VERONICA MARS Series Finale and Why I HATE The CW
May 23, 2007 by Kath Skerry
[gv data=”CXcnRFUs-DM”][/gv]
WARNING! The following is a rant from a emotional and irate Veronica Mars fan.
Really? I’ve been a dedicated fan of VERONICA MARS since Day One and THAT is the finale I’m left with? Seriously Dawn Ostroff? Seriously? I’m so utterly disappointed, and I am in no way blaming Rob Thomas or the writers for this one. I don’t know…maybe I should be, but the way I see it at the time they wrote what they hoped to be the season finale, word of the cancellation had not yet come down. I know Rob Thomas said he was going to write the final episode of the season in such a way that is was hard for The CW to not renew it, and that he did. But Ostroff was the ONE who had the foresight to see that the show was most likely going to be canceled and should have asked if not demanded that the writers revised the final episode so it could stand as the series finale if it needed to be. And before you tell me that she didn’t have the power…I assure you as the head of the network she did.
Yes, I’m being overly emotional here, but I have invested years in not only watching Veronica Mars, but talking about it and writing about and encouraging others to watch…which, and let’s be honest here, is a lot more than I can say for The CW. As a fan of television I’m so utterly disappointed that the network is so far removed from the fan base that they though last night’s series finale was acceptable.
As for the final two episodes themselves, they would have been magnificent as SEASON finales. It was classic Veronica Mars. Drama, comedy, inside jokes (finally a Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20 joke) and callbacks to yesteryear (I mean I gasped when I saw the painting of Lilly Kane). But again as series finale it was beyond disappointing. I still can’t believe THIS is where the journey ends for the characters that we have come to love. I cry foul.
I don’t know what else to say. Since I just got around to watching the finale today, I’ve tried pretty hard to avoid reading any commentary by my favorite TV columnists, but I skimmed E! Kristin Veitch’s VM finale post and saw her comment about wanting to boycott other CW programming out of spite (not that she will, because she’s a professional reporter). I on the other hand am NOT. And since The CW doesn’t seem to really care about their fans I think I’m just going to skip their programming all together next season. Their loss. (Now if I can only find a way to get Josh Schwartz to send me “Gossip Girl” on DVD).
Goodbye Veronica Mars – you will be missed.
Related Posts
Filed under Veronica Mars
You pretty much just put everything that I’m feeling into words there. And I thank you because I’m so upset that I can’t say anything except for “I HATE CW!” and I think you’re right about boycotting them. They really don’t have anything great anyway. Except VM. And now that’s gone. This is ridiculous.
Even if Gossip Girl is good, it will probably get cancelled for The Search for the Next Backstreet Boy or something
Sorry for your loss. I didn’t watch Veronica Mars, but I did watch Everwood. I totally understand where you are coming from, I couldn’t get myself to watch the trainwreck that came to be known as Gilmore Girls this season because of my bitterness about the CW canceling Everwood.
Dawn and I have BIG problems. hehehe
I hate this network, they make no logical marketing moves, and probably lost a lot of money in the process of ruining a formerly good network.
and I agree with Thursday Morning. That probably will happen 🙁
I agree on all counts. the CW has no sense and the finale was unsatisfying for the end of the series. I LOVED Veronica Mars, I LOVED Gilmore Girls, now I doubt there’s anything left on the CW I would even want to watch.
This list is what infuriated me the most:
“3. Insiders tell me that the CW’s decision makers do not want to come right out and say Veronica has been canceled because they fear it will only add fuel to the angry fan fire. ”
(from Watch with Kristin)
WHAT?!?!?!? Have these people ever read a SINGLE fan board, ever interacted in an capacity with people who are fans of this, or any other TV show?? In what universe would stringing people along placate them, instead of leaving them to stew for weeks and months on end, until they are SO angry that they take action (like boycotting the network). No seriously, I have no formal education in commerce or pr management or marketing or whatever, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that if they had announced the show’s cancellation months back, yes, we would have been angry, but given the time to prepare to say goodbye, and being given a PROPER goodbye, we would have been much more accepting of the decision. This way? I have had months of speculation and rumour, hopes lifted and dashed, during which time my mind was made up for me: I refuse to watch and become invested in any show broadcast on a network that cares SO LITTLE about its viewers. And they have no one to blame but themselves.
