Seems to me that the main problem is that the writers want their cake and eat it. They want the narrative form of novels, with the long-term employment possibilities of serial fiction. They know the realities of the situation; whatever you get an order for, that's maybe the last you ever get and you should treat it as such. Write towards a conclusion each series, and find yourself a new plot for next season. How hard is that?
They've got this ludicrous idea in their heads, however, that it's required, or even plausible to write stories where, at the end of 22 episodes, you're only at the end of part one, and just starting to get interesting.
As far as The Mentalist goes, you could wrap it in five minutes. Just have someone finally get tired of his smug face and shoot him. He's completely on borrowed time as it is, on that score.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-05-17 02:13 pm (UTC)They've got this ludicrous idea in their heads, however, that it's required, or even plausible to write stories where, at the end of 22 episodes, you're only at the end of part one, and just starting to get interesting.
As far as The Mentalist goes, you could wrap it in five minutes. Just have someone finally get tired of his smug face and shoot him. He's completely on borrowed time as it is, on that score.