Postscript Season: Difference between revisions
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But, hey, don't let that stop you. After all, you got yourself another season. Other producers would kill for a chance like this, so why not just go ahead? The problem is, unless you're ''very'' careful with how you go about the new season, you might end up [[Jump the Shark|Jumping The Shark]].
The
However, [[:Category:Sturgeon's Tropes|not all Post Script Seasons are unmitigated disasters]]. There have been a few creators who've handled their new seasons with care and presented material just as satisfying as (if not more than) the material that preceeded. For the most part, however, Post Script Season successes only occur with shows that aren't dependent on large, overall story arcs spanning the entire series.
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* ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'' had an OVA which retconned the title mecha's original purpose of construction from "fighting the [[Monster of the Week|Zonder]]" to "fighting the new [[A God Am I]] villain we just came up with". It actually went a lot better than it sounds, largely owing to [[Rule of Cool|sheer force of over-the-top-itude]]. Definitely goes under [[Tropes Are Not Bad]].
** The TV series itself had a "postscript last couple of episodes." The [[Big Bad]] [[Man Behind the Man]] was finally, decisively and explosively defeated. Happily ever after, right? Unfortunately years before the series began {{spoiler|a spore for a "New Machine Species" implanted itself in Mikoto's nervous system and took her over, leading to a new, powerful and nigh indestructible foe to give GGG a hard time.}} While it reeked of an [[Ass Pull]] (there was some [[Foreshadowing]], but it was only apparent in hindsight), it somehow managed to wrap itself up nicely.
* ''[[Gunnm|GUNNM: Last Order]]'' might be seen as that, because when road accident forced Yukito Kishiro to [[Wrap It Up]], he tacked a [[Happy Ending]] onto the series and left it for half a decade, until he returned to it in ''Last Order''. However, as the "
* After Akria Toriyama decided to conclude the ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' manga with the Majin Buu storyline, [[Toei]] (the producers of the anime version) did their own [[Sequel Series]] titled ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]''.
** The Dark Dragon story arc of ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' was itself a post-script season. Originally, the show was intended to last only through the Baby storyline, but Bandai asked [[Toei]] to kept the show going afterward in order to [[Cash Cow Franchise|help promote]] their ''Dragon Ball Final Bout'' fighting game for the [[PlayStation]].
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* Season 3 of ''[[Monster Rancher (anime)|Monster Rancher]]''.
* Season 3 of ''[[Sonic X]]''. Ratings had been mediocre in Japan, so the anime was unable to get past the initial 52 episode order and had to quickly wrap up its [[Trapped in Another World]] premise...and then [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|it became an absolute hit in the international market]], resulting in a somewhat [[Darker and Edgier]] season that had barely anything to do with the rest of the series before it. A bit of an odd case in that this season has never actually aired in Japan, possibly due to the low ratings during its initial run.
* Season 2 of Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, AKA ''[[Ronin Warriors]]''. Originally everyone was supposed to die in the final sequence except Nasti and Jun ("Mia" and "Yuli"), but the producers were notified that the network wanted a second season ... just when Episode 17 was about to air. They then stalled and rewrote the last two episodes to produce a happy
== Comic Books ==
* The maxiseries ''[[Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld]]'' was originally going to be just a twelve-issue series. At the end of the series, the protagonist and her allies triumph, the [[Big Bad]] is killed off, and the heroine [[But Now I Must Go|returns to her normal life on Earth]] after peace is restored to the Gemworld. However, the series was so successful that DC Comics decided to do an ongoing series. The first twelve issues, done by the original creative team behind the maxi-series, weren't too bad. But when they left, the new creative team changed the direction of the series drastically, and did a series of [[Retcon
* ''[[Runaways]]'' was only supposed to be eighteen issues, and after {{spoiler|Alex was revealed as the mole and the Pride was all killed}}, there wasn't really anywhere to go, but the series got a second volume with the original creative team that lasted another few years, and continued after they left, and it was recently relaunched again. Many fans liked the new characters and new directions, but the overall sense of suspense was lost, and, after the original creative team left, it just wasn't as quality.
* Marvel's original ''Micronauts'' series concluded with a [[Bittersweet Ending]]. The [[Big Bad]] was finally [[Killed Off for Real]], but the heroes' Homeworld had been reduced to a lifeless ruin. With Homeworld in ruins and the war over, the Micronauts decide to go off and explore the Microverse as the series ended. Then the series was relaunched as ''Micronauts: The New Voyages''. Under a new creative team, the series picked up where the original left off, but the series ended up being mostly dull and pointless as the Micronauts (and the story) wandered aimlessly. Eventually, they returned to Homeworld to restore it to life as the series ended.
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** ''Power Rangers In Space'' was also initially set to be the final season following ''Power Rangers Turbo'', and made great strides to finish off existing plot threads, even killing off established characters and redeeming others. The ratings were so good for the more serialized ''In Space'' that the series was recommisioned. Executive Producer Johnathan Tzachor (who later became more of an [[Executive Meddling|executive meddler]]) suddenly threw out the entire existing cast in favour of a fresh one, a trait that has continued with every post-script season ever since.
