Unresolved Shows

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This is an old one, but:

Otherworld.

 

[Siwilliams]

no idea.

I am assuming so, look at Return Of The Pink Panther, different distributor so it is not with the other Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies box set

 

[nevermore]

The two cliff-hanger endings that really still piss me off are Twin Peaks and Earth 2.

The two that needed to be allowed to finish out the arcs were Pretender (one more movie would have done it, assuming of course that the goddamned showrunners would actually resolve anything) and Carnivale, which I think needed to be given the time to finish out the "book". I mean, yes, the first chapter ended, but fuck, who wants to just read the first chapter?!

 

[Sakrysta]

Journeyman
Firefly
Earth 2
Now and Again
John Doe
New Amsterdam
Earth: Final Conflict (How could they leave Boone's fate unresolved?!?! *is living in denial of any rumors of post-season-1 episodes* )

 

[Siwilliams]

The two that needed to be allowed to finish out the arcs were Pretender (one more movie would have done it, assuming of course that the goddamned showrunners would actually resolve anything) :

I think they would have needed two more tv movies, in order not to rush through things, especially with the ending to the second Pretender tv movie.

 

[Christopher]

Still allowing 8 episodes allows them more time to do more things they were most likely going to do in the movie, though I think the movie was going to be set in the future from the last episode

Actually the movie was going to be a reboot, starting the story over again at the beginning -- using the same cast, but retelling the origin in a new way (as with the Red Dwarf novels and the various alternate versions of Hitchhiker's Guide).

"The incredible Hulk"

There were three made-for-TV movies in the late eighties, starring Bixby and Ferrigno, which resolved things with the death of the character, but these are almost universally considered non-canonical because of their poor quality and radical departure from the original series format. On the recent DVD release for the original series, Ken Johnson and all of the original TIH production staff all lament the unresolved fate of the show in retrospective interviews, while all ignore the reunion movies as if they didn't exist. That's pretty much the stance taken by fans, too.

I can understand that, but I kinda liked the first couple of movies. The first one was implausible in that it brought in Thor as a guest star, and that blatant use of magic didn't fit well with the Bixby TIH universe, but it was written and directed by TIH writer/producer Nicholas Corea, so it was fairly well-done and kind of fun despite the absurdity of the premise. And the actor who played Thor was surprisingly good. So I'm happy to disregard it as non-canonical, but it's still entertaining.

And The Trial of the Incredible Hulk may have been more of a Daredevil pilot than a Hulk story, but I thought it was pretty good and much more grounded and believable than the Thor movie. I have no trouble accepting it in canon. After all, in the original series, they had one episode that did the exact same thing, focusing on a guest character (the martial-arts expert played by Rick Springfield) as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff. And Daredevil's radiation-enhanced senses are considerably less absurd than Banner's transformation into a big green monster who has several times his mass (violating a fundamental law of physics) but whose pants still fit.

The third movie, though, The Death of the Incredible Hulk -- scrap it. Never happened. In my view, David eventually found a conclusive cure, and McGee found out who he was, but chose to give up his story and his fame and vindication and instead help him get his cure at last. So they were both saved. And the one-armed man paid for his -- oops, wrong finale.

 

[tomalak301]

Quantum Leap

I do miss that show sometimes, but it was the first one I thought of when I saw the title.

 

[Siwilliams]

Still allowing 8 episodes allows them more time to do more things they were most likely going to do in the movie, though I think the movie was going to be set in the future from the last episode

Actually the movie was going to be a reboot, starting the story over again at the beginning -- using the same cast, but retelling the origin in a new way (as with the Red Dwarf novels and the various alternate versions of Hitchhiker's Guide).

I am really glad it did not happen then

 

[Christopher]

Actually the movie was going to be a reboot, starting the story over again at the beginning -- using the same cast, but retelling the origin in a new way (as with the Red Dwarf novels and the various alternate versions of Hitchhiker's Guide).

I am really glad it did not happen then

Why? There's nothing wrong with seeing the same story told in different ways. The Red Dwarf novels by Grant & Naylor offer a variant take on events of several episodes, and it's quite interesting to see the alternative approach. (In fact, one episode, the one where Lister played pool with planets, was adapted from original material from the second book.) And the various versions of Hitchhiker's are all different tellings of the same story (rather, they're pretty much identical up through Magrathea and then go off in all different directions), and there was nothing bad about that.

People these days get far too caught up in continuity and consistency, wanting everything to fit together. But there's value in exploring variations on a theme.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I don't necessarily agree about Firefly, while I would have loved more, I thought it ended on a good note cementing River's place in the crew.

I'll throw Surface in the mix, it ended with the heroes flooded and with giant sea creatures and....

 

[Siwilliams]

Actually the movie was going to be a reboot, starting the story over again at the beginning -- using the same cast, but retelling the origin in a new way (as with the Red Dwarf novels and the various alternate versions of Hitchhiker's Guide).

I am really glad it did not happen then

Why? There's nothing wrong with seeing the same story told in different ways. The Red Dwarf novels by Grant & Naylor offer a variant take on events of several episodes, and it's quite interesting to see the alternative approach. (In fact, one episode, the one where Lister played pool with planets, was adapted from original material from the second book.) And the various versions of Hitchhiker's are all different tellings of the same story (rather, they're pretty much identical up through Magrathea and then go off in all different directions), and there was nothing bad about that.

