More fun: the show or the sniping?

You would have expected a TV blog to comment on the end of The Sopranos in a more timely fashion than I am, but my late entry into the topic is explained by a simple fact.

I've never watched a full episode of the show.

Two pretty simple reasons for this: one, I'm too cheap to get HBO, and two, I've not watched half of the DVDs I have now to take on a new show. That being said, I know tangentially about the show, but wasn't really in the same mode as many people when the last episode cut to black. And I'm really not in the same mode as those who have vented their spleen at the lack of "payoff" in the show's open-ended ending.

But I have enjoyed the griping, such as this discussion at TV Barn. And I've gotten to enjoy it for free, saving the untold hundreds of dollars I'd have spent on HBO over the run of the show. So I should at least thank David Chase for that.

I can't really say if I'd have been mad at this ending were I a fan, but I will say that I was disappointed with the Homicide movie that was made to wrap up that series. Perhaps there are some stories that aren't meant to end cleanly.

It worked?

Fan protests rarely bring back a show once cancelled, and the various histrionics used in the attempt are, at best, fun to watch. You'd think after the annual rite, fans of cancelled shows would get the hint and, rather than create Internet petitions, sit quietly and wait for the DVDs.

Don't expect that to happen any time soon, now that fans of Jericho have apparently convinced CBS to bring the show back on a limited basis next season.

I'll admit to being one of those people who got away from the show after its mid-season vacation, always planning to catch up with episodes on Comcast On Demand but never quite doing so. I don't feel like I've missed much, but with this announcement and a summer with mostly reruns, I figure I'll get back on board. The only question is will I fall back off between September and whenever the show actually returns?