Episode #111 "Freefall"

[Tom]

Freefall was not fully satisfying, yes.

But, in the 80s only very few series hat a real finale at all (only MASH and Magnum come to my mind and both might have been the triggers for NBC to approve a finale for MV as well, as Mash finale had huge ratings). Most other series ended abruptly, i.e. with an ordinary episode (like Nash Bridges in 2001).

And, as far as the sequel ideas discussed here are concerned: in the late 80s they was no sequelmania yet. That started fully in the 90s with Law and order and other series and then went over to movies. Today, 90% of all blockbusters are sequels as writers have no ideas, nobody wants to take risks and making a fast buck with an idea that already has worked is easier....

 

[Robbie C.]

21 minutes ago, Tom said:

Freefall was not fully satisfying, yes.

But, in the 80s only very few series hat a real finale at all (only MASH and Magnum come to my mind and both might have been the triggers for NBC to approve a finale for MV as well, as Mash finale had huge ratings). Most other series ended abruptly, i.e. with an ordinary episode (like Nash Bridges in 2001).

And, as far as the sequel ideas discussed here are concerned: in the late 80s they was no sequelmania yet. That started fully in the 90s with Law and order and other series and then went over to movies. Today, 90% of all blockbusters are sequels as writers have no ideas, nobody wants to take risks and making a fast buck with an idea that already has worked is easier....

 

Very much agree. Gunsmoke, one of the longest running dramas in television history, just ended. And even the law and order stuff is more spin-offs (or bastard children) than sequels. There have been some exceptions, but they tend to show up on smaller networks and have (by design) limited runs so loose ends can be tied up properly.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Freefall was not fully satisfying, yes.

But, in the 80s only very few series hat a real finale at all (only MASH and Magnum come to my mind and both might have been the triggers for NBC to approve a finale for MV as well, as Mash finale had huge ratings). Most other series ended abruptly, i.e. with an ordinary episode (like Nash Bridges in 2001).

And, as far as the sequel ideas discussed here are concerned: in the late 80s they was no sequelmania yet. That started fully in the 90s with Law and order and other series and then went over to movies. Today, 90% of all blockbusters are sequels as writers have no ideas, nobody wants to take risks and making a fast buck with an idea that already has worked is easier....

 

Actually, I think it depended on the show and/or network. Some shows (that knew they were done & it was the last season) even in the 60s & 70s did a finale episode. Not all were 2hrs, and were a standard 1hr in length, but they still were a specific end & finale to that show & characters. The fact that they did do a special 2hr finale for MV (which in theory was/is awesome), it needed to be done & handled better.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, wolfie1996 said:

Couldn't agree more! All this could have been done and what's more, not only have been more satisfying but also a damned sight more believable!  Personally I think DJ wanted out to be free (as he thought) to pick juicy leading man  roles, which didn't materialise. Wonder if he  ever regretted it? By the way, no one has mentioned "Bad Attitude" being used- I'd never head it till then and now can't get the blasted song out of my head......

 

I think you’re right...DJ, and others, wanted out to pursue other things (probably because of the poor & ridiculous plots/scripts that destroyed the ratings). Some good songs, though.  

Edited March 14, 2021 by ViceFanMan

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb ViceFanMan:

Actually, I think it depended on the show and/or network. Some shows (that knew they were done & it was the last season) even in the 60s & 70s did a finale episode. Not all were 2hrs, and were a standard 1hr in length, but they still were a specific end & finale to that show & characters. The fact that they did do a special 2hr finale for MV (which in theory was/is awesome), it needed to be done & handled better.

most renewal decisions were done between seasons (still are with some networks), thus most series had no chance to do a finale when they were NOT renewed. And was the case with many series in the 80s. And even for those where it was quite clear that their season will be the last nobody cared to do a finale. That was simply not standard back then. MASH (that was 1983 as far as I remember) changed that finale policy as it was one of the highest ratet episode ever. 

[ViceFanMan]

Just now, Tom said:

most renewal decisions were done between seasons (still are with some networks), thus most series had no chance to do a finale when they were NOT renewed. And was the case with many series in the 80s. And even for those where it was quite clear that their season will be the last nobody cared to do a finale. That was simply not standard back then. MASH (that was 1983 as far as I remember) changed that finale policy as it was one of the highest ratet episode ever. 

