the problem with TV series.

I have a serious question for you.

Why do TV series so rarely end well?

I don't mean "well" as in "ended well for the characters," but as in "provided a satisfying ending to years of plot twists and character development."

I have been thinking about this a lot lately (thanks, insomnia), and I can only think of TWO.

But I'll get to that later.

There are SO many TV series that I started and just LOOOOVED. I was obsessed. But then... THEN. Something always happens to curb my interest. Not life stuff, but something in the series changes. Sometimes it's imperceptible, but other times, I can see a clear change. 

Allow me to provide you with some examples, in order from longest ago to most recent. I have divided them into two sections: the series that I never finished and the series that I had to force myself to finish.

NEVER FINISHED

(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS.)

Scrubs

Scrubs is the first TV series I can really remember being invested in. It's the first show I would call a "dramedy" and the first half-hour sitcom-type thing with no laugh track. (I have a major thing against laugh tracks.) I loved how raw it was. It was (to me) the first of its kind. I lost interest when it outlived its prime. Dr. Cox (who was never a great character anyway) become absolutely intolerable, and it seemed there was no great plot any more. The last thing I remember is JD was having a baby with a one-night-stand? Maybe? 

Weeds

Here's an example of "I just lost interest." This was back in the days when we had to wait a week in between episodes (aka the Dark Ages), and if we weren't around to watch it live, we had to set a VCR timer to record it. I think I lost track of when it was on and never caught up.

Big Love

The premise is interesting, right? How a Fundamentalist Mormon secretly keeps a family of three wives and a bunch of kids running? I was into it for a while, but then there was this sub-plot that I couldn't keep up with about the Mormon mafia (??) - and there were so many white guys with the same haircut and the same suit, and I could never remember who was who. Also: see VCR timer above.

The Office

You will be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't watch at least a little bit of The Office. I have tried time and time again to finish it, but I always burn out. First of all, it will never be The Office without Michael Scott, so let's not even go there. Also, unpopular opinion alert: Jim Halpert is a shitty husband and dad and Pam would be better off without him. Finally, Dwight gets too... Dwight. You know what I mean.

Modern Family

Modern Family was a great love of mine for a long time. Like six seasons' worth. And then things stopped happening. It didn't get bad; it just got complacent. It was so successful for so long, and it seems like they just rode that wave into way more seasons than necessary.

Parks and Rec

As a government employee, Parks and Rec GETS me. As a librarian, it delights me to no end to be labeled a "punk-ass book jockey." Like The Office, I have tried multiple times to finish Parks and Rec, but I can't do it. I can only ever get as far as Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope becoming enemies. That just can't BE. 

The Big Bang Theory

I would like you to know I watched The Big Bang Theory before it was cool. When it first started, I loved it so much. I thought it was so clever, and I was even willing to overlook the laugh track. I LOVE a good sexual tension will-they-won't-they story line, so for me, it was all over when Leonard and Penny actually got together. I had my foot out the door when Amy Farrah Fowler entered the picture, and I found her impossible. When I later read that she and Sheldon end up falling in love and whatever, I got irrationally angry. Sheldon spent all one million seasons being asexual, so why did that need to change? The world didn't need another trite love story.

New Girl

Speaking of trite love stories, I present: New Girl. Truly one of the most clever shows I have seen in some time. I have a friend who reminds me so much of Nick, and my living situation in college was not dissimilar to this (except with a much shittier house). I loved it because I could relate. I loved True American. I loved Winston and Ferguson. I loved/hated Schmidt (as we all should). I threatened to institute a Douche Jar at our house (for James, obviously). I saw myself a little bit in Nick. (Mostly his turtle face.) It wounded me deeply when I felt that tiny twinge: that unmistakable message from my dumb brain that something had changed. It happened during the season where Zooey Deschanel was pregnant, so they made up this dumb excuse about her being on a sequestered jury. Things got a little out of hand. Schmitt and Cece got married - that relationship was SO much better when Cece was ashamed of Schmitt. So I stopped watching before it could disappoint me further. Whatever happens, I hope Winston and Ferguson are happy.

Arrested Development

This is in a weird limbo - I have watched the original three seasons over and over (as they are nothing short of genius), but I have never been able to suffer through the Netflix seasons that came years after. So does this count or not?

