I am frequently snappish about the cancellation of quality programming. I've written before about shows like Farscape and Deadwood and why they should never have been canceled, and I love to lay the blame on short-sighted entertainment executives who are no longer interested in building entertainment brands. I've also railed against seemingly anaesthetized audiences who would rather watch "please look at me!" abortions like American Idol or Dancing With the Stars than quality scripted television.
Today, however, I will take responsibility for the cancellation of a great television show. Yes people, it is my fault that Veronica Mars was canceled.
If you now have sqwunched up (I said it) eyebrows and the duck-face "I just read something stupid" expression, then it's your fault too.
Veronica Mars was a UPN/CW show that ran for three seasons between 2004-2007 about a 17-year old girl who follows in her private detective father's footsteps by solving mysteries and dispensing justice in her high school. The premise is not unfamiliar ... see Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Scooby Doo, and Brenda Bly for the classic progenitors of the genre.
Yet Veronica Mars brought something to the detective format that most of the classics lacked: deep and complex character interaction. As with all great drama, the premise of Veronica Mars served primarily as a backdrop for the growth and development of the relationships on the show. While it can be fun and satisfying to see a mystery twisted around and wrapped-up in 42 minutes, if you're not invested in the characters then you're just watching average television. Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, and Francis Capra in particular laid out some fantastic performances on the show. The fact that Kristen Bell never got an Emmy nomination after the first season finale is, frankly, evidence of fraud at the Emmys.
It disappoints me that average television seems to be so popular these days (CSI anyone?), but that's a natural byproduct of taking all the risk out of entertainment production. But ... mea culpa ... I never actually watched Veronica Mars during its primary run on UPN/CW. I've never been a great fan of the detective/mystery genre, so I never gave it a chance. Apparently, I was in popular company because the show never performed very well, especially in its third season when ratings fell precipitously after Veronica went off to college. Remarkably, I even had a trusted friend tell me specifically that I should watch the show because of the witty dialogue (which I luu uhh uuuuv), and I ignored him.
Now that I've discovered all three seasons of the show in my streaming Netflix queue (which I watch through my XBox 360 ... have I mentioned you should get a Netflix subscription?), I'm kicking myself. Veronica Mars was an amazing show and if I (and half a million of my friends) had watched it in 2006-2007, we might have gotten a few more seasons ... or at least one more season to wrap up the loose plot threads. For a while, there was talk of a movie but that rumor has been tearing up the fanboy/girl blogs for 3 years without much traction. I doubt it will happen.
Therefore, I will step out of my vitriolic shoes today and stop blaming the black helicopters. The truth is that it's my fault Veronica Mars was canceled. If by some miracle this post makes it to the ears (or eyes) of the show's creator Rob Thomas ... please accept my sincere apologies. Had I known!! Had I only known!!
P.S. -
Erica Durance, I love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment