History Main / PostScriptSeason

* This was parodied with "After The End," an official audio drama parody released by the cast and crew of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The plot involves the show unexpectedly being renewed for a second season (despite [[EndOfEvangelion the ending]] making that [[KillEmAll unlikely]]), and the cast subsequently struggling to come up with a decent way to continue the franchise. Among other things, they contemplate {{Retool}}ing it as a SuperSentai program, a teen drama, and even a [[ContinuityReboot reboot]]...[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' was originally a completed series at a mere 40 episodes, with a conclusion similar to the ending of ''KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' (the Japanese basis for the first season) where Rita Repulsa was re-captured and thrown back into space in her dumpster after the defeat of Cyclopsis. However, the explosion in merchandise sales early into the series convinced Saban to pay {{Toei}} to film more action footage to extend the first season to 60 episodes (some which were left over and eventually used for the second season), as well as enter a contract for adapting whole future seasons. Traces of the original series finale are evident in the VERY choppy Command Center scene at the end of the aired version of "Doomsday Part 2" (in which Zordon offers the Rangers a chance to retire, even though Rita is still loose).

--> '''"Yahtzee" Croshaw, [[ZeroPunctuation Extra Punctuation]]:''' So the series became this endless struggle between the unstoppable force of Umbrella versus the immovable object of the Redfields or Leon or whoever was carrying the torch that day, and [[StatusQuoIsGod neither entity changed or moved from that position]]. Then Umbrella was shut down and the series had nowhere to go, so the role of villain [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 is now being filled]] by something completely nebulous - the entire concept of heartless business or the entire concept of terrorism, and it's hard to get a grasp on what, exactly, the protagonists need to do to put a stop to it all.

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' had a grand series finale at the end of the 10th season. They got all the original cast back, had a big almost-wedding, and every married Camden child was expecting twins. Then, like the Jesus that the Christian characters never mentioned, the show was revived three days later because the executives mistook the finale's high ratings as a sign that people wanted the show to continue. For the 11th season, the writers were forced to find a way out of the corner they backed themselves into with the twins, as well as deal with a much smaller budget. Their way out of these problems was to make Lucy have a miscarriage over the summer, have the longest-running (and highest paid) actors not appear in every episode, bring in a bevy of cheaper teen actors, and have Reverend Camden homeschool the twins to save money on a classroom set and extras. The results were dismal.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' sorta went downhill like this after Laura Palmer's killer was revealed, the main plot being resolved (due to ExecutiveMeddling, no less - the writers had other plans). It felt incredibly awkward to have Dale Cooper still hanging around in Twin Peaks, even though he didn't have a reason to stay after the killer had been found. Wyndam Earl was more of a stand-in for Laura Palmer's killer than a real villain.

** ''Power Rangers in Space'' was also initially set to be the final season following ''Power Rangers Turbo'', and made great strides to finish off existing plot threads, even killing off established characters and redeeming others. The ratings were so good for the more serialized ''In Space'' that the series was recommisioned. Executive Producer Johnathan Tzachor (who later became more of an [[ExecutiveMeddling executive meddler]]) suddenly threw out the entire existing cast in favour of a fresh one, a trait that has continued with every post-script season ever since.

