News was released this morning that ABC is canceling three shows from its schedule: Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, and Dirty Sexy Money. As usual, declining ratings for these second year shows was the reason cited.

I have not seen any of these shows so I can not admit to any bias towards them in any way though Pushing Daisies did piqued my interest at one time. No doubt, the writers strike of early this year was a major factor in these shows demise. It is hard to build any viewer support for a television when new episodes stopped being shown after the sixth or seventh episode. ABC gave each show a chance with 13 episode orders for the new television season but it was enough. Whether all of the remaining episodes of each show would be telecasted remains to be seen but they probably will be viewable in some format even over the Internet.

Still each show had some sort of following that will be disappointed in seeing their shows disappear. Now each show had some arc story that was part of every episode. For example in Pushing Daisies, a recurring story is how can Ned reconcile his feelings for his ex-girlfriend Charlotte, whom he revived from the dead but knows if he touches her a second time, she would lost forever. What fans of the show would be thinking on how would that story end but since the show is now canceled, they would never know.

Becoming a fan of a show requires a certain investment in the story line and characters and losing a show prematurely is a bit of a heartbreaker. It is not like a film where you know there will always be some sort of conclusion to the film. Character fates are known and plots resolved.

So this is my suggestion to the television executives. For shows that have managed to survive their inaugural season and have plot lines that extend over separate episodes but now are considered to be canceled, commission one or more episodes that allow resolution of the series storyline and give fans of the show some piece of mind on what happened to their favorite characters. The show does not necessarily have to be broadcasted but could be packaged with a DVD release of the series episodes and so many television shows seem to be doing these whether or not they are successful.

I like watching series from British television for several reasons including the quality of the shows but one aspect of the shows I like is that many of them are limited series. Perhaps 6-10 episodes over a season, tightly scripted so that the season end is finished and nothing is left hanging at the end. Some have set number of episodes; after the number is reached, there would be no more. Similar to the old mini-series format on American television but considerably more episodes.

Lost on ABC is doing this. We know now when the last episode will be shown; it probably has been scripted already if not filmed. By doing that, the show writers are freed from continuing to pump out additional episodes just to fill the time. Plots can be written in advance knowing how things will turn out in the end. Many series on American television decline at the end of their run because writers could not come up with any fresh takes on stories or characters and end up recycling old ones which in turn push away viewers who have seen it all before.

All television series have a pre-defined life to them and when reached, should come to that end and not prolonged. But for those series who leave us prematurely, I think one more episode to tie up the loose ends would be a good thing for television viewers and good for the industry as well.