When "Nip/Tuck" made its debut in 2003, it broke cable-viewing records and instantly distinguished itself with its stylized look, tongue-in-cheek tone, gorgeous stars and fresh take on America's obsession with beauty and youth. Those qualities earned it a Golden Globe for best drama, critical acclaim and water-cooler buzz that lasted for most of its first four seasons.
But when one of FX's signature series quietly wrapped last week on the Paramount lot, it did so without the usual fanfare associated with the end of a noteworthy show. In part, the silent send-off was because TV viewers won't see the "Nip/Tuck" finale, which finished shooting on June 12, for a long time, probably as late as 2011, making it tricky to publicize. Behind the scenes too, during the last week of production, there was an awkward sense that the end had already happened, since much of the crew had already moved to creator Ryan Murphy's new Fox musical, "Glee," last year, and Murphy himself was out of the country location-scouting for an upcoming movie.
"It's sad because it feels incomplete," said script supervisor Diana Valentine, who asked the cast to sign her finale script in between takes of shooting the show's last family dinner scene, which included almost every major character. Valentine, who joined the series in its second season, worked on "Beverly Hills, 90210" for its entire run. "It's not the same feeling I had when I was wrapping on '90210'. It feels incomplete, kind of separate. It's very hard."
In truth, the cast of the series that TV Guide asserted during its second season was the "coolest show on television" has been ready to move on for some time. "Nip/Tuck's" series finale will be the show's 100th episode, a rare marker in cable television (the only popular cable series that came close was "Sex and the City" with 94 episodes) that FX wanted to reach with its top-rated show.
But if the actors had had their way, the show would have ended in the fourth season when it was still the No. 1 cable series among 18- to 49-year-olds, a ranking it held for its first four years, and the critics were still in its corner. Though its overall viewership has been steady and strong over the years -- Season 5 drew an average of 3.4 million viewers -- it is now less popular in the 18-to-49 demographic than both USA's "Burn Notice" and TNT's "The Closer."