* This was parodied with "After The End," an official audio drama parody released by the cast and crew of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The plot involves the show unexpectedly being renewed for a second season (despite [[EndOfEvangelion the ending]] making that [[KillEmAll unlikely]]), and the cast subsequently struggling to come up with a decent way to continue the franchise. Among other things, they contemplate [[ReTool ReTooling]] it as a SuperSentai program, a teen drama, and even a [[ContinuityReboot reboot]]...[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' had this happen multiple times, with seasons 6, 7, 8 and 9. The show was expected to be cancelled after five seasons, and so ended on a decent (but not Grand) finale ("Revelations") -- the expectation was that they would then move on to TheMovie (to be called "Stargate: The Lost City" or something similar) which would segue into the SpinOff (''Series/StargateAtlantis'', which was very different in concept at this stage). Then the show was renewed for a sixth season, and so was given a GrandFinale ("Full Circle") which introduced the planned concept of TheMovie. Then the show was renewed for a seventh season, so TheMovie was cancelled and its concept was rewritten as a season-long arc that would finish with a two-part GrandFinale ("Lost City") which would segue into the SpinOff instead. Then the series was renewed for an eighth season, so the GrandFinale's ending was changed to make more of a cliffhanger to be resolved in the Season 8 premiere, and ''Stargate Atlantis'' started running concurrently to ''Stargate SG-1''. It was expected that the eighth season would be the last, however, so the end of the season was once again devised to close the book on the series: both major galactic threats were taken away in a three-episode arc ("Reckoning" Parts 1 & 2 and "Threads" -- interestingly, these came just ''before'' the GrandFinale), and then the series ended with yet another two-part GrandFinale ("Moebius") involving time-traveling to ancient Egypt. The show was then picked up ''again'' for a ninth season, and was given a ReTool which replaced several cast members and introduced a new BigBad. Season 9 was made knowing that the show would be renewed for at least another year -- and then, finally, the show was cancelled after the end of Season 10. Whether the final episode ("Unending") was a GrandFinale is doubtful; the real resolution of the series happened in the DVD movie ''StargateTheArkOfTruth''. And then there was another DVD movie, and more planned... until ''Series/StargateUniverse'' underperformed. Ooops.
* ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'' also had this happen twice. It was not known if the show would be renewed, so at the end of the first season, they destroyed the [=SeaQuest=]. The show was picked up, so there was a ReTool and a new [=SeaQuest=] was constructed. Then at the end of the second season, facing a similar situation, the [=SeaQuest=] was transported to another planet and ''then'' destroyed. The show was picked up, so it was renamed ''[=SeaQuest=] 2032'' and moved ten years into the future. Partway into season three, it was CutShort.

* The last (fifth) season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' was, in its own way, a PostScriptSeason--albeit one that didn't arise from being renewed at the last second. The long story arc of the third and fourth seasons had come to a close, the characters had moved on to a completely different setting (the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart), several characters set out to be or were forcibly retooled, everyone except Angel had [[spoiler:their memories of Connor erased and replaced by a false past]], and Spike from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was added as as regular cast member. The change was apparently done at the network's request. Then, due to conflicting accounts, including the high per-episode cost, the show was cancelled anyway. What makes it a PostScriptSeason instead of a ReTool is that, while it was intended to cover multiple seasons, the cancellation aborted the arc.

* Despite ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'''s GrandFinale at the end of its eighth season, it was picked up for ninth where it was [[ReTool ReTooled]] to focus on a completely different group of characters in a setting only tangentially related to Sacred Heart. Most fans insist season 9 never happened.

* The fifth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ended with Buffy dying heroically to save Dawn and, [[ApocalypseMaiden by extension]], all reality; the episode even ended with a shot of her gravestone ("She saved the world. A lot.") Then season six opened with her friends bringing her BackFromTheDead for fear she might be stuck in a hell dimension. [[spoiler: She wasn't.]] The characters themselves commented on their uncertainty, lack of direction and how underwhelming their [[NerdInEvilsHelmet current enemies]] were after years of occult super-beings.

* ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' married off Laura and Steele, as the show's cancellation looked certain ''and'' Pierce Brosnan had been offered the role of JamesBond. However, ''because'' Brosnan got the Bond role, NBC decided to renew the show, bringing it back for a very lame half-season which lacked all of the charm of the preceding seasons ''and'' effectively scuttling Brosnan's big movie break. Brosnan didn't end up playing Bond for over a decade.

** The 2013 season is the last. However, if Matt Groening get's to get the show picked up by another network are successful, ''that'' will be this trope.

Well, they all said your show was TooGoodToLast. You fended off ExecutiveMeddling, and [[ProtectionFromEditors stayed true to your original vision of the series]].

* When WorldEventsProductions was first editing/dubbing ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'', the plan was to edit three short-lived, similar but unrelated CombiningMecha {{Anime}} shows (''Anime/GoLion'', ''Anime/DairuggerXV'', and ''Anime/{{Albegas}}'') into one series for a combined total of 125 episodes to put into syndication. But with the unexpected popularity of Lion Voltron (''[=GoLion=]'') followed by the equally unexpected backlash against Vehicle Voltron (''Dairugger''), plans to dub ''Albegas'' were scrapped, leaving WEP 20 episodes short. So WEP actually hired {{Toei}} to animate 20 new Lion Voltron episodes that are not a part of ''[=GoLion=]'' at all.