Shows that were cancelled unexpectedly had no chance to do a finale of any kind. But, some shows that did know, were able to do a finale of some kind. It wasn’t every single show, but again I think it depended on the show/popularity and the network. Perhaps NBC hadn’t done a lot of finales at that time...but CBS & ABC had, even in the 60s & 70s. 

[Tom]

vor 1 Minute schrieb ViceFanMan:

Shows that were cancelled unexpectedly had no chance to do a finale of any kind. But, some shows that did know, were able to do a finale of some kind. It wasn’t every single show, but again I think it depended on the show/popularity and the network. Perhaps NBC hadn’t done a lot of finales at that time...but CBS & ABC had, even in the 60s & 70s. 

My point was that Is was generally not standard in the 80s when VICE aired to do a finale for a TV series. That´s a fact. It was probably simply considered as unnecessary. Of course we can now do a philosophical discussion about the exact percentage of shows that had no finale, but it was the majority. Name any popular similar 80s shows that had a real finale except MASH and Magnum if you can. 

[sdiegolo78]

2 minutes ago, Tom said:

My point was that Is was generally not standard in the 80s when VICE aired to do a finale for a TV series. That´s a fact. It was probably simply considered as unnecessary. Of course we can now do a philosophical discussion about the exact percentage of shows that had no finale, but it was the majority. Name any popular similar 80s shows that had a real finale except MASH and Magnum if you can. 

Hunter had a proper finale, but it aired in '91.

[Tom]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb sdiegolo78:

Hunter had a proper finale, but it aired in '91.

yes, thanks, but that was in 1992 right?. But even if you find 5 or 10 more that´s still a minority compared to around 100(!) new TV series that started annually in the 80s on all major networks.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Tom

[wolfie1996]

18 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said:

I think you’re right...DJ, and others, wanted out to pursue other things (probably because of the poor & ridiculous plots/scripts that destroyed the ratings). Some good songs, though.  

That was probably the main reason (so I've read anyway) that HE was unwilling to do more though I believe the others were  willing to continue. Writers can make or break an established series- Supernatural was a prime example. It went on for  15  series and they varied in quality, story wise, very much so. 1-5 excellent mainly (it was meant to finish then but luckily they changed their minds), 6-11 variable though  still watchable, 12-14 quite the reverse though had such a good following it didn't sink and 15 was back to being good. MV could have extended the good plots over more episodes and when it was noticed the writing was getting shitty, done something about it. And still survived even into the 90's. The thing was , although MV had fanatical fans- look at this site for a start- Supernatural courted its fans so eventually the  fan base was  massive enough to tolerate bouts of iffy writing, but MV never did. Maybe they never thought of it then. SOME writers were good! Why didn't they use them more? Yes I intend  driving my new Porsche down the motorway to the accompaniment of Bad Attitude, when it ever  arrives! Lots of delay at present, can only assume they're making the bloody things to order!!

[Tom]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb wolfie1996:

That was probably the main reason (so I've read anyway) that HE was unwilling to do more though I believe the others were  willing to continue. Writers can make or break an established series- Supernatural was a prime example. It went on for  15  series and they varied in quality, story wise, very much so. 1-5 excellent mainly (it was meant to finish then but luckily they changed their minds), 6-11 variable though  still watchable, 12-14 quite the reverse though had such a good following it didn't sink and 15 was back to being good. MV could have extended the good plots over more episodes and when it was noticed the writing was getting shitty, done something about it. And still survived even into the 90's. The thing was , although MV had fanatical fans- look at this site for a start- Supernatural courted its fans so eventually the  fan base was  massive enough to tolerate bouts of iffy writing, but MV never did. Maybe they never thought of it then. SOME writers were good! Why didn't they use them more? Yes I intend  driving my new Porsche down the motorway to the accompaniment of Bad Attitude, when it ever  arrives! Lots of delay at present, can only assume they're making the bloody things to order!!

Commercially there was no logic in continuing MV. Of course that´s hard to swallow for us fans, but that´s the truth. Ratings had dropped to 57th place of 110 series and they had more than 100 episodes - which is the magic barrier - to recoup their costs by syndication (what they did immediately as they sold the whole series to USA network that started reruns in 1989 including Too much too late the unaired episode in January 1990. So for NBC there was no reason to further pay 1.5-2m per episode for that return.

And, do not forget, most other series including the ones today that you mentioned were not that strongly bound to its time as MV due to its special 80s feel to it.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Tom

[ViceFanMan]

14 minutes ago, Tom said:

yes, thanks, but that was in 1992 right?. But even if you find 5 or 10 more that´s still a minority compared to around 100(!) new TV series that started annually in the 80s on all major networks.