* After an unprecedented (at the time) letter-writing campaign saved ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' from cancellation, fans were "rewarded" with a third season containing many of the show's weakest and/or goofiest episodes (even by the standards of the series), including the infamous ''[[Star Trek/Recap/S3/E01 Spocks Brain|Spock's Brain]]'' as season premiere. Since the series was always purely episodic, the usual reasons for a lackluster Post Script Season don't apply; what really killed the show was that the network promised a solid Tuesday night slot and then was moved to a [[Friday Night Death Slot|Friday... er, Saturday Night Death Slot]], violating a verbal contract with creator/producer [[Gene Roddenberry]]. He left the show in protest and had little involvement in the third season. That said, some strong episodes did churn out.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' had this happen multiple times, with seasons 6, 7, 8 and 9. The show was expected to be cancelled after five seasons, and so ended on a decent (but not Grand) finale ("Revelations") -- the expectation was that they would then move on to [[The Movie]] (to be called "Stargate: The Lost City" or something similar) which would segue into the [[Spin-Off]] (''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', which was very different in concept at this stage). Then the show was renewed for a sixth season, and so was given a [[Grand Finale]] ("Full Circle") which introduced the planned concept of [[The Movie]]. Then the show was renewed for a seventh season, so [[The Movie]] was cancelled and its concept was rewritten as a season-long arc that would finish with a two-part [[Grand Finale]] ("Lost City") which would segue into the [[Spin-Off]] instead. Then the series was renewed for an eighth season, so the [[Grand Finale]]'s ending was changed to make more of a cliffhanger to be resolved in the Season 8 premiere, and ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' started running concurrently to ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. It was expected that the eighth season would be the last, however, so the end of the season was once again devised to close the book on the series: both major galactic threats were taken away in a three-episode arc ("Reckoning" Parts 1 & 2 and "Threads"
* ''[[SeaQuest DSV|Sea Quest DSV]]'' also had this happen twice. It was not known if the show would be renewed, so at the end of the first season, they destroyed the SeaQuest. The show was picked up, so there was a [[Retool]] and a new SeaQuest was constructed. Then at the end of the second season, facing a similar situation, the SeaQuest was transported to another planet and ''then'' destroyed. The show was picked up, so it was renamed ''SeaQuest 2032'' and moved ten years into the future. Partway into season three, it was [[Cut Short]].
* ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'': The British sitcom about two poor wheeler-dealer street-market trader brothers ended after 15 years (7 seasons and four sets of Christmas specials) with the Trotter brothers finding an antique watch in their garage, [[Rags to Riches|and becoming millionaires at last]]. The three episode finale, where the Trotters are finally shown in luxury penthouses and expensive sports cars, was shown over Christmas 1996 and attracted massive viewing figures for [[The BBC]]. A few years later they convinced writer John Sullivan to reprise the ever-popular characters for three more [[Christmas Episode
* ''[[Night Court]]'': Season 8 is over. Dan quits his job and loses the Phil Foundation fortune. More importantly, Harry and Christine have professed their love to one another. OK, that's the end. What's that? We've been renewed? Oh, crap!
** [[30 Rock]] devoted [[wikipedia:The One with the Cast of Night Court|an episode]] to the idea that several of the characters on that show were unhappy with the Season 9 ending to Night Court, so they staged a "fake" episode, reuniting several of the actual cast members, and they had Harry and Christine get married.
* The last (fifth) season of ''[[Angel]]'' was, in its own way, a
* The seventh season finale of ''[[Charmed]]'' was at first planned as the series finale. Just think about it: Darryl promised his wife he wouldn't help the Charmed Ones anymore, then they destroyed their own source of power so the [[Big Bad]] would die in the explosion as well, and finally changed their faces and started living normal lives! Not to mention their dead sister Prue was mentioned a lot, and even the episode title was a mirror of the title of the pilot episode. But then they got renewed... we all know what happened since.
** It wasn't so much as being planned, but more like hedging their bets. The show was consistently on the bubble for Season 7. The writers had no idea whether they'd be back or not. It wasn't until about a week before the last episode aired before the network renewed the series for an eighth season. [[Word of God]] says the Season 7 finale was explicitly written as a [[Series Fauxnale]].
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* The ultimate example is probably ''[[Coronation Street]]'', which has essentially been on a series of postscript seasons since ''1960''. It was originally intended to be 13 episodes long, with Coronation Street bulldozed in a [[Made for TV Movie]]. However, it proved so popular that a new series was commissioned, and it's been broadcasting more or less continuously to the present day.
* This happened with ''[[Golden Girls]]''. Bea Arthur decided to leave the show after the seventh season, and it ends with Dorothy getting married and moving to Atlanta. However, her mother Sophia decides to stay in Miami with the roommates, and the eighth season is retitled ''The Golden Palace'' as the girls open a high-end hotel. Needless to say, it wasn't well received and most fans prefer to think the series ended with Dorothy's wedding.
