My wife and I seem to have a run of bad luck at picking the right TV shows to get behind. Either we fall for a show that no one else seems to like, so it has bad ratings and gets canceled, or we are watching it on video, and all too soon arrive at the end of the series. And, let's face it...there aren't too many series that get to plan for the end, so they usually end on some sort of cliff-hanger, with a ton of unanswered questions.
Recent examples of shows that have left us feeling dirty and unfulfilled are: Jericho, Sarah Connor Chronicles, HEROES, Doll House, and, of course, Firefly. Earlier this week, my wife started watching a British series called Survivors. It's set in an England which has fallen victim to a massive flu epidemic, totally decimating the population. Kind of like The Stand, just without the mythic struggle of Good vs. Evil. Being set in England, there aren't a lot of guns to go around, the firearms on display being limited to a couple of shot-guns(mostly 'fowling' pieces) and about 3 pistols. Apparently there is more firepower in my bedroom closet than you can find in all of England.
Lack of firearms aside, what I saw of the show was highly interesting. Oh...people still seemed very clean and the girls were awfully pretty for a few months with no showers or food, but, much better acting than what they had in Jericho...plus there was an actual story, with two sets of bad guys: one an evil pharmaceutical company trying to profit from a possible cure that they would do ANYTHING to find, and the other set of bad guys being the Provisional Government, attempting to restore order. There is actually a quite strong anti-establishment feel in the show.
My wife has watched about 8 episodes, when I asked her how many shows there were total. She said she didn't know, but that she was only two season into the show. A quick trip to Wikipedia revealed the horrible, terrible truth: There were only 2 seasons of the show filmed, 6 episodes per season, for a total of 12 episodes.
A strong person would have been able to bear up under the terrible strain of that truth, letting his wife enjoy what she could of the series.
I'm not a strong man. I did wait until she was about half-way through episode 10 to give her the bad news. At 10 o'clock when she sent me to bed alone, she was trying to decide between savoring the last two episodes, or pushing on and finishing it in one sitting.
Based off the fact that she didn't make in to bed until well after midnight, I can guess which way she chose. I can't blame her...when I started watching Firefly, I KNEW it was only a few episodes, and I still couldn't stretch it out.
"The Unusuals." I was so pissed!
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