Firefly for too soon
Heroes for too long. It was a strong concept but there’s only so many ways you can write interesting stories with it before it becomes too much
Heroes suffered from lostism. It was a great show until they completely explained it. We love making wild guesses and hate it when the truth is less exciting than what we were thinking it might be.
They also had characters that were way too overpowered and it painted them in a corner. They had to keep handicapping them.
What I heard was the writers weren’t comic book fans and didn’t know the risk of overpowered characters- they wrote themselves in a corner.
It was also designed to be an anthology show with new heroes every season.
And the first Writers Strike didn’t help at all.
And and and, the second season juggled a dozen characters, so every week was storyline roulette. An episode could be full of plot and still wind up as filler because you don’t give two shits about any of the characters getting screen time.
Can you spoil lost for me? I watched the first season but it was too much of a time sink and I just wanted them to explain it to me already
Everyone died on the plane crash, the plane actually sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Everyone who “survived” went to the Island, which was a type of purgatory. The survivors had to discover an afterlife for them all to live in. They actually find the sunk plane in the real world, and when new people arrive on the island, they remember hearing about the lost flight and the dead passengers whose bodies were found inside the plane. At one point, a couple survivors escape the island and go back to the real world, but eventually they come to find they no longer belong in the land of the living and head back. The big focal point near the end is where a nuclear-weapons-like device goes off and there’s a new storyline where the plane doesn’t crash. This new storyline is where the survivors finally found a happy afterlife to live in together. They end up reliving all the major events of the first season, and as they do, they remember their lives on the island and their relationships with each other.
I can’t truly spoil it, they treated the whole series like a fever dream. We spent the whole think collecting hints and details while they barely stayed consistent within their own canon.
There was this one scene fairly early on I think in the second season They had to leave this control center room and as the blast shields were coming down to permanently seal the room there was a giant black light drawing of the island and all kinds of glorious details of relays and switches and control centers. We froze the frame and extracted it and poured over it for weeks. They really didn’t use any of it going forward.
I’m fairly certain they just made the story up as it went along trying to throw curve balls to anyone that would guess what was going to happen.
By the time it was done there was time travel, immortal beings and the afterlife all kind of just crammed together to make sure that no one could have seen exactly what was coming.
Speaking of Lost, its parody show called Wrecked ended too soon.
Did Heroes eventually have a proper ending, or did you also abruptly stop watching as it continued to drag on?
Not sure if it ever truly ended. They had a short comeback season, and I watched it, but I can’t remember anything about it.
Seeing so many people mention Firefly gives me this warm fuzzy feeling inside.
Iunno. I’m feeling empty about it. Vindicated but empty.
Too soon:
The Expanse
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Babylon 5: CrusadeI ferl you on The Expanse but I don’t think anyone would have liked it if they’d adapted the last 2 books.
Because of the time jump everyone’s middle aged and interested in meetings and things, Amos isn’t himself, and people that fans of the show were wondering about (eg Naomi’s son Filip) are just not in it, neither is Avasarala.
They could’ve made the time jump a bit shorter, it would still work I think. What I don’t understand though is why they made time for the Strange Dogs story when they knew the series wouldn’t continue… (I want to believe!)
Iirc, the creators said they included that specifically because they were optimistic of continuing the series some day down the road.
The book also mentions that everyone takes therapies to extend their lifespan, so they don’t HAVE to look 30 years older. I’m holding out hope that they wait 5-10 years and adapt the rest of the books, letting the actors look just a bit older, and keeping the full 30 year jump.
And Avasarala was understandably a lot older. So they would have had to get another actress (blasphemy) or do some weird attempt to make her look very old.
Great books and I highly recommend them. I felt it was a good and proper ending to the series
As involved with the show as the authors were, I could easily see them changing things if and when the show ever comes back. They and the cast have said that they are open to returning to it some day. I could easily see Amazon or another streamer giving it a limited series run, but it needs to cool off a bit.
Yeah it could work well if they are older.
Props for a Crusade mention. 100%
I LOVED the Dark Crystal show! The writing, paving, cliffhangers, characters, effects… I was blown away.
I need to watch it again now.
ended too soon, or went on too long
Arrested Development satisfies both of these
Show needed a season 4. Just not that one.
So does Futurama
I haven’t watched the Hulu reboot so I can’t be certain but this feels a bit like sacrilege. Every other Futurama revival has been excellent, so I’d be surprised if the latest one isn’t also great.
There were a few poor episodes but some of them felt like classic Futurama. And the season finale went out with a bang. The season is worth it. Only issue might be Billy West’s aging voice.