* According to Hergé, ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures of Tintin]]'' concluded with ''Recap/TintinTintinInTibet'' and the works afterwords (''Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald'', ''Recap/TintinFlight714'', ''Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros'' and the unfinished ''Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt'') were basically this. However, they actually were well received, and still continued the nature a little bit, showing that this trope is [[TropesAreTools not always a bad thing]].

*** To be fair, ''X8'' [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel was at least decent]] and, along with ''[[VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission Command Mission]]'', [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeemed Axl in the eyes of factions of the fanbase]]. It also, quite shockingly, [[spoiler:''negated'' Sigma's JokerImmunity by having him spread his viral code too thin on the moon and subsequently die with no hopes of regenerating, [[HijackedByGanon from where the true villain takes over the plot]].]] The Jakob Elevator, as per WordOfGod, goes on to become Neo Arcadia of the ''Zero'' series. On the flip side, [[SequelHook it had a cliffhanger ending]] [[LeftHanging that has yet to be resolved almost a decade later]].

* This was parodied with "After The End," an official audio drama parody released by the cast and crew of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The plot involves the show unexpectedly being renewed for a second season (despite [[EndOfEvangelion the ending]] making that [[KillEmAll unlikely]]), and the cast subsequently struggling to come up with a decent way to continue the franchise. Among other things, they contemplate [[ReTool ReTooling]] it as a SuperSentai program, a teen drama, and even a [[ContinuityReboot reboot]]...[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!

* As ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' neared the end of its eighth season, which had been expected to be its last, the ratings improved enough for the network to ask for one more season, in which the show completely lost its moorings as the Conners' lottery win allowed the writers to indulge in all the "what-if" plotlines they had never otherwise dared to touch. It had to end with Roseanne sitting on the couch as it was in the original set saying basically "[[CanonDiscontinuity none of what you watched for the past season really happened]]".

* This was parodied with "After The End," an official audio drama parody released by the cast and crew of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The plot involves the show unexpectedly being renewed for a second season (despite [[EndOfEvangelion the ending making it]] [[KillEmAll unlikely]]), and the cast subsequently struggling to come up with a decent way to continue the franchise. Among other things, they contemplate [[ReTool ReTooling]] it as a SuperSentai program, a teen drama, and even a reboot...[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!

* This was parodied with "After The End," an official audio drama parody released by the cast and crew of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The plot involves the show unexpectedly being renewed for a second season (despite [EndOfEvangelion the end making it]] [[KillEmAll quite impossible]]), and the cast struggling to come up with a decent way to continue the franchise. Among other things, they contemplate [[ReTool ReTooling]] it as a SuperSentai program, a teen drama, and even a reboot...[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]!

* ''Theatre/HenryV'' - After the roguish Prince Hal won a loyal fanbase in ''HenryIV'' parts one and two, the author eventually decided to extend the story, even after bringing Hal's relationship with the EnsembleDarkHorse Falstaff to a satisfactory conclusion in the finale. The reboot ended up being much DarkerAndEdgier, and contrary to the author's promises didn't include Falstaff at all.

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' in particular have a rather large number of Postscript Series, since they're multi-game epics and just having characters disappear into the ether when there are still enemies to fight wouldn't make sense[[hottip:*:Though ''Alpha'' does lose a few series along the way, like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'' and ''Anime/BrainPowerd'', and ''Z'' replaces some older series with new incarnations, like ''Anime/MazingerZ'' -> ''Anime/ShinMazinger'']].

* According to Hergé, ''[[Franchise/Tintin The Adventures of Tintin]]'' concluded with ''Recap/TintinTintinInTibet'' and the works afterwords (''Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald'', ''Recap/TintinFlight714'', ''Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros'' and the unfinished ''Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt'') were basically this. However, they actually were well received, and still continued the nature a little bit, showing that this trope is [[TropesAreTools not always a bad thing]].

* ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'': When the series was extended by several episodes in the middle of production, the writers added a Postscript StoryArc set AfterTheEnd.
* ''GaoGaiGar'' had an OVA which retconned the title mecha's original purpose of construction from "fighting the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Zonder]]" to "fighting the new AGodAmI villain we just came up with". It actually went a lot better than it sounds, largely owing to [[RuleOfCool sheer force of over-the-top-itude]]. Definitely goes under TropesAreNotBad.

