Where the fuck is the sense of propriety?
It's been a while since I did one of these. Let's see if I can get the tone correctly: What the fuck is wrong with these people? There, that sounds about right. Now before you stop reading, this isn't a rant about why shows get cancelled. I know why: MONEY!
Yes, naive reader viewing this, the making of television and films is not primarily to entertain you...it's about money. Deep down we all know it. If it was primarily about entertaining the fans of whatever, then we'd have shit like Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. We wouldn't have have networks and productions studios having a pissing contest every other week about who owns what or what characters are part of what universe.
And I can accept this!
Yes, I can accept that if something doesn't make the desired amount of money - AXE IT! I might not like it, but tough shit. The world revolves around money and I get that. What I don't get is the poor fucking sense of timing companies have when they axe their shows. They seem fine ending things on some bullshitty cliffhanger for all of eternity. Because to them it's about money. What I don't get is don't they have some sort of schedule or communication with the shows they're screwing?
Think back to Alphas for example. It had a shitty cliffhanger in 2012 that we just despised. Even better, remember Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood? They could've ended Miracle Day on a neutral note, but they just had to pull a cliffhanger and set up the next season. Only the next season never happened! Torchwood's in limbo since 2011 and who knows when/if it'll come back. It seems there are plans to do more Torchwood, but nothing official.
One of the latest victim is Perception, which is coming back next week with five episodes. Late last year the show was cancelled with the cast reporting that the season 3 finale would end on a cliffhanger. Seriously?
This is fucking bulls**t! You couldn't have told Perception it was being cancelled before they started shooting the last five episodes? I mean, that way, the scripts could've been reworked and we might get a happy ending after all these years of supporting the show.
Why the hell this happens is beyond me? I mean I refuse to believe the decision to axe something comes out of thin air. This is the kind of thing that requires long term attention in order to be thorough. You don't just give Bob Whatshisname the 'Cancelled' stamp and send the crew the Letter of Who Cares, We're Cancelling This.
This seems to have happened to Showcase's Continuum as well with Season 4 confirmed to be less than half of it's original size and final season overall. Again, you could've given the head writers the word while Season 3 was being filmed. Now you have the responsibility to tie up the numerous plot points in only SIX freaking episodes and expect them to succeed. And it's not just these shows or networks. Whenever the decision to axe something, it always seems to come out of nowhere and at the most incongruous time. If a series production can be planned out months in advance, why not it's cancellation. We fans follow these shows and expect a little closure if we have to say goodbye to our favorite shows. If cancellation is the only way, and if the networks aren't prepared to spend extra money on filming a proper 'goodbye' epilogue episode, the least they can do is deliver the news on time so whatever show is getting the sack can at least rework the last episode's budget to say a proper goodbye.
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