Why can’t some TV shows last forever?
Space, the final frontier. It’s seemingly infinite, and full of possibilities that many have dreamed up. Unlike real space, tv shows are not seemingly infinite.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m gonna talk a little about Star Trek. I hope I don’t lose people on this one, but I’m sure I will. Hopefully if you’re subscribed to my Substack, you’ll give me a bit of leeway here, even if you’re not a fan of the franchise.
I feel a little bit like I’m in mourning, as Star Trek Lower Decks ended last month after five seasons. Trek as a whole has been in a bit of flux, with several shows ending with budget concerns among other TV industry issues, which adds to the down vibe of the show ending. It’s both surprising that Lower Decks lasted that long, and ONLY lasted that long. An animated comedy show set in the the same universe as a thought provoking, imaginative, serious franchise, didn’t feel like it made sense when it was announced. I was excited. Any more juice we squeeze out of stories set hundreds of years in the future exploring the cosmos by an idea of humanity’s best version of itself, I’m going to watch. It just didn’t seem like it would have much runway. Fanbases are too toxic. There were already enough people that hated the new era of Star Trek, and frankly still do. It’s funny how people will hate new things until the next thing is too new and different and they miss the thing they loudly hated before, but I digress. The point is, an animated licensed version of Galaxy Quest seemed like it should have caused torches and pitchforks to be picked up to storm the studio, on paper.
A funny thing happened though. It was really, really good. It poked fun at Star Trek the way fans poke fun at it. It respected the franchise, in a way you wouldn’t expect a satirical version to. It had serious moments, and challenging subject matter that, at moments, tonally matched the franchise. So much so that it spun a couple of the animated characters out into a cross over episode in live action.
So suddenly instead of a show that felt likely to be one season and done, due to fan’s poor reaction or just the nature of shows not getting hardly any time to find their footing anymore, it ran five seasons. In fact, it’s left many crushed that it’s over. Theres been a lot of talk of fans trying to save the show, and an openness from the creator and actors of trying to carry on in some capacity in the future, but it sounds like just hopes at this point.
It’s an interesting facet of the human experience in 2025. The idea that we can fall in love with a show and just want it to never end. Yet in the same breath, know that for a show to truly go on forever it will outstay its welcome. Duality is something, isn’t it? To love a creative endeavor so much, that eventually over-saturation leads to its demise. In that respect, I love that it ended where it did.
Most shows in this kind of situation don’t get to leave on their own terms. There’s bad endings, shows cancelled before they can give an ending, or shows that find out they’re ending while in production and never really found the right ending. It’s everywhere. A large amount of shows don’t get that great ending (I’m looking at you Star Trek Enterprise). So to see a show that’s premise was following lowest level officers on a space ship and the grunt work that entails, then watch them grow and rank up through many ridiculous situations, and leave on a note that this was only the beginning of their story, is something special. The imagination can run wild with where they might wind up. You could see them pop up in future shows set in the same era. There are lots of possibilities, but it also ended on a very high note where if we never see these characters again on screen, they’ve put something together that became very special. That should be more than enough.
I wanted to be more upset after it ended, but I realized something as the credits ran on the final episode. I got what I wanted from this show. It delivered on its promises. The weird show that probably shouldn’t have been able to make it to a pitch room at Paramount, let alone 50 episodes over five years, was made. They shot their shot and it happened. It was made into reality. And it was good! So very good. That show was a miracle through and through. It even got people that never gave Trek a chance the gateway to try it out. It’s ok to be sad about it ending, and wanting more. It’s also ok to recognize the special place a show like that has.
It’s inspiring really. I’ve been working on a novel for years. I’m close to the ending, and it’s scary to put it out knowing a lot of people may not like it. But I like what I’ve done, and the ideas I’ve had for the next stories (cause I can’t help myself, and have at least two more stories in mind for the world I’ve been building for so long). So I’m gonna be like Mike McMahan, and shoot my shot. It’s what I’m doing here. Even if no one else ends up enjoying it, I can feel good about creating something to leave behind after I’m gone. I’ll be the plucky writer who will find his niche and find his audience. If I can replicate even a little bit of that, if my stories are just a little special for a few people, myself included, that will be a good place to be.