* ''[[{{Gunnm}} GUNNM: Last Order]]'' might be seen as that, because when road accident forced Yukito Kishiro to WrapItUp, he tacked a HappyEnding onto the series and left it for half a decade, until he returned to it in ''Last Order''. However, as the "PostScriptSeason" is at this moment ''even longer'' than the original series, and it completely disregarded said happy ending, it is more like a cross between the sequel and the {{Revival}} now.
* After Akria Toriyama decided to conclude the ''DragonBall'' manga with the Majin Buu storyline, {{Toei}} (the producers of the anime version) did their own SequelSeries titled ''DragonBallGT''.
** The Dark Dragon story arc of ''DragonBallGT'' was itself a post-script season. Originally, the show was intended to last only through the Baby storyline, but Bandai asked {{Toei}} to kept the show going afterward in order to [[CashCowFranchise help promote]] their ''Dragon Ball Final Bout'' fighting game for the PlayStation.

* In many ways, ''TransformersEnergon'' seemed to suffer from this in its final quarter, which featured a story that essentially had nothing but the most tangenital connection to any of the plot that had come before it (the villains had obtained their main objective and were defeated three-quarters of the way through the show, leaving nothing for anyone to actually do). The frustrating thing, though, is that it's not strictly a postscript - the show was always intended to run to 52 episodes, and this final arc was simply filling out that requirement, even though the actual ''story'' of the series had been finished.
* The ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' (''Hokuto no Ken'') manga was renewed by Shueisha after completing its originally planned three-year run. Raoh, who was originally established to be Kenshiro's greatest adversary and possibly the greatest warlord in the post-apocalyptic world, was killed off as he literally [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended himself to the heavens]]. Because of this, Buronson and Tetsuo Hara had to come up with new adversaries for Kenshiro to face, as well as explain why they weren't around during the earlier storyline, resulting in quite a few [[AssPull ass pulls]]. The most egregious example is the whole Kingdom of Shura storyline, which revealed that Kenshiro and Raoh had other siblings that the reader weren't aware of before: namely Hyo, Kenshiro's [[SeparatedAtBirth actual blood-related elder brother]], and Kaioh, Raoh's [[BackupTwin identical-looking elder brother]].

* When WorldEventsProductions was first editing/dubbing ''{{Voltron}}'', the plan was to edit three short-lived, similar but unrelated CombiningMecha {{Anime}} shows (''GoLion'', ''DairuggerXV'', and ''{{Albegas}}'') into one series for a combined total of 125 episodes to put into syndication. But with the unexpected popularity of Lion Voltron (''[=GoLion=]'') followed by the equally unexpected backlash against Vehicle Voltron (''Dairugger''), plans to dub ''Albegas'' were scrapped, leaving WEP 20 episodes short. So WEP actually hired {{Toei}} to animate 20 new Lion Voltron episodes that are not a part of ''GoLion'' at all.

* Season 3 of ''SonicX''. Ratings had been mediocre in Japan, so the anime was unable to get past the initial 52 episode order and had to quickly wrap up its TrappedInAnotherWorld premise...and then [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff it became an absolute hit in the international market]], resulting in a somewhat DarkerAndEdgier season that had barely anything to do with the rest of the series before it. A bit of an odd case in that this season has never actually aired in Japan, possibly due to the low ratings during its initial run.
* Season 2 of Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, AKA ''Anime/RoninWarriors''. Originally everyone was supposed to die in the final sequence except Nasti and Jun ("Mia" and "Yuli"), but the producers were notified that the network wanted a second season ... just when Episode 17 was about to air. They then stalled and rewrote the last two episodes to produce a happy ending -- and introduce a CrowningMomentofAwesome HandWave DeusExMachina that became the central and driving force behind the next season. The second season, unlike many of these things, turned out to also be possibly better than the first.

* ''{{Runaways}}'' was only supposed to be eighteen issues, and after [[spoiler:Alex was revealed as the mole and the Pride was all killed]], there wasn't really anywhere to go, but the series got a second volume with the original creative team that lasted another few years, and continued after they left, and it was recently relaunched again. Many fans liked the new characters and new directions, but the overall sense of suspense was lost, and, after the original creative team left, it just wasn't as quality.

