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More on the cancellation of SG1
I sincerely hope that I didn't offend any SG1 fans with my last post ... it was kind of a knee-jerk response, and after looking around at other people's reactions a little bit, I have some more thoughts on why I feel the way I do, and why I'm not joining in the rending of garments over the cancellation of SG1, even though I like the show and it was what got me into SGA in the first place.
This is probably a case of major fandom naivety on my part, but the thought had had actually not occurred to me that people would be that upset about the cancellation of SG1. It's partly the writer in me, and partly the reader, that makes me feel as if all good stories have a beginning, a middle and an END. One of the things that disappoints me about "Lost" (my other current fandom) is that apparently, the writers started off with a three-year plan for the plot, but threw it out the window when the show developed its runaway popularity. Personally, I'd rather have three tightly plotted powerhouse seasons, and be left with fond memories of the show, than a dozen seasons that wander through ups and downs but never really resolve anything.
I find that I look back much more fondly on shows that ended their run early than those that went on and on. Maybe it's just the "lure of the unfinished". However, it does seem to me like there's a general trend with long-running shows for the overall weakness of the later seasons to begin to eclipse the brilliance of the early ones. ("Buffy" comes to mind here.) I can't think of a single show, including SG1, that has maintained its quality throughout its entire run. For every good show cut down in its prime, I can think of another that should have been axed a season or two before the end; for every movie sequel that extended the mythos, I can think of a half-dozen that were so lousy they affected my enjoyment of the original film. Let's face it, you can only tell so many stories with one set of characters before you can't take them to new places anymore -- not without irrevocably changing them, anyway, and network television doesn't deal well with that.
I'm not saying SG1 hasn't been good. Once upon a time, I loved it to pieces. I grooved on Jack and Daniel like a regular obsessed fangirl. It was one of my first forays into Internet fandom. And I'm not even saying, necessarily, that the show is worse now than it was then. I don't enjoy it as much as I did back in '99, but I've changed too, and maybe a lot of it is just that I don't like the same things anymore. It definitely seemed to lose ... something ... around season 5 or 6 (something other than Daniel, I mean), and that's the point where I stopped feeling fannish about it -- but I think it's regained a lot of what it once had, and it's still a good show with good characters.
However, it's a show that's had a good long run. As a person who once loved SG1, I'd really like to see it retire gracefully, in style, rather than limping to a weak, long-overdue conclusion the way "Buffy" did. I feel as if a show should end while viewers still want more, not when they can't even be bothered to get up and switch on the TV.
I'm sure it makes a difference, maybe a bigger difference than I realize, that SG1 isn't "my show" anymore. I no longer have the deep investment with the characters that I do with the SGA cast. Still, I honestly can't see myself feeling differently about SGA -- assuming, through some Neilson ratings miracle, that SGA is still around in five or six years, I think I'd rather see that one, too, go out with a bang and leave its viewers wanting more, rather than hobbling into its twenty-fifth season, with Sheppard a five-star general, Rodney building ZPMs in his basement, and Elizabeth running the Pegasus Galaxy PLUS Earth.
Having said all that, I *do* expect to see SG1 continue in some form. Maybe it will be saved from the brink of cancellation for an 11th season; maybe it will go on to become a series of TV movies (I think the original Stargate people have the theatrical movie contract, so that isn't a possibility, unless I'm wrong); maybe the fabled "other" Stargate sequel will happen and bring a lot of the original SG1 cast on board; maybe some of them will guest star or even cross permanently over to SGA. It's just got too large of a fanbase to disappear.
This is probably a case of major fandom naivety on my part, but the thought had had actually not occurred to me that people would be that upset about the cancellation of SG1. It's partly the writer in me, and partly the reader, that makes me feel as if all good stories have a beginning, a middle and an END. One of the things that disappoints me about "Lost" (my other current fandom) is that apparently, the writers started off with a three-year plan for the plot, but threw it out the window when the show developed its runaway popularity. Personally, I'd rather have three tightly plotted powerhouse seasons, and be left with fond memories of the show, than a dozen seasons that wander through ups and downs but never really resolve anything.
I find that I look back much more fondly on shows that ended their run early than those that went on and on. Maybe it's just the "lure of the unfinished". However, it does seem to me like there's a general trend with long-running shows for the overall weakness of the later seasons to begin to eclipse the brilliance of the early ones. ("Buffy" comes to mind here.) I can't think of a single show, including SG1, that has maintained its quality throughout its entire run. For every good show cut down in its prime, I can think of another that should have been axed a season or two before the end; for every movie sequel that extended the mythos, I can think of a half-dozen that were so lousy they affected my enjoyment of the original film. Let's face it, you can only tell so many stories with one set of characters before you can't take them to new places anymore -- not without irrevocably changing them, anyway, and network television doesn't deal well with that.
