Have you ever just watched the series finale of a show?

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by NewHeavensNewEarth, Mar 16, 2019.

  1. NewHeavensNewEarth

    NewHeavensNewEarth Commodore Commodore

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    There are some shows I'm curious about, but not curious enough to devote hundreds of hours to watching them. So sometimes I skip the entire show and just watch the series finale. I did that for "Lost" and "Orphan Black," and I have no regrets. Have you ever done that with a show?

    It's kind of like skipping to the last page of a book you have a passing interest in. If I did more that more often, my library at home would be a lot more slim & trim.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2019
  2. Butters

    Butters Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I haven’t, but I’ve watched a TV show about finales for shows I mostly haven’t seen. Thanks to that, I don’t need to watch Lost, moonlighting, the sopranos, mash, and a shit load of others.
     
  3. NewHeavensNewEarth

    NewHeavensNewEarth Commodore Commodore

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    Sounds like the ultimate spoiler show!
     
  4. Butters

    Butters Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The ultimate spoiler show was Scariest Movie Moments (or similar). I remember it well. I’d enjoyed a great night out, picked up pizza on the way home, and turned on the tv in time to see Ring spoiled. As foreign language movies go, Ring is ok, but watching it knowing what’s going to happen. Bummer.
     
  5. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    I am going to move this thread to TV & Media. But first, to answer the question:

    No, I have never done that. (But then I have never skipped to the last page of a book, either.) If I'm curious about the show, I'll start at the beginning. If it grabs me, then I will end up watching the whole show at some point. If it doesn't, then it really doesn't concern me how it ends.

    As they said in Voyager, it's not the destination, it's the journey. Orphan Black was such a great show that I can't even fathom watching just the finale and being satisfied. As with all individual opinions, of course, YMMV.

    But speaking of journey, here we go to TV&M!
     
  6. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    It's pretty rare for me to get all the way to the finale of shows I'm following - I'm certainly not going to waste time watching ones for shows I'm not watching...
     
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  7. NewHeavensNewEarth

    NewHeavensNewEarth Commodore Commodore

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    Sometimes it's just to see what all the hype is all about. I don't mind 1 hour in the place of 40 hours or more.
     
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  8. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

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    You're missing a really good show by not trying out M*A*S*H... and I say that as someone who watched the finale before I'd watched more than half a dozen regular episodes.

    I've seen quite a bit of the series now (not all, but that's because I've never been able to see it from the beginning), and most of what I've seen is okay. The only irritating thing is the actress who played Keiko in Star Trek is also in the finale - she whines a lot in that as well.
     
  9. Pondwater

    Pondwater Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yes. The How I Met Your Mother finale. It was pizza night at a friends’ house and they had that on.
     
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  10. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I watched the last two Breaking Bad episodes on their own. I got the gist of it.
     
  11. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Agreed. I started off with the later series as it started a bit early for me, but have now seen it all (along with the film) and have them all on dvd. I haven't seen the spinoffs though. (Pretty sure we have all the books though.)
     
  12. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    I don't get this approach. Long TV shows are about the journey more than the destination. It's like going to the Grand Canyon and only stopping at the gift shop.

    If I didn't have time to invest in long TV shows, I'd watch movies.

    If you only read the last page of a book, you may know how it ends, but you haven't read the book. You haven't gotten emotionally involved in the characters, felt suspense for what's going to happen next, speculated about the mystery, gotten excited about it. You've just picked up a piece of trivia.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2019
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  13. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The closest I have to this is Frasier. I never watched it during it's broadcast years, but remember how insanely popular people made it out to be

    So a year or so ago, I threw some up on Netflix, over the course of a week. Watched a couple from season 1, jumped ahead to a couple midway thru, that's thumbnail had Lillith guesting, because I liked Cheers

    Then I was like... "Radio psychiatrist, yada yada, dad, dog, chair, nothing in common with his kids, yada yada, brother 'with they/won't they' with British maid, a couple other people maybe, so on & so forth ... I think I got the gist." So I skipped ahead to the finale stuff, some of which might've had Sam & Diane? who were probably better left in obscurity imho
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2019
  14. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

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    There are M*A*S*H books?
     
  15. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yep. Not counting the background book for the series, there's M*A*S*H, M*A*S*H Goes to Maine and M*A*S*H Mania, all by Richard Hooker.

    After that by Richard Hooker and William Butterworth, there's
    Goes to New Orleans,
    Paris
    London
    Vienna
    San Francisco
    Morocco
    Miami
    Las Vegas
    Hollywood
    Texas
    Moscow

    I know my Dad got them all, but looking now, I haven't actually read all of them so I guess I'm digging them them out.
     
  16. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    MA*A*S*H the TV show is excellent. Although I'm one of the few people who much prefer the show once Col. Potter and Major Winchester came in, its worth watching all the way through.

    I've avoided the movie like the plague. I've only seen clips of it, but its pretty messed up. Very much of its time in all the worst ways (not that the TV show doesn't have its problematic moments, but its very different).
     
  17. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's a minority position? That's how my wife, parents and friends all are! O_o

    The movie is entirely different in tone and its purpose was very different. My wife has watched it, but I have not, just because I prefer the TV show. However, I do know that in the pilot episode one actor reprised as a general, as well as Gary Burghof, though he played Radar a bit differently.

    Regardless, M*A*S*H is TV at its best and I still watch it to this day.
     
  18. John Clark

    John Clark Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I liked Blake, but Winchester was far more of an interesting character than Burns (in my opinion anyway). I also liked Potter a lot.
     
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  19. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    If it's about finding out what the hype is about, instead of watching the finale a better approach is to ask fans of the show what a good episode to use as a standalone entry point.

    Lost is a particularly good example of a show where the last season is the weakest of all the seasons and not a good representation of why the show is hyped. I also would strongly recommend against using the finale for Battlestar Galactica.
     
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  20. gblews

    gblews Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yep, I had never seen a single episode of Six Feet Under and got caught up in the series finale when it aired. I liked the finale so much that it made me go back and watch the entire series.
     
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