pissed me off, nothing, nothing pissed me off as much as the finale of Quantum Leap. If you know that your series is ending, you do your best 1) to wrap things up and 2) to make a happy ending. “Sam Beckett never leaped home”??? WTF!?? No. The network tells you you’re cancelled? You hire the actress who plays Sam’s wife for a 15 second extra scene in which Sam leaps home, and runs into her arms. Then you do the titles that say that Sam lives happily ever after, as does his holographic companion, who returns to Beth instead of several unhappy marriages. If you really can’t afford the actress for a non speaking 15 second scene, then you put a happy ending in the end titles instead of a random bummer ending. “Sam Beckett finally returned home. Al…” The unhappy ending titles distressed me so much that I can distinctly remember photographic details about the room I was in when I watched it, despite it being many years ago, and me generally having a fuzzy memory. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/65 "2010-05-21T12:06:10Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > I thought that in the end it wasn’t the Doctor? I’m fuzzy on the specifics but I remember the Native girl saying something like “you will become one…” or something cryptic like that. I got the impression that it wasn’t as easy as simply finding the girl and having sex. This was a show that I wished the writer would have thrown a bone to it’s fans. I get why it was canceled, but to go through a dozen episodes and not get a hint of how it turns out is maddening. How hard would it be to write out an ending on a website, so we could get some resolution. Slightly off-topic…I’m glad to see the lead is going to be in Game of Thrones. He oozes charisma. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/66 "2010-05-21T12:46:05Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > This doesn’t fit exactly with the thread, but it’s close. The last episode of _It’s Your Move_ was a two-parter, and there was a long delay between parts 1 and 2. Jason and Norman were getting ready for the fake band The Dregs of Humanity to go big-time with a record deal or concert or something, and it was left as a cliffhanger. After several weeks off the air they finally showed part 2. > > Like _Arrested Development_, _It’s Your Move_ had tight writing and Jason Bateman, and both were cancelled way too early. Only in the Dope can someone steal my Dregs of Humanity answer! 😃 > [@Apocalypso](#): > > My nomination is **Action** , a surprisingly little known series that only lasted 1 run. It never got a second series, so we’ll never know if Peter Dragon’s Beverly Hills Gun Club movie became a hit or not. It would have been funny the movie tanked and his boss made him do humiliating things for revenge. Great show, too bad it got cut short. > I wasn’t 100% sure if it counts because it’s pretty coarse for regular television (I think it was an HBO series) But I did catch first on Comedy Central - usually unannounced showings As Justin said, it was on Fox. The show was one of the earliest I recall to _routinely_ use bleeps so Jay Mohr could be on television. > [@monster](#): > > I loved **The Nine**. > > What happened in the bank that bonded them for life, dammit??? Shows like this make me wonder why the networks do not allow for a two hour movie of the week to take a stab at wrapping up subplots. Maybe not for a single season wonder like Nine, but for shows with at least 40+ episodes. > [@jackdavinci](#): > > As much as the sudden end of mystery shows resulting in an open ended finale have pissed me off, nothing, nothing pissed me off as much as the finale of Quantum Leap. If you know that your series is ending, you do your best 1) to wrap things up and 2) to make a happy ending. > > “Sam Beckett never leaped home”??? WTF!?? > > No. The network tells you you’re cancelled? You hire the actress who plays Sam’s wife for a 15 second extra scene in which Sam leaps home, and runs into her arms. Then you do the titles that say that Sam lives happily ever after, as does his holographic companion, who returns to Beth instead of several unhappy marriages. If you really can’t afford the actress for a non speaking 15 second scene, then you put a happy ending in the end titles instead of a random bummer ending. “Sam Beckett finally returned home. Al…” > > The unhappy ending titles distressed me so much that I can distinctly remember photographic details about the room I was in when I watched it, despite it being many years ago, and me generally having a fuzzy memory. I knew someone would bring this up. I just didn’t know if it would be travesty or brilliant. I vote brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/67 "2010-05-21T13:21:20Z")
They just cancelled Ghost Whisperer 2 days ago. ☹ It makes me sad because they had come back so strong from an off Season 4. ☹ One of the things of this season was that the shadows were attacking Melinda through her visions through fear, her largest fear being revealed to be clowns. I strongly suspect that tonights season finale will trap her character in a very dark place with a cliff-hanger that will never be resolved. Look, that girl doesn’t deserve to be trapped for all eternity in Mime-Hell. She dated Jaime Kennedy. She did her time… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/68 "2010-05-21T13:22:27Z")
I vote brilliant as well. That’s one of my favorite series endings. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/69 "2010-05-21T13:28:45Z")
