Prepare To Be Adapted: At Stories End, Part 2

So, I hope you enjoy the new format. Without further ado ...

ACT I – THE FOLLOW-UP

I don't have much to add except that I missed three other good examples of endings: "Jericho," "Babylon 5," and "Flash Gordon."

Many of you were curious why I didn't mention "Jericho's" season (crap, I mean series) finale. Well, I hadn't seen it yet. But I have now and wow, I can't believe how much they crammed into the episode, but yet it didn't feel rushed. There is still plenty of room for more episodes, but all the major story threads were wrapped up. That, my friends, was an example of a good ending.

"Babylon 5" was under threat of cancellation, so it had a strong Season 4 that was an amalgam of the originally planned seasons 4 and 5 story arcs. The Season 4 finale would have actually made for an awesome ending. Yet, even though Season 5 was a little weak, the series finale was still very strong. The episode takes us 20 years in the future and gives us a highly emotional end to the series.

You may be surprised, but somehow I liked "Flash Gordon." I didn't like it at first, but somewhere near the end they started to find their mojo. Yet, I'm not surprised it was canceled and I did find the ending to be satisfying. I know they got stuck, but it works. Flash and his friends aren't exactly welcome back on Earth and on Mongo they are heroes. After watching "Tin Man" I know they have some creative minds behind this show. I think they just needed a clearer vision of the series before they ever went to camera.

Any time there is a series ending there is often a battle for its return. Often they don't work, but the fans occasional get their way. Although, as we learned with "Jericho," that isn't a guarantee it will stick around much longer after its resurrection from cancellation. Man, sometimes I wonder if the Nielsens and the current system are just broken. With diehard fans like that there must be some way to profit from it, I just think the networks haven't caught up yet with the future.

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