As I commented elsewhere, I found it appropriate that the series ended, quite literally, with a thud.
On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 2:03 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 8:00 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/last-resort-canceled-666-park-avenue-391442 >> >> I think several of us here were excited about this show at the start of >> the season. Its ratings fell off (9M to 5.8M, 1.3 rating in the demo last >> episode), and the TVBTN guys have been saying it would be cancelled. It will >> get to air its original 13 episodes in its original time slot (but they will >> not shoot the 2 or 3 extra scripts they ordered). >> >> I would say the show did not fully pay of its early promise, and I can see >> why it bled out in the ratings. But fall off was nearly as bad as some other >> ABC shows with interesting premisses in the recent past, and I would not >> have minded seeing it get some more time to develop. Hopefully they were >> prepared to draw it to a close with a 13 episode arc. (SNIP) > > > Episode 13 (the series finale) aired Thursday night, and I watched it > tonight. Back in November I wrote (above) that the fall off was not so bad > from the promising pilot, but by January it was apparent the fall was > profound indeed - so much so that I am almost prepared to count this as the > first film/tv show set in a submarine that I disliked; almost because most > of what went so horribly wrong with this show happened when they were on the > island (and there are lots of bad island movies). > > The Finale sucked in part because they found out they had been cancelled > after it was written but before they taped it. They were able to go back and > re-write it to try to wrap up the complicated plot lines, but the seams are > definitely showing. Perhaps if he had 8 more hours he could have let some of > those lines mature and develop more naturally - but I kind of doubt it. > Contrary to my hope expressed above, they obviously were never prepared, > until the last minute, to draw the show to a close with a 13 episode arc. I > think in this case the audience pretty much got it right after the first few > episodes - there just was not a coherent vision behind this program. The > premise was absurd enough (both in terms of the extent of conspiracy at home > and the notion of a nuclear sub commander holding out against the US on a > remote island), but I was happy to suspend that disbelief, if they only > could have given the captain some plausible theory of what he was doing and > why; this problem was compounded by each of the other characters rapidly > declaring for and against (and back for, and back against) him, each time > with alternate and equally incoherent reasons. I have read that Ryan wanted > to avoid any obvious political statement that could be read in terms of > contemporary politics, but perhaps this led him to a vagueness in what he > wanted to say that ultimately crippled him. As much as I loved the pilot, I > was glad to put the show out of its misery tonight. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
