Cancelled TV Shows That Never Provided A Proper Ending

[DToTheJ]

I also wonder if Mr. Rogers had a grand finale episode?

Sure--the magic trolley crashed into King Friday's castle, causing an inferno that eventually engulfed the entire land of Make Believe.

I thought that was an episode of "Family Guy"... And even still, it was a dream from Stewie...

 

[bpatrick]

Re soap endings: I was disappointed by the last episode of
"As The World Turns"; somehow I expected more than the
last scene, where the retiring Dr. Bob Hughes leaves his office
for the last time, and before turning out the light leaves the globe
on his desk spinning. (At least I liked Josh and Reva's leaving in
his pickup truck on "an adventure" on GL's last show.)

Although the scene might be considered by longtime fans of "Search
For Tomorrow" to be predictable, I'll never forget it: Jo (Mary Stuart)
is looking up into the evening sky and buddy Stu (Larry Haines--why
didn't those two characters ever marry?) asks her what she's searching
for. "Tomorrow," she says, "and I can't wait!"

"Ryan's Hope" ended on what I'm told was a downbeat ending (my ABC
affiliate had dropped the show so I didn't see it) with a rather heartfelt
rendition of "Danny Boy" by Maeve (Helen Gallagher).

 

[MattParker]

Ah, another blast from the past.

Face it, most shows just disappeared and nobody cared about a "proper ending." Most shows in the day had isolated episodes with no memory from one week to the next. How can there be an ending with no continuity?

But funny, in 13 pages, nobody has mentioned Cybill. The last episode shown was supposed to be a cliff-hanger. The final words on the screen were "to be continued." But it never was.

 

[easttxtv]

Re soap endings: I was disappointed by the last episode of
"As The World Turns"; somehow I expected more than the
last scene, where the retiring Dr. Bob Hughes leaves his office
for the last time, and before turning out the light leaves the globe
on his desk spinning. (At least I liked Josh and Reva's leaving in
his pickup truck on "an adventure" on GL's last show.)

I've heard that many weren't exactly thrilled about the ATWT ending. I didn't have years invested in ATWT like I had with others, but I knew enough to tell that having Susan in Bob/Kim's last scenes was a bit jarring, as well as Emily being in Tom/Margo's last scenes, that was kinda trippy also.

Although the scene might be considered by longtime fans of "Search
For Tomorrow" to be predictable, I'll never forget it: Jo (Mary Stuart)
is looking up into the evening sky and buddy Stu (Larry Haines--why
didn't those two characters ever marry?) asks her what she's searching
for. "Tomorrow," she says, "and I can't wait!"

"Married?? You never even kissed me!!" (Mary Stuart, 50 Years of Soaps) 8)

Several times I've read that Search's finale was one of the better ones. Still hard to believe that Mary and Larry are both gone now.

"Ryan's Hope" ended on what I'm told was a downbeat ending (my ABC
affiliate had dropped the show so I didn't see it) with a rather heartfelt
rendition of "Danny Boy" by Maeve (Helen Gallagher).

Well, thanks to those helpers that make up the internet, you can't use cancellation as an excuse
First part & show open: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xjNepJjeY4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpeevlOyo4k
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VR5kbltg28
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4TIbgHUANI
Last scenes & show close: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYUEsW13Oi0

Maeve's final moments are quite touching, even for someone like myself who hadn't watched Ryan's Hope regularly before.

 

[easttxtv]

On a sweeter note, here's Fred Roger's goodbye speech on his very last show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcvRMHz4mb4

--No longer there, per the ol' copyright claim--

 

[easttxtv]

But funny, in 13 pages, nobody has mentioned Cybill. The last episode shown was supposed to be a cliff-hanger. The final words on the screen were "to be continued." But it never was.

Maryann went to the well probably 1 too many times in her quest to mess up Dr. Dick's life. I still think there was a good amount of stories left to be told on the show, and I don't remember the ratings being bad for it. CBS should have let Cybill and Maryann at least had another drink or 2, but oh well. It lasted a lot longer than many shows do these days.

 

[LKellerIII]

But funny, in 13 pages, nobody has mentioned Cybill. The last episode shown was supposed to be a cliff-hanger. The final words on the screen were "to be continued." But it never was.

Maryann went to the well probably 1 too many times in her quest to mess up Dr. Dick's life. I still think there was a good amount of stories left to be told on the show, and I don't remember the ratings being bad for it. CBS should have let Cybill and Maryann at least had another drink or 2, but oh well. It lasted a lot longer than many shows do these days.

By the time the show was canceled -nobody, including the majority of viewers, CBS, or even the two stars - really cared anymore.

The problem with Cybill was that the writing went to hell. The show was really sharp and witty the first couple of seasons, then went seriously downhill toward the end. I was a fan, but stopped watching in the 3rd season.

If the gossip was to be believed - the problem was not originally in the writing, but with jealousy among the two stars - Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski. The show was intended as a vehicle for Shepherd, but Baranski (Mary Ann) started getting a lot of attention (and camera time) which reportedly led to competition and tensions between the two.

By the time the show was canceled, virtually nobody - the viewers, CBS, or even the two stars - cared anymore.

 

[imhomerjay]

And there was never a resolution to be for the cliffhanger that ended My Name is Earl.

