Hmmm - I don't know where this person got the idea that...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

...DS ended because Frid's contract was up and he refused to resign. (We all know he did indeed resign after he was guaranteed the opportunity to play a character other than Barnabas and that's why Bramwell was introduced.) But then I wouldn't be surprised if that supposed reason is on the Internet somewhere or even in multiple places because we all know only too well how there's so much misinformation about DS out there...

Did Negan Kick THE WALKING DEAD Over The Shark?

[Josette]

I would suggest using "re-sign" as "resign" seems to have the opposite meaning.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I agree, Josette. I used "resign" because that's what the person in the article used and I was using the phrasing from that article but didn't put it in quotes. I probably should have put it in quotes in my first post as well...

[Josette]

 

[Josette]

I couldn’t resist adding this.  Piers Morgan is a host of Britain’s “Good Morning Britain,” and he’s a love-him or hate-him type personality.  There is one person in particular, Lord Sugar, and the two of them are always needling each other.  The other day Piers announced that he just extended his contract for the show for 2 years.  The next day Lord Sugar posted: 

“I thought Christmas had come early when I read that @piersmorgan had resigned, but then I realised he’d re-signed @GMB.”

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Perfect, Josette. 

[Gothick]

Funny news story.

I doubt it will ever be widely discussed or acknowledged, but over the years I've become fairly certain that DS was "canceled" because Dan Curtis privately told somebody high up at the network that the show needed to end. The fact that the taping of the final episode occurred just a few days before filming on NoDS began was the first clue that DC was mostly likely involved in the "cancellation."

When we discussed this on one occasion, somebody--perhaps you, MB--cited a story they had found somewhere that reported that the cancellation was announced first at a network board meeting in early March. And the network trustees or corporate heads expressed great concern because believe it or not, the ratings were going up again during the Bramwell Collins/PT 1841 storyline.

G.

[The Doctor and K9]

I've become fairly certain that DS was "canceled" because Dan Curtis privately told somebody high up at the network that the show needed to end. The fact that the taping of the final episode occurred just a few days before filming on NoDS began was the first clue that DC was mostly likely involved in the "cancellation."

G.

I'd heard from a few people that Dan Curtis told someone off at a meeting and got cancelled soon after. Supposedly they were expressing concerns about Bennett leaving and Frid playing another character. I think I recall that they also had some "suggestions" about where the show should go and so he told that guy where to go. How true this is, I don't know. It was something I heard about from a few people who had been in fandom for some time longer than I had been.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, it's no secret that DC had a temper and I can see him getting angry at an ABC exec if he didn't like what they were saying and/or suggesting. But one might suspect that he would have had to really go to an extreme to get the show canceled - execs are probably well used to the runners of their shows taking exception to their suggestions. If they retaliated by cancelling every show when the runners lost their tempers, they might have few shows left on the air. But who knows? One thing, though, is that judging by the stories we've heard from behind the scenes of DS and other of DC's projects, it wouldn't have actually been out of character for DC to have possibly taken a disagreement too far, especially if DC felt an exec was treading on his creative territory.

In all likelihood, though, we may never know the full story of why DS went off. There seems to have been so many potentially contributing factors (ratings not being one of them) and many of the people who might have been in a position to confirm the reason(s) have either passed away already or are keeping mum...

[KMR]

My theory is that it  was mainly a combination of budget and burnout that brought DS to an end. The show was relatively expensive to produce, if I'm recalling correctly from what I've read (and if what I read was correct...). And I think the writers were tired of it all.