M. A. McRae, author: Lost, The Dome, Revenge and Resurrection...

TV Series - they start off so well, and they pull in the viewers, and then the makers spoil it. Instead of rounding off with a great conclusion, they introduce a twist, and then another, and then another, and that's when it begins to make no sense at all. Viewers abandon it.

'Lost.' It started so well. By its 4 or 5th 'season,' I'm not sure if anyone was still watching it.

'The Dome.' What an intriguing premise - an impermeable dome that suddenly envelops a whole town, isolating it from the rest of the world. I did start watching that, and enjoyed the first season, though quite annoyed when the 'finale' was no finale at all.

I decided not to bother with it any more, and so I'm not at all sure what happened - was there a second season that started, and then was chopped because its ratings were too poor?

'Revenge.' Another series that looked great, but instead of the villains being caught out, there's a twist - what else? There are bigger villains out there. And more and different villains. I gave up on that as well.

'Resurrection?' Another intriguing premise. I didn't even start watching that.

So here are several shows that started well, but instead of finishing well, they dwindled into more and more feeble episodes because the makers just can't let them finish! It would be much better to make a satisfactory conclusion while people are still interested. Is it because the TV series makers have so few ideas for new series that they keep the old ones going far too long?

'Downton Abbey' is a bit different. It started as a quality show, but then there was the second series, and it had deteriorated - more of a soapie by that stage. But they picked up their game, maybe because of some good acting, maybe because they hired new writers, and their viewers returned. It now has a very big fan base. I've even started watching it again myself.

Some series do last forever and stay fresh. Other series should come to a satisfactory conclusion, leaving viewers pleased with them and more likely to become involved in the next good idea.

What particularly provoked this complaint is an advertisement for a show that I've never actually watched - 'The Good Wife.' It seems it's to have 'a shocking twist that nobody will see coming.' I've come to know that when a TV series says there's to be a twist, it means something like an attempt to breathe new life into the dying.

Maybe the twist is that they're all going to turn into zombies?

You like zombie stories? Here's about the only one that I know -

'I've Been Deader,' by Adam Sifre.

Fred's just an ordinary zombie until one day he learns a trick. The undead had a good run at the beginning, but once the breathers get organized, it's only a matter of time before zombies go the way of pet rocks and sea monkeys. They need a hero. They need Fred. Fred is a natural dead leader with a flair for poetry and a fierce love for his son, Timmy. Unfortunately, as far as the undead are concerned, the only good Timmy is a dead Timmy. Things look grim for the undead until Fred flies into a rage trying to make popcorn and discovers he has a talent for controlling zombies. Now the undead are organized and, like the unions, in a position to destroy America. Is there no one who can stop them? More importantly, do we want them to? "I've Been Deader" tells its story through a series of short chapters designed to read like flash fiction. Today's readers want it fast, short and entertaining, and that's what I give them. Being undead never felt more alive.

http://www.amazon.com/Ive-Been-Deader-Adam-Sifre/dp/1470135302/