short takes

[cellio]

You know it's a bad snow-driving night when you get off the highway and increase your speed. Yup, very cautious people on the parkway tonight. Somewhat cautious people on the local streets.

Silly cats (very funny!) from ian_gunn.

Overheard in the office: "The solar system consists of the sun, Jupiter, and assorted debris".

I finally watched last week's Enterprise tonight. Are we about to get an explanation for the change in Klingon appearance between the original series and the modern shows? Sure looks that way. I also noticed the background music in several places, which I rarely do with this show, and it was effective. Nicely done. I wonder what changed.

Comments

[jducoeur]

It always seems to me that just as the creative team/actors/etc get it together, the Powers that Be, working with old info, shut it down.

Actually, my observation is almost the reverse -- in my experience, series of any sort (TV, comics, whatever) tend to get better *because* they have been cancelled. From DP7 to DS9, I've seen it happen over and over again -- the last season is the best precisely because they know that it's ending.

It's not hard to understand why. Once the cancel order comes down, the creative types are suddenly freed from the shackles of sameness. Most serials require that the universe be "cleaned up" at the end of the story, which prevents anything truly dramatic from happening. But if you know that this is your last shot, there's nothing to lose. Under those circumstances, a truly good writer will often step up to the plate and produce their best work. The result is often a great climax.

It's a really common syndrome. Doesn't happen if the cancellation in unexpected, but when a series is going to go away in 6-12 months you often see what it can really do...