Drawing Sand from the Creative Well

When it comes to good shows I find that eventually they become double edged swords. On one end, the show is so good that you never want it to end. One the other end, sometime shows seem to outlive their quality. 

24 was a prime example. It had a large, rabid fanbase. A fanbase that made them tons of money and support to carry them through eight seasons. But the problem with that was: what do you do with a show that prides itself on being shocking and surprising? I was a huge fan of 24, until it seemed like the show became predictable. There was always a mole inside CTU. A member of the President's staff was always truing to undermine him. Nobody ever listens to Jack. Jack was always going around the system to get results. And Jack was never going to have a good day.

After a while the show ceased to compel me. The same thing I feel is happening with Dexter. Three episodes in I got the twist that wasn't revealed until three quarters of the way through the season. The uniqueness of the serial killers that he hunts is slowly being watered down and less complex and interesting. I feel like the show is becoming filled with plot holes. This is a show that I felt had intelligent writing and clver plots in the past. Now I feel like the well has gone dry. Dexter is signed on for two more seasons. I'm hoping that these are the last. I don't want this to be a show that was remembered for how far it fell off course towards the latter half of its run.


A show like Breaking Bad however is approaching it's final season. It;s like the writers knew that this saga couldn't go on forever. TV series aren't meant to be like anime's. I'm currently on episode 323 of Bleach.  THREE HUNDRED AND FREAKING TWENTY THREE!! The majority of this was to fullfill ONE STORY ARC. Granted there were fillers in between but come on, who watches the meaningless fillers??


Supernatural is a show I feel that has gone on long enough. Sure the fanbase is loyal, but after you beat Satan and stop the end of the world, how many other supernatural creatures are left that have a convenient  spell or loophole that are heroes find to put them to rest?

It stops being enjoyable when the story becomes dragged out for the sake of profit. Film and TV is an art form. When are is created and motivated by profit, the ingenuity of it all becomes diluted and stale. As a TV and film connoisseur, I want to see quality not quantity. Shows need to be created with an endgame in in mind. Something to direct the sails to keep meaningless seasons and storylines to be brought out and waste fans time.


I'm hoping that shows like Dexter and Supernatural redeem themselves in the end or I wont be buying the complete series on DVD anytime soon.


Eric C.