* All of the character arcs and plot lines in ''{{Cerebus}}'' had been pretty much resolved by issue 200, yet Sim kept the series going for another 100 issues (arguably for the sole reason that he'd publicly declared the series would run for 300 issues total). The new issues were...not well-received.
* According to Herge; ''TheAdventuresOfTintin'' concluded with ''Recap/TintinTintinInTibet'' and that the works afterwords (''Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald'', ''Recap/TintinFlight714'', ''Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros'' and the unfinished ''Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt'') were basically this. However, they actually were well received, and still continued the nature a little bit, showing that this trope is [[TropesAreTools not always a bad thing]].
* The main aim of ''RogueTrooper'' was to find the Traitor General responsible for the massacre of his comrades. Then he did. Unfortunately, as the character was one of ''2000AD''s most popular, cancellation was not an option. So he kept going as an intergalactic bounty hunter, then he was replaced with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who had a Suspiciously Similar Mission to the original character, then there was a massive ContinuitySnarl before they just decided to screw it and write a series of stories set ''before'' the original Rogue completed his original mission.

* ''DeanKoontz's Frankenstein'' ends the third book by [[spoiler:killing Victor]], resolving the UnresolvedSexualTension, and otherwise tying up its loose ends. There is a mention of [[spoiler:Victor's clone surviving]], but otherwise everything is settled. Book Four came out in 2010, and Book Five is coming out in 2011. And many, ''many'' people really wish they hadn't/aren't.

* ''TwinPeaks'' sorta went downhill like this after Laura Palmer's killer was revealed, the main plot being resolved (due to ExecutiveMeddling, no less - the writers had other plans). It felt incredibly awkward to have Dale Cooper still hanging around in Twin Peaks, even though he didn't have a reason to stay after the killer had been found. Wyndam Earl was more of a stand-in for Laura Palmer's killer than a real villain.

* ''TheXFiles'' faced retool after retool as they tried to wring a few more seasons out after the feature film. The seventh season is particularly guilty of premature closure. It "explained" the conspiracy arc, killed off nearly all the Syndicate antagonists, and perhaps most significantly, resolved the long-running mystery of Mulder's missing sister.

* ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' was originally a completed series at a mere 40 episodes, with a conclusion similar to the ending of ''KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' (the Japanese basis for the first season) where Rita Repulsa was re-captured and thrown back into space in her dumpster after the defeat of Cyclopsis. However, the explosion in merchandise sales early into the series convinced Saban to pay {{Toei}} to film more action footage to extend the first season to 60 episodes (some which were left over and eventually used for the second season), as well as enter a contract for adapting whole future seasons. Traces of the original series finale are evident in the VERY choppy Command Center scene at the end of the aired version of "Doomsday Part 2" (in which Zordon offers the Rangers a chance to retire, even though Rita is still loose).

* ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'': The British sitcom about two poor wheeler-dealer street-market trader brothers ended after 15 years (7 seasons and four sets of Christmas specials) with the Trotter brothers finding an antique watch in their garage, [[RagsToRiches and becoming millionaires at last]]. The three episode finale, where the Trotters are finally shown in luxury penthouses and expensive sports cars, was shown over Christmas 1996 and attracted massive viewing figures for TheBBC. A few years later they convinced writer John Sullivan to reprise the ever-popular characters for three more {{Christmas Episode}}s. Having the Trotters [[SnapBack lose their investment money in a stock market crash (based on one in real life) and return to their original lifestyle]] [[DeusExMachina only to gain some of their lost fortune back]] and allow Rodney and Cassandra to finally have a child of their own, the specials were panned by critics and viewers alike, and no more have been produced since 2003. To add salt to the wound, "Time On Your Hands" was featured on Sky1's often repeated ''Top Fifty TV Endings'' feature...''completely ignoring the three 2001-2003 specials''.

** Series/ThirtyRock devoted [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_One_with_the_Cast_of_Night_Court an episode]] to the idea that several of the characters on that show were unhappy with the Season 9 ending to Night Court, so they staged a "fake" episode, reuniting several of the actual cast members, and they had Harry and Christine get married.

