I guess it was bound to happen. I mean right when I'm thinking I'm liking a show, it makes a turn for the worse. Here was the hero, Uhtred, being ordered by the king to be the prince's right hand man when the prince becomes king, and it's too much for Uhtred. So he throws everything in the garbage by putting a knife to the the king's throat and escaping back to the Danes.
Now, instead of being a Lord in the emerging England, he's a condemned enemy fighting for the Danes who are slowly but surely being pushed out of England. I mean, who would do that? Who would switch from the winners, (which you had a big hand in making them the winners) and switch to the losers, whose time is limited.
Perhaps I speak in hindsight. Twelve hundred years of hindsight, but it just didn't make any sense.
And it happens all the time to me. I'll start watching a show, and it's a great show, and I rave about it, and then three years into the series, or so, I'm not liking it anymore.
The list is a long one. In the modern era, it's The Blacklist, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and a slew of others that I can't even remember anymore. In the old days it was Lost in Space, The Man from Uncle, I Spy, and The Wild, Wild West.
I don't know what is wrong with TV writers. I guess it's just a simple thing. At first, they have a great concept and they have a lot of great ideas for stories to go with it. But then, after three years or so, the great ideas dry up. It happened with Star Trek too. I mean the original series, which was the only Star Trek that was worth watching.
For Star Trek, tos, they had the great concept, and they had great stories that lasted into its third season. But in that third season, you can tell they were on the down slide. And then when they brought the series back, called Star Trek, the Next Generation, the stories and characters were so bad, even the great concept couldn't make up for it.
And the same was true for every single Star Trek incarnation that followed. I mean every single new Star Trek series that followed sucked, and every single Star Trek movie that followed equally sucked. The concept of Star Trek was so great that they kept trying to rejuvenate it, but for some strange reason, no one could come up with a decent story to match the concept. Not since the original series, that is, and that is surely a shame.
We have probably the worst incarnation of Star Trek happening right now, which I couldn't even watch through the first full episode without turning it off in complete disgust. It was like the producers believed the great concept by itself was enough, (the same thing they always believed) and some actress from The Walking Dead had enough "star power" to make it a success, regardless of the lack of writing talent they put into the show.
It's a recipe for failure, and you would think they would learn their lesson by now. I figure if the current writers of whatever show run out of juice, then hire new writers who haven't been tapped out yet. They are out there. Give them a chance. Or is Hollywood stuck in the "same ol' same ol' system? You know -- the "good ol' boys" (or the "good ol' girls") system at work here. Probably is.
That's the worst shame of all. It means the same problem will just continue. As long as their bottom line is acceptable, nothing will change. And as long as you have the fan base blindly following a show for only its concept, being thrilled only by the sights and images, not caring if there's a quality story, the bottom line for Hollywood will continue to be acceptable. It is a shame.
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