The world needs special honors for TV shows that have good finales. It
also needs penalties -- something short of capital punishment,
but not too far short -- for the ones that don't.
(Also, please read my previous blog, reviewing the new "Sunshine Cleaning" movie.)
Some penalties should go to the producers who
let their shows die weakly. "The Sopranos," "Seinfeld" and
"X-Files" all disappointed.
But often the villain is the network. It will introduce a great concept,
then dismiss the show without explanation. Fox has been the prime offender,
with "John Doe," "Reunion," "Vanished" and more.
With that in mind, let's honor:
-- NBC. It let "ER" build to a fairly good finale. Some moments
were so-so, but others -- centering on John Carter (Noah Wyle), on Mark
Greene's daughter (Hallee Hirsh) and on a grieving husband (92-year-old
Ernest Borgnine) -- were deeply moving. The network also lets "Friday
Night Lights" run in logical bunches, matching a football season. Last
week's episode, a terrific one, saw the Dillon Panthers jut miss a
state championship; this week (9 p.m. Friday, April 10) the season ends
with Coach Taylor's job on the line.
-- ABC. Its decision to give "Lost" a finite lifespan has helped viewers immensely. And it gave "Life on Mars" a warning that the end was near; the result was one of the best finales I've seen.
The odds were against it. "Life on Mars" has a cop arbitrarily waking up in 1973, where he must resort to solving cases the old way. How do you explain that in a fun way?
The original, British version, I'm told, simply dismissed it all as a brain injury. (There's an excellent sequel, "Ashes to Ashes," Saturdays on BBC America.) But the American version came up with something much better. It tied together lots of things, from David Bowie songs to the name of one of the characters. I won't tell you more, because the finale should still be available at abc.com. Catch it; it's worthy of our mythical Fini Award, for great moments in TV finales.