Which cancelled shows ended in a way that satisfied you even though the shows were cut before their prime?
Satisfying Cancelled Show Endings
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
The A.V. Club did an interesting feature addressing this question a couple years ago.
Of their picks, the ones I would choose are Freaks and Geeks and Firefly (which, arguably, had a more satisfying conclusion on television than on the big screen).
Of their picks, the ones I would choose are Freaks and Geeks and Firefly (which, arguably, had a more satisfying conclusion on television than on the big screen).
Caprica, SGU, Dollhouse, Farscape and Sanctuary all had satisfying endings.
It was a bummer that Caprica S2+ was summed up in the Epilogue, but, it was very satisfying as far as knowing where it went,
SGU, another bummer that ended, but, it was a poetic end that was open-ended yet satisfying.
Sanctuary could easily have gone on longer, but, it ended on a Chapter end that wrapped up what had come before.
Dollhouse, S2 could easily have been streched into a 3rd Season, and it might've been even better had some stuff not been so rushed, but, it was great Nonetheless.
Farscape was one of the most painful and rude cliffhangers ever when they cancelled it end of S4, thank Goodness they finally did Peacekeeper Wars to tie it up (though a full 5th Season would've been better than the 4 ep Mini Series)
It was a bummer that Caprica S2+ was summed up in the Epilogue, but, it was very satisfying as far as knowing where it went,
SGU, another bummer that ended, but, it was a poetic end that was open-ended yet satisfying.
Sanctuary could easily have gone on longer, but, it ended on a Chapter end that wrapped up what had come before.
Dollhouse, S2 could easily have been streched into a 3rd Season, and it might've been even better had some stuff not been so rushed, but, it was great Nonetheless.
Farscape was one of the most painful and rude cliffhangers ever when they cancelled it end of S4, thank Goodness they finally did Peacekeeper Wars to tie it up (though a full 5th Season would've been better than the 4 ep Mini Series)
I know. This thread was inspired by that.
I loved the end of Angel; there doesn't need to be anymore show as all the remaining main characters died in the ensuing battle. Angel himself was probably incinerated seconds after engaging the dragon and then the world proceeded to end.
That's what I choose to think happened anyway.
I also like the end to Dollhouse and hold out hope that Warehouse 13 and Nikita will end well.
That's what I choose to think happened anyway.
I also like the end to Dollhouse and hold out hope that Warehouse 13 and Nikita will end well.
I just finished Eureka yesterday morning, and yea, it ended well. But did it get warning it was the end before Season started, or did they have to scramble to tie up something, they initially planned on stretching out? Just started Warehouse 13, so, yea, after watching it straight through to S4 end, it'll be a bummer waiting all that time for the last 6 episodes if it doesn't end well
Yea, Sarah Connor ending was definitely a bummer to not get resolution to
Farscape before The Peacekeeper Wars. In Retrospect, how they ended Bad Timing was classic Farscape. At the time, Jon and Aeryn were a fantastic couple, but the universe just didn't allow them to be happy.
Tron: Uprising was cancelling on a cliffhanger, but it turned out to flow perfectly into Tron: Legacy. I was more impressed by the cancelled ending than I probably would have been had the show had a full run.
After the cancellation was announced, they were actually given an extra episode so they could put a finale on the series. And since there was such a huge amount of lag time between the production on the final season and its airdate, they had time to figure out how they wanted to do it. They probably crammed the plans they'd had in mind for a final season into that one extra hour, but they did get to resolve things pretty much the way they wanted.
Yeah, I would've been satisfied with "Bad Timing"'s ending even without TPW. A conventional happy ending just wouldn't have seemed daring and subversive enough for Farscape. It was fitting that they'd wrap it up with something weird and outrageous and reassure us that the cast would continue to have insane and dangerous adventures even after the end of the series.
