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RSSTime to say buh-bye . . . Shows that over stay their welcome
So FOX announced this week that there is going to be a fourth season of Prison Break.
Yeah, I think we all know how I feel about that.
Because I so enjoyed the first season of the show, I'm not going to say too much more. However the pick up of Prison Break for another round (this time the series will film in Los Angeles and Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell have both signed on) got me to thinking about other shows that were past their prime but kept on airing.
Just like there are shows that are gone too soon, there are shows that overstay their welcome. Once popular shows that hang on just a little too long and go out with a whimper (raise your hand if you were still watching Ally McBeal when it ended) instead of a big brouhaha bang (the final episode of Seinfeld).
My top three picks of shows that should have ended before they did:
Melrose Place: Melrose Place was the first show I officially broke up with. Once most of the original residents had moved out the apartment complex it just wasn't the same. And I decided that I wanted to remember the days of Amanda threatening Allison and Sydney plotting to steal her sister's husband in all its glory and not be constantly reminded that the show had become a shadow of its former self.
The X-Files: See I kind of have a rule. If you have basically a two-character drama and one of those characters decides to leave, I think that's a sign it's time to cancel your show. As much as I actually enjoyed Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish, more often than not it seemed like I was watching a completely different show. And even though I loved the fact that the final scene was Mulder and Scully together, I still think the show lasted one season too long.
Roseanne: In its heyday, Roseanne was simultaneously hilarious and a biting social commentary. The rare sitcom that could handle comedy and drama with the same skill. It's why to this day I watch everything Sarah Gilbert is in (yes even Twins). But once the family won the lottery and Dan moved to California, everything I loved about the show faded away. Like Bobby Ewing, I decided the final season of Roseanne was merely a dream.
What shows do you think overstayed their welcome? Talk about it below.
The Mother of All Possibilities
Kids, are they just messing with us? What can we make of Stella (Sarah Chalke) saying to Ted "I've been to one party in the past year. St. Paddy's Day. It was awful. I left early" on How I Met Your Mother? I'm kind of getting the feeling that every week the show runners may throw a new possibility at us. Chalke was delightful (and did a great job of creating a character distinctly different from Elliot on Scrubs) and I love the idea that she could be Ted's future wife and that the "your mother" could also refer to how Ted met the mother of a child he was the step-parent to. It's a great plot twist. And we don't know the kids' names, do we? They are only listed son and daughter in the official CBS press releases. The daughter could be Stella's daughter.
I'm loving this apparently new direction of constantly providing viewers with mother possibilities. Are you? Also, Britney Spears gave the show its best ratings ever and I found her appearance to be just fine. She definitely was not a distraction and was rather charming. What did you think of Spears' guest star appearance? How about all the mother possibilities that have come up lately? Talk about it below.
Where Have I Seen Them Before?
James Remar was Arvin Solinsky, the mogul tearing down an apartment complex on Eli Stone. Remar is Harry Morgan on Dexter, Jonah on Jericho and I'll always remember him as the dastardly Richard Wright on Sex and the City.
Matt DeCaro is Judge Salese on Eli Stone. DeCaro was Roy Geary on Prison Break and we saw him on an episode of House earlier this season.
Nanny Carrie is stirring up trouble all over the place. Angela and Ed recognized Torrey DeVitto, who kidnapped Jamie on the 100th episode of One Tree Hill, was the stripper the bullet was meant for on CSI: Miami. She was also Karen on Beautiful People.
Lewis recognized Ken Marino as the sports agent on CSI: Miami. Marino was Vinnie Van Lowe on Veronica Mars, Professor David Wilder on Dawson's Creek and Andy on Leap of Faith.
That was Anastasia Griffith as the wife of the hockey player who was interested in Victory on Lipstick Jungle. We recently saw Griffith as the teacher who killed her student on New Amsterdam and she was Katie on Damages.
Diane was the first to remind me that Vanessa Marano, Luke's daughter April on Gilmore Girls, was the girl who wore the same dress to the prom as Becky on Miss Guided. Marano was also Jack's daughter Hanna on Without a Trace.
That's all for today. I'll be back on Friday with quotes of the week and a review of the second season premiere of The Tudors. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week or a topic for discussion? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com.
Amy Amatangelo, TV Gal ®
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Goin' for first. But I'll give you some substance and take my chances.
My vote for a show that overstayed its welcome: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show was genius through season 5, but once Joss Whedon became distracted with other projects, Buffy suffered, particularly in Season 7. Season 6 brought us "Once More With Feeling" and "Tabula Rasa" and Season 7 gave us the terrific Anya-centric episode, but those two season were otherwise regrettable.
"I decided the final season of Roseanne was merely a dream."
It wasn't actually a "dream" per se, but according to the series finale the final season was Roseanne Connor's fictional account of what happened because Dan had actually died. It was an interesting twist that in hindsight somewhat redeemed the final season.
Hmm, I guessed from the title that it would be a response to Prison Break - but I still don't agree. I think the show has plenty of steam left; and though I'm not surprised to see it get another season, I'm still really, really glad it did.
I agree about the X-Files, though; I tend to just pretend that it only had seven seasons, as it makes me like the series better that way.
Um, ER. Seriously, is that show still on television? And does anyone care anymore? It's not even a shadow of what it used to be, and I'm appalled (though not surprised) NBC kept it around this long.
And I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but American Idol. I realize it's the highest rated show on television, but I still wish it would go away.
MASH
by the time it was over the young funny doctors were not so young.
LA Law
Once Mike Kusck left the firm it was over they had a few good moments but it was done.
Friends
25 hanging out in the coffee shop is one thing 35 and it is time to get a real job.
MASH
by the time it was over the young funny doctors were not so young.
LA Law
Once Mike Kusck left the firm it was over they had a few good moments but it was done.
Friends
25 hanging out in the coffee shop is one thing 35 and it is time to get a real job.
Regarding HIMYM, the bouncer at the St Patty's bar remarked that it was full of women that night, so they can work the angle Amy wonders about for a long time.
E.R.
Seriously, will this show never die...?
A show that should have ended before it did? 7th Heaven.
I tend to stick with shows until the bitter end but I had to give up on Ally McBeal because it was getting too silly.
Sigh, I miss Mulder and Scully.
I watched the first couple of episodes of Prison Break this year but really didn't enjoy the whole Sona backdrop so I gave it up when I was having trouble keeping up with all my shows. I still have them all on my PVR - I don't care enough to watch them but can't seem to delete them. What should I do? Did the show get better after the first couple of episodes?
I agree about Prison Break. I gave up at the beginning of this season. I watched the season finale and it was absolutely absurd.
I also feel that way about all the crappy traditional sitcoms, especially on CBS. Who watches those? Nobody I know.
I disagree about ER though. I love it (almost) as much as I did in the beginning. It's still a great show, although last season's finale was a disappointment.
Re: HIMYM-- I also was pleasantly surprised with Britney's guest spot. It was a small enough role and it didn't typecast her. She seems like such a mess lately, but to me at least, this gave her a bit of credibility for once. Oh, and I would LOVE to see Sarah Chalke become a new cast member when Scrubs ends.