Hunter was 1991, not 92. But, again...it may not have been a regular/standard thing for a finale, but it wasn’t unheard of either. 

[sdiegolo78]

15 minutes ago, Tom said:

yes, thanks, but that was in 1992 right?. But even if you find 5 or 10 more that´s still a minority compared to around 100(!) new TV series that started annually in the 80s on all major networks.

It was definitely aired in 1991. That series started at the same time of MV and ran for 7 seasons till '91. And yes, only a handful series back then had a proper ending.

[Tom]

vor 5 Minuten schrieb ViceFanMan:

Hunter was 1991, not 92. But, again...it may not have been a regular/standard thing for a finale, but it wasn’t unheard of either. 

Why do you always argue something that I did not contend in my original post?

I never said it was unheard of, I said it was rare and not standard. Not more and not less.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Tom

[ViceFanMan]

44 minutes ago, Tom said:

Why do you always argue something that I did not contend in my original post?

I never said it was unheard of, I said it was rare and not standard. Not more and not less.

It was more the “impression” that a finale for a show was practically a brand new thing or idea at the time MV ended, that I was referring to.  

But, whether or not finales had been done before or were a new thing or not...the fact that they did go to the trouble & time to do a 2hr finale for a show like MV, it should have been done much better! 

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, wolfie1996 said:

That was probably the main reason (so I've read anyway) that HE was unwilling to do more though I believe the others were  willing to continue. Writers can make or break an established series- Supernatural was a prime example. It went on for  15  series and they varied in quality, story wise, very much so. 1-5 excellent mainly (it was meant to finish then but luckily they changed their minds), 6-11 variable though  still watchable, 12-14 quite the reverse though had such a good following it didn't sink and 15 was back to being good. MV could have extended the good plots over more episodes and when it was noticed the writing was getting shitty, done something about it. And still survived even into the 90's. The thing was , although MV had fanatical fans- look at this site for a start- Supernatural courted its fans so eventually the  fan base was  massive enough to tolerate bouts of iffy writing, but MV never did. Maybe they never thought of it then. SOME writers were good! Why didn't they use them more? Yes I intend  driving my new Porsche down the motorway to the accompaniment of Bad Attitude, when it ever  arrives! Lots of delay at present, can only assume they're making the bloody things to order!!

If shows have good writers, producers, crew, and the actors are fully invested in the show, it can almost always go several years and/or last a long time! CSI & Criminal Minds are two other shows that lasted 15 years, and were still amazing when they finally stopped. 

In my opinion MV could have definitely gone on longer than 5 seasons, if they had not switched out writers so many times and came up with these horrible ridiculous plots and scripts. Once ratings start nose diving and things start going downhill, then of course the actors are probably seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, and they’re going to start looking and wanting to do other things. Sadly, I think that was the case with MV. 

[Tom]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb ViceFanMan:

It was more the “impression” that a finale for a show was practically a brand new thing or idea at the time MV ended, that I was referring to.  

But, whether or not finales had been done before or were a new thing or not...the fact that they did go to the trouble & time to do a 2hr finale for a show like MV, it should have been done much better! 

As finales were rare at that time in general, I am happy that they did one 2hr finale at all. Nash Bridges is best proof of how you can do even worse when closing a series. I agree that it was not perfect and there are some annoying deficiencies. The script by the way was registered very early, at the beginning of season 5, that is proof that they planned very early that season 5 will be the last, although finally decided in early February 89.

[ViceFanMan]

18 minutes ago, Tom said:

As finales were rare at that time in general, I am happy that they did one 2hr finale at all. Nash Bridges is best proof of how you can do even worse when closing a series. I agree that it was not perfect and there are some annoying deficiencies. The script by the way was registered very early, at the beginning of season 5, that is proof that they planned very early that season 5 will be the last, although finally decided in early February 89.

Finales may have been more rare at that time than they are now, but there were other shows that had done them before and/or were doing them. Perry Mason did a finale episode in 1966, the original Hawaii Five-0 did one in 1980, Charlie’s Angels did one in 1981...totally different genre of show, not a crime drama, but Little House on the Prairie was another 80s show that did a big finale for it—a 2hr one, no less. There were some sitcoms that also were starting to have finales, if they knew it was the last season & the end. 