1 Fugitive
2 The Wire
3 Little House on the Prairie - pure sadness wtf end, they Nuke their own town to say F*ck You!! to the wall street bankers
4 Cosby Show
5 Dinosaurs, disney henson, family massacre
6 TNG - Star Trek the next generation
7 Animaniacs Birds on a Wire Animaniacs Suite
8 Babylon 5 - Crusade + Lost Tales movie finale
9 Cowboy Bebop Mish-Mash Blues
10 Justice League cartoon Destroyer
11 Spiderman cartoon Final Curtain
12 Merlin Diamond of the Day
13 Farscape
14 N.E Tranquility Base Our Town
15The Colbys wtf abducted by aliens ending
2 The Wire
3 Little House on the Prairie - pure sadness wtf end, they Nuke their own town to say F*ck You!! to the wall street bankers
4 Cosby Show
5 Dinosaurs, disney henson, family massacre
6 TNG - Star Trek the next generation
7 Animaniacs Birds on a Wire Animaniacs Suite
8 Babylon 5 - Crusade + Lost Tales movie finale
9 Cowboy Bebop Mish-Mash Blues
10 Justice League cartoon Destroyer
11 Spiderman cartoon Final Curtain
12 Merlin Diamond of the Day
13 Farscape
14 N.E Tranquility Base Our Town
15The Colbys wtf abducted by aliens ending
I'd really like to hear those arguments, since FIREFLY was shown entirely out of order with the pilot last. Two episodes were not aired during first run. And there was no conclusion. So how did it "arguably" conclude better on TV than on the big screen? I'm curious.
I thought when they cancelled Stargate SG1 after season 7, it was totally satisfying. Lost City was the perfect finale.
(Whisper)
What?
(Whisper)
Three more seasons? But how did they go on without Richard Dean Anderson?
(Whisper)
But if they beat both the Gu'ald and the Replicators in season 8, how did they go on after that?
(Whisper)
Oh dear LORD!
(Whisper)
What?
(Whisper)
Three more seasons? But how did they go on without Richard Dean Anderson?
(Whisper)
But if they beat both the Gu'ald and the Replicators in season 8, how did they go on after that?
(Whisper)
Oh dear LORD!
I like how the last completed episode of "The Middle Man" ends with the main character remarking that all seems right with the world. I know there was a comic book released that was based on a subsequent script that would have been filmed had the show not been canceled, but it wasn't filmed and I haven't read it, so I'm not counting that.
"The 4400" ends on its best episode, one that really blows the story wide open in a way that may have been very difficult, if not next to impossible, to do on its budget, and it mostly works as an ending.
"Chuck" has three or four episodes that would have been relatively satisfying as an ending, had the show been canceled when it originally looked like it would. But NBC couldn't come up with anything better for 5 seasons so we got a planned ending, which a lot of fans don't even like as much as many of the earlier false-alarm series finales. I like them all, though, so I'm fine with what we ended up getting.
"The 4400" ends on its best episode, one that really blows the story wide open in a way that may have been very difficult, if not next to impossible, to do on its budget, and it mostly works as an ending.
"Chuck" has three or four episodes that would have been relatively satisfying as an ending, had the show been canceled when it originally looked like it would. But NBC couldn't come up with anything better for 5 seasons so we got a planned ending, which a lot of fans don't even like as much as many of the earlier false-alarm series finales. I like them all, though, so I'm fine with what we ended up getting.
You should count it. It's great, and it's a much more definitive finale than the one we got (we even learn the Middleman's name!). And it has been "filmed," kind of -- there's a YouTube video out there of the entire cast doing a table read of the finale script (actually the comic version of the script, it seems) at Comic-Con.
Yes, I think it was a good point to go out on. It was a genuine resolution to the story, the end of the story that had been told up to that point. True, it was the beginning of something new, but then, a lot of stories end with new beginnings (like, say, 2001, or any story that ends with a wedding).
However, the saga was wrapped up in a pair of post-finale novels by TrekBBS members Greg Cox and David Mack.
This may be a bit vindictive, but I think the recent V reboot series had a satisfying ending in a way even though it was meant to be a cliffhanger, with the alien leader Anna successfully conquering the Earth and enslaving all the human race except a small resistance. It's satisfying largely because it was a really terrible show and nothing became its life so well as its ending, but also because, in the entire finale, the only character who showed any admirable qualities was Anna herself. The heroes acted like total idiots, pinning their hopes on a really stupid assassination plan with no backup. Whereas Anna was smart, adaptable, careful, resourceful, and courageous and poised under fire, and ultimately triumphed through the love and loyalty she won from her people. So even though she was the villain and intended to enslave/destroy/devour humanity, she was the only character in the story who seemed like she deserved to win.
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