Show Stopper

I did it! Last night I finally finished watching Battlestar Galactica. After catching quite a bit of condemnation from my friends for never seeing it, I decided to have it accompany me during my many, many long hours spent painting these past few weeks.

Overall, the show has landed in my top 5 TV series of all time. I'm usually not a fan of sci-fi, but BSG did something very different. Rather than being hellbent on making up technology and making the show all about "the future," it instead focused on characters. I got to watch as people rose above their fear and became three dimensional characters that I loved or hated. While I was sad to see the series end, it definitely ended before it had overstayed its welcome.

It's always difficult to see a good show end. On one hand, you've seen it to completion. Most mysteries are answered, people live happily ever after, and whatever the struggle was is finally ended. On the other hand, of course, it also means that you don't get anything new from that show outside of a spinoff or a straight-to-DVD special.

As I said, sometimes a show has overstayed its welcome and it's time to just end it. I still remember the relief of learning that Heroes was finally ending. The show's premise was fantastic, but the writers quickly lost control of it and ran the story in to the ground. My wife and I stuck with it because we'd come this far, and we kept hoping the writers would regain control.

For anyone closer to 30 than 20, you might remember the show Dinosaurs (Not the mama!). The show was basically about a blue collar dinosaur and his family just living their lives. I stopped tuning in toward the end, but I still remember how haunting the ending was. Basically, Dino-dad was put in charge of the world, made some bad choices, and triggered the ice age (or something). I've wanted to watch a few episodes for nostalgia's sake, but knowing that the baby is going to freeze to death in the end always stops me.

Then you have classics like The Mary Tyler Moore Show or The Brady Bunch. I used to be crazy about Nick At Nite, so I got to see a lot of series end. When these shows ended, there was no hidden agenda that forever colors the show, no hasty work to tie up loose ends. The shows themselves were simple, and their endings were a mixture of sadness with a tinge of hope. Everyone always looks to the horizon, knowing that somehow, some way, they'll end up in a good place.

Then, of course, there are shows that wind up for an ending, then just keep going. I'm a big fan of the show Scrubs, and after a very emotional series finale they decided to give it one more go-around with a new main cast supported by members of the original show. More recently, my wife and I decided to stop watching The Vampire Diaries (stop laughing). The show should have ended on its final episode. The first 40 of 44 minutes had every indication that we were saying farewell to the show and closing things up. Then at the very end they say "Psych! Here's a horrible plot twist to force one more season!" After the season finale, we just decided to pretend we didn't see the last few minutes.

Overall though, I'd much rather see a series end than watch it drag on in to obscurity. I have a load of shows I've yet to finish because I just couldn't take sitting through more mediocrity starring characters I used to enjoy.


See you tomorrow!

Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways! This month's giveawayis for a hand-made dice bag from Greyed Out Productions!

[Whew, made it through that whole thing without ranting about Battlestar Galactica's ending!]