I think Brooklyn 99 went on for too long. It started super strong. Whacky funny detective BUT he’s also really good at his job.
When i stopped watching it was nothing but whacky. I liked chelsea perettis character in the beginning and then i think she got pregnant or something and after that she was just that omnipotent annoying character who would lise her job every day of the week.Fyi no h in ‘wacky’ unless he’s beating people :)
After Gina leaves it gets a lot more serious. In the final season Rosa has left the force and become a PI over the George Floyd incident. Jake undergoes an arc about internalizing the fact that this doesn’t mean Rosa hates him or thinks he’s a bad person.
For me the show ends when Gina leaves the station. Most shows go way downhill as soon as a main character has a child
The final season was a disappointment for me. It’s just Jake relieving all the best moments and for me failed in the execution.
Too long: The Walking Dead, Money Heist
Too soon: Firefly, Extracurricular
Mind hunter ended way too soon
Good shout!
Too soon: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
My list:
Too soon:
- The OA
- Firefly
- Caprica (it was just starting to get interesting)
- Stargate Universe
- Jericho
- Altered Carbon
Too long:
- Game of thrones
- Dexter
- Lost
- Arrested development (they made a huge mistake bringing it back)
Altered Carbon season 1 was absolutely amazing. Everything from the cyberpunk aesthetic to Joel Kinnaman’s acting was a joy to behold. The story in season 2 was good but Anthony Mackie killed it for me … In a bad way.
Mackie is just such a limited actor. Why does he continue to get cast in movies?
Yeah I didn’t rate him at all either, and it definitely started off a lot slower, but by the end I was properly into the story of season 2. It’s a really shame as like you said season 1 was incredible, they just didn’t have the same budget for S2. I would have liked to see more as we would have had a different actor and it never really got finished.
I am still mad that SGU didn’t even get a sign-off movie on SyFy. That franchise was a massive property for that network, and the moment one of them faltered in the ratings they just dropped it like it was diseased. Those characters deserved better.
I recommend watching the redited version of arrested development. It’s slightly better and the characters feel less isolated.
The Office (US) could have ended with the proposal in the rain.
It probably should have ended with the wedding in Niagara.
It definitely should have ended when Michael left. Don’t give me your Robert California bullshit either. The series was already on fumes and the last two seasons were garbage.
Unpopular (somehow) opinion incoming. I watched The Office because people talked about it so much and I loved Parks and Rec which I often heard it compared to. And while I found it nowhere near as good as Parks and Rec, I still enjoyed most of it. My least favorite part of the show, however, was Michael Scott. I love Steve Carell in almost everything I’ve seen him in, but Michael Scott was just such an annoying cringy asshole. I was super glad when he left. He’s easily one of my most disliked characters in all of media.
That really is an unpopular opinion so I respect you for sharing it. I think it might miss the mark a little bit. The point of Michael Scott is that he is the idiot boss, he is supposed to be a cringy asshole, and a way for the rest of the cast to have something in common with the audience (everyone has had a crappy boss). Essentially an American equivalent of the UK’s David Brent.
In season 2, they had to rework his character into not quite a lovable idiot but someone who was promoted above their competence level. The show couldn’t work with American audiences otherwise. You still aren’t supposed to root for him as much as feel bad for him. Then they replaced him with completely irredeemable and unlikable characters. The Office without Michael was like what Parks and Rec would be without Ron.
I was going to say the exact same thing. The wedding was the perfect ending and Michael leaving would have been the last chance of closing the book. The influx of new characters made the show so chaotic and story lines were boring as hell. Nellie was hands down the absolute worst character in any TV show I have ever seen.
“so she’s basically just here to be the official shit stirrer. She has no character, no dreams or hopes, she is not relatable at all, she’s basically just here to cause conflict because we can’t think of anything better”
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I’m torn on Better off Ted. Obviously it was too soon. But we got a near perfect 2 seasons forever unblemished by time. Bittersweet
Once Upon a Time definitely went on too long.
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I was pleasantly surprised at how good Our Flag Means Death turned out to be. I heard they were considering continuing with other characters as the main focus, but waititi thought the blackbeard and stede bonnet story was finished.
The last season of Scrubs doesn’t exist and don’t you dare try to convince me otherwise.
Too soon: dirk gently’s holistic detective agency.
Not 100 percent sure. Season 02 was weaker than 01.
Definitely, and both were very… different from the books.
It was, but I feel like they could have learned from their mistakes.
I really like both of them. Pacing is maybe a bit weaker, but the worlds building is wonderful, character development is great, I really wanted to know what was next.
