Theme song graciously provided by Beatnik Turtle.
Want to share your thoughts on this topic or read what other people think? The forum discussion thread is here.
You can listen to the episode now by using the ‘Play’ button below.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
IMO it is good writing if the show runner knows how the story ends before the first episode even starts. If an author doesn’t how the story will end, the characters will behave in ways that are completely inconsistent as the story changes. A TV show could become a confusing mess *cough* Under the Dome *cough* if the writers just start making it up as they go along. Any time you see a show end badly like Lost did, it is because they didn’t plan it out in advance. Sometimes things do have to change, like Babylon 5 losing some cast members, but they were able to make changes while keeping the integrity of the story, and not changing the ending.
Thanks, Victor. That is an excellent point. I honestly wasn’t talking about shows where the author/creator knew how it would end or where it would go. I hope for that in every show. My real question was about those creators who literally have the final scene pictured in their mind. Should they force their story, even if it evolves over the course of the series, to fit that exact scene they envisioned before the series began? Or should they still go with the conclusion they wanted, but adapt if their original vision of a final scene or scenes doesn’t match the final state of their story as well as they thought it did at the start? That’s really what I was curious about. 🙂