* The seventh season finale of ''That70sShow'' was clearly supposed to be the series finale: first, Red FINALLY caught the guys smoking pot in his basement. Then he finally said to his son he loved him without insulting him in the process. And, of course, at the end of this episode, the main character Eric '''left the series'''. Aside from an open ending of the Kelso-Jackie-Hyde love triangle storyline, there was nothing more to add to the story.

* In ''BoyMeetsWorld'', the highschool graduation season finale had changes like Mr. Feeny retiring and moving away, and Shawn deciding to take a job as a photographer instead of going to college. But when the series was renewed, both of these changes were reversed so that Shawn and Mr. Feeny could be part of the college experience along with Cory, Topanga, and the rest.

* ''MagnumPI'' had such a definitive finale at the end of season seven, they aired commercials explaining that despite the main character [[spoiler: being killed, tying up loose ends up as a ghost, and then being sent off to the afterlife]], things weren't ''really'' over. It lasted another season.

* The ultimate example is probably ''CoronationStreet'', which has essentially been on a series of postscript seasons since ''1960''. It was originally intended to be 13 episodes long, with Coronation Street bulldozed in a MadeForTVMovie. However, it proved so popular that a new series was commissioned, and it's been broadcasting more or less continuously to the present day.
* This happened with ''GoldenGirls''. Bea Arthur decided to leave the show after the seventh season, and it ends with Dorothy getting married and moving to Atlanta. However, her mother Sophia decides to stay in Miami with the roommates, and the eighth season is retitled ''The Golden Palace'' as the girls open a high-end hotel. Needless to say, it wasn't well received and most fans prefer to think the series ended with Dorothy's wedding.
* Sort of happened on ''SavedByTheBell''. The show had finished taping its finale (which centered around the characters' high school graduation) when NBC ordered more episodes. Which shouldn't have been a problem, as the finale hadn't aired yet, and they could simply air the new episodes prior to the finale--except that the actors' contracts had expired, and everyone but Tiffani Amber-Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley decided to sign new ones. As a result, Kelly and Jessie were replaced with a new character named Tori Scott. No explanation was given for Kelly and Jessie's absence in the new episodes, and since the finale was already in the can, no explanation could be given for Tori's absence at graduation.
* ''LaFemmeNikita''. Despite being the USA Network's top rated drama during its 4th season (even with no advertisement by the network), the cancellation was announced. After the large fan campaign to bring the series back, in September 2000 a truncated 5th season was announced. It did help out with some of the CannonFodder they had left behind, but gave one hell of a BittersweetEnding.

* ''PrisonBreak'' was an odd case of unplanned seasons. While the creators mentioned the show was only designed for two seasons, Fox squeezed a third season out of them in 2007-2008. This unfolded the same year when...you guessed it...the writer's strike happened. As a result, the third season was truncated to 13 episodes, and forced the writers to produce a fourth season to wrap up the show. Depending on who you ask, the fourth year was either a creative resurgence from the mediocre third season or a godawful train wreck of epic proportions. The controversial series ending was even more polarizing. And let's not even get into the cash grabbing DVD movie, The Final Break.
* ''SeventhHeaven'' had a grand series finale at the end of the 10th season. They got all the original cast back, had a big almost-wedding, and every married Camden child was expecting twins. Then, like the Jesus that the Christian characters never mentioned, the show was revived three days later because the executives mistook the finale's high ratings as a sign that people wanted the show to continue. For the 11th season, the writers were forced to find a way out of the corner they backed themselves into with the twins, as well as deal with a much smaller budget. Their way out of these problems was to make Lucy have a miscarriage over the summer, have the longest-running (and highest paid) actors not appear in every episode, bring in a bevy of cheaper teen actors, and have Reverend Camden homeschool the twins to save money on a classroom set and extras. The results were dismal.
* Every season of ''FridayNightLights'' after the third season, although this is a rare case of a postscript season done right. The main narrative arc concludes with the Panthers [[spoiler:losing at State despite a big comeback when everyone expected them to be eliminated early]], as well as most of the main characters' arcs being wrapped up...that is, until the fourth and fifth seasons, where Coach Taylor (who was forced out of his job) is hired at a newly-reopened school and teaches a new team with lesser equipment, budget and facilities, training them from scratch. However, the narrative (coupled with cameos and updates on the characters who were previously [[TheBusCameBack put on a bus]]) made it just as well-written as the previous seasons.

