dex14

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PhantomStranger

How did this show make it to 5 seasons?

Eric F

Can we trade this for Dark Matter?

Kdogg

Because SyFy owns a part of it.

morriscroy

Good question.

I liked the first season. Though by the time it was the second season, I found this show somewhat lackluster and difficult to watch.

Before season 2 started, I thought about picking up the season 1 bluray but didn't at the time. By the time it was the middle of season 2, I was glad that I didn't buy the season 1 bluray set.

randian

The "intrepid team of bounty hunters" haven't been bounty hunters for a long time.

Eric F

Saving the universe from something, not sure what.

Still think they should have ended the series on a dark note.

PhantomStranger

Killjoys is one of those television shows that has declined in quality each season. Started out interesting before they filled in too much of the crazy and nonsensical backstory.

morriscroy

(Long tangential rant).

Slightly before the Killjoys, I encountered this same issue with other scifi/genre shows such as Continuum. This and other subsequent lackluster experiences with scifi/genre shows, eventually led to my exit from the tv on bluray market.

At the time circa 2013, I thought the first-run episodes of season 2 of Continuum and season 1 of Defiance were decent enough that I purchased the season 1 bluray season sets of both shows. I also picked up the season 1 bluray sets of Arrow, Revolution, and The Following.

(During that same time period circa late 2013, the season 1 bluray set of Under The Dome with the special "dome" packaging was a tempting impulse buy at the time. Though I passed on it, after I watched the episodes again and came to the realization that the show was a lot worse on a second viewing).

By the time it was 2014 when season 3 of Continuum was first run, I thought season 3 completely went off the rails and turned into crap with the awkward time/dimension jump which was basically like a mid-series reboot. Subsequently I became reluctant to buy any then-current scifi/genre shows on bluray, where at the time I didn't bother buying the season 2 bluray sets of Continuum, Defiance, Revolution, Arrow, and The Following.

Eventually over the next few years I picked up the season 2 bluray sets of the above mentioned shows along with the season 3 of Arrow and season 1 of Dominion, when they started showing up in local dump bins. I tried watching all these shows again, just to find out the hard way that they had very little to no rewatch value for me.

My last hurrah with then-current tv shows on bluray, was picking up the first two seasons of The Blacklist sometime during the first-run of season 3 episodes in 2016. After finding season 3 of The Blacklist to be kinda lackluster, I haven't purchased any further bluray season sets of The Blacklist.


Since then, I haven't bothered purchasing any bluray season sets of other current tv shows I've been watching, such as: The Flash, Supergirl, Blindspot, Better Call Saul, etc ...

So technically I've been "a part of the problem" of tv shows being discontinued on bluray, over the past few years.

PhantomStranger

Under The Dome was great for hate watching and then reading others' reactions as the episodes aired. It would have been a chore to binge long after broadcast.

Kdogg

morriscroy

This can also happen in non-scifi / non-genre shows which are not generic stuff like procedurals, sitcoms, or soap operas.

A recent example is Designated Survivor. It seemed like the conspiracy 24-esque style elements were dropped entirely in season 2, and became a dumbed down West Wing or House of Cards.

PhantomStranger

One of network television's dirty secrets is that showrunners rarely map out detailed plots beyond the first 7-13 episodes, even for serialized long-running shows. First, most shows get canceled or don't make it past that mark, so people are loathe to plot things out beyond vague end goals for characters.

It came out that Heroes started failing because the show was rarely planned out beyond 4 episodes. There are exceptions. Game of Thrones had scripts in place for the entire season before filming began, though that was greatly aided by cheating off the novels.

randian

Kdogg

Game of Thrones started its decline when it stopped having the books as a guide.

morriscroy

Where would Babylon5 fit into this spectrum of planning?

IIRC, season 5 seemed like it was rudderless outside of the centaurian storyline in the latter half of the season 5.

Kdogg

If I remember correctly season 4 was modified because the production house was going to shut down when it started filming. The creator had to wrap up the story unexpectedly. TNT sprung for a couple of movies and then later green lite a fifth season. Having wrapped up a lot of the story pre seaon 5 they had to do something. I doubt much of those stories would have made the show if the fifth season wasn't put in doubt.

PhantomStranger

I'm fairly sure that J. Michael Straczynski was a meticulous showrunner that had a complete plan for Babylon 5 mapped out, but the financial vagaries of television interfered heavily with them. Though he's shown an annoying habit to build fully-realized worlds that start out fantastically and then peter out despite knowing the endgame in advance. It happened to his acclaimed comic book series, Rising Stars.

morriscroy

Another major thing which has been severely limiting my enjoyment of scifi/genre stuff, is that my mentality is heavily "brain damaged" in expecting very high standards for scifi/genre shows. In practice when a particular scifi/genre show turns to shit after the first or second season, I've found that the "good" seasons also become completely unwatchable to me. For example, such as shows like: The Killjoys, Continuum, The Strain, Arrow , etc ... (Almost like the crappy later seasons completely "contaminating" the entire show's run).

Other than maybe ocd related issues, I have no idea why exactly I think this way at an unconscious or semi-conscious level.


In contrast for non-scifi type stuff, I don't really feel this way at all. For example in the case of generic procedurals like CSI, Law & Order, NCIS, Criminal Minds, etc ... franchises, in practice I've found that such shows primarily become "unwatchable" for me when they're not making new episodes anymore.

Nowadays I have very little to no interest in watching CSI, CSI: Miami or CSI:NY daily reruns. Around a decade ago or so, I use to watch CSI franchise reruns every evening on basic cable channels like Spike, AETV, etc ... (Similar story with the original Law & Order, and L&O: Criminal Intent).

Currently I still like to watch the Criminal Minds and NCIS franchise reruns every day. Only time will tell whether I'll still be interested in watching Criminal Minds after the upcoming final season 15 is over.


In a more general sense, these above ^ factors have largely led to my exit from both the "tv on dvd" and "tv on bluray" markets.

PhantomStranger

I will say that a show devolving over the years does retroactively color my opinions of earlier, and better, seasons. I was blown away by The Magicians' first season, and the show has largely held up a higher standard of quality for its entire run. But some shows that quickly fall apart after a strong start make watching the early successes a bit tougher.

Inhumans99

Kdogg

I'm just glad to have Team Awesome Force back together again.

Kdogg

Eric F

It's over and nobody cares. Eh.