* Sort of happened on ''[[Saved by the Bell]]''. The show had finished taping its finale (which centered around the characters' high school graduation) when NBC ordered more episodes. Which shouldn't have been a problem, as the finale hadn't aired yet, and they could simply air the new episodes prior to the
* ''[[La Femme Nikita]]''. Despite being the USA Network's top rated drama during its 4th season (even with no advertisement by the network), the cancellation was announced. After the large fan campaign to bring the series back, in September 2000 a truncated 5th season was announced. It did help out with some of the [[Cannon Fodder]] they had left behind, but gave one hell of a [[Bittersweet Ending]].
* Season 5 of ''[[Supernatural]]'' ended with {{spoiler|Sam making the ultimate sacrifice to put Lucifer back in his cage and Dean giving up his demon hunting ways and settling down}}. It was a very touching episode and would have made the perfect series finale, {{spoiler|cliffhanger aside}}. And then they got a sixth season. The show creator walked away but his co-producer kept it going.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Mega Man X]] 5'' ended the story and left Zero [[Killed Off for Real]]. Capcom produced a sequel anyway, without Keiji Inafune's involvement. ''X6's'' mostly pointless story tried to combine all 3 of X5's endings, used one of the worst [[Ass Pull
** It doesn't help that Zero's explanation that {{spoiler|he repaired himself between games is mentioned in a cutscene and the truth that he doesn't know who really fixed him is revealed in an optional event where Zero gets an armor part from Dr. Light.}} Maybe if the development team didn't make that wretched Nightmare stage gimmick, they'd had more time to make the game make sense.
** The less said of [[The Scrappy|Axl]], and the 2 further sequels, the better.
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* After years of ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games existing as standalone games, the success of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' and the intrigue created by a promotional video expanding on the game's [[Bittersweet Ending]] led to production of ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' scant months after the game's Japanese release. Since the world had already been saved in the previous game, this sequel had a [[Lighter and Softer]] tone, especially compared to the heavy drama of the first. It also added [[Fan Service]] by the truck load and starred three women. Finally, it also addressed the [[Bittersweet Ending]], leading to many outcries from people that had assumed {{spoiler|Tidus died, despite the ending of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' showing him returning to Spira and ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' using that ''exact'' scene to show his return.}}
* ''[[Syphon Filter]]: Logan's Shadow''. The eponymous virus and the Consortium are no longer part of the plot, which instead involves Somali pirates and a [[Big Bad]] affiliated with al-Qaeda.
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' does this all the time, often including a series after its plot has been resolved simply to pad out the cast list (or because they want to pair it up with another show). ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]]'' and ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]]'' in particular have a rather large number of Postscript Series, since they're multi-game epics and just having characters disappear into the ether when there are still enemies to fight wouldn't make sense.<ref>Though ''Alpha'' does lose a few series along the way, like ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket]]'' and ''[[Brain Powered]]'', and ''Z'' replaces some older series with new incarnations, like ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' -> ''[[Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen]]''</ref>
* The ''[[Another Century's Episode]]'' franchise also did this in ''3: The Final'' (with ''[[Macross]]'' and ''[[Metal Armor Dragonar]]'', both of whom had their plots finished in ''2'') and ''R'' (''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', the only series in the ''ACE'' franchise to debut with its plot resolved).
* The original ''[[Another World (video game)|Another World]]'' ending was meant to be [[Left Hanging]], but Interplay went ahead and made a sequel without Chahi's involvement, where you play as Buddy, and Lester, the original protagonist, dies near the end.
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** [[Meta Twist|How very Meta.]]
* ''[[Tomb Raider]]: The Last Revelation'', ''Chronicles'', and ''Angel of Darkness'', all of which became [[Canon Discontinuity]] after the reboot.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'', while well-received, pretty much qualifies as this. ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' had already revealed the secret behind the Patriots, ended their rule, and made Big Boss repent. ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'' is therefore a mostly [[Filler]] [[Interquel]] which mostly serves to explain something that was already explained by a previous [[Filler]] game (''[[Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops]]'') in a way slightly more congruent with ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'''s [[
* The second half of the ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' games suffer from this. The ending of ''3'' is the typical "It looks like the hero's about to die. No wait, he survives." script, while being overly sentimental and dramatic, as well as finally beating up the World Three, the main villain group. It's pretty obvious that ''4'' was made with absolutely no thought put into subsequent games (ie. the villain is a [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]], dark chips seem to be a one-off gimick, and there plot is very bare bones). ''5'' builds on the dark chips and the new villains, the Nebula organization, but kills them off in the game, making all the development meaningless, and ''6'' switches gears back to World Three, the group you were assured were finished in ''3'', while bringing back older characters from all the other games, except, oddly fitting, from ''3''.
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