I'll be over here with my fingers plugged firmly in my ears.

Dear Season Finale of Criminal Minds: THANK YOU FOR OBLITERATING MY SHIP WITH A SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE.  A rather mean one, too.  ::facepalm::  Oh, well.  Why start paying attention to canon now?

( Thoughts on the ending of House )

Proposal: television shows (particularly dramas) should last no more than 5 years.  I know I'm not saying anything radically novel here, but deep down, every fan knows this.  Even if the shows haven't flamboyantly jumped the shark by then, that's when themes and underlying plotlines start to get repetitive and tedious, so the writers start inventing crazier and crazier shit to try and get out of the rut.  The problem with most TV shows is that, in order to work, everything must generally return to normal, if not by the end of the show, at least within several episodes.  Why we can't seem to deviate from that formula, I don't know -- I guess it's just what audiences expect.  The proliferation of "procedurals" (dig my alliteration) has entrenched this even further.

In order for a show to get away from this formula, it has to have a limited run, a planned narrative arc with a set end date.  I will give Heroes credit for trying to do this with seasonal "volumes," but their writers obviously discovered Turkish black mule heroin sometime during the second season and THAT went flying off the rails.  I'm trying to think of a scripted dramatic television show I liked and watched all the way through which ended with its dignity intact, and I'm having a tough time coming up with one.  Possibly Lost, but I lost (ha) track after the fourth season or so.  Most of my very favorite shows died horrible, lingering deaths.

Anyway, When I Am in Charge, TV shows will have a 5-season maximum.  Then we will have fond memories of them, instead of having to pretend later seasons simply do not exist.  I'm looking at you, X Files.

( Day 22: Favorite book you own )