The problem with cliff-hanger shows

[Atomb]

Interesting article. I agree with Lost...it's lost me again.I like the idea of a tv show running for 2 or 3 years and then ending. It would make a nice box set and be almost like a long movie...with an END.Quote »Cliffhanger-a-week TV shows may be 2-year wondersMarch 8, 2007 - 12:30BILL BRIOUX(CP) - Paint yourself into an impossible corner and try to get out of it. That seems to be the guiding principle behind several of today's popular TV dramas."Lost," "Heroes," "Prison Break" and "Jericho" all seem headed for some heart-pounding, far-fetched finish line. Will "Lost"'s plane wreck survivors get off the island? Will the Heroes save the cheerleader? Can Michael and Lincoln ("Prison Break"'s Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell) escape capture and prove their innocence? Are the citizens of Jericho doomed?Continued BelowAs exciting as these urgent premises are, there is mounting evidence that these cliffhanger-a-week serial dramas may be two-year wonders. By the third season and beyond, the suspicion sets in that the shows' producers themselves have put themselves into a creative corner and don't have a clue where these shows are headed.That is especially true of "Lost," a series dreamed up by former ABC network executive Lloyd Braun. He wondered if there was some way to combine the Tom Hanks movie "Castaway" with the hit reality show "Survivor," and handed off the suggestion to producer J.J. Abrams ("Alias"). With Abrams busy with several other projects, executive producers/writers Damon Linelof and Carlton Cuse were charged with the day-to-day task of turning out the series.Can vision be handed down or achieved through committee? Linelof admitted to critics gathered in Los Angeles earlier this year that he and his partner were basically "finding the show over the course of the first season." By the third, Cuse could tell there was "an underlying anxiety that this is not going to end well or that we don't know what we're doing.""Lost" has already lost a huge portion of its once impressive audience as viewers grow weary of bizarre plot twists, mid-season pre-emptions and surprise character additions. The ABC island mystery, which at its peak (at the start of season 2) drew 23.5 million U.S. viewers a week, fell below 13 million last month. (The series has slipped to just over a million viewers Wednesday nights in Canada on CTV.)While Cuse suggested that the lower numbers might simply be a cult show finding its true level after a spectacular opening, he also revealed that talks were under way to pick an end date for the series. Harry Potter fans have known for years that it is all over after the seventh book. Knowing "Lost" only had one or two more years left, reasons Cuse, would focus the storytelling, as well as the audience.This kind of practical logic is almost unheard of in Hollywood where series like "Will & Grace" and perhaps even "Law & Order" ramble on for years after their peak.But it may be the new order for shows like "Lost" and the serial dramas that its initial success inspired. Creating limited-run shows that appeal as season-long DVD boxed sets may be a better business model than continuing to finance dozens of boring and extraneous filler episodes."Jericho" is already seeing steep viewer erosion in its first season. After an almost three-month hiatus, the apocalyptic tale of a small Kansas town returned to season-low ratings in February."Prison Break" seems especially limited by its premise. How many weeks in a row can the two central characters avoid capture? What happens in season 3 - they get special powers and join "Heroes"?On "Heroes," executive producer Tim Kring seems mindful of falling into the same murky trap that has dogged "Lost" and "Jericho." He told critics he is planning "a really fun, exciting cliffhanger" to end the series' first season before moving on to an entirely different storyline next year - a formula that has worked well for "24," now in its sixth season."There really is not one central question or mystery posed by the show," Kring says, promising fans that "something is going to happen every week. We're not going to have the frustration level of having to wait several episodes before things actually happen."-Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by Atomb »Interesting article. I agree with Lost...it's lost me again.I like the idea of a tv show running for 2 or 3 years and then ending. It would make a nice box set and be almost like a long movie...with an END.Yeah, I love continuing story lines... so long as they actually END.Sci-fi shows have this nasty tendancy to end before the story does.Prey, Invasion, Threshold, Surface... ugh.

[Kari]

What really sucks is when there's a cliffhanger at the end of the season and the show gets suddenly cancelled...like Joan of Arcadia.

[TJinPgh]

Quote »"Lost" has already lost a huge portion of its once impressive audience as viewers grow weary of bizarre plot twists, mid-season pre-emptions and surprise character additions. The ABC island mystery, which at its peak (at the start of season 2) drew 23.5 million U.S. viewers a week, fell below 13 million last month. (The series has slipped to just over a million viewers Wednesday nights in Canada on CTV.)I think the constant pre-emptions of various series is what hurts them the most.The cable networks are the absolute worst when it comes to this.I LOVE Dead Zone. But, these short, 12 episode seasons followed by 8 or 9 month hiatuses is frustrating beyond belief.Showtime had a decent show called Jeremiah. Ran for 2 seasons. There was nearly a year hiatus after the first season, then, here in the states, there was a pause in the middle of the second season that lasted the better part of a year before they finished airing the show. Showtime viewers OUTSIDE the U.S. never saw the interruption.After WB and UPN merged to form the CW, another network was formed... "MyNetwork TV." They started by running shows like soap operas... show them 5 nights a week, a new episode every night, we recap shows on the weekends. The shows run 13 weeks and then they're done.Not sure how the experiment worked. I never watched any of the shows they had on, but it seemed like an interresting concept. They look to be going with a more traditional one night a week schedule for their upcoming season, so, I guess it didn't work out too well.While continuing dramas used to have the problem that if you missed an episode or two it could be tough to catch up, with on demand TV and webisodes, that is far less of an issue these days.Quote »On "Heroes," executive producer Tim Kring seems mindful of falling into the same murky trap that has dogged "Lost" and "Jericho." He told critics he is planning "a really fun, exciting cliffhanger" to end the series' first season before moving on to an entirely different storyline next year - a formula that has worked well for "24," now in its sixth season.This was supposedly what Invasion and Threshold had planned on doing. A 3 year run, each season evolving into a different storyline than the season before, just with a common thread.CBS cancelled Threshold after giving it just one single airing on a new night. ABC cancelled Invasion despite extremely promising initial ratings, and final ratings for the season better than some of the other shows they kept.Vanished seemed to be heading this way, but was also cancelled after the first season.Shows used to run for 26 weeks, which allowed them to repeat all episodes with few or no interruptions.I often wondered about the feasibility of running a 26 week season, airing a new episode every other week. Similarly themed shows would alternate every other week, with no repeats.Shows like the 1500 different incarnations of CSI seem like they'd work well with this kind of format.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by Atomb »Interesting article. I agree with Lost...it's lost me again.I like the idea of a tv show running for 2 or 3 years and then ending. It would make a nice box set and be almost like a long movie...with an END.That's something I really liked about Babylon 5. It was written from the beginning with the intention to tell a story arc over 5 seasons. The story ended, and so did the show.