As Deadwood heads for boot hill with the blessing (and even the urging) of creator David Milch, we must ask ourselves: How much, in TV terms, is too much of a good thing?
Milch actually wants Deadwood to sign off. Denied a 12-episode arc for the fourth season, he said he’d simply prefer to work on something else. Good for him. Did we need those excruciating post-Mulder seasons of The X-files?
Increasingly, the BBC subscribes to the "less is more" theory of television. There’s The Office, of course, with its two-season, 20-episode lifespan. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant felt it was what it was. And guess what? It was. Now there’s the acclaimed Brit-political satire The Thick of It, which unfolds over six episodes. That’s it. Six eps, no encore. What’s that old showbiz saying about leaving them wanting more?
Of course, the illusion of a never-ending story is part of TV’s seduction. Soap operas are essentially infinite, and that’s the way we like them, though it should be noted, their viewership is on the wane. Are we more comfortable with impermanence, or simply too capricious and distractable to sustain interest over several seasons?
But maybe it’s simpler than that. I ask: Would you, as a viewer, prefer fewer eps of a great show, or several mediocre seasons of something you’ll grow to hate? And hate even harder for having loved it so much at the outset?
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The Office was a 2 season, 12-episode run. . .with two special christmas episodes. pretty much the best show ever.
Did you hear the rumor that they want to resurrect the British ‘Office’ using some of NBC’s scripts?
Seriously though, I’d prefer something in the middle. Longer than what was given to us of ‘Wonderfalls,’ ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ ‘Sports Night,’ ‘Andy Richter Controls..’, ‘Undeclared,’ ‘Boomtown,’ etc… but shorter than ‘ER’, ‘Law & Order’, ‘NYPD Blue’, ‘That 70s Show’ and ‘Will & Grace’(with a few exceptions: I’m fine with ‘The Simpsons’ going on; I still laugh even if it peaked years ago).
Of course, I think it’s best if there is a conclusion as well. I love that ‘Wonderfalls’ was able to wrap things up a little, if not completely. Meanwhile, I keep wondering if Lindsay will come back different from a summer as a Grateful Dead groupie…
One silver lining of too-shortly-lived series: less DVD sets to buy.
This is exactly my fear with Lost – I hope that they’ll do four-five seasons at most and then quit, otherwise I fear it will grow ridiculous. But can they resist the money?
I totally agree with the less is more take on TV. So many shows (X-Files included) just go on for too long, as soon as there are weddings, affairs between main characters etc. it’s over.
I think My Name Is Earl is a natural to leave in a timely manner, and offer some resolution as opposed to excrutiating burnout. Let him finish the list and let something good happen. Don’t stretch it out for more than 100 episodes (which even seems long in the spirit of this blog topic).
The rumor that Deadwood was to wrap-up with two 2-hour movies is untrue then?
That has always been my issue with soaps: there’s never an end to the drama! As much as we like the never-ending action, we need a resolution just a badly. Some series, like Friends, X-Files, et al, stayed one season too long. I leaves a bad taste in you mouth then a series you love jumps the shark.
I’m glad to see Deadwood go out on top, rather than limp along like it’s HBO granddaddy Soprano. I only wish they hadn’t cut Carnival short tho’.
Everybody I know absolutely loved ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT yet were happy to see it go off the air when it did (only after actually watching the last episode, beforehand they miffed).
ARRESTED kind’ve mirrors DEADWOOD in a way. Where the creator/producer could push for more, but realizes he might be spent.
I would be overjoyed to see American televison follow BBC’s lead on series orders.
There would be less shark jumpage from formerly good titles like FRASIER, ROSANNE, and (I’ll say it) SEINFELD.
As these series would merely wrap up for a spell and perhaps come back wealthy with good ideas.
And who knows… Maybe creators like Sorkin would insist on the whole show breaking so we wouldn’t get a storyline where Leo goes missing in the Camp David pine.
Why can’t we have many seasons of great shows? Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, Friends, Futurama, and The Simpsons all come to mind. Obviously I watch a lot of comedies, but my point is the choice shouldn’t be between short runs of great shows and long runs of declining shows. (And yes, I know some people would argue that some of the shows I mentioned were or are declining, such as The Simpsons, but I have loved every season.)
Aaah, Wonderfalls and Andy Richter Controls…what great shows that were canceled so soon. Sigh.
WAaaa! I was holding out that maybe they’d revive Deadwood for one more season. He had said that he originally wanted 4 seasons, and I was under the impression that they had already shot all of Season 3 when the decision was made to not renew the contracts. I hate when a series ends without giving the writers/directors time to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. End it if you must, just give us some resolution!
Heard a rumor Ian McShane is in talks to play Him on Lost.
Yeah, this article is a bit innaccurate. Milch and HBO actually agreed over the weekend to two two-hour specials to properly wrap up Deadwood, Variety and Washington Post both put up articles confirming it. So although we don’t get a season 4 there is atleast a conclusion of sorts for the series. It’s certainly a better end then what Carnivale was given.
I hate to see Deadwood end – no chance it will be extended into a season 4? There is a real drought of good tv – Deadwood is the shining star. Please don’t cancel.
You’re asking if good quality shows should only last three or four seasons? Some of us are still mourning Everwood. Arrested Development’s wake was a few weeks ago. Six Feet Under didn’t last nearly long enough. We are living the system.
So this is way off topic, but I have to say, Ian McShane on Lost would AWESOME!