* ''AllInTheFamily'' wrapped up its eighth season with Mike, Gloria, and Joey moving to California. Actors Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers had announced they were leaving the show, and producer NormanLear couldn't imagine continuing it without them, so having the Stivics say goodbye to Archie and Edith was conceived as a perfect TearJerker ending to the show...until CBS executives offered Carroll O'Connor [[MoneyDearBoy $100,000 an episode]] to come back as Archie, and he agreed. Not only did the show continue for a ninth season (without Reiner, Struthers, or Lear), it got an AfterShow in ''ArchieBunkersPlace''.

* As ''{{Roseanne}}'' neared the end of its eighth season, which had been expected to be its last, the ratings improved enough for the network to ask for one more season, in which the show completely lost its moorings as the Conners' lottery win allowed the writers to indulge in all the "what-if" plotlines they had never otherwise dared to touch. It had to end with Roseanne sitting on the couch as it was in the original set saying basically "[[CanonDiscontinuity none of what you watched for the past season really happened]]".
* ''{{Primeval}}'', due to its huge budget, by British television standards, has spend most of its runtime on the verge of being cancelled. On top of that the actor playing the lead hero wanted out during season 3. This season, while containing some big fat {{Sequel Hook}}s, killed off not only him but also the main villain ([[spoiler:his wife]]). While the gimmick driving the series was still there the writers had to develop a completely new storyline when they were eventually greenlit for a season 4 and 5. (Season 5 ended on a similar note, if the series gets revived again there will be a post post script season season.)
* On ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', the third, fourth and fifth season finales were written as respectable farewells in case the show didn't get another season.

* ''HenryV'' - After the roguish Prince Hal won a loyal fanbase in ''HenryIV'' parts one and two, the author eventually decided to extend the story, even after bringing Hal's relationship with the EnsembleDarkHorse Falstaff to a satisfactory conclusion in the finale. The reboot ended up being much DarkerAndEdgier, and contrary to the author's promises didn't include Falstaff at all.

* ''{{Bionicle}}'' ended mid-2010, and the entire toyline, comics, movies and novels have become discontinued. Just about all of the main story threads got neatly, if abruptly, wrapped up and the final speech delivered, but many side-stories were still unfinished and a lot of mysteries unsolved, thus (and also because the "ending" had set up a ''ton'' of new possibilities) {{LEGO}} agreed to keep the story going for at least another year and a half, but only the main writer, Greg Farshtey remained as the sole storyteller, as the other members of the former Story Team had moved on to other projects.

* ''{{Halo 3}}'' suffered from a variation on this. The developers have been very frank in saying that a need to meet a publisher-enforced deadline for ''{{Halo 2}}'' not only deprived them of much-needed game polishing time and various chunks of gameplay, but forced them to ''cut off the game's actual ending''. They had to come up with a way to pad out a game's ''third act'' into an entire new, console-selling, killer-app extravaganza. They didn't do a bad job gameplay-wise, but the storyline suffered from the resolution of most of the plot points in the previous title.
** However, 343 (a new company made up of remnants of Bungie that wanted to stay with the series after Bungie split after making ''HaloReach'', plus some other designers from other game companies) announced plans for a new Halo trilogy at E3 2011, so that might solve the story problems of part 3.

* ''SyphonFilter: Logan's Shadow''. The eponymous virus and the Consortium are no longer part of the plot, which instead involves Somali pirates and a BigBad affiliated with al-Qaeda.

** ''SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and ''SuperRobotWarsZ'' in particular have a rather large number of Postscript Series, since they're multi-game epics and just having characters disappear into the ether when there are still enemies to fight wouldn't make sense[[hottip:*:Though ''Alpha'' does lose a few series along the way, like ''{{Gundam 0080}}'' and ''BrainPowered'', and ''Z'' replaces some older series with new incarnations, like ''MazingerZ'' -> ''ShinMazinger'']].
** ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'' takes place after the events of the ''Dancougar'' TV series, as in one scenario, [[{{Dancougar}} Sara]] commiserates with [[MobileSuitVictoryGundam Usso Evin]] and his first love being a traitor, but tells Usso that better lovers can be quite close at hand (she, of course, referring to [[{{Dancougar}} Shinobu]]).
** In VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX:
*** ''Gundam SEED Destiny'' characters are pretty much integrated into the ''Fafner'' cast, with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Shinn Asuka and Lunamaria Hawke]] helping them battle the Festum after their war ended ([[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Cagalli Yula Athla]] is their sponsor; this implies Shinn has made some peace with ORB).
*** [[DancougaNova Team D]] has retired, yet received LaserGuidedAmnesia and went back to their ordinary lives, leaving only Eida and the R-Daigun for a good chunk of the game.

