The 'extra' final season - why showrunners should kill their darlings

It’s hard to say goodbye, but adding an extra final season to a show that’s on the way out, almost always leads to disappointment - even for its most loyal fans

Ending a long-running show, and successfully sticking that landing, is one of TV’s toughest challenges. In fact, very few shows manage to reach a conclusion that everyone is happy with. But even the worst series finales (sorry How I Met Your Mother) are better than the alternative - the ‘extra’ final season.

The ‘extra’ final season is something that no-one really wants. Cast members contracts may have expired, storylines wrapped up and the show seems to be reaching a natural conclusion - and then another season is announced.

I can understand the temptation for showrunners and networks. You have a successful show, a loyal audience and a formula that has worked across six seasons or more - why would you want to say goodbye? But the problem with most extra final seasons is that they aren’t the same as the shows we know and love. The tacked on seasons often feature cast changes, a new premise, and recycled plot lines that end in shows petering out with a whimper rather than ending with a bang!

Two of the worst offenders are Once Upon A Time and That ‘70s Show. Both featured a strong ensemble cast, multiple seasons, cult followings and final seasons that those fans would rather forget. They both failed in different ways. That ‘70s Show’s eighth season had to deal with the loss of two main cast members - Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher - and introduced a new character, Josh Meyers as Randy, but kept its original premise. In contrast, Once Upon A Time wiped its original character’s memories, rebooted in a new city with a new lead, and ensured that most of the action revolved around new cast members, maintaining only loose links to its first six seasons.

Cast changes are one of the biggest reasons why extra final seasons don’t work - especially for ensemble shows that rely on cast chemistry. As a sitcom that revolved around its six main players, That ‘70s Show’s success came, in large part, from its unique cast dynamic. They were a group of friends that you’d want to hang out with, and as their relationships evolved over the first seven seasons, the more effective the jokes became. The show may have survived the loss of just one of the six but losing two - a third of the group - was a death blow. The departure of Topher Grace as Eric Foreman was particularly painful. Everything revolved around Eric - he was the show’s lead, the gang met in his basement, his parents often led the B storylines, and he was the lynchpin for his other friends. Without Eric, there was no show - or there shouldn’t have been.

Cast losses also affected OUAT, but its larger cast and frequent guest star arcs meant that viewers were more used to characters coming and going. Even so, the show’s seventh season went ahead without four of its main cast: Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, and Emilie de Ravin as Belle. And with the show’s reboot, we might as well have lost the whole cast! Those that did stay - Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle and Colin O’Donoghue - all took on new roles for the final season.

And that’s another frequent final season problem - character assassination. Extra seasons often seem to sever ties with all of their character’s earlier growth and established relationships. That ‘70s Show immediately exploded Hyde and Jackie’s relationship despite its seven season build up and reversed a lot of the Jackie’s personal growth, reducing her to a boy-obsessed, lazy stereotype. Even worse, they made her fall for Fez - a character she’d never been interested in and a pairing that made no sense, for the show and its fans.

When OUAT wiped its characters memories, they all became different people. Everything we’d invested in for six seasons was gone, the complexities of Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin were replaced with a serious-minded detective, the powerful Mayor/Evil Queen became an alternative bar owner, and the roguishly charming Captain Hook became a mild-mannered police officer. The actors may have looked the same but they were completely removed from the characters viewers knew. All the nostalgia of seeing your favourites one last time disappeared and made the final season feel even further removed from the rest of the show.

For many fans, the reboot in OUAT’s season seven makes it easier to detach from the show as a whole. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t fall into the trap of recycling storylines in its final season. It seems that, despite wanting a final season, some showrunners don’t know what to do with it! With further renewals unlikely and with the majority of storylines already tied up in the original season finale, shows find themselves retreading old ground. With OUAT, season seven follows the same arc as season one: characters that don’t know who they really are, a city without magic, and a young child - Henry’s daughter - tasked with making everyone believe in the fairytale again. We’d seen it all before - and with more compelling characters.

The same happened on That ‘70s Show. New character Randy was Eric 2.0. He shared almost all of his characteristics, spent a lot of time with Eric’s father Red and dated Eric’s ex-girlfriend Donna. It felt lazy and uninspired. No-one who had stayed with the show for seven years wanted to watch a new version of Eric doing everything they’d already watched Eric do. We either wanted Eric back or a fresh character. The same could be said about Samantha - a Laurie-a-like - and the revived boy-obsession of Jackie.

All of these factors add up to extra final seasons almost always being an exercise in diminishing returns. At best, they’re a disappointment that viewers can skip in their rewatch but at worst, they tarnish a beloved show and forever taint your memories of it. The best shows always quit while they’re ahead. It’s tough to make the decision and kill your darlings, especially when the audiences are still there, but when a show reaches its natural conclusion and the cast are ready to walk away, it’s always better to let it go and leave on a high.