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 

What an incredibly promising premise. A girl is trapped in an underground bunker for years by a religious cult leader, is rescued, and has to learn how to live in the modern world. I loved the first season (mostly thanks to Titus), but everything that came after fell flat. But the theme song? The best.

Broad City 

Broad City is one of my favourite series of all time. It is SO clever, and Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are a dream team. It aired on Comedy Central, but I watched it on Hulu. There are only five seasons, and it took Hulu ages to get season 5 on the platform. Actually, I don't know if they ever did. I waited and waited and waited... and then forgot about it. Broad City, I'll be back for you someday.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 

Yet another show with a pretty brilliant premise. This is basically a musical with some incredibly talented singers and songwriters, and it can be pretty hilarious. It's about a super sad lawyer from New York who moves to a town in the middle of nowhere California because she's suddenly in love with her ex-boyfriend from high school summer camp. The first few seasons are great, but then the music becomes less of a focus and things get a little out-of-hand (like suddenly the lawyer owns a pretzel shop? did I miss something), and then I gave up.

Schitt's Creek 

Schitt's Creek is THE show of the moment, so I might get on your schitt list for saying this - but I cannot finish this show. I was SO into it for the first few seasons... and what changed for me was Patrick. Patrick is boring and smarmy and David could do so much better. And then you put Patrick and Stevie together and their mood is just too much. I keep hearing all these amazing things about the series finale, but you guys... I just CAN'T.

Fargo

Fargo is the most recent of the TV series I've given up on. It's four seasons long, and each season features a totally new cast of characters and a plot that is very thinly connected to previous plots. It's a cool concept, but it does take a little time to become attached to new characters every time. I watched three out of four seasons, and I have up on the fourth one because it's set in Kansas City. The other three are set in Minnesota. The Minnesota setting is the big appeal. I love you, Kansas City, but sorry.

STRUGGLED BUT DID

(HERE THERE BE EVEN BIGGER SPOILERS.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ohh, Buffy. With Arrested Development, it's my favourite series ever. Buffy was truly incredible, with an amazing story and an amazing cast of heroes and villains. Giles the librarian is my role model, obviously. Buffy held strong through the end of season 5, which is the most heart-breaking season finale of all time. (Fight me.) It would have been a glorious ending. But here comes season 6. Buffy's well-meaning friends bring her back to life, and things aren't right. We have to spend a LOT of time with Buffy's sister Dawn (the worst character in the Buffy universe - fight me), and there's a weird affair with Spike that should probably have been left alone. Season six does have the musical episode and Evil Willow, so there are redeeming qualities. However, season seven is a dumpster fire. There's some nonsense with a bunch of baby slayers and Spike as Jesus (or something), and honestly, I've chosen to forget most of it. I prefer to pretend season seven never happened. 

Dexter 

Dexter is eight seasons long, but there is a clear dividing line right down the middle when it all goes wrong. Dexter is so clever and enthralling up through the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow OMG), but then Dexter goes off the rails. He starts telling like EVERYONE that he kills people, his sister falls in love with him (gross) and also starts killing people, and he somehow fucking ESCAPES and goes to live as a lumberjack? Um, NO. When my brother started watching Dexter, I had finished the series. I told him, "Whatever you do, STOP at the end of season four. You're going to want to continue, but you CAN'T. Don't ruin the magic!" Mitch heeded my advice and never watched the rest, and to him, Dexter is still good.

Breaking Bad

Ok, it's been so long since I've watched Breaking Bad, I have to admit: I don't actually remember how it ends. I remember there was something we all thought was the end, but then it came back for half a season or something like that? All I can remember is when it ended, I thought... "Huh. Well, that was disappointing." I also remember wondering why it didn't just end with Gustavo, because that would have been brilliant.

How I Met Your Mother

This show started off being super endearing, but I got tired of it pretty fast - and it's all because of Barney being such a douche-bro. This is the last of the sitcoms I watched that worked sooooo hard on developing catchphrases, and it was such a tired gimmick by then. I somehow made it through this entire series, only to reach the end and find out the mom was dead the whole time and she only was in like two minutes of this whole incredibly long series and what have I been doing with my life?

