Ideal TOS series finale
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My view is that TOS is a 1960s show and the concept of the "series finale" is a modern one that doesn't really fit it. The only show of that era to have a finale was The Fugitive. For everything else, the last episode was simply one more adventure.
So for me, the ideal series finale for TOS would've simply been a really strong, satisfying standalone episode that served the whole cast well and ended with the crew continuing on to their next assignment.
After all, the end of TOS didn't lead into the movies. It led into the animated series. Give it some sort of anachronistic decisive ending and we wouldn't have had TAS.
So for me, the ideal series finale for TOS would've simply been a really strong, satisfying standalone episode that served the whole cast well and ended with the crew continuing on to their next assignment.
After all, the end of TOS didn't lead into the movies. It led into the animated series. Give it some sort of anachronistic decisive ending and we wouldn't have had TAS.
Yeah, I can't imagine a really *final* finale for what was essentially, recurring characters notwithstanding, an anthology series.
Something along the lines of TNG's "All Good Things" would have been nice.
TOS has a finale, for me. It's called Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
I do agree with Christopher to a point, though, although the whole five-year mission thing kind of sets a tone of ideal five-year expectation at least for younger folks like myself who didn't grow up in the era of television not having series finales.
I do agree with Christopher to a point, though, although the whole five-year mission thing kind of sets a tone of ideal five-year expectation at least for younger folks like myself who didn't grow up in the era of television not having series finales.
Definitely agreed. I actually enjoyed the movies more than TOS itself. I can't say that for TNG and it's movies.
Essentially a TNG style conclusion which would have marked a proper ending to the series but left the door open for movies.
Two more seasons which would have concluded the 5 year mission. (If that consigns TAS to the realm of never-never land, I can live with that.)
An Earth-based episode showing more about Starfleet, the organization, than we'd seen up to that point.
On this subject, I'd urge folks to check out Phase 2's new vignette, elements from that could fit nicely into a hypothetical TOS finale.
As an aside, the reason that most shows didn't get "conclusions" back then was that the producers wouldn't know the show wasn't coming back until after the whole season was "in the can". And much as I hate to correct Christopher, the "Fugitive" (a personal favorite BTW) wasn't the only series to have a conclusion. The sitcom "Hank" ran one season and the last episode resolved the central dilemma of the series.
Two more seasons which would have concluded the 5 year mission. (If that consigns TAS to the realm of never-never land, I can live with that.)
An Earth-based episode showing more about Starfleet, the organization, than we'd seen up to that point.
On this subject, I'd urge folks to check out Phase 2's new vignette, elements from that could fit nicely into a hypothetical TOS finale.
As an aside, the reason that most shows didn't get "conclusions" back then was that the producers wouldn't know the show wasn't coming back until after the whole season was "in the can". And much as I hate to correct Christopher, the "Fugitive" (a personal favorite BTW) wasn't the only series to have a conclusion. The sitcom "Hank" ran one season and the last episode resolved the central dilemma of the series.
No, that's not the reason, because it's still frequently true today. It happened as recently as last year with Eureka, although Syfy was kind enough to give them one extra episode to resolve the series. And Body of Proof didn't get renewed until well after its cliffhanger season finale aired. I'm sure there are other very recent examples, because it happens all the time.
The actual reason is that they didn't have home video and the Internet and constant reruns to give them the experience of a television series as a continuous whole. Generally you'd see an episode once, then maybe see it rerun once months later, and then you'd be lucky if you ever saw it again. And with no home VCRs or DVRs and less rerun syndication, if you missed a first-run episode, you might never see it at all.
So back then, every episode had to work as a complete, self-contained tale in its own right, something that could stand entirely on its own, rather than just a part of a larger whole. There were occasional 2-parters, even 3-parters, but they were exceptions to the rule. Series were experienced episode by episode, not as continuous sagas as they are today.
There's also the fact that in the '50s and '60s, the classiest, smartest TV shows were the dramatic anthologies and play showcases like Desilu Playhouse and Playhouse 90, while serialization was only seen in cheesy daytime soaps and the occasional sitcom. It was the reverse of the modern outlook on TV, in that serialization was seen as cheap and lowbrow. So making each episode stand entirely on its own was desirable from a quality and class standpoint as well as a practical standpoint. Even ongoing series aspired to be as anthology-like as possible, with formats that put the regulars in a different setting each week, dealing with different guest stars' problems each week. The main reason they even had continuing characters and situations at all was because it was cheaper to use standing sets and have regular actors under contract, and because audience loyalty to their favorite cast members helped boost ratings.
Agree. TAS episodes were TOS finale.
Route 66 also had a natural conclusion (the series leads stopped travelling to go their separate ways).
For TOS, I feel it would have needed a two-hour finale--sort of with the tone of The Undiscovered Country: a serious threat drawing everyone in, but some personal issues/relationship matters as part of the plot/final message.
