Satisfying Cancelled Show Endings

[Harvey]

Firefly (which, arguably, had a more satisfying conclusion on television than on the big screen).

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.

You're right about the original airdate order; I should have said "video" rather than "television." I think "Objects at Rest" is a better finale than Serenity.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Firefly (which, arguably, had a more satisfying conclusion on television than on the big screen).

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.

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Anwar]

The 2009 V show had a believable ending.

Aliens invade Earth, and humanity loses.

Which is really how it'd go.

 

[Dick Whitman]

What Freaks and Geeks did was brilliant. They were concerned that the show would be cancelled and the episode count would be cut. So they wrote and filmed their finale and than made 4 more episodes which took place before it. Than show was was cancelled and the ordered shortened but they already had the ending they wanted ready.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I would included Quantum Leap. It's appears many fans at the time, or maybe even now, do not know it was filmed as a cliffhanger. The end card about Sam never returning home was tacked on at the last minute.

Imagine if it said Sam HAD returned but we never saw it? I think that would have been much more frustrating. As it was we had a show that reflected on the shows history and has Sam question why he is traveling in time. I don't think those questions could ever have been answered to anyones satisfaction. So we are left with why he leaps remaining a mystery. Plus knowing is is still out there putting right what once when wrong.

The big complaint is the word NEVER returned home. But the other part is about Al and his wife Beth celebrating their 40th Anniversary. Which implies at time in the future the episode ends. Meaning he has not returned YET. That small word change would have made a huge difference in perceptions of that episode. Also that writing was rushed, Sam's last name is spelled wrong, it's Becket not the correct Beckett. I blame that on NBC.

 

[Dick Whitman]

It's interesting that Mad Men's creator Mathew Weiner has said he treats each season finale as and last episode of the series. Early on to prevent the show ending on a bad note. But even now that the show has its 7th season planned as the last, the 6th still did the same. It allows each season to feel like a completed chapter.

 

[CmdrAJD]

I'm not sure if this counts, since the episode never actually aired on FOX, but I found the ending of Wonderfalls to be very satisfying. I'm not sure when it was filmed in relation to when the show actually started airing on FOX, but they must have known they were doomed in time to wrap things up.

 

[E-DUB]

4400. They could have gone on, but I was cool with where it ended. The genie was out of the bottle.

 

[DevilEyes]

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).

So a complete lack of a conclusion counts as a "satisfying conclusion"?

Firefly (which, arguably, had a more satisfying conclusion on television than on the big screen).

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.

You're right about the original airdate order; I should have said "video" rather than "television." I think "Objects at Rest" is a better finale than Serenity.

Objects in Space was never planned as a series finale and it doesn't resolve anything at all. Joss Whedon himself mentioned that every season finale of Buffy and Angel was planned as a possible series finale, in case the show gets cancelled - but the one time he didn't plan for it and didn't make a season finale that could serve as a series finale was Firefly - and then it did get cancelled.

You may dislike what happened in Serenity (I don't) and wish the series had remained without a conclusion. But the fact remains that the series never got a conclusion on TV. It's not a question of "which conclusion is better" because one of those is a conclusion, the other is not.

 

[YJAGG]

Highlander - they had the movie
Newheart- best ending EVER!

 

[Ayelbourne]

Rome had a nice send off as well.

 

[ToddKent]

Green Lantern: TAS had a nice ending

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I thought Carnivàle had a very satisfying ending despite it's open-ended conclusion, which was a natural result of the first two season intended be the first of three chapters. Sure, we don't get answers like "Did Jonesy survive?" or "How will Brother Justin and Ben recover and face-off again?" but what otherwise, the show had a clear beginning, middle, and end in the first two seasons, which is probably why HBO was fine with cancelling it. Daniel Knauf has since mentioned in interviews (including one this year at A.V. Club) about the different character fates and how the show would have progressed in general.

Likewise, I think Deadwood had a natural conclusion after three seasons despite leaving things hanging with George Hearst. Besides, we wouldn't have been able to see Hearst get his proper comeuppance consider he lived for many more years and served as a U.S. senator.

Lastly, I think Rome had a solid conclusion after just two seasons, although the show did get some forewarning, hence the fast-tracked timeline in the second half of the season.

 

[kirk55555]

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!

Honestly, I liked RDA a lot in Stargate, but I also liked Ben Bowder as Colonel Mitchell and really liked Claudia Black as Vala in the later seasons of Stargate.

As for the topic of this thread, I just finished watching Dollhouse, and I think it ended well. I would have loved more seasons, but they were able to tie it up nicely. Firefly getting a movie was a nice ending, but it still had so much it could have done that, while I really like serenity, I can't say the series ended well, just because I think it could have gone on to even more greatness than the show already reached. That doesn't take away from Serenity (it was awesome) but I just can't say a show that ended unfairly early, and with a lot of stuff left to do, ended well. The actualy ending was great, but as a franchise it deserved better.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Would have to say Being Erica. Only 4 seasons, but the final episode wrapped things up nicely and satisfyingly and came around full-circle to how the show began.

 

[JD]

I was pretty happy with these endings:
Eureka
Merlin
DS9 (although it did continue in novels)
Voyager (continued in novels)
Dollhouse (it continued in comics)
Buffy (continued in comics)
Angel (continued in comics)
Farscape: PK Wars (continued in comics)
Smallville (continued in comics)
I think Sanctuary ended in a way that was pretty good, but I would gladly watch or read a continuation of the story
Babylon 5
The 4400 (continued in novels)

 

[Sindatur]

I was pretty happy with these endings:
Eureka
Merlin
DS9 (although it did continue in novels)
Voyager (continued in novels)
Dollhouse (it continued in comics)
Buffy (continued in comics)
Angel (continued in comics)
Farscape: PK Wars (continued in comics)
Smallville (continued in comics)
I think Sanctuary ended in a way that was pretty good, but I would gladly watch or read a continuation of the story
Babylon 5
The 4400 (continued in novels)

DS9 and Babylon 5 and Voyager didn't get cancelled early. B5 was always planned as a 5 year story arc, and in fact, TNT wanted another season, and the actors were also interested in another season.

VOY and DS9, I don't think there was ever plans to go beyond the 7 years that TNG lasted for, was there?

 

[JD]

Oh, I forgot that this was shows that ended early, I was just thinking of good endings.

 

[Sindatur]

Oh, I forgot that this was shows that ended early, I was just thinking of good endings.

NP, I just wanted to make it clear why I didn't champion my two favorite TV shows of all time, myself (Babylon 5 and DS9)

 

[stj]

4400. They could have gone on, but I was cool with where it ended. The genie was out of the bottle.

The genie was not out of the bottle. The discovery of ubiquinone means that the government now has a way to prevent the spread of promicin, while permitting the creation of promicin-powered soldiers safely. The stakes were ratcheted up, yes, but the conclusion left completely in air. Also, we still had no information whatsoever on whether Jordan was right, or about how the timeline could be altered.

Now and Again had a definitive and logically satisfying conclusion, which is that the hero and his family were all captured and killed offscreen, by the Dennis Haysbert character, who was carefully portrayed as murderous.

Alphas also had a finale which can clearly be read as conclusively finished by the deaths of the majority of the cast. As I recall, only autistic Gary survived. Naturally, he would be returned to prison without Rosen's custody. This too is logically satisfying. It is survival of the characters that would be a stretch.

PS As noted above, Sanctuary had a very well-done open ending. Wish it had gone on.