Tis the Season

The one thing I have to say that I appreciated most about 24 despite not watching even the first season to conclusion is that each series was concluded (as far as I know). Sure they'll be up to the 24th season soon but that's ok, I can deal with that. There was a show on television a while back called Carnivale. I think it was only a few episodes long but it infuriated my mother by ending the mini-series without any kind of conclusion or explanation. It made all the episodes she'd watched seem like a waste of time. And she got very angry at Lost for ending the first season the same way, albeit with a little more hope of explanation what with there being a season 2 already in the works. I have noticed she's still making an effort to watch it despite cussing them out at the end of season one.

There's a lot to be said for choosing when to end a television series. On the one hand you have Faulty Towers, which was hilariously funny for the entire run of its first and only season. On the other you have the Simpsons. Like a zombie, the Simpsons was a riot at first, but with every passing year it stinks a little more. From what I can recall M*A*S*H wasn't a hit at first, but after a season or two it just took off. Mind you that was in the old days before shows got cut after three episodes.

Buffy and Angel don't really fit any of the above but I'm willing to put that down to the Whedon factor. Firefly never even had a chance...