Still, i'm glad TAS was produced, so the absence of a hardline TOS finale was not such a bad thing after all.
Actually, I'd have been thrilled if all Our Yesterdays was the final episode. First, it was, for that late in the game, a good episode. My only niggle was that the Enterprise sets were not used at all. The final image of the Enterprise warping away with the nova behind them with that amazing music would have been a quite satisfying end shot of the series.
Even if they did final episodes back then, I prefer shows like Star Trek to remain open ended. I'd rather think they're still together having adventures rather than splitting them up, ending friendships or killing people off. The story goes on, but the network didn't pick up the option.
Even if they did final episodes back then, I prefer shows like Star Trek to remain open ended. I'd rather think they're still together having adventures rather than splitting them up, ending friendships or killing people off. The story goes on, but the network didn't pick up the option.
MY wife is convinced that Kirk's final words in TOS were meant to mean the whole series... "If only..." I have a real hard time thinking of TAS as the finale to TOS. At the time it first ran, I thought it was an insult to make a cartoon of Star Trek. Had they put the effort into the artwork at a Jonny Quest level, I might've thought differently. Now that I'm (just a bit *grin*) older, I tried really hard to like TAS. But I personally can't stand the shortness of the episodes, the lack of artwork effort and especially the seemingly phoned-in voice performances.
The Prisoner, of course, had quite a famous concluding episode. But the point, I believe, was that it was extremely rare for shows to tie things up. Most of them simply ended. This was not an issue for the majority of the shows that did not have a premise needed resolution. However, shows like The Invaders, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Run for your Life and so on, could have used definitive finales. The main difference with The Fugitive was that the resolution of Kimble's situation was written into the series proposal by creator Roy Huggins. I don't think the guys running the other shows thought it was that important. Either way, Irwin Allen, for example, had no advance notice to tie up his shows. Probably the same situation occurred for The Invaders.
Nowaway days, something even more frustrating happens than a simple unresolved series premise: the unresolved episodic cliffhanger. Worse, producers will commission such a cliffhanger with the intention of forcing the network to keep the show on in order to resolve the hanging of cliff. This - NEVER - works, yet they continue to try it. The network tells them they're not coming back (or they can see by their dismal rating the die is cast) and they go with a cliffhanger anyway. I can see why the network wouldn't want to spend the money on an addition full season of a failing TV show just because some producer can't accept the decision and keeps the fans hanging. At that point, it's the producer who is effing the fans, not the network. The recent V is a perfect example. Ugh.
And the final TAS episode managed to do something similar to "The Cage", "Encounter at Farpoint", "Generations", "Emissary", "Caretaker", "Endgame", "Broken Bow" and "These Are the Voyages..." did: feature a significant guest/crossover character to pass the torch. "The Counter-clock Incident" introduced us to first captain of the NCC-1701, Captain Robert April and his wife, Sarah.
April (invariably called Winter and Pike, among other names) was a part of Roddenberry's original proposal for ST.
Yes, I exaggerated by saying it was the only one. I should've said that it was extremely rare.
Actually, I think the finale of the V remake works pretty well as a decisive ending. It's just an ending where the bad guys win. And frankly, I'm okay with that, since the good guys were totally inept and Anna, the main villain, was the only character in the finale who showed any kind of intelligence, judgment, or other positive traits (heck, she was trying to protect her family!). So I'd say she earned her victory fair and square.
Mainly, though, I'm just glad it ended.
Not saying V was a good show by any stretch (okay, the cast was good), but I found it disappointing that they went to lengths to introduce Marc Singer's new group and not be able to follow through. Plus the lead characters son, who she was constantly worried about, was apparently killed when his throat was torn out during visitor sex and she never learned of this. Yeah, the visitors "won" but it felt like the show ended just as a new story was beginning. Since the producers were on record as having created the cliffhanger with the intention of forcing the network to renew so it would be resolved, it pissed me off.
It reminded me of Dallas when the producers made Bobby's death a dream. It cancelled out the two really good character cliffhangers in the minutes prior to the shower reveal. The reast of the season stank, but it sucked to have those unresolved situations.
Anyway, the best ending for Trek for me would always simply be "Ahead warp factor one." Stock shot of Enterprise flying away.
It reminded me of Dallas when the producers made Bobby's death a dream. It cancelled out the two really good character cliffhangers in the minutes prior to the shower reveal. The reast of the season stank, but it sucked to have those unresolved situations.
Anyway, the best ending for Trek for me would always simply be "Ahead warp factor one." Stock shot of Enterprise flying away.
The whole V remake pissed me off. It was a soulless exercise with no inspiration behind it beyond "We need a new genre property to fill the void now that Lost is ending," it totally failed to live up to the allegorical and philosophical underpinnings of the original, and it was just very badly written. It didn't deserve to exist at all, so I'm certainly not sad that it ended.
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