As an episode in itself, last night’s finale was one of the BEST VM episodes this season. I especially enjoyed the second episode. A Secret Society? Richie Riches vs. Middle Class Veronica? Kane! Lilly and Duncan! Pure VM Goodness. After this season, I forgot how good VM used to be. But last night’s episode was FANTASTIC! And a PERFECT SEASON finale.
What I’m getting at is, I totally agree GMMR. As far as a SERIES finale, that sucked big time (ALL The CW’s fault, Rob Thomas did nothing wrong).
I totally agree with everything you said in this post so I’m just linking my readers to it because I am so devastated by my unfulfilled feeling…
Well said GMMR. We are all emotionally attached to Veronica Mars – and to be so utterly disappointed at the end of the series is really too bad. I hope they can make it up to us somehow.
I’ve got no problem boycotting the CW – they haven’t left us anything to watch anyways..
I agree with everything you said. Especially about Dawn O most likely knowing it would be cancelled and allowing Rob Thomas to give us a bit of closure. I am done with the CW – I mean it’s going to be hard to resist watching the quality programming that they offer 😉 , but I think I can manage it. The only tiny bit of hope I have is Ausiello’s report that Rob Thomas would like to do a Veronica Mars movie.
And sjoanzors: I totally agree. If they had taken a page from the GG finale – at least we would have had some closure. It infuriates me that they wont acknowledge one way or another the fate of the show. I bet the VM cancellation debacle will go down as “how not to alienate fans” for other networks.
You should come to the CW boards. Much of the “I hate Dawn” stuff. You’ll enjoy it.
I haven’t followed the show or the situation regarding its future, but it did come up in the last TVGuide Talk podcast. Ausiello, apparently a fan of the show, said Dawn Ostroff deserved credit, not blame, for keeping the show going as long as she did despite less than stellar ratings. I have no idea if that’s true. I do know that quality shows face a rough go of it on all the networks, judging from the weekly ratings rankings. I mean, seriously, 6 million a week for 30 Rock, 7 million for The Office but 15 million for Desperate Housewives and 27 million for American Idol? Nothing against the latter two shows, but come on.
I certainly don’t blame Ostroff and The CW for canceling VERONICA MARS. I am bummed but I understand completely WHY they canceled it. I’m fired up about how they let the show go out in flames as it did last night.
Well I never watched VM… I certainly hate The CW now. Ever since they canceled Reba I’ve really lost all hope for them. I heard they still had millions of viewers watching the show, and while it might not be your favorite, it was definitely mine (but not as muc as The Office, obviously).
Down with The CW, thank you very much.
I agree that as a season finale this was a great ending; as a series finale it was horrible.
I’m actually DISGUSTED with the way they’ve been handling programming lately. To replace a high-quality (albeit low-rated) show like Veronica Mars with a piece of crap called “Farmer Wants a Wife”?? Ugh, I feel nausea setting in.
It’s been 24 hours and I miss it already.
I took am joining the CW boycott. Yes, I am disappointed that VM is canceled. But what upsets me the most too is the way they handled it. And the fact that they led the cast, creator, writers, etc. on while they played their game is disrespectful to all involved. I appreciate that Dawn O gave the show the chances it deserved for three years, but to drag out the cancellation is wrong. Instead of giving these people an answer and allowing them to find other jobs or shop the show to other networks, she has held on until the last possible moment which I feel is completely wrong. Well within her rights, but wrong nonetheless. So Good Bye CW. I will miss GG and VM and OTH and Gossip Girl and Everybody Hates Chris but you brought this upon yourself with your sorry excuse for programming.
i’m jumping on the cw boycott as well, next season i will download every episode of “smallville” since that is the only show left on that network that i watch. (i have a passing interest in “supernatural” but i’m sure i can pick that up). btw josh schwartz’s attention is going to be squarely focused on “chuck” next season and not “gossip girl.” i know this for a fact. especially since “chuck” was his creation and “gossip girl” is based on a series of teen fiction novels that he had nothing to do with.
I’ve never felt the need to comment here before, but can I just say DITTO!!! to everything.
