On the Value of Final Season Orders

Sometimes a show that has been on for multiple seasons is announced as cancelled. It just leaves the airwaves sometimes with little warning to those that weren’t keeping track of ratings. Sometimes, certain shows are announced as cancelled for their upcoming season. Sometimes they just end a show and sometimes they give it a final season. What’s the value of final season orders?

Well, there’s a reason for cancelling a show this season versus cancelling a show next season. Why some long running shows don’t even get a notice of a series finale airing is beyond my understanding. But, there are some shows that just make sense to get a final season order. Or, it could be the strange case of CSI where it comes back next season for a mere two episodes.

Getting one final season can be a nice boost for a network’s ratings. Plus, you can’t say that the show didn’t get a chance as only long running shows tend to be dismissed that way. They want to give fans of the show a reason to watch. Maybe they hadn’t watched in a while and they will come back for the last season of the show. It works with my mother. It probably works with other people. It’s nice knowing that there is a planned end so people will watch it and what leads up to it.

One might wonder why final season orders aren’t more common. Of course, some of it has to do with the fact that a show hasn’t been on for long enough to justify them promoting them that way. Of course, you do have to wonder why they avoid promoting show’s episodes as series finale, instead giving them the misleading season finale, when they have no plans to air any more episodes after that one. But, there are values of this and you will probably see TV shows promoted as such every season to give fans a nice send-off. While not always present, sometimes it is just what people need.