# TV Shows That Just Collapsed At The End **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399 "2008-09-20T02:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/41 "2008-09-21T17:44:34Z")
Cowboy Bebop. It’s an anime TV show, but what the hey, right? Bebop had the problem of being too good for an anime series. When it wasn’t renewed (apparently, companies in Japan don’t like making money hand over fist), they had to wrap things up in three episodes. Ouch. The big problem is that, while the characters might eventually go their seperate ways, the thrust of the show was that each one formed part of a family, and wherever you are, your family is there with you. What they actually had happen was each character went right back to the msierable life he or she led before coming on board. In fact, Faye is righteously pissed at what’s going on - she, who lost more than any of them, really found a family, but Spike won’t listen. I don’t entirely blame the show’s creators, but that was a hideously depresing and pointless ending. The only way it could have been redeemed is if Faye, Jet, and even Ed and Ein showed up right at the end, blasted their way into the Evil Crime Syndicate’s Lai with a stolen spaceship, and then helped Spike tear Vicious a new arsehole. And then left the bastard not-quite-dead just to let him know they didn’t give a rat’s ass about him. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/42 "2008-09-21T18:02:20Z")
**Oz**. The first 2-3 seasons are some of the best television ever made (and were absolutely robbed every year at the Emmys– but I guess that’s what happens when most judges can’t sit through a single graphic episode). The last season is just ridiculous. I think the story is that Fontana just decided he could only take things so much further without descending into parody and melodrama, and just embraced it all. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/43 "2008-09-21T19:40:31Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Cowboy Bebop. It’s an anime TV show, but what the hey, right? > > Bebop had the problem of being too good for an anime series. When it wasn’t renewed (apparently, companies in Japan don’t like making money hand over fist), they had to wrap things up in three episodes. Ouch. > > The big problem is that, while the characters might eventually go their seperate ways, the thrust of the show was that each one formed part of a family, and wherever you are, your family is there with you. What they actually had happen was each character went right back to the msierable life he or she led before coming on board. In fact, Faye is righteously pissed at what’s going on - she, who lost more than any of them, really found a family, but Spike won’t listen. I don’t entirely blame the show’s creators, but that was a hideously depresing and pointless ending. > > The only way it could have been redeemed is if Faye, Jet, and even Ed and Ein showed up right at the end, blasted their way into the Evil Crime Syndicate’s Lai with a stolen spaceship, and then helped Spike tear Vicious a new arsehole. And then left the bastard not-quite-dead just to let him know they didn’t give a rat’s ass about him. While the ending was sad, and it did feel odd that everybody just up and went their separate ways, it sounds like you want to give it a Hollywood ending where the good guys live happily ever after, but I think that it works better as a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/44 "2008-09-21T19:56:15Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > While we are at it, I nominate **My Name is Earl**. I loved the first few seasons, but the “Earl in prison” plotline was too much. I removed it from my Tivo about halfway through this past season. Sorry for the hijack. This should really be in its own topic, but… I wouldn’t give up on “Earl.” He’s out of jail, back to doing the list, and with Billie’s help, he has a sizable amount of money with which to help people again. It seems like that ship has righted and the first two episodes of the new season sound promising. From [TVGuide.com](http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/earl/tv-listings/192266): > [@](#): > > Episode Detail: The Magic Hour - My Name Is Earl > In the Season 4 opener, Earl revisits one of his past victims (Seth Green), a once-dying child who has grown up to be an aspiring filmmaker. Earl helps him produce a low-budget action movie, with none other than Randy earning all-around plaudits for his acting skills. > [@](#): > > Episode Detail: Vote for This and I Promise to Do Something Crazy at the Emmys - My Name Is Earl > Earl and Randy set out to make peace with their childhood neighbors, but the good-hearted task only brings to the surface marital strife between their own parents (Beau Bridges and Nancy Lenehan). Elsewhere, Joy doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Willy: She dupes him out of his glass eye. I can’t wait. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/45 "2008-09-21T20:02:04Z")
_The Real Ghostbusters_. What had been a fairly erudite cartoon drawing material from a wide variety of mythological sources became, irredeemably, a kid’s show. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/46 "2008-09-21T20:02:30Z")
Lost Lost has lost so much of what made the island cool and mysterious. In the beginning writing it based on ideas presented by the audience on the message board was kind of cool, but then eventually everything just seems tacked together like some sort of Frankenstein’s Monster. The twists have twists. It’s still fun to watch at times, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is really driving that car. Evangelion The single most epic fail to cap off a series in the history of anime. I am me, me is who I am, I am what _I_ am and that is me. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/47 "2008-09-21T20:55:36Z")
> [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](#): > > The original series of **Battlestar Galactica**. It seems slightly camp and early 80s nowadays but it entertained me as a kid until suddenly the main characters were gone and they found the Earth. Suddenly it became pointless… What you’re thinking of was actually a spinoff, **Galactica 1980**. After ABC cancelled the original **Battlestar Galactica** fans organized a massive write-in campaign that actually suceeded in getting the network to revive the show. Revived with a greatly reduced budget that forced Larson to set in on Earth. He was also forced to add “educational content” because of it’s new timeslot. The result was ten episodes of crap (which were later rolled into TOS’s syndication package). ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/48 "2008-09-21T21:09:06Z")