I'm not saying SG1 hasn't been good. Once upon a time, I loved it to pieces. I grooved on Jack and Daniel like a regular obsessed fangirl. It was one of my first forays into Internet fandom. And I'm not even saying, necessarily, that the show is worse now than it was then. I don't enjoy it as much as I did back in '99, but I've changed too, and maybe a lot of it is just that I don't like the same things anymore. It definitely seemed to lose ... something ... around season 5 or 6 (something other than Daniel, I mean), and that's the point where I stopped feeling fannish about it -- but I think it's regained a lot of what it once had, and it's still a good show with good characters.
However, it's a show that's had a good long run. As a person who once loved SG1, I'd really like to see it retire gracefully, in style, rather than limping to a weak, long-overdue conclusion the way "Buffy" did. I feel as if a show should end while viewers still want more, not when they can't even be bothered to get up and switch on the TV.
I'm sure it makes a difference, maybe a bigger difference than I realize, that SG1 isn't "my show" anymore. I no longer have the deep investment with the characters that I do with the SGA cast. Still, I honestly can't see myself feeling differently about SGA -- assuming, through some Neilson ratings miracle, that SGA is still around in five or six years, I think I'd rather see that one, too, go out with a bang and leave its viewers wanting more, rather than hobbling into its twenty-fifth season, with Sheppard a five-star general, Rodney building ZPMs in his basement, and Elizabeth running the Pegasus Galaxy PLUS Earth.
Having said all that, I *do* expect to see SG1 continue in some form. Maybe it will be saved from the brink of cancellation for an 11th season; maybe it will go on to become a series of TV movies (I think the original Stargate people have the theatrical movie contract, so that isn't a possibility, unless I'm wrong); maybe the fabled "other" Stargate sequel will happen and bring a lot of the original SG1 cast on board; maybe some of them will guest star or even cross permanently over to SGA. It's just got too large of a fanbase to disappear.
no subject
It had a bit of a reboot recently, and that really did help things a lot -- added a new set of major bad guys, took off some regulars and added new ones to the cast. But even though it's had an infusion of life, I still can't get *too* worked up about the cancellation. I mean, ten seasons! That's amazing! Very few shows make it that long, even popular network sitcoms.
Five does seem to be kind of the "magic number" for a lot of shows, beyond which they just end up rehashing old ideas and tottering feebly off to where old series go to die. The "sunset clause" built into most anime (leaving aside a few franchise shows) was actually one of the things that drew me to it ... and, ironically, one of the reasons why I've nearly stopped reading manga lately. I'm still following a couple (Saiyuki, Banana Fish) but I went to Barnes & Noble the other day with some vague idea of catching up on Rurouni Kenshin and realized that I'd have to buy fifteen volumes of it to get up to the most current one. Good grief! It's not just the money -- though it's that, too -- but the plots become so padded and circular that they never really get anywhere. It's like riding a stationary bicycle. And it's worth it for a while, because the characters are engaging, but eventually it's just ... too much.
So, yeah ... I think I'd rather have my metaphorical butt kicked by a short-lived series than watch a good one stagger out to pasture. And I think that's getting to be WAY too many old-farm-horse metaphors for one post. ;)
no subject
Ah, yes, shounen manga series can start to drag. Though most of them are worth it - I think Japan tends to be quicker to cancel when a series starts to drop off (Shounen Jump works almost entirely on reader ratings) but they let the mangaka finish the story, so most series go out with a bang. The final arc of DBZ (Buu saga) is my favorite...(and actually I think Kenshin's a nicely done series, the Revenge Arc is my favorite and ends on a high note. Though it's been years since I read it and I wasn't reading the manga for all of it (watched the anime until I ran out of good anime, then read the manga...))
no subject
Yeah, I agree -- on both counts on Firefly, really. I've finally just, for my own peace of mind, decided that in my personal canon, the movie never happened. In a lot of ways, it was kind of AU anyway, because out of necessity, they had to drop so many of the plot threads from River's story, the "Blue Hands" and all of that, and the overall tone was so very different from the series ... so I'm counting it as a different reality, just as, say, the X-Men movies are clearly a different reality from the comics. Problem solved! LOL! (Still floating down that river in Egypt, and very happy there, thanks.)
But, yes. I have a history of falling for eclectic, outside-the-mainstream shows that don't last very long -- most recently "Dead Like Me" -- so I know what you're talking about. It's sad to watch a show dragged out past its time, but sadder still when a really good one never gets a chance to *have* its time, because then you're left with that lingering "what if?". And most good shows do tend to have their best moments in seasons 2 or 3, when they've gotten over the freshman shakiness and the casts have really come together.