At first glance, it may seem like ABC's A Million Little Things was a show about death — it certainly gives off this impression from the first episode. However, the popular show went on to expand from that, and many of its deeper themes soon became apparent. While never really hitting the mark with critics, with sluggish ratings barely above the 50% mark, A Million Little Things was terminally underrated.
Despite this, the show had a loyal following, and a fan base that appreciated its straightforward good qualities, even if they were plain and not put across with any special resonance that garnered acclaim. After a successful four-season run between 2018 and 2022, showrunner DJ Nash somewhat abruptly announced that the fifth season would be its last. Its loyal fans were left devastated, quickly petitioning for more.
The show followed a pretty linear premise. It revolved around a close-knit group of friends in Boston, and began with a shocking incident as one of the friends, Jon Dixon (Ron Livingston) commits suicide. Jon's credo was "everything happens for a reason," so this left his friends struggling to understand why he would take his own life.
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With his friends wanting answers, and seeming to find none that made sense, Jon's death acts as a catalyst that draws them closer together. With an ensemble cast that featured some great actors and many familiar faces, such as David Giuntoli from the supernatural show Grimm and Romany Malco from The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the show had more than enough solid performances and interpersonal drama to build on.
Over the course of its run, there were also some familiar names that guest starred in the series. Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos) and the iconic Marcia Gay Harden had recurring and guest roles, further augmenting its credentials as a solid show. Between the main plot, core cast, intriguing supporting acts, and a loyal following, there's more than enough to suggest that A Million Little Things deserved more time.
Why A Million Little Things Ended?
Despite everything the show had going for it, after five solid seasons, it ended. Fortunately by that point, the series had developed properly and all the subplots and dramatic moments had played out to fruition. But given its ensemble structure, there was still plenty of scope left to expand into, or other avenues of the plot lines that could have been fleshed out further.
However, in an interview with Variety, DJ Nash himself confirmed simply and plainly why the show had always planned to end when it did. Given what he said, it's hard to argue with his reasoning.
“We’re not a hospital show where new interns can come in. We’re about a group of friends that are real and a lot of things have happened to this group of friends. I didn’t want us to become the issue-of-the-week show. I knew from the beginning it was five years. I wasn’t as public about it because people want it to go longer, but this is the right time.”
Nash has also expressed that the show had ties to his real life experiences, so it's again easy to understand why he may have always envisioned a complete arc and a preconceived ending. If the show has personal underpinnings, departing from those would likely seem unnatural and inauthentic to the story that he meant to tell.
In some ways, there's a certain nobility attached to the show being ended earlier rather than being dragged out. However, given other factors, it's also questionable whether the reasons given were the only ones for the show's demise.
Was that the Whole Story?
A Million Little Things got off to a great start, its viewer numbers hitting 5.26 million and 4.27 million respectively for its first two seasons. However, for the last three seasons, the numbers never got close to those kinds of figures again, barely hovering above two million viewers on average.
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Why We Want A Million Little Things Back?
While the show may have started off being about death and loss, it was soon clear that it thrived around themes that went far beyond these. Essentially about friendship, the show's title came from a concept based on the idea that friendship isn't one big thing, but "a million little things."
Beyond just friendship, the show was also a pseudo-celebration of life. Given Jon's death early on, the effect it had on his friends was to galvanize their spirits and make them appreciate their lives more and actually start living them in a more meaningful way.
Aside from this pretty poignant overarching theme, there were still plenty of characters, and potential story arcs to keep the show going. The potential for further exploration, further character development, and more of the dramatic flair the show was so good at makes it feel like a shame that it ended when it did. Given the seemingly endless world of spin-offs, reboots, and revivals, hopefully one of the major streamers will see the potential in A Million Little Things and bring it back. Until then, fans of the series can simply keep its core message in mind.
That message is that life is short. We all know this, but it often requires a very visceral moment to make the old adage hit home in a personal way. Given the fast pace of life these days, the ever uncertain political times, the volatility of the various wars raging on at the moment, and what this may mean for the future of humankind as a collective, the show reminds us that there is no better time than the present to start living — not just existing and surviving, but truly living.
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