Breaking a silence - The Dead Zone
I normally don't bother blogging here, but I wanted somewhere to voice my frustration and putting it down in a forum just results in other people writing their own thoughts, opinions and the like. Quite often resulting in derailing. Also I have no desire to post about this in the TDZ Forum and read yet another post about how good it is that there is no Apocalypse storyline etc etc... Beating a skeletal horse there...
Frankly, I feel exceptionally let down and betrayed by NBC's actions with regards to the ending of The Dead Zone after a season has wrapped. Closing a show post season is one of the most despicable actions any network can take, it's a complete betrayal of the viewers trust and a fist in the eye for the people involved in making that show.
Some shows; Arrested Development for example, get warning that they are going to be cancelled during their season. While this still sucks for the regular viewer of a program, at least you know that the writers have been given warning and they can attempt to wrap things up and provide you with an ending that feels satisfactory. The Episode "Development Arrested" (From Arrested Development) and "The Devil's hands are Idle Playthings" (From Futurama) are good examples of endings that satisfy.
The Dead Zone has not been given this chance to wrap things up. Instead I'm left with a sour taste in my mouth because season six was a hard journey to watch. There were many episodes that were below par and much of what made the series brilliant (Johnny's relationships with his co-stars) was cut and dropped. If the season had continued like that it would have been an acceptable reason to drop it all. But the writers got through that rough patch and brought a fantastic ending that revealled the truth and set things up for a climatic ending. The viewer was brought on this rollercoaster ride that promised an amazing last run only to have it dumped with no hope of wrapping up outside of a mini series or TV movies.
Now I'm left looking at my DVD boxes of TDZ and thinking "What's the point in watching them now? It doesn't finish properly, I'll just end up feeling disatisfied, just like when I watch Carnivale." How can I recommend this show to others with any confidence now? "Well it's a really good show, but there is no ending" just doesn't cut it
I feel betrayed by NBC and I'm very tempted to turn my back on their shows. Networks need to consider their viewers a little more when they make decisions, while I understand it's a business. They should try to cater for more than just the average viewer, but more importantly they should at least respect their viewers enough to give us the endings to shows.
