OCDs End TV Shows the Right Way

By Jenni Hammitt

September 1, 2009

monk

In a world where the announced “final season” of a television show may not actually be the last season and where shows linger much longer than they need, shows that end gracefully are a breath of fresh air.

Law & Order has been around for ages. Honestly I liked the shows and enjoyed the spin offs, but it is past its prime. I know I am going to catch flack for this, but Battlestar Galactica
and ER kept promising us they would go away, but some how they came back season after season. They deviated from their original core, story lines became repetitive, over dramatic and over done. New cast members were brought on, but some were more stunts than anything.

What ever happened to the good old days where good shows bowed out gracefully? I get that the longer the show is on the air the long the cast and crew is employed, and the more it can make money. However, flogging the dead horse and dragging the show out season after season. Once a show has run it’s course, let it end on a high note. Don’t keep bringing it back so the ratings can sag, people can lose interest and becomes parody of its former glory.

In this regard, I have to applaud the show Monk. It is a fun and quirky show on USA. While it isn’t one of my “must watch shows” I have a healthy respect for the OCD private detective and the show they have created around him. His ratings aren’t nose diving. They aren’t adding to the cast. They are letting the show end with this season.

This will be the show’s eighth season, and I am glad they are choosing to let it go out on top instead of putting the die hard fans through seasons of bad writing, overdone story lines and regret. When they remember their show they will remember all the things they like about it. Their memories won’t be plagued by the disappointing final years.

I guess the thing that cracks me up is the same networks that will cancel good shows without giving them a fair shot, will let shows in the last stages of life linger for seasons. I know it is all about money, but both can result in poor ratings and low revenue. I’m just saying, if Law and Order (the original) comes back next season…expect a lengthy blog from me.