I saw the ratings for VM this season, I know the CW is a business, and I get why they cancelled the show; but it’s how they did it that had me removing the channel from my list of favorites and blocking it on my cable (that way I don’t accidently click on it).
Bad enough they kept touting “season” finale last night and rubbing salt in the wounds with mutiple PCD ads, but come on they knew this was coming for months and as the network could have stepped in and demanded more closure. The last week of filming is when WWK brought out the cancellation headline. You can’t convince me that the network wasn’t 99% sure they were going to cancel the show when they could’ve asked for alternate ending.
I don’t blame RT for how it ended (I get why he did it and since no one died I can imagine my own ending where everything works out the way I want) and while I’m grateful that Ostroff kept it on for 3 full seasons despite ratings, this finale treatment is disgraceful.
Also since the CW refuses to use the word “cancellation” officially does this mean that all the actors who were under contract for season 4 are unable to move on to new projects until June 15th? That’s just being petty on the CW’s part.
Yes i know it sucks that they did this to a show with loyal viewers but i will not boycott shows like Supernatural (which has only gotten bettter) because CW did what every other network does to its shows.
If Veronica was so good why did it get such low ratings?
I stopped watching this season the show went down hill as did Gilmore. I am not sorry they cancelled these shows, there will be better shows that will come from the CW. Boycotting is ridiculous it will never change anything. I did not stop watching fox because they dropped dark angel or drive. I kept watching showtime after dead like me. It sucks but you move on you do not make other decent shows suffer on CW because you miss veronica mars.
Sure I can…that’s the beauty of the remote.
P.S. I understand you have a point to make, but please don’t leave multiple comments in a row under different user names – I can tell it was Christina R. and Lisa H. are the same person.
I think some people still don’t understand why people want to boycott the CW. It isn’t because they “cancelled” VM, because technically they havent. Its that they didnt cancel VM and let us have a decent series finale. If they just cancelled VM, people would have been upset and gotten over it, its that they wouldnt (and still wont) cancel it in time for us to have a series finale. It would be stupid to boycott the CW because they cancelled our show, but thats not what happened here.
I definitely thought the last two episodes had a lot of the elements of season 1…it was definitely a nod. I really enjoyed them.
That being said…SUCKY SERIES FINALE!
I hate you, CW, and I will no longer watch your programming. You were supposed to be the “better” version of UPN and WB. Seems to me you’re worse.
Maybe Christina.R and Lisa.H are really Dawn Ostroff in disguise… trying to calm down VM fans. (I also don’t think they have watched an episode of VM because of the first question on the second comment, who could quit watching VM? I know this season wasn’t as good as the other two, but it was still better than most anything else on TV)
Funny how much Kristen Bell praised the CW, just for the CW to stab her and the cast in the back.
I agree with Mannie – people like Christina R and Lisa H and of course Dawn O can’t connect with a show like Veronica Mars, because copy-cat reality shows like “farmer wants a wife” (abc’s Bachelor) they believe are real entertainment.
To have Kristen Bell narrate a show is like saying, “we feel bad your show’s gone, but your fans can still hear you.” To me, that’s like saying your not good enough to carry a show, but maybe your fans can carry mine.
The CW is grasping at straws to find a great show like Veronica Mars – I call the CW…Can’t Win…Goodbye CW.
I would boycott, but my favorite show is still on the CW – SUPERNATURAL…
If Rob Thomas had any sense or respect for the VM fans, he would have written a season ending episode that could also serve as a satisfying season finale, if necessary. The ratings have been low for a while. The writing was on the wall. Let’s face it, this show has had had plenty of breaks and based on ratings alone, it never deserved a second season, much less a third or fourth.
I, for one, say Thank You to Ostroff and the CW for giving us 3 years. I’m sorry that the quality of the show declined and I’m sorry that Thomas was so stubborn. To think that the network would renew the show, simply because he didn’t write a satisfying ending is hubris of the highest order. You can boycott the CW, I’ll be boycotting Mr. Thomas.
Oops. I meant to say “series finale”.
