I just finished watching The Durrells (was a big fan of the books as a kid) and was really happy that they wrapped it up properly at the end of the 4th season.

This happened to me a long time ago with HBO's "Carnivale." There were a bunch of subplots that were going to start being resolved in Season 3. The show never progressed beyond Season 2. I still think about that every once in a while. Frustrating!

I've mentioned this before but it's because the current system only makes money for YouTubers. If you want your show to continue, you gotta watch the highest rated YouTuber who talks about it.
It's the only thing the bean counters in Hollywood are paying attention to.

Money, Money, Money

It's why I don't watch television at all any more - I get too invested, then I'm drop-kicked off a cliff.

It's doubly annoying because it means I'm also completely left out of really joyous shared culture or fandom, which seems *amazing* for at least as long it lasts.

Yep. That’s part of why I generally won’t watch a series until it’s complete. I’ve been burned too many times. Also, I’ve gotten spoiled with streaming and I won’t go back to waiting years from beginning to end.

The open-ended, multi-season format rarely works. It’s too hard for writers to develop a good story when they have no idea how much time they have. Miniseries, limited series, and anthology series are much better models. That’s almost all I watch anymore.

This is why I've switched to watching a lot more Asian dramas than Western TV shows in recent years, because one season is one complete story, told progressively from the first episode to the last, and tied up neatly at the end. Sometimes there'll be potential for the story to be continued in a second season, but nothing is ever left half-told or incomplete. Occasionally Western media will deliver a story like that, but far too often we're given incomplete stories that get cancelled instead of renewed, and nothing ever gets finished.