Sad when a show wraps up? We all are. Here’s what to do

It’s mild. It passes. But the grief we feel when a favourite show or film ends is real. And there are ways to cope too

On one level, it seems like the ultimate first-world problem: A well-loved TV show, video game or film franchise has ended, leaving fans bereft, nursing a sense of loss. Imagine the feeling of emptiness after Game Of Thrones delivered its final (if middling) finale in 2019. Or emerging from this year’s trifecta: The end of Succession, Ted Lasso and The Marvellous Ms Maisel. Rita Kottasz, associate professor of marketing at London’s Kingston University, has been studying his phenomenon for about a decade, and terms it post-series depression.

The Office had nine seasons. It’s hard not to feel a sense of emptiness when it wraps up.

Those missing Succession after 39 episodes might enjoy Kendall Roy’s online afterlife as the Number One Boy.

Fan pages stay active for years, buoyed up by waves of new viewers. “Ew, David” from Schitt’s Creek has a life of its own online.

Who doesn’t love the phrase “Ew, David” from Schitt’s Creek?