Oh boy! A meme!

[captainsblog]

Any number of people have been working through this one, but just to make the other late-to-the-partiers feel better about not being the last one in the universe to try it, here's the beginning of my 30-day TV thingie:

Day 01 - A show that should have never been canceled

By far, among the others I've seen to answer here, the leader in the clubhouse on this one is Firefly, and it would be hard to criticize anyone who picked that. Trouble for me is, I never watched it before it got canceled. I don't know if I would've been frustrated by the out-of-order airing of the episodes, or if the other vagaries of network airing would have gotten to me. I also wonder a little about the length and strength of the arc if it had been cast over a longer life than the fourteen-plus-a-movie that we got. So with all due respect, I'm going to put my vote into the accelerator, where it will....

vanish.

I can think of at least five reasons off the top for why.

1 and 2: Sam and Al. The characters, their interaction, their clear (if holographic) connection to each other in so many circumstances. They tried it once again in a goofy Enterprise episode with Dean Stockwell as an Insert Alien Here foil for Captain Archer, but that didn't play the same way. They were Sam and Al playing the wrong roles.

3: Infinite possibility. While there was a series-long mystery to be solved (would Sam ever get back, and how?), each episode could, and did, stand on its own. The randomness made it easier to watch any of them in any sequence, and gave the writers more freedom to crank out 44 minutes of their own stories without having to devote 20 of them to backstory or foreshadowing.

4: The message. Every episode (that I can remember, anyway) had the Leap being for something good. There was plenty of violence and even sorrow (especially toward the end when the episodes started getting more gimmicky and history-based rather than Sam-centered), but even then, even if he didn't accomplish what Ziggy put him there for, you felt the inherent goodness in the effort.

5: No ending, no MI: Even if QL had lasted a little longer, it makes it all the more likely that we would not have ended it in the bird-flipping to the fans that came at the end with "Mirror Image." Those six little words on the title card at the end of the series- yeah, these- not only wrecked so much of the good feeling of the past, but put a massive roadblock into any future incarnations.  Tell me, world that is about to witness the remaking of Tron- wouldn't a QL remake have been done by now if DPB had merely left the Door open to it?

Who knows? Maybe later in the series, Sam could have crossed over and Leapt onto Serenity. Because, after all, you can't stop the Zignal.



Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

Comments

[sturgeonslawyer.livejournal.com]

Just a nitpicky point. It isn't a remake of Tron, it's a sequel.

[siercia]

I totally agree with you. QL was one of my most favorite shows, and one of few that I kept my devotion to when I moved from high school to college.

It says something that I clicked over to your screen shot of the final title card and immediately teared up. God, I remember sobbing like a baby at the end of that episode. I loved those characters so much.

[nonspecific.livejournal.com]

I'm so confused... What are you talking about??

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

It's been going around for a few weeks- like that Writers Block thing that some people post answers to, only these are all TV-related. It's 30 topics to expound on. Today's was what TV show do you wish had never been canceled. The rest of the list is at the bottom of this entry.

I don't plan on doing this every day.

[nonspecific.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I got that part... The tricky part was trying to figure out what on earth show you were referring to! I read the first paragraph about five times trying to make sense of it...

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was trying so hard to avoid 20-year-old spoilers, I only included the link.

Signed,
Too Clever for his Own Good

[nonspecific.livejournal.com]

I clicked the link! It just told me to refresh the page! I did and it still didn't load. :/

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

That is really bizarre. It must be some gizmo that blocks links.

Try this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096684/

Damn. Same thing. I've never seen this shizzle before.

[nonspecific.livejournal.com]

Sooo... did you ever tell us what it was, since I'm too lazy to do any further clicking today?

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I thought I'd mentioned it at some point.

Quantum Leap is the show name.

[nonspecific.livejournal.com]

Ah-ha! That existed back in the 90's, I remember. I guess that's what QL stands for.

[ourika.livejournal.com]

I loved that show, but I have to disagree on the "never should have been canceled" because a few of my favorite shows never got to get past half a season. At least that show got a decent run!