Topic:
Self - Destructive TV Shows
What?:
- My TV segment will consist of three TV shows with awful endings.
- I plan to give a brief summary of the show before I digress into the awful ending. I will be discussing the repercussions it had on the show writers, directors and actors as well as asking, could it have been avoided? And if so, how?
- I will be presenting this segment myself with help from Martyna and Delfina on the cameras and sound.
Pitch Presentation:
Talking points/ Script:
Welcome to Self-Destructive TV Shows!
A show where I watch TV shows with awful endings so you don't have to!
Today we'll be talking about Game of Thrones, How I met Your Mother and The Wilds.
Three very different shows, all with an equally awful ending.
It goes without saying but as always...WARNING, spoilers ahead!
1. Up first we have the hit 2005 show How I Met Your Mother. This show may be 18 years old but it's still infamous for its cruel cruel ending. How I Met Your Mother follows main character Ted telling his two children in present day 2030 stories of him and his 4 friends; Marshall, Barney, Lily and Robin living in 2005 New York in their mid 20s. Ted, is a hopeless romantic notorious for having a devastating love life. Throughout the 9 seasons we see him fall head over heels for many women including Robin, in fact it's well established in the pilot episode when they go on a date with Ted even stealing a blue french horn off the restaurant wall for her but things don't work out, they re-visit the relationship countless times but it never works because Robin doesn't want children. For this reason they eventually decide to call it quits. They both successfully manage to move on with Barney eventually confessing his feelings for Robin in season 8. They then proceeded to get married in season 9 with the entire final season taking place throughout their wedding weekend. Ted goes onto marry Tracy whom he meets at the train station after Robin and Barneys wedding. This show is full of love, friendship, laughter and everyday relatable struggles. However, the last season makes you genuinely question if the writers hated themselves. Remember how I said they both moved on and married different people? Well in the final episode of the last season Robin and Barney end up getting a divorce even when we've just spent an entire season at their wedding weekend, oh and Ted's wife? She gets sick and dies. Do you see where this is going? Teds children in the present day stop the story and confess they know what Ted really wants, Robin. They encourage him to call her and ask her out but instead he puts on his Sunday best, runs to the restaurant where they had their first date, steals the blue french horn and offers it to her in the pouring rain as a big gesture of love. Cute right? No this is not cute. The ending is abismal. Whats basically happens is Ted has spent YEARS pining over Robin but she didn't want children so he said fine and they moved on. He found a woman he could love and had children with her, she dies and then he goes right back to where he started, Robin. The writers treat Tracy as if she was just good for making Teds children, the one thing Robin wouldn't give him then they boot her off to show heaven. It makes Ted out to be a despicable person which really hurts because I find Ted to be such a relatable character up until the last episode. I'm rating this ending a solid 1 out of 5 stars. It completely ruins the show, It doesn't make sense at all. Do not watch.
2.Up next, The Wilds. Season one of this 2020 Amazon Prime production follows eight teenage girls from different backgrounds that find themselves stranded on a remote island, unaware they've just become the subjects of an elaborate social experiment. Season two, released in 2022, follows another group of 8 individuals... stranded on a remote island... also involved in a social experiment but this time it's a group of teenage boys. Gretchen, the so-called 'brains' behind the operation, aims to prove that women are better suited to be leaders in the world. Pretty sick and twisted Gretchen if you ask me.
The ending leaves us with both the girls and boys having been 'rescued', they're still in the trap. One of the girls, Leah, figures the whole thing out and gets close to escaping but to her dismay Gretchen is one step ahead and abandons them all on the island once again. This leaves us on a cliff-hanger. Will they ever escape? Where are their parents? How will they survive? Will anyone else die? I guess we'll never know. This bad ending is purely based on the cancellation of the show. Amazon decided to cancel the show after it received less attention than season one. Fans have argued that entering season two with the boys was the sole reason for the lack of viewers, as they were pretty bland. They were. However, some fans say that the boys needed to enter for Gretchen's experiment to take place. Either way, the shows 'bad ending' was down to Amazon for cancelling the show.
I'm rating this shows ending 4 out of 5 stars. This is one of those rare cases where I do recommend watching the show.
3.Let's end things off with Game of Thrones, arguably the worst show ending in TV history. Game of thrones is a show released in 2011 based on George R. R Martins book series 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' that takes place in 298AC and follows the most powerful houses of the Seven Kingdoms; Tyrell, Tully, Baratheon, Martell, Arryn, Lannister, Stark & Targaryen. The show rose to well deserved fame in 2011 enchanting viewers with money, murder, sex and dragons. The show produced 8 seasons, each one with a record braking number of viewers that only grew higher with every season. The show was at it's peak; Jon Snow proclaimed King of the North, The Stark siblings reuniting, Cersei getting her revenge, Daenerys claiming Dragonstone, all was well and nothing could tear down this fortress of a show. Until, the writers started on season 8. There is a genuine question here of, where do I start? Season 8 was a diabolical mess, here's a few to name the least; Jon being a Targaryen for no apparent reason, Daenerys going crazy and burning down Kings landing, Bran is somehow elected king of the Seven Kingdoms, Greyworm didn't demand justice for Daenerys' murder & did Arya actually kill anyone on her list apart from 4 people?
This ending is devastatingly heartbreaking, watching season 8 I truly understood how Jon felt being stabbed in the heart. I'm rating this one a measly 3 out of 5 stars. There's so many inconsistencies and too much ruined character development that it almost ruins the entire show. However, this is one of my favourite shows and I will judge anyone that hasn't watched it. So yes this may contradict my 3 out of 5 stars but you need to watch this show people.
Well that's all we have time for today on Self Destructive TV Shows, Join us next week for a peak into the disastrous endings of Gossip Girl, Killing Eve, and The 100.
Research/ Development:
Running order of the TV Show:
List of TV shows with awful endings I could speak about:
-Game of Thrones
-How I Met Your Mother
-Gossip Girl
-Pretty Little Liars
-13 Reasons Why
-Sex Education
-Kissing Booth
-The Wilds
Props?
-DVD covers
(HIMYM - need to purchase, GOT - already own, The Wilds - stream online only)
-Game of Thrones: Dragons, Funkos
-How I Met Your Mother: Yellow umbrella, Blue french horn
-The Wilds: Toy plane, Purple takis (Fuego)
-Card: print out pictures and stick them on card to present during the show, saves time in the editing process.
Changes:
7/2/24
I've now decided that I will be giving the show a rating based on the ending and asking the question, should people watch this show based on its ending?
Logo:
I decided to make a logo for my TV show in order to make it more professional. When printing my script off I had the logo on the back facing the audience. This logo will also be placed at the start and end of the segment.
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