The Spawn cartoon. It started off quite well, despite McFarlane’s inane opening speeches on most episodes. But it seemed like in the last season the writer’s noticed they were actually progressing the plot at a decent pace and if they kept it up the story would actually reach a conclusion and they’d have to stop making it. So they stopped the main plot in it’s tracks, brought in a bunch of new characters, and started a bunch of new subplots. And the show ended with a whimper shortly afterwards. Sadly fear of reaching a conclusion to the main plot is one of the main reasons TV sucks. We’d be so much better off with more mini-series and less never ending stories. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/49 "2008-09-21T21:13:10Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > What you’re thinking of was actually a spinoff, **Galactica 1980**. After ABC cancelled the original **Battlestar Galactica** fans organized a massive write-in campaign that actually suceeded in getting the network to revive the show. Revived with a greatly reduced budget that forced Larson to set in on Earth. He was also forced to add “educational content” because of it’s new timeslot. The result was ten episodes of crap (which were later rolled into TOS’s syndication package). That belongs in another category: a favorite show that was cancelled and then an abortive effort to renew/spinoff it resulted in a travesty. Sort of like burying a loved one in the Pet Cemetary and seeing them return as a shambling zombie. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/50 "2008-09-21T22:03:29Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > While the ending was sad, and it did feel odd that everybody just up and went their separate ways, it sounds like you want to give it a Hollywood ending where the good guys live happily ever after, but I think that it works better as a tragedy. No, I’m saying that would have been the only way to pull something worthwhile out of their trainwreck. A much beter ending would have been to simply let the characters decide they don’t care about Vicious, let him have his power and wallow in his misery, and just go on about their business. Or just kill the bastard. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/51 "2008-09-21T23:19:03Z")
Several of the shows mentioned, the producer and/or leads new the shows were essentially over before the last season. The story-line had run the course, but the people were talked into just one more season. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/52 "2008-09-21T23:25:09Z")
Also, re _My Name is Earl_: I understand we get to find out why Darnell is in witness protection. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/53 "2008-09-22T12:26:49Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Does it count if a show sucked from the pilot on? Except that the first season of Lost in Space was almost a different show from the last season. Doctor smith was actually evil and menacing, not just a greedy, selfish, stupid buffoon. The robot was kind of scary when under Smith’s control. By today’s standards the first season was prettly lame, sure, but no more than any other show being produced at the time. Has anyone mentioned Highlander: the Series? i know many people didn’t like it all, but I did. the first season was pretty lame, but it got better (at least to me) after Tessa died. Then it got downright stupid by the last season. …and I’m not even counting the movies based around the series. “The Source” was magnitudes suckier. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/54 "2008-09-22T12:34:02Z")
Well, I have to mention _ **Red Dwarf** _. Hilarious and fun all the way up to when Chris Barrie left and they had Kochanski from another dimension take his spot on the show. And not even the original woman that played Kochanski. It went downhill from there. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/55 "2008-09-22T12:39:46Z")
**Prison Break** –It was suppose to be a two year run. The third season was okay, but this season is getting to be ridiculous. Michael had all his tats removed in one season with no sedative? Sarah’s back, but she is this weak quivering person? We have to get the six parts of this computer program or we all go back to prison? Does this make sense to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/56 "2008-09-22T13:06:06Z")
The HBO series _Carnival_ took quite a nosedive at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/57 "2008-09-22T13:56:19Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > The HBO series _Carnival_ took quite a nosedive at the end. Carnivale. And I’d have to disagree, especially as it was a set-up for a pre-planned six seasons. The first two seasons were, I believe, intended as a prequel, to be followed by two more two-season plot lines with the ultimate result being the equivalent of a trilogy of novels. Sadly declining viewership combined with high production costs ( large cast, location shooting ) scuttled them. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/58 "2008-09-22T13:57:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > **Prison Break** –It was suppose to be a two year run. The third season was okay, but this season is getting to be ridiculous. Michael had all his tats removed in one season with no sedative? Sarah’s back, but she is this weak quivering person? We have to get the six parts of this computer program or we all go back to prison? > > Does this make sense to anyone? I’m still hoping that any moment now they will show Michael waking up from a coma he got into during season 1 and say “Oh. That was a stupid dream”. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/59 "2008-09-22T14:02:00Z")
> [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](#): > > The first series of **Beverly Hills 90210** started meandering after, first, Brenda lost her virginity in the famous “bang heard round the world”, and second, the main characters drifted away. My wife is (still) a big fan of the show, but even she can’t bear to watch the last two or three seasons. That show, and the _X-Files_, are IMHO the prime examples of “hung around way too long” from the last 15 years. When you lose your main stars, and the main stars were the whole reason for watching in the first place, it’s time to go. My nomination is for **Monk** , whose arc seems to be mimicking that of the _X-Files_. The first two or three seasons were vital, fresh, and orginal (and they had an intriguing back story, just like The Syndicate back story of the X-Files), but now it’s just turned into “How many silly quirks can we show Adrian having?” and “monster of the week.” ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399/60 "2008-09-22T17:23:41Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Babylon 5–I still deny Season 5 really happened. seemed like they rushed to wrap up everything at the end of Season 4 due to uncertain funding…then when they actually had to do a fifth season they were out of ideas. Actually, the story arc was written all the way through for 5 seasons. They ended up thinking they weren’t going to GET the 5th season, then they did, but Claudia Christian (Ivanova) bailed and JMS had to re-write parts of the 5th season and assign bits that were supposed to be Ivanova (and would have made more sense that way) and give them to other characters. The problems here were strictly of network management screwing up - not the writer(s) not knowing what to do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-that-just-collapsed-at-the-end/464399.md?page=4)