TV Series: The Newest Endangered Species

What happened to good old TV series? As this decade nears its end, we see Networks regurgitating an endless amount of new shows each season. But by the time you start remembering the characters names and caring about the plot, your show vanishes off air, and in due time remains only as a figment of your imagination.

It's somewhat understandable that pilots, which are created to test viewer responses, come and go. Nevertheless, there is nothing more frustrating to the fans, than a show that passes the piloting tests, gets picked up, airs a dozen episodes and then leaves things off with a major cliff-hanger.

So who is to blame for these unfortunate outcomes? To get to heart of the matter we first need to examine what's essential to a show's survival. In order to get renewed the networks expect great critic reviews as well as important viewer ratings from the show. What's more, the time slot in which the show has been placed plays a major factor in its success.

It seems to me that if a show has a great initial fan base, which turns into a group of loyal viewers, the responsibility of maintaining its heartbeat lays in the hands of producers but even more so in the good graces of television networks. Yet these same networks don't seem to acknowledge the importance of strong fan bases and constantly ignore our pleas by severing shows prematurely.

Certain networks have actually expressed regret after the fact. The Rome Series which aired two seasons on HBO before its cancellation is a great example. 'The Original Historic Drama' was acclaimed both by viewers and critics, got multiple nominations, and actually won seven Emmy Awards. That was obviously not enough to keep the show going for its initially planned five seasons. Rome never got the chance to fulfill its full potential just as so many others. On the bright side, Bruno Heller the show's creator was reported to be working on a feature film spin off, which offers some hope to the series widowers.

Sometimes the producers actually take matters into their own hands to ensure their show's survival by moving to a different network once the original one gives them the boot. It was successfully seen in the cases of Roswell 'Sci-fi Teen Drama' that aired its first two seasons on the WB network before switching to UPN, as well as Veronica Mars 'High School Murder Mystery' which switched from UPN to the CW network. Both cases were due to high fan demands and got revived by fresh time slots.

In 2007 we witnessed a glimpse of mercy from the CBS network when they granted a second season to the formerly cancelled, yet beloved Jericho Series. 'The Post Apocalyptic Drama' created such a buzz that its fans went out of their way petitioning in order to evade cliff- hanging.

Recently however, there's been a major rise in shows getting axed in their embryonic stages despite their success among fans. Sci-fi channel's 'The Andromeda Strain' miniseries and 'The 4400', NBC's 'Bionic Woman', 'Journeyman' and recent 'My Own Worst Enemy', ABC's 'October Road', 'Samurai Girl', 'Six Degrees' and 'Dirty Sexy Money', Space channel's 'Blood Ties, FOX's 'Vanished', among others, all met their demise without any sort of resolution. In most of these cases the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, proved to be fatal to the shows, since it interfered with the initial order and processing of episodes. It was ultimately the producers and networks responsibility though, to re-instate them post strike. Naturally fans frustrations grew since they had wasted their time watching dead end programs. Ironically, the networks willingly rerun these same shows for lucrative purposes despite their unfinished business.

According to

eztv.it, there are currently 181 shows pending cancellation for the 2009 schedule. Among those we can find both newcomers and established shows that ran multiple seasons. That's why I believe that it's about time for a reform. The networks and production houses need to understand that at some point they will lose the fans. Be it today or tomorrow, what is a network without viewers? It's worthless!

There would absolutely be no point in complaining if this matter had no solutions. But there are in fact solutions that could benefit all sides. The best supporting example is the one of the 'Stargate SG-1' series, where the producers and creators of the show decided to appease fans with innovative concepts. Once it was announced that the show would not be returning after its tenth season, producers decided to tie up all lose ends by issuing two straight to DVD films. In collaboration with the network they also released a spin-off series entitled 'Stargate Atlantis'. What's more, there is a third DVD film in the works for 2009 as well as yet another spin-off entitled 'Stargate Universe'.

There are many regrettable outcomes from a show coming to its end. While some viewers have a hard time parting with their favourite characters, there is always the option of revisiting the adventures on DVD as well as memorabilia and fan sites dedicated to the show's continuum. The one factor that utterly disturbs all fans of any abruptly cancelled show is the lack of 'Closure'. When that occurs, fans get in to an uproar and have been seen going to great lengths in order to save their favourites. From petitions and fund raisers, to flyer distributions and banner displays, they surpass themselves in efforts to get the networks attention.

As mentioned above, the producers and networks have many options at their disposal which can facilitate the elimination of this issue. Sometimes the producers can opt for a different network. Other times they can act hastily once informed of a cancellation, by rewriting the endings. They can create spin-offs and produce straight to DVD films. In our day and age, the internet can also be used to release unaired episodes. It's the least they could do to show us some concern while it would benefit them without a doubt. If they believe that their current behaviour doesn't affect us, they should think twice, since their performance track record is at stake. Some fans have been reported to boycott networks for extended periods of time if not indefinitely due to a show's premature ending. After all, why would we watch the next interesting show that has replaced the one that we loved, if the same fate might await the latter?

Finally, in order to get through to the Networks the last responsibility lays with the fans. We need to express our discontent in great numbers. Otherwise it will only be a matter of time before your favourite turns into a twilight zone rerun.