To say that Hannibal pushed boundaries -both artistically, and with its crazy gory visuals- is a massive understatement, so it's not really a huge surprise that it never had bigger ratings. It's a genuine shame, but not a surprise. For the most part, people like their TV Shows simple, safe, and familiar; that's why there are 8 different CSI's, and 12 different Law & Order's. That's also why every comedy on CBS is the same, bland, laugh track-filled waste of airtime.
Seriously, let CBS play a few episodes of Big Bang Theory without the laugh track on, and people wouldn't know where to laugh. Because it's not funny.
Anyhow, I'm getting off point. Apologies.
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| "THAT WAS RUDE." |
And for the record, as much as we despise NBC for cancelling Hannibal, we have to give the Network a ton of credit for not only giving a show like that a chance to begin with, but for giving it three seasons to do its thing, and hopefully find a bigger audience. So many shows with similar ratings get the axe before their first season is even finished, but they gave Bryan Fuller and crew three seasons to run wild. Which they did.
That took balls too. Thank you, NBC.
Will Hannibal reappear on another Network down the road? Will we get a Hannibal movie (or two) every few years, so that we can once again bask in its sick, twisted, gorgeous, fantastic world? Maybe. Maybe not. We can hope though, that Hannibal isn't finished, and that's enough for us, I suppose. Because it has to be.
So thank you Bryan Fuller and crew; thank you Hugh, Mads, Laurence, Caroline, Gillian, Scott, Hettienne, Aaron, Raul, Katharine, Kasey, Lara Jean, Gina, Richard, Rutina, Eddie and everyone else who made up the fantastic cast, whether guest star or top-billed; thank you NBC for at least giving Hannibal a chance, and we mean a real, legitimate chance; thank you Gaumont; thank you De Laurentis; and thank you to all of the #Fannibals who allowed us to become a part of their lives during this fantastic run.
We will miss you all.
The series finale of Hannibal airs Tonight at 10 P.M. on NBC.
I had read some advance spoilers of the finale and thought it was going to be disappointing. I should have just waited and watched it myself, because it was (almost) perfectly executed and very satisfying as a season or series ender.
ReplyDeleteAlso, completely agree with your kudos to NBC. It seems like they do have a genuine respect for art and storytelling, and they're willing to work with low ratings for a couple years to at least give showrunners time to tell a story. As soon as I saw S1's ratings, I knew we'd never see the full 5, 6, or 7-season arch that this show could have. A lesser network would have canned it at S1 or S2, but NBC gave it 3 full length seasons. So, bravo.
I'm not optimistic that we'll see an S4 or a movie, so this is probably the end, but...who knows.
It really was well done. That ending absolutely floored us.
DeleteIf it's the end, and it most likely is, then so be it. At least we got three solid seasons to enjoy. We will hold out hope though, even if it is a fool's hope :)