SFX blogger Steven Ellis agonises over the pain of watching a show when you know it’s been cancelled

So, both Caprica and Stargate: Universe returned to our UK screens recently after they disappeared before Christmas with the promise of a return in the New Year. In the off-air time both shows have been cancelled in the States, so these runs will be their last. I’m a fᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚan of both shows so I tuned in on their returns but with the news of their cancellation I find myself not overly bothered about watching them anymore.

It’s not that I don’t like them, I enjoyed both shows very much and I thought both were getting better and better as they progressed. The two shows have returned with very strong opening episodes; but the knowledge that both are going to be cut off in their prime bothers me; it’s a desire not to get involved again with the characters knowing that the cliffhanger endings will be forever unresolved. Saying that, I’m told the makers of Caprica did✃ have time to tack on a sort of resolution for their characters but I’m sure it’s not what they wanted and it won’t be a very satisfyin🌸g end knowing it was forced.

Losing shows I love before their time has happened to me before, but back then I had way less information than I have today. Having a show I enjoyed and characters I loved end on a cliffhanger and then finding out that the cliffhanger will never be resolved usually happened after I’d watched said cliffhanger. The unresolved demise of Dark Skies , Now And Again (Eric Close didn’t have much luck with shows in the ’90s) and Space: Above And Beyond still leave a sour taste in my mouth. Thank God Farscape got the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries to🙈 resolve its ending and give it a worthy finalé.

These days it’s different: shows are being broadcast within days of their US release or at the very least within a few months, and with the amount of information on the internet we know a lot more about shows a lot sooner. We can go into a show knowing more: we know how a show is fairing in the US in ways we didn’t used to know. If we see an advert for a new show, or hear about it in SFX or on a website🌺 we can immediately find more info about it.

There seems to be more and more fantasy and sci-fi shows being produced at the moment but at the same time these shows have less and less time to prove themselves, so we are more likely to find ourselves watching a show that’s destined to be cancelled before its time. When a show ends with a cliff-hanger I find myself scouring the internet for news of that show being picked-up for a new season. The fate of Fringe has been a particular worry to me o🎀f late but it’s secured another sꦡeason so I can breathe a sight of relief.

Being in the UK we have no control over the fates of these shows. Caprica and SG:U both got cancelled while they were off our screens on mid-season breaks. It doesn’t matter if I watch them now. They’re gone. I can’t affect that. If I didn’t know Caprica and SG:U had been cancelled would I still watch them? Yes. But now knowing they got cancelled, I find that I’m not bothered and I probably won’t see them through to the end. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. I’m knowingly not watching new episodes of sci-fi shows that I love. Will missing out on these shows be less bothersome than having a few more unresolved cliff-hangers in my head? Or should I just watch them anyway? I don’t know. I guess it’s just that with a little more knowledge about shows I can be a little more discerning in what I chose to watch. I can decide if it’s worth investing in a show or not before I take the plunge.
I wonder if I’m alone in this. Is anyone else out there not bothering with shows after learning of their🎐 cancellationꦜ, or are you watching anyway?