Friday, November 30, 2012

Obsessed with things that get canceled too early, don't end well

I think I've known I have a problem for a long time. I have this tendency to get way too invested in books, shows, etc. that don't end well or get canceled too early. Seriously. I think it's a condition.

I think it all started with Tuck Everlasting, which I've mentioned a couple of times on the blog. I remember sitting in my elementary school classroom as the teacher read the book, transfixed by this boy (and his family) who never aged. It was such a bittersweet story. In the end, I was so angry! I was like, "Winnie, you freaking fool!" Later, I got author Natalie Babbitt's point, but I'm still a little raw over it.

Let's see. I'm doing this randomly, some shows I liked more than others, and there are more that I'm not remembering, so I'll update this later! First, I was obsessed with the short-lived (but awesome) My So-Called Life with Claire Danes. Still love it. One of the songs on that show's soundtrack is on perma-play on my iTunes. It just ended with no resolution. Yet again bittersweet and disturbing ending. Another show that I became briefly fixated on was Veronica Mars with Kristen Bell (via Netflix) -- mostly because of the relationship between the eponymous character and Logan Echolls (played by Jason Dohring). I wanted another season so badly, because the third just ruined it for me. Slightly more recently (and more adult-themed), was Moonlight. I have to give it to Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin (now of Hawaii Five-0) for making Mick St. John's vampire main character deliciously brooding. Ironically, Jason Dohring found his way to this extremely short-lived show as well.

Now, one show's early cancellation really broke my heart even though I had never actually watched it while it was on the air. I had heard about it, but never gave it much thought until years after it had already been cancelled by Fox. (Grrrr.) Said show was Firefly. The entire show, in my opinion, was a masterpiece, a strange blend of Western, Sci-Fi, socio-political commentary, comedy, drama -- and romance. It's been about a decade since Jewel Staite's Kaylee Frye and Sean Maher's Dr. Simon Tam had their will they/won't they almost-romance, but the show had so many great moments between them that I'll regret not getting to see what would have happened given more time. Yeah, yeah. I've seen Serenity. It was great, and I loved it, though not as much as the show itself. And I'm sincerely grateful to Joss Whedon for pulling it off, thereby giving me my abbreviated, bittersweet happy ending. I still mourn the loss of the show, and I have since discovered that I'm not the only one. It touched a lot of people, including those who never would have thought to watch a Sci-Fi Western.

My hope is that The Ever Series strikes a chord with a few people like some of these shows touched me.

3 comments:

  1. The only show I know out of all of them is Moonlight. I loved it and I felt it should have had more to it. I just wanted another season because the ending felt too abrupt. But I am glad that they had the chance to end it and not cancel it which I think is a good thing :)

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  2. Yeah, I wish Moonlight had gotten another season, but you're right. At least they were able to wrap it up a little bit. Your signed copy of For Ever is in the mail! It *should* get there before December 7th, so you'll be reading it by next weekend. Have fun! ;-P

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    1. Awesome! Thank you so much! :D That's going to be the best gift for sure! Can't wait to step into the world of your characters! n_n

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