I own the season one and two DVDs, and have read message boards, and the fans have said at the end of each season “please just give us one more season to wrap things up.” When the back nine was in jeopardy this year, fans said “please just give us our back nine to wrap things up.” By only giving the show a back seven, the network made pretty damn clear that the show was in jeopardy. Despite the odds, Rob Thomas decided to write a season rather than series finale, but that’s HIS creative choice, not the CW’s. (And given that he told Ausiello that part of his motivation was to stick it to the network, he knew the risk.)
And if Ostroff “should have asked if not demanded that the writers revised the final episode so it could stand as the series finale if it needed to be,” she would have been accused of meddling with the creative process of the show. She really can’t win.
And as for the CW not giving notice – from what I understood, they tried to, back in March. And Veronica’s creative staff kept wanting another chance. Which I totally understand, but it means the CW would be damned if it gave notice, as the fans would say “but they never had a chance!”, or damned if they didn’t, as fans would say “but they never gave notice!”
Seriously, if I were the CW leadership (much of which has come over from UPN), and I saw that a bunch of fans were planning a boycott when the network had stuck their necks out for the show for three full seasons -which is much more than the industry average for any show? I’d say to hell with sticking my neck out for any low-rated critical darling, since it will never pay off with the fans unless the show gets 10+ seasons like 7th Heaven, or the lead leaves like on Buffy. (To put it in perspective, it’s 50 episodes more than Wonderfalls and Firefly, 45 more episodes than My So Called Life, and a full season longer than Sports Night. None of which were the lowest-rated drama on television.)
So, I say thanks to the UPN/CW leadership for giving the lowest-rated drama on television an unprecedented number of chances, and 64 episodes. It’s much, much more than anyone thought this show would get in the first season, and I’m grateful.
I’m sorry but the CW has forced me to boycott their network as both of the shows I watched -GG and VM- are no longer on. They don’t have any other shows I would like to watch and if the Pussycat Dolls show and Farmer Takes a Wife are any indication about where this network is heading, I don’t think I’ll be missing much. Also, I haven’t seen the numbers so I can’t dispute that VM was “the lowest-rated drama on television”, but I really, really find that hard to believe.
The CW has destroyed all that is good and wholesome in my life. I remember hurrying home after school and activities to sit down with my entire family and untie in one hour of Neptune centered bliss. Veronica Mars was UPN’s best show and most likely its only good one [next to Everybody Hates Chris]. I guess that these happy memories and the undeniable fact that Veronica Mars was the best show to hit my 14 inch screeen in all of my 15 years is what puts me off the most. How can a smut covered filth pile of a show like “The Next Pussy Cat Doll” survive when there was [that’s going to be a hard word to use in combination with Veronica Mars] a supposedly failing show with a fan base bigger than Texas and a great desire for more? Television has finally reached the point of no return. It’s personal. THEY CANCELED MY SHOW! MY SHOW!
Not to totally jinx their studios or anything [my fingers are crossed while I type this so it’s kind of awkward on the keyboard], but I hope that the CW spirals down in their everlasting puddle of smut that they call a television schedule… and oh yes, they will.
Not to totally take away from the depression that is the cancellation of Veronica Mars, but does anyone know if the spin-off series with Veronica in the FBI got picked up? Just throwing that out there.
At least I’ve read some common sense and maturity in this response thread. There wasn’t much coming from the author of the article. A heads up for you–Dawn Ostroff couldn’t *make* Rob Thomas do anything in terms of how he decided to script the last episodes of his series. As one of the comments already stated, the man received an order for a back seven instead of a back nine. He knew that cancellation was likely. A reduced order told him that much. It’s *not* Dawn Ostroff’s fault that Rob Thomas was too petulant to script a finale with a sense of closure. It’s Rob Thomas’ fault. It’s his fault Veronica Mars suffered creatively this season and was no longer quality television. The critical praise, any deserved critical praise, is long gone. Lest anyone suggest that I am Dawn Ostroff in disguise, I invite anyone to trace my IP. I live in a plains state. I didn’t boycott the CW because they didn’t renew Everwood, though it upset me, and I’m not going to boycott now because it’s childish. Supernatural is a fine show with outstanding actors who don’t receive enough credit. Networks have to make money. Veronica Mars had the lowest season average ratings on the network when you add in the two episodes that fell beneath two million viewers. How are the supposed to sell space to advertisers? In other words, I’ll miss Veronica Mars, (seasons one and two) but for crying out loud GROW UP.
