MovieChat Forums > Big Love (2006) Discussion > Was the show cancelled?

Was the show cancelled?

posted 11 years ago by xlangamesfl
11 replies | jump to latest

I just binge watched all 5 seasons and I got the sense that the show was cancelled halfway through the final season or something. Felt like some things got rushed and were forced.

Alby for instance. I don't think his character ever would have gone to the capitol, shot the security guard, and then went for Bill. That was just out of character for him and it felt like they just needed to wrap him up.

Then there is Bill's death. Didn't feel like the natural ending to the character IMO. It felt more like they needed to do something to truly end it so fans wouldn't spend years begging for the show to come back.

[–] GingerLee2082 11 years ago

Supposedly they'd originally planned for six seasons 12 episode seasons. Then the writers strike ended up throwing off the third season so they whittled it down to 10 episodes. Third season was BL's best rated and best reviewed season out of the first three seasons so they decided to stay with the ten episode format thinking that it worked well even though there were numerous complaints about the rushed/dropped stories. Ffwd to season 4 which had even better ratings than season 3 IIRC but was critically lambasted by critics and fans alike. (After the success of season 3 one of the chief writers moved on from the show to win an Oscar for Milk so the loss of a couple of the writers didn't help.) With the lackluster season 4 HBO decided to call it a day with the fifth season and basically did fvck all to promote the show. They didn't bother to wrap up certain stories and only gave the final season 9 episodes rather than the 10 or 12 that fans had been hoping for.

To say nothing about the flat out retconning they did in the fifth season, presumably for shock value. Overall the way they chose to wrap up the final season was incredibly disappointing.

Alby's story was very disappointing. I also hated how hateful they made Nicki again after so many seasons of understanding what she was about and feeling as though her character had grown they tossed away all of her development over the course of some two or three episodes.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] xheilig777 11 years ago

I have only watched the programme to the end of Series 3. I watched it on WATCHEVER and now found out they only have up to series 3 AGHHHHHHHHH. After reading the comments here I realise that series 4 and 5 were a big disappointment. It is so often the case, we get great programmes but somehow the writing always fades away as the series developes. Same thing happening to another great show, The Big Bang!!

I thought the Big Love programme was very interesting. Oh any man who thinks being married to three women would be fun is very mistaken!!!!!!! I felt quite sorry for Bill at times!!! The stress of trying to provide for THREE homes and various children!! As soon as the wives earned any money they were furious to be told that their cheques should go into the community pot for the family! Hilarious. Great first three series, very thought provoking. I thought Nikki was a pain in the bottom!! Absolutely dreadfully self-obsessed. Now I know Bill dies, I won't bother to order the 4 and 5 series on Amazon!!!

[–] windkirby 11 years ago

I think the fifth and final season is completely brilliant for what it is. It is probably my second favorite season after two. I don't get all the fuss surrounding the third season. I felt like all of the plotlines were disjointed and weird, like for example the extreme quickness of the Ana marriage. Fourth season was da pits though. (Although I can't deny it did have some great moments. Margene in the elephant costume, Barb steaming in her bathroom while crying...)

[–] LuckyMatt93 11 years ago

I agree, I loved the fifth season. It definitely made up for the lackluster Season 4.

"All in the game..." - Omar Little

[–] chas437 11 years ago

In regard to the OP's question, I think they had planned on ending the series after five seasons. Its incredibly difficult to keep such a large and talented cast together for such a long time. We ere lucky to get five seasons of this wonderful series.

I'm a civilian, I'm not a trout

[–] Ithilfaen 11 years ago

Alby for instance. I don't think his character ever would have gone to the capitol, shot the security guard, and then went for Bill. That was just out of character for him and it felt like they just needed to wrap him up.

That was just to get Bill to play John Wayne and "get" Alby himself. With all those cops around looking for him, it had to be Superman Bill getting the baddie

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

[–] adster81-1 11 years ago

the whole Joey disapearing never to be seen again storyline nver got wrapped up, Bills Mothers kills one of the Greens (implied that he died by Alby later in season 5) the next time we see her she apperntly has demensha and never talked about again what happened with the Greens, and Frank all of a sudden turns soft as hell!!! We also don't see anymore of the story on the casino, it was like they dumped everything from season 4 and created this entire new show.

They may have made a mistake by killing off Roman. from season 4 onwards it was missing that key villian Alby was not a good villian. also the acting for Romans character was brillant

[–] judah-usmc 10 years ago

Thanks for the spoiler alert, *beep*

[–] cinsmith1 9 years ago

Can it really be considered a spoiler if the show's been cancelled for nearly 4 year?

[–] judah-usmc 9 years ago

*shrug* I think it still can be. Just because Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back is over 30 years old doesn't mean that new watchers (like say my kids) won't be surprised when they find out that Darth Vader is Luke's father... but hey, it's probably my own fault for coming to a forum dedicated to discussing the show. So... I guess it's whatever.