transplantbillsfan Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I recommended the show Breaking Bad to a friend because I loved that show. She finished all 5 seasons--not surprisingly--in about a week and a half. But she was upset about the ending. I won't spoil things about the show for those who haven't seen it, but she felt that it wasn't an "honest ending." Personally, I disagree in general. I loved that show from the very beginning to the very end. I think it did exactly what it was trying to do. But it got me thinking about TV shows in general. Most of them are about the journey, not the destination. That's why I feel like endings of a lot of these shows are kinda awkward, almost like the creator is fumbling for an ending--Seinfeld!!! Fringe is one of my all time favorite shows. But the last season and a half were just weird... you could tell the creator just had the foundational ideas for the show planned, not the ending. Lost was gripping up until a certain point, at which point the same thing Fringe suffered from seemed to happen. Love The Walking Dead, but I'm really just losing interest at this point. There have been a couple opportunities in the last season or so to just end it and wrap everything up well. Haven't even picked it back up since it started again a few weeks ago. The Blacklist is another show I really like, but it's starting to suffer from the same problems, though I'll see where it goes 'cause it still has a chance. I'm absolutely loving Better Call Saul, but right now it's at an inflection point, and I'm curious if it wraps itself up into its obvious conclusion this season or if it stretches itself out and falls into the same trap. Almost the opposite can be said with Game of Thrones, which went from almost a slow-burning big budget TV show for the first 3 or 4 seasons and just felt rushed in its last season, to the point of being outlandish at points... even for a Fantasy show. And with just 6 episodes left, I'm wondering where it ends, though if the ultimate victor is the character I want it to be, I'll probably be satisfied. So I guess I'm throwing this out for 2 reasons: 1) I'm curious if anyone can think of a show that was a knockout from beginning to end. And that doesn't necessarily mean a happy ending... but it means a perfect, or near-perfect ending for that particular show and 2) I'm always looking for good shows to watch... so preferably some warnings about spoilers, first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasons1992 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Ozark on Netflix. Every episode is dynamite. Breaking Bad took some developing.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transplantbillsfan Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 4 minutes ago, Seasons1992 said: Ozark on Netflix. Every episode is dynamite. Breaking Bad took some developing.... But Ozark is ongoing. Even if it's great now, it might go downhill as it tries to wrap up. Part of the reason I liked Breaking Bad was because it did take that development to heart. It made you invest in Walt and made you that much more invested in the character. Regardless, I was hoping for a TV show that's already ended in order to evaluate it as a whole, not in part. Though Ozark does sound like a show I'll have to start watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warcodered Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Justified was pretty good pretty well all the way through. It's hard to think of shows that both stay good and nail the ending. One of the best examples I can think of is Full Metal Alchemist an anime. They made it twice and the first time was before the original manga story was finished and I think it suffers from a lot of the same problems of T.V. shows being stretched too long. The second attempt was after the original story was finished and is probably one of the best complete television shows I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Fischer Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said: But Ozark is ongoing. Even if it's great now, it might go downhill as it tries to wrap up. Part of the reason I liked Breaking Bad was because it did take that development to heart. It made you invest in Walt and made you that much more invested in the character. Regardless, I was hoping for a TV show that's already ended in order to evaluate it as a whole, not in part. Though Ozark does sound like a show I'll have to start watching. To me, Breaking Bad is the greatest show. Yes, it had the prerequisite great acting, writing and character development needed for a top program, but it also had a perfect story arc that also weaved several intertwined story lines. There are not many shows that develop a true story arc (perhaps Game of Thrones, but that has yet to be seen) but too many shows could just end at any point and it won't make much difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Mad Men 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Fernwood Tonight, then America Tonight. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Eastbound And Down. All gold from beginning to end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaoulDuke79 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 The Wire....the only thing I found odd was the 2nd season didn't seem to fit into the story line like the other seasons. It was still good though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 6 minutes ago, RaoulDuke79 said: The Wire....the only thing I found odd was the 2nd season didn't seem to fit into the story line like the other seasons. It was still good though. Agreed, the other seasons blew me away, but not the 2nd one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy KGB Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Mad Men Ozark The Wire Justified Sopranos Peaky Blinders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 MadMen is tops on this list. Breaking Bad, Curb and Sopranos right there too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Rico said: Fernwood Tonight, then America Tonight. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Eastbound And Down. All gold from beginning to end. damn, so few remember Fernwood tonight... just awesomeness. Having said, i don't recall America Tonight 1 hour ago, RaoulDuke79 said: The Wire....the only thing I found odd was the 2nd season didn't seem to fit into the story line like the other seasons. It was still good though. all great..even season two was great..just not as great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: damn, so few remember Fernwood tonight... just awesomeness. Having said, i don't recall America Tonight Same show, only they moved from Ohio to Southern California, allowing them to bring on movie and TV stars as guests. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 If not for that horrific season when they went to Ireland, I would say Sons of Anarchy. That season was just tuuuuurible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 The West Wing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Deadwood 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turk71 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Gilligans Island 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 4 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: If not for that horrific season when they went to Ireland, I would say Sons of Anarchy. That season was just tuuuuurible! The final season was pretty bad too. The finale was awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 5 hours ago, TakeYouToTasker said: Deadwood 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Not for any dramas I've seen. Breaking Bad was the closest but they replaced a great villain (Gus) with the generic villains of neo-nazis in Season 5 seemed like lazy writing. Sacrificing himself to save Jesse seemed too perfect to be true. The caveat I'll add is the theory that Season 5 was all a dream that Walter White had and what we saw the final few episodes was the best possible way to make amends for the damage he caused. Still damn entertaining and engaging though. Peaky Blinders is a great series but it went all Oceans 11 on us in the 4th season. Comedies are a different animal as they aren't as reliant on a linear story. All in the Family, Cheers, Seinfeld (I liked the last episode damn it), Curb, and MASH were relatively strong throughout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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