However, lots of shows do not get a finale (whether the 80s or today). Ones that are unexpectedly cancelled, or get cancelled too late to plan or do a finale episode, are usually sadly left hanging or just stop with no real farewell. Sadly, sometimes even if there is time to do a finale of some kind, no one cares enough to do one. 

But, yes with MV by early to mid Season 5 they knew the show had been cancelled & that season was the last. With a show as iconic and impactful as MV was (and in some ways still is), a special (planned) finale should have been handled and done much better. 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by ViceFanMan

[Robbie C.]

1 hour ago, ViceFanMan said:

If shows have good writers, producers, crew, and the actors are fully invested in the show, it can almost always go several years and/or last a long time! CSI & Criminal Minds are two other shows that lasted 15 years, and were still amazing when they finally stopped. 

In my opinion MV could have definitely gone on longer than 5 seasons, if they had not switched out writers so many times and came up with these horrible ridiculous plots and scripts. Once ratings start nose diving and things start going downhill, then of course the actors are probably seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, and they’re going to start looking and wanting to do other things. Sadly, I think that was the case with MV. 

Both CSI and Criminal Minds were incredibly formulaic, which makes them easy to crank out episodes for. As for them being good...that all depends on your taste. I never cared for either one, and put them in the category of Dick Wolf pre-packaged stuff with interchangeable characters and cookie cutter plots. Didn't anyone ever notice, for example, the BAU couldn't actually nab a killer until at least five bodies piled up, or that they couldn't exceed 35 MPH when "rushing" to a crime scene with lights and sirens going?

[ViceFanMan]

 

1 minute ago, Robbie C. said:

Both CSI and Criminal Minds were incredibly formulaic, which makes them easy to crank out episodes for. As for them being good...that all depends on your taste. I never cared for either one, and put them in the category of Dick Wolf pre-packaged stuff with interchangeable characters and cookie cutter plots. Didn't anyone ever notice, for example, the BAU couldn't actually nab a killer until at least five bodies piled up, or that they couldn't exceed 35 MPH when "rushing" to a crime scene with lights and sirens going?

Lol...well, in all honesty every time I see an ambulance or emergency vehicle rushing to some situation I swear it seems like they’re going 2 miles an hour! I always think...the poor people are going to be dead by the time you get there!  

I don’t view CSI or CM as “cookie cutter” or prepackaged by any means! Both were very iconic, trendsetting & “pioneers” in their genre...things that had never been done before (much like MV was for its time). They did not do the same things over & over...or they wouldn’t have lasted. You never knew what wild, shocking crime or scenario they’d come up with!

But, they had good writers & producers that stuck with the shows the entire run...and most of the actors were invested in their characters/roles for the majority of the time. Therefore, the popularity & ratings stayed up-there for most of these show’s seasons. But, to each his or her own. 

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, sdiegolo78 said:

Hunter had a proper finale, but it aired in '91.

As much as I love Hunter, I’m actually not sure if the original series’ last episode was planned as the finale? Stepfanie Kramer, a.k.a. McCall, had left the show to pursue music the season before.  So everyone knew that ratings were probably going to drop. The two different female actresses they had join that last season did not help.  The last episode of the original series just seems like a uneventful, blah regular episode.  I am wondering if they were still hoping the show would come back for one more season? But ratings had dropped enough to where NBC ultimately canceled it. 

 However, things were rectified with the reunions years later. Hunter had a reunion movie in 1995 & another one (Return to Justice) in 2002...which brought back McCall, and was so popular that it prompted NBC to try a new revival series again in 2003. RTJ was, in my opinion, one of the best reunion movies of a past popular TV show that’s ever been done! 

 I really wish MV would have been able to do a reunion movie of some kind to rectify things from the finale “Freefall”! But, in my opinion a show that had possibly the absolute most perfect finale, 2hr TV movie, was CSI!  As “dark” and graphic as that show had been over its 15 years, it had an amazing ending. How they left the characters, where things were at, yet it left things open (in a positive way) for a possible reunion at some point, etc...was perfect! 

Edited March 15, 2021 by ViceFanMan

[wolfie1996]

8 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

If shows have good writers, producers, crew, and the actors are fully invested in the show, it can almost always go several years and/or last a long time! CSI & Criminal Minds are two other shows that lasted 15 years, and were still amazing when they finally stopped. 

