THE BEGINNING OF THE END Why "Daria" is calling it quits after five seasons By Peter W. Guerin ================================================================ "This is the end/My only friend/The end." --Jim Morrison, The Doors, "The End". ================================================================ It's become a trite saying, but it's still true: "All good things must come to an end." For fans of "Daria", the end will come this summer. I'm pretty sure that there are some fans out there who are in denial, but before you write to "TV Guide" asking them to put the show on its "Endangered Series List" and mount campaigns to MTV about saving the show, read this first. I remember my mother telling me stories when I was a kid about how everyone tried to save the original "Star Trek" when NBC canceled it in 1969. Ordinary people right up to New York State Governor Nelson Rockafeller and the entire graduating class at Harvard weighed in on the issue, but it was to no avail. The cold statistics from A. C. Nielson said it all: The show was not a ratings hit. Of course, this has not been the case for "Daria". It has been among MTV's better shows and perhaps its biggest hit animated series to date. However, even all three of the follow-up series to "Star Trek" knew when to call it a day, and so do every show on the air--well, almost (I'm convinced that newsmagazines like "60 Minutes" and sports shows like "ABC's Wide World of Sports" will be seen by our great-great-grandchildren, provided the U. S. and China don't nuke each other to death first). It didn't have to be, of course. Series creator Glenn Eichler had stated that he was following a "two-years per school year" principle for "Daria"; therefore, it could have gone on for six seasons. There was a successful drive to have a fifth season of "Daria", so many fans wondered "Why not have a sixth season and close things out right?" Mimicking a successful campaign by fans of the quirky science-fiction series "Roswell"--who sent in bottles of the Tabasco sauce enjoyed by the aliens on the program--fans, encouraged by Michelle Klein-Häss, sent in empty boxes of microwavable lasagna, since that was the meal most commonly eaten for dinner by the time-starved Morgendorffer family. Alas, the effort was in vain, as was recently revealed in an article in "Toon Magazine" (which Michelle serves as an associate editor). Glenn said it best himself: "We love our fans and we don't want to betray either their high expectations for "Daria" or our own, so we've decided to go out with our standards if not our brain cells intact." Perhaps one of the underlying reasons why this will be the final season for "Daria" is that the fan community has become very polarized. Fandom was pretty much simple in the show's first season: Either you related to Daria and Jane's antics or you didn't. However, toward the second season some people began to complain that "Daria" was beginning to "soften up". That proved to be only the calm before the storm. The proverbial crap hit the fan with the third season. By this time fans were more or less divided into three camps: The "'Shippers", who wanted Daria and Trent to be a couple; the "Anti-'Shippers", who didn't think Daria and Trent should hook up, and the "Fence-Sitters", who were the moderates in the debate. However, much like Erasmus couldn't remain neutral for too long in regard to the Protestant Reformation and finally broke ranks with Martin Luther, the moderates were crushed between the millstones of the two warring factions. Matters weren't helped at all over what happened in the episodes "Lane Miserables" and "Jane's Addition", which more or less drove the final nail in the coffin of any relationship between Daria and Trent. There were fans out there who thought it was unfair that Daria never got Trent while Jane got someone in Tom, and felt that Daria had every right to be pissed off at them. Of course, the really die-hard element of the "'Shipper" crowd held on to some small hope that perhaps Daria would land her Trent. Of course, there was another faction developing as well, the "Season Oners", who felt that the show should have stuck to what it had going for it in its rookie season. There arose in opposition another group calling themselves "Character Developers", who liked the changes that were going on. All of these factions would meet head on in the fourth season. The "'Shippers" felt that they were vindicated when it seemed that Daria was still angry over Jane and Tom in "Partner's Complaint", but in "I Loathe a Parade", it seemed that Daria had now more or less accepted Jane and Tom being a couple. However, the final two episodes of the season, "Fire!" and "Dye! Dye! My Darling" turned that all on its ear. Within the space of one hour, a jealous Jane accused Daria of trying to steal Tom away from her; Daria accused Tom of trying to steal Jane away from her; before you know it (due to a botched hair dye job and an accidental kiss), Jane has broken up with Tom and ended her friendship with Daria. The controversy sent