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It must be May
Even if you never look beyond your TV to see what the weather is like outside, it's obvious that we’ve reached May. Normally calm and rational characters are getting emotional and running around frantically alone to ensure they can be caught in compromising positions. things are heating up on every "will-they? won't they?" or "is (s)he? isn't (s)he?" that we've been teased with other the past few months and all of the TV magazines are full of information on "special guest stars" and "shocking spoilers". Yep it's the most frenetic Sweeps period of the year, building up to the season (or series) finales and the competition is on to give each show a final ratings boost and try to come up with something that'll keep the fans talking all summer so they are still interested and excited come September.
The massive over-hyping of every show seems very repetitive with over-used slogans of "x episodes remaining ...." as if we are counting the weeks till it is finally over and done with and "shocking finale/twist/ending" when merely knowing a supposed shock is coming is often enough to allow you to guess what it is.
And then you get the use of that dreaded (at least by me) word "cliff-hanger". Leaving aside the pain of so many past cliff-hangers that go unresolved when a show fails to get renewed, far too often the cliff-hanger seems to be an artificial device, someone behaves in an atypical way or is pushed by coincidences into a position where they may not return for the following season (because they quit, they're in deadly danger etc). The shows where you have been waiting for answers all year seem bad enough, but at least you have had ongoing episodes to keep teasing the mysteries and giving you more ideas. The thought of having to wait 3 months for a question to be answered with no new information forthcoming is just painful.
As you can probably guess from the above, I don’t have the same love for finales that I do for pilots. Some shows (usually the serialised ones like Heroes and 24) can do a good job of wrapping up the year and giving you answers, although even with those the episodes themselves can go flat with anti-climax unless handled carefully. But so many others distort themselves away from the formula that has been so successful all year, procedurals suddenly focus on personal lives of characters, those who lead soap-opera lives suddenly get thrown into danger or quiet character-driven stories suddenly become about saving the whole world. That said, the change of formula can prove fascinating (eg the House finale last year, or the classic “Three Stories” episode which was the penultimate episode the year before) but the massive end-of-season hype seems to ensure you’ll be disappointed in at least some of the finales. And of course there is always just the sad knowledge in the background that they’ll be no new episodes for several months to come.
Which finales are you looking forward to?
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May 1, 2007 7:35 PM
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I am looking forward to the season finales of Grey's Anatomy (possible spin-off set-up), Numbers, Bones, Heroes, and Close to Home! I have to admit I am not a regular Close to Home watcher, but I catch it on occasion. Last weeks episode, the first half of a two parter, really caught my attention and I am VERY excited to see what happens next : )
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May 1, 2007 11:20 PM
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What a good blog! I'm looking forward to the finales of all my shows (too many to list), but the finales of Bones, My Name is Earl, The Office, and House sound particularly interesting to me.
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May 2, 2007 11:39 AM
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Got to agree, I'm only really looking forward to the finale of Heroes so we'll get the answers. For everything non-serialised I'd rather it wasn't a finale, but just carried on through the summer! 
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May 2, 2007 3:35 PM
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This was a very well-written blog, and I enjoyed it. I am actually looking forward to all the finales, so I can get some rest. I have been on overload with all the great shows. Some nights are horrendous! Thursday nights alone I have been watching/recording nine hours of shows. I need a break, so I will be enjoying the summer hiatus. Of course, then we see the return of The Closer, The 4400, Monk, Psych, etc. 
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May 3, 2007 12:25 AM
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