In my opinion MV could have definitely gone on longer than 5 seasons, if they had not switched out writers so many times and came up with these horrible ridiculous plots and scripts. Once ratings start nose diving and things start going downhill, then of course the actors are probably seeing the proverbial writing on the wall, and they’re going to start looking and wanting to do other things. Sadly, I think that was the case with MV. 

An excellent answer, which I agree with. Your first line summed it up. As you say, poor writers= unattractive /uninteresting plots and they are the main reason viewers start to lose interest and then as you say, it's a vicious circle. Once DJ decided  he'd be moving on (not to very much as it turned out, but he did blame the poor writing himself) then that was the beginning of the  end. MV had a good fan base but unlike other longer lasting shows it was an ephemeral one and they didn't take that seriously and put the work in to keep that base, whereas I know definitely Supernatural  did (I'm aware of the other two long runners you mentioned but haven't seen them so can't comment) because I was a big fan myself and it's common for people to have- believe it or not- Supernatural tattoos!  Stuff like that. I've an English mailfriend who goes to all their conventions and even went to Vancouver to see them a couple of years ago . Yes, given the subject (supernatural) involved there was a lot of scope for different stories  but it wasn't only that. I think your phrase "fully invested" is very relevant. If producers are fully invested they make sure the writing is good. If the actors are fully invested , they make sure they remain popular and connected to their fans. Neither of these things happened, everybody was too interested in  enjoying the here and now and the good salaries to give a damn about anything like that and they've suffered from the inevitable result. It's a shame as far as us fans are concerned because we prematurely lost something WE were fully invested in, interest-wise.

[wolfie1996]

9 hours ago, Tom said:

Commercially there was no logic in continuing MV. Of course that´s hard to swallow for us fans, but that´s the truth. Ratings had dropped to 57th place of 110 series and they had more than 100 episodes - which is the magic barrier - to recoup their costs by syndication (what they did immediately as they sold the whole series to USA network that started reruns in 1989 including Too much too late the unaired episode in January 1990. So for NBC there was no reason to further pay 1.5-2m per episode for that return.

And, do not forget, most other series including the ones today that you mentioned were not that strongly bound to its time as MV due to its special 80s feel to it.

Thanks for your answer, Tom, which shows that financially there was a good reason to cancel, especially given the reportedly high costs of producing each episode. Nothing's going to go ahead for long when it isn't paying its way. But the analysis of why it was declining is an interesting one and it does indicate that insufficient effort was made on the part of producers, writers and possibly even actors to reverse that decline. Maybe they all thought the money would last forever but as most found out, it didn't. I appreciate your point about the 80's feel but I wasn't that big a fan of the 80's as such and could happily have seen such as the fashion aspect played down as they went into the 90's. As indeed it was in the last episodes. As for drug crime, we're always going to have that with us. Hey, talking of which, was this actually a part of DJ's script or did he say it privately (script I think) that drug crime could cease immediately if drug taking was allowed in a controlled environment, but when he'd said this to whoever in the department "they looked at me as if I had four heads or something!" I was amazed because it's something I've always believed. A bit like legalised brothels- allow people to  enjoy the facilities, as it were, in a safe environment, with the proviso no one got hurt, even themselves as far as possible- and clamp right down on it everywhere  else. If people make a personal choice to take drugs you can't do much about it but you can protect others from the associated criminality, and even the drug takers themselves to a certain extent. Governments would save a fortune. I thought, well said, Sonny. I'm in complete agreement.

[Tom]

vor 39 Minuten schrieb wolfie1996:

Thanks for your answer, Tom, which shows that financially there was a good reason to cancel, especially given the reportedly high costs of producing each episode. Nothing's going to go ahead for long when it isn't paying its way. But the analysis of why it was declining is an interesting one and it does indicate that insufficient effort was made on the part of producers, writers and possibly even actors to reverse that decline. Maybe they all thought the money would last forever but as most found out, it didn't. I appreciate your point about the 80's feel but I wasn't that big a fan of the 80's as such and could happily have seen such as the fashion aspect played down as they went into the 90's. As indeed it was in the last episodes. As for drug crime, we're always going to have that with us. Hey, talking of which, was this actually a part of DJ's script or did he say it privately (script I think) that drug crime could cease immediately if drug taking was allowed in a controlled environment, but when he'd said this to whoever in the department "they looked at me as if I had four heads or something!" I was amazed because it's something I've always believed. A bit like legalised brothels- allow people to  enjoy the facilities, as it were, in a safe environment, with the proviso no one got hurt, even themselves as far as possible- and clamp right down on it everywhere  else. If people make a personal choice to take drugs you can't do much about it but you can protect others from the associated criminality, and even the drug takers themselves to a certain extent. Governments would save a fortune. I thought, well said, Sonny. I'm in complete agreement.