People these days get far too caught up in continuity and consistency, wanting everything to fit together. But there's value in exploring variations on a theme.

I guess I am sick of these reboots and remakes, that something original would be nice, and I am sure there are new original Red Dwarf stories that can be told and filmed for a movie and two more full seasons.

 

[ALF]

Oh, I forgot Alf!!
He gets abducted by the Alien Task Force in the finale.
And it that weren't a kick in the nuts, in the made-for-tv (piece of crap movie) he ends up AGAIN in the custody by the Alien Task Force. So basically, he can't win. And there were no Tanners around in the film, for some stupid reason. Probably because Willie Tanner was too busy smoking crack with gay prostitutes.
Actually, it's pretty dark, considering the comedic nature of the show.
Actually... it's kind of perfect! It's a nice balance. Max Wright (who played Willie Tanner, and by coincidence has the same name as the man who created SimCity) seemed to truly go off the deep end because of the stress of working on a show such as Alf (the ridiculous slapstick and kiddie humor). Sometimes I think that his decent into self loathing and drugs and sex was actually caused by the stress of living with a cat eating Alien from Melmac.

 

[Chris3123]

Sliders.

Rembrandt jumps into an unstable vortex as an attempt to return home and save the world. We'll likely never know what happened to Remmy after that vortex sputtered out and closed.

I was going to mention Sliders myself. I hated that "finale" for that reason. I was with the show from the very beginning all the way to the end, and they end it like that?

John Doe

Talk about leaving everyone hanging after dropping a hugh twist.

After the cancellation, the guys behind the show explained what John was, and how they would have continued the show. Click if you want to know

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Max Wright (who played Willie Tanner, and by coincidence has the same name as the man who created SimCity)

The same last name as Will Wright anyway...

 

[stoneroses]

The Prisoner
The Tripods (thanks to michael grade)
Lost In Space

 

[Siwilliams]

New Amsterdam is another one

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Odyssey 5. Horrible cliffhanger of an ending. Angela gets kidnapped. Sarah's husband comes crawling back. The evil NASA people turn out to not be evil but now think that Taggart's crew is allied with the evil aliens. And we still don't have a real fucking clue about who destroyed the Earth! (However, since 2007 came & went and we're still here, I just wanna say, way to go, Chuck Taggart & crew!)

Tru Calling was cancelled just as it was really starting to get interesting. The battle between Tru Davies & Jack Harper remains unresolved.

I don't see how Threshold could've gone on unless it turned into a post-apocalyptic alien occupation war. After only a few episodes, it was clear the threat was completely out of their grasp with everything the aliens could do.

The idea was to radically change the show every season, including the title - Threshold would become Foothold and then in season three it would become Stranglehold. See more on Wikipedia here.

Change the title every season? I like that idea. I wish they had done that.

I should add Darkwing Duck

Why? What happened at the end of that?

I guess I am sick of these reboots and remakes, that something original would be nice, and I am sure there are new original Red Dwarf stories that can be told and filmed for a movie and two more full seasons.

I'm kinda with you there. I was never too interested in a movie that just retold the origin story. I actually had this idea in my head for a movie where they make it back to Earth and find Earth overrun with cat-people (starring Patrick Stewart as the king of the cat-people!).

I'm looking forward to the new specials. I'm bummed that they're not getting a full season. But I always kinda felt that "Only the Good" was a pretty good ending anyway. (Now, if they had gone with one of the previous endings they planned where Rimmer gets rescued by Ace Rimmer at the last minute, THAT would have DEMANDED a Series IX.)

Truth be told, the person most responsible for us never getting a proper Series IX is Doug Naylor. Had he not frittered all of his time away working on this pipe dream of a movie, he could have struck while the iron was still hot & the BBC was still very, very interested.

 

[Siwilliams]

I should add Darkwing Duck

Why? What happened at the end of that?

In the episode of Darkwing Duck, the episode "Steerminator" ends with a cliffhanger, which was intended to be resolved two seasons later, but the show was canceled before production of next season.

I guess I am sick of these reboots and remakes, that something original would be nice, and I am sure there are new original Red Dwarf stories that can be told and filmed for a movie and two more full seasons.

I'm kinda with you there. I was never too interested in a movie that just retold the origin story. I actually had this idea in my head for a movie where they make it back to Earth and find Earth overrun with cat-people (starring Patrick Stewart as the king of the cat-people!).

I'm looking forward to the new specials. I'm bummed that they're not getting a full season. But I always kinda felt that "Only the Good" was a pretty good ending anyway. (Now, if they had gone with one of the previous endings they planned where Rimmer gets rescued by Ace Rimmer at the last minute, THAT would have DEMANDED a Series IX.)

Truth be told, the person most responsible for us never getting a proper Series IX is Doug Naylor. Had he not frittered all of his time away working on this pipe dream of a movie, he could have struck while the iron was still hot & the BBC was still very, very interested.

I hope it is not too late to change the specials to two half hour specials and a whole season of 8 or maybe 10 episodes

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Dark Skies and S:AAB definitely and Red Dwarf.

Dark Skies : The last ep I saw Charles Manson was an Alien, who knew??

and that show intrduced me to Jeri Ryan.

 

[Siwilliams]

Dark Skies and S:AAB definitely and Red Dwarf.

Dark Skies

and that show intrduced me to Jeri Ryan.

Wasn't she also in The Sentinel tv series?