Jonas No More…

Don’t know how I missed this but while checking what date new  shows start next month I discovered that CBS has cancelled the special forces show, The Unit. Now, I was sure I read a couple of months back that season 5 had been green lighted so I was rather confused at this news but I could find nothing to contradict this so it looks like Snake Doc, Dirt Diver, Betty Blue and Cool Breeze have Walked the Fire for the last time.

For me this is a huge shame, although I spent much of the time being confused by the politics and military-speak of the show I still loved it. Season 3, cut short by the writers strike, was excellent and although Season 4 had some weaker storylines, such as the love affair and subsequent marriage of unit regular Charles ‘Betty Blue’ Grey, it was still exciting enough to keep me  coming back week after week. 

Without giving anything away, the final set of episodes which introduced Sam “Whiplash” McBride were both exciting and deep, however the final episode of the season was a little deflated and that is a shame for this show to go out like that. However, that flatness left The Unit in the perfect position to be transferred to film or a series of Tv Movies. What do I mean? There wasn’t a messy cliffhanger to resolve, but there were clear paths that the show could go in. The characters are well developed enough to take to film, but uncomplicated enough so as to draw in a new audience as well as old. The subject matter of the show is defiantly film worthy and the calibre of the acting is certainly better than most features I’ve seen of late.

Would anyone be interested in picking this show up as a film franchise? That is a question I can’t answer but we know the audience for war films is out there (just look at the success of Rambo 4 – Although some of that is due to the over-the-top gore that I abhorred) as well as the thirst for good scripts and great acting.

Whatever the case I wish David Mamet all the best and I hope to see Dennis Haysbert and the gang soon!

This has been My Sad Two Cents on the passing of another great show…