Letters to the Editor
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Oh, Veronica
Veronica and Keith and the rest of the people of Neptune will be sorely missed, and I admit to crying a little even as I snuck looks at the clock and wondered how they could wrap things up in the time that remained.
They didn't really wrap up much, did they? Nope. They just unceremoniously took away the best television friends I've had in a long time.
Still, it's better to have loved and lost, right?
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Ruining (Running) The World
"Sooner or later, everyone has to deal with the cancellation of a favorite show."
I don't know about you, but I'm still in mourning for "Beacon Hill." That was my loss of innocence regarding the cancellation of quality shows, and my realization that idiots ran the world.
Things haven't changed.
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Exception [that, perhaps, proves the rule =( ]
"There's always that wrenching moment when you find yourself asking, pathetically and rhetorically, "How will I live without 'Star Trek'? Without 'My So-Called Life'? What else will I ever find to watch? Will I ever like anything as much again?"
Thankfully, as a longtime "Simpsons" fan those are torturous questions I will never have to ask myself. =) 400 episodes and counting - with no cancellation in sight....ay caramba!
RIP "Veronica" & "Jericho".....
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still sad
after the cancellation of freaks and geeks i stopped getting emotionally involved with television shows. i really enjoyed veronica mars, but i remained non-committal, as to not get my heart broken again.
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One Bright Note
Before DVDs, our favorite shows often disappeared into the ether. Did they ever even exist outside of our own hearts and minds? Veronica, I'll see you on DVD.
Meanwhile, does the CW actually think their going to get a better show in its place? I'm seeing promos for another generic "pretty white kids with problems" set on a beach. Ugh.
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Actually, Ratings run the Networks
Having tastes that run toward the odd, the quirky, the intellectually challenging and the just plain offensive, I've had to deal with plenty of my favorite shows getting canceled, including the likes of Veronica Mars and Arrested Development. Watching a beautifully written and acted show struggle while mediocre drek like Friends, Will and Grace and Everybody Loves Raymond achieve ratings bonanzas is frustrating, at the least.
But is it right to blame the network executives? They are more than happy to keep around a quirky, oddball comedy when the ratings are there (My Name is Earl, The Office). But when the audiences don't respond, can we blame them from dropping a show and looking for higher ratings? Perhaps the real "cunts" here are not the executives, but the viewers who shy away from interesting fare in favor of cheeseball McEntertainment in the form of game and reality shows and anything that David Caruso excretes.
With hundreds of shows offered by dozens of stations, TV is one of the most authentically democratic institutions in America. There is plenty for the public to choose from on any given day at any given time. If you favorite programs are not cutting it in the ratings wars, don't blame the suits, blame your neighbors.
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"Forget it, Veronica. It's Neptune."
For as sucker-punched as I still feel this morning, I think this was the best of all possible endings for this show, so unceremoniously canceled. What I've missed most this season has been the truly biting and difficult characterizations and moral quandaries of the first and second season, and all of that came back in spades last night...Veronica's truly furious wit, Logan's emotionally charged knuckles, Wallace's loyalty, even Weevil's casual criminal side--it all gelled again in ways it hadn't done fully for most of the season.
In its way, it was the perfect noir finish--the detective, having suffered a personal affront, jumps into the heart of a storm in her quest for justice/revenge. In the end, her actions failed to up-end the criminal power structure--they only reminded the high muckety-mucks that there's one person they cannot mess with, ever--but the price of her work is that several people she cared about got hurt (Wallace, Logan, Piz, Parker, Keith).
And at the last, the detective, finally understanding the consequences, walks away in the rain.
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Spider J
I agree--in many ways, it was the perfect ending. I remain terribly disheartened, however.
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Series/Season Switcheroo
It seems CW isn't the only network in the business of unannounced end-of-season cancellations. Crossing Jordan got a similar send-off from NBC, unceremoniously dropped from the fall lineup (in favor of a Bionic Woman remake) and all the while advertizing the season finale. Unfortunately, Jordan's writers apparently had enough warning to tack an awful five-minute ending on what appears to have been conceived as a cliffhanger two-part episode. No idea if this is the new marketing ploy, or just bizarre decision-making on the part of network programming execs.
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A Perfect Finale For A Complex Show
The ending was perfect - messy, a little dark, and yet with a twinge of optimism - which was VM all over. Each character showed you why you loved them (or w/ Big Daddy Kane and co - why you loved to hate them) and why you'll miss them terribly when they are gone. All were loyal and true in their own ways, flawed, but interesting. The finale reminded you that the good guys don't always win, and their white hats are tinged with grey, but they do the best they can with what they have. Since we didn't have a "wrap it up in a bow" finale, we can all come up with our own versions of the characters' happy endings (Weevil will use his criminal talents for good and make millions, Veronica will rock the FBI, Logan will be by her side, kicking ass first and asking quesitons later, MAYOR Keith Mars will find a woman who truly deserves him, etc.). I'll miss the Neptune gang, but I'm glad I had them for the 3 seasons I did.
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The CW was the kiss of death
I really think that had Veronica Mars been on another network, it would have survived. Here we had a quality show, with critical acclaim, but its audience had a lot of trouble finding it. The 'mash-up' of a network is flailing, trying to figure out what it is and how it can make money. A more established network would have giving the show some more time, embracing the prestige of a critical favorite being on it's airwaves, and it would have done more to promote it. The network did an amazing amount of meddling too, which is why season three is considered by the critics to be the weakest of the bunch.
Folks, this is how we get some of the crappy cars on our roads today, corporations just trying to see what sticks for a quick profit, with no long term eye. Reality TV is cheap, and sadly it gets ratings. Don't blame me, I have a people meter on my set, and I don't watch that stuff. I never missed VM, though, starting midway through season 2 when I read about it. I guess that wasn't enough.