Guys I checked…she’s not Dawn Ostroff. Ha ha ha. Someone pass the vodka. LOL
What a world we live in when we can’t have a few days of being upset and demand more without people telling us to grow up. Yes, the CW may take on quality programing again in the future and yes, people who want to boycot the station might watch it again in a few years, but it’s their right to say what they want and to NOT grow up. We live in this great nation where we can say what we want. We can “act like babies” if we want. And we DON’T HAVE TO GROW UP!!!! If you don’t like what we’re saying, you have the right to quit reading it!!!!
Oh, one more thing, if you think the author of this article doesn’t have “common sense and maturity”, maybe you should get off her blog.
Veronica Mars is the best show on TV ever…
I loooooooooooove it
VM forever
I totally agree with this GMMR post. I watched the series finale double-episode with one of my good friends who is also a total VM fan, and we were both left feeling completely unsatisfied. It was clearly written as a season finale, as it left me with that “can’t wait til next Fall” kind of feeling. If only.
Rob Thomas, do you read this blog? If so, please, please, write a series finale and publish it. I really need some closure here, and I have a feeling you do too.
Actually, John Maata is head of The CW, Dawn Ostroff is President of Entertainment. There is a difference. I don’t know what it is (other than one position is higher than the other), but there is apparently a difference.
i have always loved veronica mars.. through season 1, 2 and 3!
n im extremely pissed off about this endin as i was unaware of the show being cut.. n was extremely lookin forward to ep 21., so excited infact, i went online to check it out until i found that the show was axed n ep 20 was actually a finale!? wtf was that?!.. ep 20. answers nothin n in true VM style nothing is left unsolved!… so to end the show like this is just stupid n a plot to piss every person who watches the show off!.. good work guys uve managed to piss me off!
i think all the VERONICA MARS fans should boycott the cw fall lineup that way it will have to cancel some of thoses stupid shows they are puting up like “wild life” or “aliens in america” so what do u all think boycott the fall line up?
i think all the VERONICA MARS fans should boycott the cw new fall line up so they would have to cancel some of the stupid shows they are puting up like “wild life” or “aliens in america” so what do all you VERONICA MARS fan think boycott the new fall line up?
I heard about that show Jericho being “uncancelled”. So I was thinking, can’t we do the same for VM??? I would be so amazing, and it would show the excuse for a human being Dawn Ostruff up. In the words of Weevil, if this were to happen, “does it go on my permanent record that i was “un” [cancelled]?”
I heard about that show Jericho being “uncancelled”. So I was thinking, can’t we do the same for VM??? I would be so amazing, and it would show the excuse for a human being Dawn Ostruff up. In the words of Weevil, if this were to happen, “does it go on it’s permanent record that it was “un” cancelled?”
Paris hilton sex tape.
Paris hilton sex tape.
I know this is ages after the fact and ages after you wrote this, but I support everything you said. I didn’t get to watch the show as much during the season due to schedules and such. However, I bought the DVDs of VM.
I had hoped against hope that it wouldn’t get canceled. I may have protested (I can’t remember). I was away working in the mountains all last summer and was kind of out of touch with the rest of the world. (We only had dial up internet and no cell service. The only phone available was a pay phone. I’m sure you all see what I mean.)
I was so furious when I found out it was canceled. I truly hate networks. (I was also a Roswell fan.) I cannot describe how disappointed I was when I watched the finale with the knowledge that I would no longer know what would happen. I’m the kind of person who will stay up and watch the entire season at once and be impatient going from one episode to another.
I will miss Veronica Mars.
i loved veronica and i thought they were going to un cancel it because of everything i dont know if they still are but i watched 2 seasons in a weekend i was obsessed cw made i huge mistake the shows suck smallvilel is alrigth but not real at all brign back veronica pleaz
whoah this weblog is great i like reading your articles. Stay up the good paintings! You realize, a lot of individuals are hunting round for this info, you can aid them greatly.
It¡¦s really a great and helpful piece of info. I¡¦m satisfied that you shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.