First off, I'll start with an honorable mention ... one show that I've given up on that's still showing. I've really, really enjoyed watching Grimm, but the third season was losing me big time. The zombie line was kind of cool, but then the writers decided to bring in a few non-Wesen weirds of the week--an unfortunate signal of "we're running out of ideas." And they were also focusing on the most uninteresting plot line (at least to me) ... the whole Prince/Adalind thing. Boresville! I stopped after the Santa Claus episode (which was actually pretty good) as the direction in the show seems to be lost.
Okay ... now on to the really dead shows. Warning ... spoilers may follow.
Psych (USA) was a hilarious show. Who could not love Shawn pretending to be psychic, and his trusting but often reluctant sidekick Gus? These guys were not just funny, but they were from my generation--growing up in the 80's and 90's. It was also the perfect companion detective show to Monk. (Didn't they used to come on right next to each other?)
It lasted eight seasons, which was both good and bad. Good in that Shawn and Gus could both make funny fresh. And bad in that some jokes started getting stale. The tone of the show started getting raunchy. In fact, it almost seems that they hired one writer who had a potty-mouth and his mind in the gutter, and he got to write one out of every five episodes toward the end. And what the heck did they do to Woody's character? He went from likable to major creep over one of the season breaks.
Still, Shawn and Gus kept their characters going, always staying likable to the end. Man, that Jamaican Inspector Man bit was pretty funny.
Thanks for all the memories, and thanks for a semi-satisfactory ending.
24: Live Another Day (FOX) started out as more of the same, with the silly twists and turns. They stuck with the annoying formula, and it actually worked. Once I finally got to the 5th episode, I was hooked. The excitement was about as great as I remembered from my favorite 4th season. The bad guys were fun to watch, and fun to hate.
My favorite line came after the mother terrorist said, "Tonight, all this blood is on your hands." Then Jack replied, "The only blood on my hands tonight will be yours" as he threw her out the window. That was surprisingly satisfying.
The last episode was mostly good, but it was really, really, really, really, really dumb that everyone didn't think there might be a "second shooter." The writers might as well have thrown a bear trap in Audrey's face, and it would have been more believable. But once she died, the reactions from Bauer and the President were priceless. I felt sad ... not because I liked Audrey's character, but because how others acted when she was gone. (Reminds me of the end of Godfather III.)
The biggest disappointment was ... yeah, Bauer's in trouble again. Stupid non-committal ending. It sets up for a sequel, which I would place a surety of 90% of it happening. But they already did this ending with the Chinese in an earlier season. Just once, can one of these seasons simply give a final ending? (Don't worry ... a "final" ending doesn't mean there can't be sequels.)
When it comes on again, I'll probably watch.
Warehouse 13 (Syfy) will be a show to remember. The science was doggone awful, and the idea of "genius endowed artifacts while the rest of the world is oblivious" can't really be sustained. But I didn't really care. These characters were enjoyable, interesting, and funny. The world that was built was mostly consistent.
This show had an almost perfect balance of humor mixed with action. Toward the end it seemed they went a little too far on the humor side, but on the most part they kept everything together.
One complaint I have about the show, was it was hard to determine when it was time to be sad about a death or disappearance of a major character. More often than not, an artifact would kick in to bring a person back to life. When Leena died, I was all, "Don't worry. She'll come back." But she didn't come back. Oh well.
The show had some funny cameos as well. Go, Brent Spiner!
The ending felt rushed, but it provided closure while ending the show on a high note.
BTW, did your DVR cut off the last minute? I was super-annoyed. Especially when I discovered there was no free way to watch it on demand. Though, I think Syfy received enough complaints, and you can now catch that last minute at syfy.com. Here's a link, but there's no telling how long it'll be good for.
Anyways, it's all over. Good show. I'm glad I watched it to the end.
I'll be back tomorrow with two more shows to kill off.
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