MV was certainly a "zeitgeist" series, more than any other series at that time or later. It defined the 80s more than anything else and it showed. Thus its decline was IMHO not only due to quality of episodes but also strongly due to zeitgeist=viewer´s taste. I don´t know how old you are. I was a teenager in the 80s (high school) and there were huge changes in technology, spare time consumption, music, colors, etc during the 80s. From 86 to 87 more things changed than from 80-85 or from 91-94 if you will. It was the time when the world got colorful, international and got rid off the 70s with its dull Soviet color feel.

You can easily see that by the drop off after season 2. Many turned off just because of the darker colors. Many fans were that superficial. Same for the music that was changed a bit from pure charts to a bit indie as well. Don´t tell me they turned off because of episode quality, as scripts in season 3 were much better than in season 2 and probably the best overall (in season2 critics said its "style over substance").

I agree that production quality was another reason, especially early season 4. That stupid clustering of silly episodes (Big Thaw, one half of Amen ...send money, Missing hours, Cows of October) scared off more people than season 3 color changes. MV was a "cool program" in first two seasons. Many people tuned in because it was hip, the talk of the day in the office next day and others were tuning in too. In season 4 there were many articles of the show´s decline and that made many people turn off as well because it was not the standard any more.

 

 

[wolfie1996]

9 minutes ago, Tom said:

MV was certainly a "zeitgeist" series, more than any other series at that time or later. It defined the 80s more than anything else and it showed. Thus its decline was IMHO not only due to quality of episodes but also strongly due to zeitgeist=viewer´s taste. I don´t know how old you are. I was a teenager in the 80s (high school) and there were huge changes in technology, spare time consumption, music, colors, etc during the 80s. From 86 to 87 more things changed than from 80-85 or from 91-94 if you will. It was the time when the world got colorful, international and got rid off the 70s with its dull Soviet color feel.

You can easily see that by the drop off after season 2. Many turned off just because of the darker colors. Many fans were that superficial. Same for the music that was changed a bit from pure charts to a bit indie as well. Don´t tell me they turned off because of episode quality, as scripts in season 3 were much better than in season 2 and probably the best overall (in season2 critics said its "style over substance").

I agree that production quality was another reason, especially early season 4. That stupid clustering of silly episodes (Big Thaw, one half of Amen ...send money, Missing hours, Cows of October) scared off more people than season 3 color changes. MV was a "cool program" in first two seasons. Many people tuned in because it was hip, the talk of the day in the office next day and others were tuning in too. In season 4 there were many articles of the show´s decline and that made many people turn off as well because it was not the standard any more.

 

Hmmm....I wouldn't say the 70's had a "dull soviet union colour feel" ! Far more attractive fashions, I'd have said but of course you had to be thin to wear them, which apparently everybody  was...I've never seen such hideous clothing as some of the MV characters appeared in, I have to say. However...if it existed for many purely as an 80's icon it wasn't going to last , despite us less superficial fans. It wasn't that for me. It was primarily a show  with attractive leading characters and in some cases superbly well written  episodes. Yeah, set in pretty , trendy surroundings fair enough but they impacted less on me and I wasn't put off by the transition to a different look and feel by series 3, which had some good stories. I think series 4 was where it foundered. As you say, crappy plots etc and also- arghh!- the introduction of Sheena Easton, who nowadays reminds me too much of a younger version of Nicola Sturgeon! But I never did like her, I never believed Crockett would find her attractive (though admittedly he fell for some plain mutts during MV) and the whole marriage thing was irritating and rushed, a prime example of clutching at straws writing-wise. Series 4 dragged itself from the wreckage by introducing the brilliant Burnett alter-ego arc, which cleverly handled could have provided more episodes than it did. Also "Deliver Us From Evil" which showed they'd still got it. Series 5 successfully continued the amnesia topic and also had a few other goodies but it had a sense of finality about it. Crockett's words and actions were written to show his increasing disillusionment (so we wouldn't be saying- hey, where did that come from??!! when he resigned.) What potential this show had. Unfortunately they never made the best of it.