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The biggest loss for me was definitely Fringe . My favourite show in a good long time left our screens after five season and a hundred episodes in January this year. I’m really going to miss that show. Eureka , one of the few fun, non-arc-plotted shows also left our screens; it ended last year after five seasons and 77 episodes. I’m really going to miss that show.
My weekly fix of spaceships and war has gone the way of the dodo too; Star Wars: The Clones Wars left our screens just last month after five seasons and 108 episodes. The shows makers say there might be more, but in what format they haven’t said. I’m really going to miss that show.
Over on this side of the pond we said goodbye to both BBC 1’s Merlin (five series and 65 episodes) and BBC 3’s Being Human (also five series with 37 episodes in total) in recent months. Both those shows were already airing before we found out that they were ending which made the final episodes that little bit more precious. I’m really going to miss Being Human ; Merlin not so much, but there are plenty of you out there who will. ( Don’t forget that E4 has announced the fifth season of Misfits will be its last, also – ed. )
After reading this back I’m starting to wonder if Community ’s Abed wasn’t far wrong with his “Six season and a movie” line; just drop the movie and one of the seasons and that covers the shows I mention above. I also think I just found the title for this blog…
I know we lose TV shows all the time, for whatever reasons: finance or a lack of viewers; studios having a change of direction; sometimes creators wanting to move on. The five shows listed above can each cite one or more of those reasons. But its always sad to see them go. I realise that TV is business and that low ratings or rising costs can end a show and I accept that. I just don’t understand how better shows are leaving our screens and mediocre shows seem to go on and on. This isn’t a new thing, I’m sure we can all think of shows we loved which have been cancelled while other shows seemed to just go on and on for years and we never understood why.
Over the years I’m sure we’ve all had shows that we didn’t want to end; I know I have a long list of them. From Farscape to Angel , there’s plenty of shows which I think ended before their time. I’m sure anyone reading this can name at least one show which they’d love to see back on our screens. (Yes; the one that just popped into your head as you were reading.)
I hear a lot of people talking about Fringe or Being Human ; saying that at least they went out on a high before they got old and tired. Cancelled before they “jumped the shark” – or are we saying “nuked the fridge” these days? – is another thing I hear. And while I suppose I understand the sentiment, I have to disagree. The above shows I mentioned above were nowhere near their sell-by dates creatively. All five were providing gripping and exciting storylines right up to the end. Being Human has successfully replaced its entire original cast and was still firing with all guns which is quite a feat. The Clone Wars was consistently brilliant and showed no signs of fatigue or a drop in quality. If anything it was getting better.
I know that there are plenty of new shows on the telly. My Sky+ box is full of stuff. New shows like Revolution ; returning favourites like Game Of Thrones or Doctor Who ; there are shows which will be coming back for another season at some point like Falling Skies and Continuum; and there are a few new shows the horizon like Defiance to look forward too. But I have to say I’m just not as excited about any of these shows as I was about some of the ones we’ve lost. The shows I’m watching now just aren’t gripping me as much as the shows we’ve lost did. I’m just not overly passionate about any of them; I enjoy some of them sure, but none of them are my favourite hour of the week, none of them are “must-watch live” TV for me. I just wish I could make some the shows that I mentioned at the top of this blog come back. If I had to pick just one show to bring back it’d be Fringe ; I think I could stand to lose almost all the shows I’m currently watching in exchange for another full season of the adventures of Walter, Peter and Liv.
So, my question to you is which TV shows do you miss the most and if you could bring any show back from the dead which one would it be?
Steven Ellis