 

[KyDXIn]

Lawrence Welk was another with a tendency to misspeak.
He committed a classic in political incorrectness once when
he said, "Da Italian people are a musical race, always wid
a song in dare heart-a." But to get back to the topic, at least
his show got a proper ending, since he ended it himself at
age 79.

He might have ended it, but he was getting pretty wild by the time of that last show! Peace, man!

Qupte: "Don't you cats know this polka jazz is strictly from Squaresville!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFmSv2WFDrs

 

[KyDXIn]

Of course "Turn-On" never had a proper final episode.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063960/

Say goodnight George. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zny4LxAC0C8

 

[KyDXIn]

I think the show Fish (spinoff of Barney Miller) may not have had a noticeable ending.

I thought the show ended with a touch football game in the back yard with Betty White playing quarterback and enjoying a Snickers?

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Re soap endings: I was disappointed by the last episode of "As The World Turns";
somehow I expected more than the last scene, where the retiring Dr. Bob Hughes
leaves his office for the last time, and before turning out the light leaves the globe
on his desk spinning.

As he turned out the light, he should have said:
"I guess the network didn't give this a great deal of thought."

 

[KyDXIn]

The Flintstones, which ran for 6 seasons on ABC, definitely should have had a proper resolution, it had that much going for it.
ixnay

These would have been the last projects where Henry Corden did Fred's voice, and thus are the last 'canonical' 'Flintstones' episodes.

I thought Alan Reed id Fred's voice.

 

[flashback]

the 90`s dark shadows on nbc ended when victoria winters returned back from the past where she found out barnabus collins was a vampire and at that point barnabus realized his secret was known,that was the cliffhanger ending of the series.no wrap ups at all.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The Flintstones, which ran for 6 seasons on ABC, definitely should have had a proper resolution, it had that much going for it.
ixnay

These would have been the last projects where Henry Corden did Fred's voice, and thus are the last 'canonical' 'Flintstones' episodes.

I thought Alan Reed id Fred's voice.

I thought the 1966 film "The Man Called Flintstone" was considered the "finale" of the original Flintstones.

 

[LKellerIII]

The Flintstones, which ran for 6 seasons on ABC, definitely should have had a proper resolution, it had that much going for it.
ixnay

These would have been the last projects where Henry Corden did Fred's voice, and thus are the last 'canonical' 'Flintstones' episodes.

I thought Alan Reed did Fred's voice.

He did - until shortly before his death in 1977. According to Wikipedia, Alan Reed's last turn as Fred was in a "cameo" appearance in Scooby Doo's Laff-A-Lympics in 77.

Henry Corden took over the job that same year, and voiced Fred until sometime before his death in 2005.

 

[mleach]

I thought the 1966 film "The Man Called Flintstone" was considered the "finale" of the original Flintstones.

Somewhat related to this even though the show wasn't cancelled but when it was announced that Matt Groening was going to do a Simpsons movie, I believe he had said that the movie would be the ending of The Simpsons. "The Simpsons Movie" came out a few years ago and the show continues...

Change of plans I suppose...

 

[KyDXIn]

The Flintstones, which ran for 6 seasons on ABC, definitely should have had a proper resolution, it had that much going for it.
ixnay

These would have been the last projects where Henry Corden did Fred's voice, and thus are the last 'canonical' 'Flintstones' episodes.

I thought Alan Reed did Fred's voice.

He did - until shortly before his death in 1977. According to Wikipedia, Alan Reed's last turn as Fred was in a "cameo" appearance in Scooby Doo's Laff-A-Lympics in 77.

Henry Corden took over the job that same year, and voiced Fred until sometime before his death in 2005.

That makes sense. I know Reed had a long career in radio prior to becoming a television character actor.

 

[bpatrick]

Reed appeared on many radio shows, but most notably as
Pasquale on "Life With Luigi". In his autobiography, "That's
Not All, Folks," Mel Blanc said there was some animosity
between the two of them when they first started playing
Fred and Barney, related to the fact that Blanc had the more
successful radio career. But after Blanc's near-fatal 1961 auto
accident, when he was playing Barney from his bedroom, Reed
stayed after they finished recording one evening and expressed
his absolute awe that Blanc, in his condition, would continue working.
Blanc said that the two of them became better friends in real life than
Fred and Barney were. (Smiley not meant as a joke but as a happy
ending.)

 

[mleach]

Reed appeared on many radio shows, but most notably as
Pasquale on "Life With Luigi". In his autobiography, "That's
Not All, Folks," Mel Blanc said there was some animosity
between the two of them when they first started playing
Fred and Barney, related to the fact that Blanc had the more
successful radio career. But after Blanc's near-fatal 1961 auto
accident, when he was playing Barney from his bedroom, Reed
stayed after they finished recording one evening and expressed
his absolute awe that Blanc, in his condition, would continue working.
Blanc said that the two of them became better friends in real life than
Fred and Barney were. (Smiley not meant as a joke but as a happy
ending.)

Reed also had appeared in a 1962 episode of The Lucy Show. He was in the episode where Viv & Lu took a group of scouts to DC to meet President Kennedy. On the way Lucy had stopped by a coffee shop looking for sugar for her horse. The coffee shop employee? Alan Reed ! ! Using his Fred Flinstone voice.