AXN Beyond (aka TV Series Graveyard)
Our local cable TV company got a new channel a while back. AXN Beyond, or as I like to call it: “TV Series Graveyard”. Nothing on it but old TV series reruns. What is it with TV networks? They give you a good TV series every now and then. It hooks you in and just when you are starting to enjoy it, they ruin it by either dragging the series so long or kill it outright. Either way sucks. Dragging on a good story for too long before ending it eventually makes it boring. Ending a good story just when it was starting to pick up makes for a very disappointing finish.
I think I now understand the wisdom in Disney’s 64 episode limit. Most Disney series will end within 64 episodes or less. A few will get dragged on for 100 or more episodes but it’s rare to see a Disney show drag on for more than 3 seasons.
It goes on and on and on and on…
A great story deserves a great finish. Unfortunately, some TV network executives feel that a great story deserves to be dragged on and milked for every penny it’s worth.
24
This show had a fresh premise. Each episode is essentially “a day in the life of Jack Bauer”. What was supposed to be just a one day affair has dragged on for a “week”. I started to get bored with this show about 3 “hours” into “day 2″. Frankly I’m surprised they have been able to drag it out this long.
Lost
Survivors of a plane crash end up on a tropical island. Soon afterwards, a lot of bad and mysterious things happen to the survivors. The island itself is surrounded by mystery. There are “bunkers” all over the place. There were these “others” who sneaked into the survivors’ camp to abduct them. There was a mysterious black smoke. Season 1 was pretty good in that it introduced a lot of the characters (and killed off some characters) and it ended with a cliff-hanger that pretty much made me want to watch the next season. Season 2 was awesome and it answered a lot of questions opened up in the first season, more characters introduced (and killed) and also opened even more questions. In season 3 we start to learn a bit more about the Hanso Foundation and the DHARMA Initiative. We also learn more about the “others”. In the middle of season 3 I started to notice that this is going to drag on and milked for everything it’s worth. WGA strike was the last straw and I quit following the series which continues to drag on with season 5.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
I have to admit, this show got me hooked first time around. I even found the ridiculously cheesy AFIS and other “computer” displays forgivable. Not to mention the insanely fast DNA analysis machines. It was fun to watch at first but eventually it gets tired and you can’t seem to shake the “cookie-cutter” feel out of the episodes. This show became a three-headed hydra because it not only dragged on for nine seasons, it also spawned two offshoots: “CSI: Miami” and “CSI: NY”. Personally I like “CSI: NY” because of its grittier, realistic scenarios and because “Mac” is just a total bad-ass.
The X-Files
Now this is one series that I really wish could have dragged on forever. And with the recent X-Files film, it looks like my wish could come true. Initially I got tired of watching it after I saw the first X-Files movie but I kept watching it anyway just because I really wanted to see what that “Black Oil” was all about. Not to mention Scully seemed to get hotter in every episode. I eventually stopped watching after they introduced Doggett and Reyes.
They could have been contenders…
While good shows suffer from franchise fatigue there are some that never make it past the first two seasons. Low ratings and high production costs are just two of the most common reasons that good shows get canceled.
Invasion
This is what “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” would have been if it was made into a TV series. The show had promise and it should have ended after two seasons. Unfortunately it was shut down after just one season.
Dresden Files
Loosely based on the series of novels by Jim Butcher, the series was centered on the exploits of the wizard Harry Dresden. It was a pretty good show and had plenty of dark humor, decent special effects, a good storyline and reasonably good acting. The show was canceled after only one season. At least the last episode of the first season had a pretty good ending.
Dark Angel
This show was only as good as its main character which was played by Jessica Alba. It had a decent storyline and it ran for two seasons before ending up in the canceled TV Show graveyard.
Hopefully, “The Middleman” will not join this list.