all factions of the fan community in a rage, which spilled over into the message boards. Matters weren't helped that much by the movie "Is It Fall Yet?", when Daria and Tom became a couple and Daria patched things up with Jane. Any hopes the "'Shippers" had that Daria might try one last time to get Trent were dashed when Trent sang "Betrayal" while taking Daria up to the artists' colony where Jane was spending the summer. However, Jane certainly knows when to cut her losses; knowing that Daria would never have deliberately tried to steal Tom, and knowing that she and Tom just weren't meant to be, she encourages Daria to give Tom another chance, even if he is from a wealthy family. If Glenn had hoped that this ending would have made everyone happy, he was mistaken. The "'Shippers" had their last hopes dashed, and the "Anti-'Shippers" felt vindicated. Of course, the "Character Developers" felt similarly vindicated over the "Season Oners". The ugly debates turned uglier. However, it seems things have reached somewhat of an equilibrium in the first half of the fifth season, but not by much. The opening episode "Fizz Ed" generated a lot of complaints to MTV's "official" "Daria" message board, and certainly shocked Glenn. In fact, the season didn't seem to hit its stride until the fourth episode "Camp Fear", which seemed to hearken back to some of the second season. The biggest surprise had to be in the sixth episode "Lucky Strike"; having her back to the wall in regard to passing an upcoming English test being temporarily taught by Daria (not to mention trying to save face with the Fashion Club), Quinn beats Sandi to the punch by finally breaking down and admitting that Daria was her sister--something that Stacy and Tiffany knew all along. That the Fashion Club took this more or less as gracefully as they did was a surprise. Of course, how Sandi deals with this remains to be seen, though I can assure you I don't think she'll go insane with delusions that Daria is the power behind Quinn's attempt to oust her as President of the Fashion Club and resorting to beating Daria with a baseball bat like in a certain person's fan fiction series. :-) The question is, did the in-fighting among the various factions of the "Daria" fan base lead Glenn to decide to take down his shingle? There seem to be some hints of it in Michelle's interview. He lamented about how some fans think that the show had sold out, but her correctly points out that Daria didn't sell out; she's maturing. One is not a sell-out if one still retains his or her core values. In a sense, Daria--like Dilbert, that comic strip hero of put-upon office workers crammed into cubicles--is trying to hold on to her beliefs in a world where those beliefs are ridiculed. It's no big stretch to go from putting up with inane classmates, teachers and administrators to dealing with a equally inane corporate structure of fazed co-workers, clueless supervisors and malevolent Pointy-Haired Bosses. The Darias of today can easily become the Dilberts of tomorrow. Glenn hit the nail on the head when he said that "the viewers who haven't experienced this yet and so can't relate to what's happening to Daria are very. . .naïve." To those people, all I can say is that they will face this someday; it may be when they have a relationship of their own, or if they have to work flipping burgers or sitting in a cubicle all day and have to face co-workers or bosses who don't exactly share their point of view. Those who don't adapt will find themselves with failed relationships and being fired. The main difference is that Dilbert probably went through what Daria did when he was in high school, and perhaps experience has given him counsel as to when to keep his opinions to himself. Further, there have been complaints that the show has changed its concepts of good versus evil. Glenn once again drives the point home that "Daria" is not a superhero show. Most comedies and some dramas don't have characters who break down into neat little camps of heroes and villains, as anyone who ever watched "anime" can tell you. In real life, there are no clear-cut heroes and villains. I think the point is made best by what Antonia Levi said in her book "Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation": "Being a villain is not the same thing as being the enemy. The enemy is quite often a heroic figure. He's just a hero on the other side." Of course, there is some debate in regard to whether there are any real villains to speak of in "Daria". Ms. Li for all her malevolence is still a stock character of the typical high school principal, the type we've seen in Amos Weatherbee and Richard Belding. It seems her duty to educate has been subordinated to her duty to make a fast buck and protect her beloved Lawndale High from chaos and anarchy, but that does not paint her to be a villain as such. The same could be said of Sandi, despite her deep voice and holier-than-thou attitude. Frankly most of the students Daria and Jane deal with are not villains at all, and that goes for the