5 Great TV Shows That Were Ruined By Their Finales

4. Life On Mars (US)

While the original UK Life on Mars was a fantastic programme with an intelligent ending, the US adaptation paled in comparison, with its final episode hammering the final egregious nail into its coffin. It€™s true most US adaptations of British shows are awful, such as Elementary (adapted from Sherlock) and the Inbetweeners, yet Life on Mars really showed potential right until its final few minutes, at which point the writers abandoned the UK show€™s ending for one less intelligent than a dyslexic greyhound. The show was about a cop who wakes up in the 1970s after a car accident and is trying to figure out if he€™s insane, in a coma, or back in time, building mystery and suspense until the show€™s finale. Without spoiling anything, the UK version provided a well thought-out finale that tied the series together in a lovely little bow, while at the same time leaving enough mystery for the spin off series Ashes to Ashes to be a success. The US version, on the other hand, explained the situation by saying it was a computer programme set up to entertain the protagonist on his journey through space, as apparently he was an astronaut all along. life on mars us finale That means everything the audience had been watching was an utterly meaningless simulation that had no effect on anything, essentially giving a big middle finger to everyone who€™d watched the show. I should point out not all US programmes are bad, they have countless original shows (House, GoT, Criminal Minds, Hannibal) that are fantastic, but for some reason they have a habit of screwing up almost anything adapted from British television. The conclusion of Life on Mars is the epitome of this trend, making everything that€™d happened in the series up until that point completely pointless.
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Oldfield is a journalist, reviewer, and amateur comic-book writer (meaning he's yet to be published). He's a man who'll criticise anything, even this biog, which he thinks is a bit crap. For notifications on when new articles are up and game related news, follow him on his Twitter account @DunDunDUH