I thought I just read that Deadwood is doing a two-part, 4-hour finale after Season 3
Excellent topic. After Alias, I have to say, quality over quantity. I was kind of happy they were ending Alias this season because I had enough of it. I couldn’t sit through another mediocre episode. I wanted to be rewarded for being such a loyal fan. I wanted to know Sloane’s true end game, the “truth” that needed time to tell as Irina had promised. And what can I say, I was severely disappointed. I had heard from a source that in order to keep the show on the air, specifically from the beginning of season 4, producers were pressured into making the show more accessible to outside viewers, less serialized and more self-contained, and so they did. Huge mistake in my opinion. And now that I look bad at their decision, it was pretty selfish. I would’ve been happy with 4 amazing seasons and instead we get 2 and half amazing ones, and the rest is pretty forgettable. The worst part I think is that, the story feels incomplete or the ending unjustified. It will still be one of the greatest shows for what it did in the beginning, but just not as great as it could have been.
There’s so many shows that overstay their welcome (Alias, X-files, Friends, Will & Grace, etc.) that I usually hold to the less is more theory. But then something like that amazing seventh and final season of the West Wing comes along (after a truly dreadful slump) and blows the theory all to hell. I just wish the powers that be would have the sense to know when to put shows like Alias to sleep and when to let shows like Firefly and Arrested Development keep on kicking. I for one don’t want Deadwood to end anytime soon, but I’d rather it be a creative rather than a business choice to end it, and end it gracefully. (Oh, and Ian McShane on Lost would rock my world.)
Wonderfalls was only able to “wrap things up” if you bought the DVD’s (which are great, BTW). My guess is that they saw the writing on the wall when they were filming and gave some closure in the 13th episode. G-d, I would have loved to see what that would have been like if it continued.
Josh cited some of my favorite “gone too soon” shows: Sports Night (I would love to see someone turn on the TV on “Studio 60″ and see Dan and Casey behind the desk) and Wonderfalls and everyone has mentioned AD, but let me add Firefly to the mix. That could have been great for at least four more years. Angel was another that could have gone a year or two more, and they left us in mid-battle. A little closure on that would have been appreciated.
Less is more, definitely. Nothing is more upsetting than a great show being allowed to deteriorate into crap. I wish more knew about leaving while you’re at the top…
Think about how much better “Lost” would be if the producers and ABC agreed from the start that it would last two seasons and no longer……ABC has a hit and they greedily want to drag it out for as long as possible….
I personally get so sick when commentators lump the X-Files in with their “shows that stayed on too long list”, and always seem to frame that opinion as if they were speaking for everyone. The problem with entertainment these days is that there are too many CRITICS and not enough CREATORS. Oh well, blah blah blah it always goes…
Actually, re: Wonderfalls, they didn’t see the “writing on the wall.” All 13 episodes were filmed and finished before the series went to air. Tim Minear, the executive producer, posted a note on his website saying that they deliberately crafted the season so that the first year’s arc would wrap up in the finale, so that, if it weren’t picked up, people wouldn’t be left hanging, since he had worked on shows in the past which weren’t picked up, upsetting the audience. Of course, then the show was cancelled after only 4 episodes, so the giving-the-audience-closure thing didn’t work until the DVDs came out.
I kind of disagree about ‘Angel.’ Yes, they could have done more, I’m confident. But with everything that happened – Harmony’s betrayal, various deaths, etc. – it seemed like a fitting (if open-ended) finale. Between four to six seasons is my take, but depending on quality… like I’ve said, more for comedies that continue to bring laughs like ‘The Simpsons’, but I will add that I think there should be less for dramas that begin to struggle creatively such as ‘Alias.’
The office only had twelve episodes and a special, not 20.
The truth is that you never can tell. South Park has been in danger of sliding into irrelevance a couple of times but they always manage to come back from the brink, usually better than before.
My greatest disappointment is that there’ll be no more Perfect Hair Forever. I loved that show, cuz Anime is teh suck.
I was happy to see Arrested Development go off the air, too. 2 1/2 years for what I consider to be the single greatest television show ever is not too short to be considered tragic (like, say, Freak and Geeks) and its run was ultimately perfect. I wouldn’t change a single thing. Ok, maybe I wouldn’t have Martin Short guest star. But besides that, it was absolutely amazing. Quality over quantity, in that case.
But in the case of Alias, I disagree. Now, if the show had ended after two years, it would have also been a near-perfect run. But even though two mediocre years (3 and 5) and one good, but still highly flawed year (4), I enjoyed the show. It turned from a wonderful, endearing, nuanced family drama to a bit of a soap opera, but honestly, I may have had more fun when it downright sucked then when I took the show seriously in its first two seasons. Come on, you have to admit that some of the stuff they pulled out were awesomely cheesy. I mean, a floating red ball that turns people into zombies? A man using a spork to remove an eyeball? Evil clones? People being shot in the head or stabbed or drowned or blown up and yet somehow managing to still be alive, as shown in a dramatic reveal a few episodes later? Come on, all that was awesome, and if the show ended while it was still good, I probably wouldn’t have loved it so much for both the good and the bad.
I like the way the Latin telenovelas have a definite end. Some of them go on quite a while, but the writers are usually taking them someplace certain. I definitely prefer quality to quantity, but some shows continue with decent quality for several seasons. I watched LA Law to the end, even though I knew it wasn’t as good, but I gave up on NYPD Blue after the Rick Schroeder season. I agree with the comment about West Wing having an excellent final season. Even though I already miss Everwood and its characters, I’m not sure that they could have invented a lot more “Fresh” episdoes.
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