teachers and parents as well. Glenn made the point in that all these characters have their weaknesses and inconsistencies revealed. In that regard Daria and Jane are no better or worse than their peers or elders. Helen makes the point herself in "Monster" that Daria herself doesn't always live up to her own standards, which is something that is often overlooked in heated debates over the show's direction. Another argument--I admit, I was one of them--has been made that the show was becoming a soap opera like "Dawson's Creek" and "Melrose Place". Once again, Glenn reassures everyone that it's not the case. Let's face some facts: Other than that fantasy episode where Kevin gets murdered, we haven't seen a sordid parade of boyfriends sleeping with their best friend's girlfriends or wondered "Who Shot Ms. Li?" (My apologies to Danny Bronstein for that. :-) ) We haven't had to deal with wondering who survived Lawndale High being blown to smithereens. Finally, we certainly haven't had to deal with the mysterious return of a character who was supposed to be dead (not unlike my latest fic "Death Be Not Stacy" :-) ). So, unless Anthony Geary, Susan Lucci and Eric Braeden suddenly make cameo appearances in the final episodes of the show, rest assured this is not "Daria's Creek". The situation seems more like what would happen in a "shôjo anime" or "manga" like "Here is Greenwood" or "Peach Girl"; at least they deal with relationships more realistically than soap operas or "Saved by the Bell". The overall matter is that the show has evolved. The "Season Oners" aren't too happy about that, but that's the way life is in reality. If "Daria" remained to that formula for all the other seasons, it would become as predictable as "Beetle Bailey", "Blondie", "The Mighty Heroes" or "Peanuts" in using the same old tired jokes over and over again. That is why Glenn decided to exit with the show in its prime. Of course, there's the overriding question: What will happen in the final six episodes and the series-ending movie? Will Quinn finally wrest control of the Fashion Club away from Sandi? Will Daria and Tom still be an item, or will Daria drop Tom like a hot potato, get back with Trent and run off to Mexico to get married, thus fulfilling the die-hard "'Shippers'" wildest fantasies? Will Daria and Jane finally get to tell Ms. Li off, perhaps at graduation? Will Ms. Li get what's coming to her and get arrested for arrogantly abusing her power? Will Mr. O'Neill and Ms. Barch get married? Will Jake and Helen get divorced? Who knows? Frankly, I'd like to see the show end kind of like how "M*A*S*H" ended. Jane is probably a person who's reluctant to say "Good-bye" to Daria, like B. J. Hunnicut was to Hawkeye. I'd picture her painting the word "Good-bye" on the roof of Casa Lane for Daria to see when her flight to college goes over her house, much like B. J spelled that out in sandbags for Hawkeye to see when his copter took off. What I really don't want to see is Daria being hit with a golf ball, waking up in Mr. Van Driessen's class with a snickering Beavis and Butt-Head surrounding her, and realizing that it was all a dream; we already saw Bob Newhart use that cop-out at the end of his second series. :-) To be honest, I'm happy that Glenn realized that "Daria" has had its day in the sun and decided to move on. The TV landscape is littered with shows that soldiered on way past their prime ("Happy Days", "Laverne and Shirley" and "The Simpsons", for example) or tried to carry on with inane spin-offs (Anyone remember "After M*A*S*H", "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" or "Mayberry RFD"?). Of course, Daria Morgendorffer has been a presence on MTV for nine years, if you count the years she was on "Beavis and Butt-Head". It is better to quit while you're still on top like Michael Jordan did rather than go on past your prime like Pete Rose. Of course, the future of animation on MTV is cloudy. "Celebrity Deathmatch" was a hit, but neither "Downtown" or "Spy Groove" survived past their first seasons, and the upcoming "Undergrads" looks like it'll be the usual college frat house hijinks which get stale in a hurry. My advice to you: Enjoy the final episodes of "Daria" when you can. I don't think we're going to be seeing something of this caliber as far as animation for American TV is concerned for a long time. Further advice to all the factions of the "Daria" fan community: Even the fans who squabbled over which "Star Trek" series was the best learned to get along more or less with each other eventually, so let's bury the hatchet, OK? :-) Once again, I would like to thank every one I've befriended in the "Daria" fan community over the years. You guys are the greatest. And, so on that note, "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." Peter W. Guerin Hudson Falls, New York April 17, 2001 8:20 PM P. S.: I hope all of you keep my mother in your thoughts and prayers; she is facing surgery for an intestinal problem and by the time this essay is posted she'll have a long recovery in front of her.