As we all know the final episode of ‘True Blood‘ is airing this Sunday on HBO and the network’s programming director Michael Lombardo wants to clear the air on why the series is coming to a close. With an amazing final season so far and viewership still up on the show, it would seem like it isn’t time to pull the plug if you ask many of the fans who plan on being #TrueToTheEnd. However, the previous couple of seasons, even with high ratings, are the real reason the show is coming to a close. While ratings are important, Lombardo stresses that HBO cares about the story telling even more.
According to Lombardo, the real reason that the show has to come to a close is:
“This season, True Blood is one of the highest rated shows across the board, it gets over 10 million views an episode. But the minute you feel you’re airing it for the numbers we start questioning it.”
Where numbers mean almost everything to most studio,s this is probably the smartest approach when dealing with them. Of course, not beholden to advertisers allows HBO to have a different mindset. Without quality in a market that is full of high profile shows you won’t get the quantity of viewers to keep going. There are so many well put together series right now that you can’t skimp where it counts these days. Instead of continuing with a series indefinitely with new ideas that don’t match the vision laid down by the show, HBO prefers to end things on a high note. Even if this means ending a show before fans are ready to see it end.
“Every season we sit down with the creator and say ‘Tell us what the next year will be like.’ And if there aren’t exciting, unbelievable, undeniable ideas in the coming season, we’re questioning. And I think in the case of True Blood, it just felt like we had reached a place where the storytelling was hitting a wall. And to stay just because the ratings were strong felt not who we are and we needed, quite honestly, the money and Sunday night space for new shows.”
I’m curious to exactly what those new shows are planning to be!
While fans would argue that they want more, we’ve all seen what can happen to a television series that lives past its prime. Convoluted and not well thought out plots can drive a story and characters that we love into the ground. Thankfully, HBO recognizes and respects that. Some would argue that ‘True Blood’ already hit its creativity peak a couple seasons back, but with the strong closure for the series that they appear to be crafting, one could easily disagree and say that at least this final season has been partially planned out for quite some time. Though, I’m sure the series finale will give us the final say on that.
Are you going to miss ‘True Blood’ when it’s gone? Do you think they are making the right choice in how they end their series’? Share your thoughts below!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