* The ''AnotherCenturysEpisode'' franchise also did this in ''3: The Final'' (with ''{{Macross}}'' and ''MetalArmorDragonar'', both of whom had their plots finished in ''2'') and ''R'' (''GundamSEEDDestiny'', the only series in the ''ACE'' franchise to debut with its plot resolved).

* ''TombRaider: The Last Revelation'', ''Chronicles'', and ''Angel of Darkness'', all of which became CanonDiscontinuity after the reboot.

** In fact, the Franchise/MetalGear Series at large is really an incredibly extreme example of this. ''Creator/HideoKojima'' has been wanting to end the series since VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2, and with every new installment would claim that it was the last installment. By the time VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 rolled around, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the characters can't seem to stop discussing how tired they are of years of battle.]]
* The second half of the ''MegamanBattleNetwork'' games suffer from this. The ending of ''3'' is the typical "It looks like the hero's about to die. No wait, he survives." script, while being overly sentimental and dramatic, as well as finally beating up the World Three, the main villain group. It's pretty obvious that ''4'' was made with absolutely no thought put into subsequent games (ie. the villain is a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere, dark chips seem to be a one-off gimick, and there plot is very bare bones). ''5'' builds on the dark chips and the new villains, the Nebula organization, but kills them off in the game, making all the development meaningless, and ''6'' switches gears back to World Three, the group you were assured were finished in ''3'', while bringing back older characters from all the other games, except, oddly fitting, from ''3''.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' was originally set to end with TheMovie ''So The Drama'', but was renewed for another season. However, the following seasons retained high quality and the true series finale finished up the remaining story arcs the original left hanging, such as [[spoiler: Ron finally managing to master his Mystical Monkey powers.]]

* Roleplay/DuelAcademyR2 is now currently one or two years past the end of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' - and Juudai/Jaden's graduation.

* ''PeterAndTheStarcatchers'' appeared to end with "Secret of Rundoon". However, in 2009, a fourth book called "Sword of Mercy" was written, taking place after a large timeskip (Directly before the events of ''PeterPan'' for that matter.) One probably would have wondered if Barry and Pearson thought their contracts wouldn't get renewed so they wrapped up the arc in "Secret of Rundoon". However, the BigBad wasn't as easily defeated as they assumed in the original series...

** ''Power Rangers In Space'' was also initially set to be the final season following ''Power Rangers Turbo'', and made great strides to finish off existing plot threads, even killing off established characters and redeeming others. The ratings were so good for the more serialized ''In Space'' that the series was recommisioned. Executive Producer Johnathan Tzachor (who later became more of an [[ExecutiveMeddling executive meddler]]) suddenly threw out the entire existing cast in favour of a fresh one, a trait that has continued with every post-script season ever since.

* According to Herge; ''TheAdventuresOfTintin'' concluded with "Recap/TintinTintinInTibet" and that the works afterwords ("[[Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald The Castafiore Emerald]]", "[[Recap/TintinFlight714 Flight 714]]", "[[Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros Tintin and the Picaros]]" and the unfinished "[[Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt Tintin and Alph-Art]]") were basically this. However; they actually were well received, and still continued the nature a little bit, showing that this trope is [[TropesAreTools not always a bad thing]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' does this all the time, often including a series after its plot has been resolved simply to pad out the cast list (or because they want to pair it up with another show). ''SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and ''SuperRobotWarsZ'' in particular have a rather large number of Postscript Series, since they're multi-game epics and just having characters disappear into the ether when there are still enemies to fight wouldn't make sense[[hottip:*:Though ''Alpha'' does lose a few series along the way, like ''{{Gundam 0080}}'' and ''BrainPowered'', and ''Z'' replaces some older series with new incarnations, like ''MazingerZ'' -> ''ShinMazinger'']].