(If I may hijack slightly) This is the same way I felt about _The Soprano_’s ending. Besides the fact that way the last scene ends leaves room for each viewer to decide for themselves what happened, it’s a perfect metaphor for Tony’s way of life in general that we don’t know what that final camera angle/look on his face means. Did I want to know with certainty the fate of all the main characters. Sure, must people would. But, if one looks at the brilliance of the show’s writers overall, the way the series finale was crafted that was was an appropriate, well-thought-out homage to the attentiveness and insightfulness of the dedicated fans themselves, and not a slap in the face as some suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/70 "2010-05-21T13:40:36Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > “Sam Beckett never leaped home”??? WTF!?? Huh? The whole point of God’s Truck Stop was that Sam had a choice - he could go home or he could just spend the rest of his life doing good. He chose to do good. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/71 "2010-05-21T14:51:50Z")
“Las Vegas” ended with Molly Sim’s character rushing to the hospital to have Josh Duhamel’s baby, we never saw what happened. That was a pretty good show, lightweight but good characters. “Life” ended its second season with the main conspiracy effectively solved, but we don’t know where Crews and Reese are going and how big the police corruption is. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/72 "2010-05-21T17:59:03Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > What is there to resolve? He got away because Paulie and Christopher are idiots. The end. He did get shot, though, and it did produce a fairly large blood splatter in the air, which you can see if you examine the scene frame by frame (as I’ve done more than a few times). However, I’m in agreement that the people who kept wanting a resolution to this unto the series’ final episode kind of never got the point of **The Sopranos**. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/73 "2010-05-21T19:23:05Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Huh? The whole point of God’s Truck Stop was that Sam had a choice - he could go home or he could just spend the rest of his life doing good. He chose to do good. > > -Joe Thank you. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m the only one who gets that. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/74 "2010-05-21T19:41:23Z")
Wow, this thread is remembering all of the shows I loved that were canceled mid-stream – the aforementioned NoWhere Man, Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Drive (Nathon Fillian – not a great show but had serious potential). ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/75 "2010-05-21T19:46:13Z")
As I recall, \*Crossing Jordan \*was cancelled out of the blue. There MUST have been some unresolved situations there. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/76 "2010-05-21T20:10:08Z")
The one I’m still majorly pissed over is _Crusade_. TNT promised JMS complete creative control and then proceeded to meddle it into a mess and then cancel it because they didn’t understand what they had or what it needed. Add some fist fights! There isn’t enough action! Why isn’t the action working for this show? Change the uniforms, maybe that will fix things! To this day, I still want to put a few steel-toed boots into assorted dark and hairy places at high velocity. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/77 "2010-05-21T20:20:35Z")
Thirding _Veronica Mars_. The third season finale was like a fan’s wet dream – tying everything back to the Kane family, taking us away from the not-quite-as-interesting Neptune College plotlines of that whole season. In a way, it was actually a perfect setup for a masterful fourth season that could have tied everything together and ended the show properly. I’d love to see a movie to do just that, but since Kristen Bell and Amanda Seyfried are both legitimately famous now, that’s probably not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/78 "2010-05-21T20:26:46Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The one I’m still majorly pissed over is _Crusade_. TNT promised JMS complete creative control and then proceeded to meddle it into a mess and then cancel it because they didn’t understand what they had or what it needed. Add some fist fights! There isn’t enough action! Why isn’t the action working for this show? Change the uniforms, maybe that will fix things! > > To this day, I still want to put a few steel-toed boots into assorted dark and hairy places at high velocity. Bastards. Seconded. For that matter, what might have been if PETN hadn’t gone tits-up in the middle of B5’s run. What would the “real” Season 5 have been? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/79 "2010-05-21T21:11:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Seconded. For that matter, what might have been if PETN hadn’t gone tits-up in the middle of B5’s run. What would the “real” Season 5 have been? I tend to think it would have been about the same (bar Claudia not pulling her “pay me more” stunt). JMS wanted to examine what happens after a war on top of a civil war. It’s messy, people are trying to take advantage of the mess, no one’s sure who has jurisdiction over what (especially with two major governments at the station), and people are trying to learn new roles and making mistakes, sometimes really really BIG ones, in the process. Season 5 is my least favourite, but I think that’s my lack, not the creator’s. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905/80 "2010-05-21T21:14:14Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I tend to think it would have been about the same (bar Claudia not pulling her “pay me more” stunt). JMS wanted to examine what happens after a war on top of a civil war. It’s messy, people are trying to take advantage of the mess, no one’s sure who has jurisdiction over what (especially with two major governments at the station), and people are trying to learn new roles and making mistakes, sometimes really really BIG ones, in the process. Season 5 is my least favourite, but I think that’s my lack, not the creator’s. I disagree. Season 5 was poor. And I don’t think I lack at all. -Joe, that’s what she said [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/television-now-well-never-know/539905.md?page=5)