When it was recently announced that FOX's House would be drawing to a close this spring, my initial thought was that it was about darn time. However, upon reading that it was the show's creator and lead actor who were largely behind the decision to close the doors of Princeton-Plainsboro, both my interest and my respect spiked. According to various sources, the network would have likely been game for another season of House, despite its dwindling ratings and sub-par execution in the last year or so. The show runners, however, knew that it was time to quit, and gave themselves enough time to write a (hopefully) satisfactory ending to a show that still has a fervently loyal fan-base as well as some seriously talented performers. This of course got me thinking of a few other shows that might consider saying their goodbyes in the near future...
The Office
As I wrote nearly a year ago in this post, The Office was just about unimaginable without the genius of Steve Carrell to steer the ship. And while the show has had some shining moments in an otherwise uneven season (the past few weeks' episodes featuring Dwight's leadership arc have been surprisingly hilarious), on the whole it has flattened in much the way I (and many others) anticipated. The show runners attempted to fill the void left by Michael Scott with James Spader's Robert California (whose every appearance many dread, as he is hugely unlikeable, and not in an exciting way) and a handful of other guest players who just haven't gelled with the Dunder-Mifflin/Sabre staff they way those in charge clearly hoped. And with news of a potential Dwight spinoff and the news that Mindy Kaling has been tapped for a pilot on FOX, not to mention the escalating film careers of John Krasinski and Ellie Kemper, it is quickly becoming a question of which cast members will remain and continue to put their best efforts and energies into the show. Not to mention this past Thursday's series low rating, disappointing for a show which, just a few years ago, was the centerpiece of NBC's Thursday night lineup.
I think that if the show's writing staff were to make peace with the idea of wrapping the show up either this season or next (preferably the former), it would allow them the time to pen a truly satisfying ending to the show. As it stands we're seeing some weak efforts to keep the week-to-week buzz going (the Andy and Erin saga can only continue for so long, and I'm still 100% sure Jim will not cheat on Pam despite the show thrusting this plot line at us), and I think it might benefit everyone involved if they had the opportunity to wrap up the dangling threads in a satisfying way, and give long-time viewers a conclusion befitting the show we all fell in love with way back in 2005. I would rather see a moving, unified sendoff for our favorite paper pushers than a slow trickling out of the characters I've come to enjoy so much, and much more than seeing them replaced by lackluster newcomers (the last addition to the cast who really managed to win me over was Ellie Kemper as Erin, and that is a testament to her talent rather than what she's been given to work with). I'm sure the still-struggling NBC is reluctant to pull the plug on one of the shows for which it is still so widely recognized, yet I think they do a disservice to the talented minds who make the show each week by keeping them around past their prime.
How I Met Your Mother
I've hinted at this one in a couple of my recent reviews, and I stand by it even more firmly as Season 7 continues to (in more ways than one) unravel. How I Met Your Mother is renewed for next season already, which seeing the inconsistency of this season seems like a hasty decision (it was confirmed before this season even began) on the part of CBS. Then again, this is the network that continues to push reality-giant Survivor on us in its 24th(!) season.
The real problem with HIMYM lies in the ambitious nature of the show itself. By beginning the show back in 2005 (are you seeing a common thread here?) with the notion of telling "a love story in reverse," the creators and writers knowingly committed to a narrative structure which requires a commitment and skill beyond nearly every other sitcom on television. That doesn't mean that the show always has to be better or funnier than its competition, but it absolutely does mean that the story has to unfold in a certain way, and with a certain consistency. And as the show has rumbled along into its seventh season, it has become clear just how restrictive its chosen structure can sometimes be. Bays and Thomas (the show's 2 creators) openly admit that they never expected the show to continue for this long, and have had to adapt as it has received repeated renewals. That's all well and good, but there have been entire episodes in which it really feels to even casual viewers like the minds in charge no longer have a plan for the show and its characters. I think imposing an end-date on the series ASAP would really help in moving away from this problem. I'll cite as examples the show runners over at ABC's LOST, who gave themselves a deadline for concluding the series early on, a move which allowed them to tell the story they intended without continuing to waste episodes on irrelevant plots (as we saw in the second and third seasons of that show). LOST
When you think about it, there are really only a few plot threads (I remember reading somewhere that one writer counted 18 loose ends, which seems like an overestimate) that need to be resolved by series' end. We need to find out who Barney and Robin, respectively, end up with (if anyone). We need to see Marshall and Lily have their baby. We need to see how Ted winds up in the right place at the right time, with that yellow umbrella in hand, and finally, after literally years spent sitting on that sofa listening to the story, tells his children how he met their mother. Whether the writers go the literal route of closing the series at that exact moment or allow us time to get to know the mother as a character (I think the latter would be a greater payoff for seven-plus years of fan investment), there is more than ample time to wind this series to a close by May 2013.
Oh, and of course, there are two slaps remaining...
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