Mixed feelings

The creators of the hit TV show Lost had a perfect opportunity last night. The show had a two-hour season-ending blockbuster which was advertised as the show that would answer all the questions. And while it did deliver with a ridiculously entertaining two hours which was gripping and helped tie a bunch of storylines together, I had a thought as I was watching.

Why not REALLY surprise everyone with the final episode of the second season? Answer ALL the questions and end the franchise with some of the strongest material in an unprecedented move of going out on top that the television world has (n)ever seen? They wrap it up with a tidy little bow and leave the viewers with one of the greatest shows of all time when it is still riding high at its artistic peak. As much as I love the show, how could you begrudge the producers for just finishing it before they risk losing the audience?

How many shows do we remember that were good and then kind of went off into obscurity as they continued to dilute the shows with cast changes, storyline stretches and other problems? (Boston Public, Beverly Hills 90210, NYPD Blue, The X Files, and others)

Just once it would be great to see a show go out on top and blow everyone away in the process.

We all know why the content makers in television world never do that. The rewards for having a show run enough episodes to break into syndication are substantial. If a show can end up running five times a day on different channels like Cheers, Seinfeld and The Simpsons have done in the past, the windfall is enormous.

But for every one of those shows, there are at least ten others that hang on too long and end up diluting the quality that allowed for multiple seasons in the first place.

Anyway, I know that it is a veritable impossibility that anyone would have the stones to do this, but it was a thought that I had and I would have considered it one of the coolest, most brilliant moments in television history.