Girls 

Remember Girls? It was billed as Sex and the City for twentysomethings? And it kind of was. I really liked it, even though (much like Gossip Girl) the characters were all terrible people. They were at least a little endearing. It seems like the final season of so many of these shows is such a departure from the trajectory of the rest of the series that we've come to know and love, and Girls is no exception. Hannah gets pregnant by a random guy (not Adam, whom she's been perusing for basically the whole series) and decides to raise the baby by herself somewhere in upstate New York after getting a job as a college professor even though she's not remotely qualified. It's like Lena Dunham was just ready to be done with the series and quick wrote up some way to tie it all up, even though it wasn't true to the characters or the plot. See also: Game of Thrones.

Orange Is the New Black

Oh my goodness, I was obsessed with Orange Is the New Black. What an incredible cast and plot. I was invested in every single second and in every single person. I loved the backstories; I loved getting to know the characters beyond their prison personas. It was so good for so long, and it threw in real heartbreak. Then there was the season where the whole thing was the prison riot, which was ok... and the following season where I lost interest. Piper become more intolerable the longer the series went on, and I was honestly kind of bummed that she got her happy ending when so many others didn't.

Gossip Girl

I started watching Gossip Girl during a blizzard when I had nothing better to do. It was strangely addicting and got me through countless craft projects when I was too poor to buy actual home decor. I kind of hated myself for watching this, and I am kind of embarrassed to admit it to you now. Every single one of the characters is a horrific person, and you don't want to root for any of them. The longer it goes on, the worse they all get... and they all get happy endings that they absolutely do not deserve. And Dan is Gossip Girl? Fucking DAN?? PLEASE.

Game of Thrones

I am not the only one to be wildly disappointed by the ending of Game of Thrones. Watching Game of Thrones from beginning to end is true dedication. There are eight seasons of hour (or more) long episodes with viewers often having to wait more than a year in between seasons. The attention to detail was immaculate, and the writers spent so much time on the character's plotlines. But then - the TV series got ahead of George R. R. Martin's books. Things were still ok until we got to the very last season. It had its moments (Arya v Night King), but it seemed like they were in a hurry to wrap things up and just fast-forwarded everything. Daenerys had been the center of this show for years, and then suddenly she was evil. Yes, we had hints leading up to this, but it was like a switch just flipped. Everything was so rushed. And of all the people to be the king... Bran? Fucking BRAN?? PLEASE.

Bojack Horseman

Bojack Horseman is a hard-hitter. This is one of those shows that knows exactly how to punch you in the gut and keep you coming back for more. It deals with depression and imposter syndrome flawlessly, and one of the most beautiful episodes has almost no dialogue. The whole series was dark, but the last season seemed to give up on any sort of comedy and just went full doom and gloom. I think we all wanted Bojack and Diane to come out ok, but the way this ended just made me feel empty.

Transparent

Transparent was hitting it out of the park from episode one. It was so timely and gut-wrenching and thought-provoking. AND THEN Jeffrey Tambor ended up being a sexually assaulting asshole, and the Transparent world crumbled. The final season ended up being one long musical number, and it was truly one of the worst series finales I've ever seen.

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After thinking long and hard, the only two series I can think of that ended well are Fleabag and Catastrophe, both Amazon Prime projects. Fleabag is absolute perfection: it rips your heart out, stomps on it, and leaves you begging for more. Catastrophe is a very real look at marriage and parenting and all the mess that comes with it. The secret to their success? They are SHORT. Fleabag is two seasons of six 30-minute episodes apiece. Catastrophe is four seasons of six 30-minute episodes. They don't overstay their welcome. They quit while they were ahead. And I love them for it.

I am a huge fan of the mini-series. They are typically good all the way through, as they have a clear end. No room for the long, slow death of the regular series. Movies based on books never live up to the hype, but mini-series are longer and have more time to flesh out the characters and plot. I find they are often quite worthy of the books on which they were based. Some truly fabulous mini-series I have seen in the recent past include The Queen's Gambit, Sharp Objects, The Act, Little Fires Everywhere, You, Waco, Unorthodox, Ratched, and Big Little Lies.

I do have a few series I am still watching that currently have new seasons in production, so there is still hope of them pulling off spectacular endings. I am currently loving Ozark, Dead to Me, Barry, The Righteous Gemstones, Shtisel, and The Great.

If you have any examples of TV series that have amazing endings, I would love to hear them. OR if I am truly missing out by never having finished any of the above shows, I'd like to know, too.