I actually don't think it was ever meant to be an insult to Americans, to be honest! They genuinely expected to make another series and were surprised by its lack of following in the UK, so plans for the second series were scrapped. The cliffhanger wasn't meant to be a "does she, doesn't she" mysterious, thought-provoking ending, it was just a common-or-garden lead-on into a second series . . . which never happened!
The only reason they included the text card at the end of the American version and not the British one was because when it was aired in Britain, the makers were still optimistic that they would get to make their second series. By the time it showed up in the US, the ratings were in, the calculations had been made, and the second series had been abandoned forever. The producer obviously decided that by adding the text card at the last minute, at least the American audience would get some sort of closure and completion, even if the Brits didn't.
I reckon they were just trying to give the Americans what the British never got; an ending!
"You people. If there isn't a movie about it, it's not worth knowing about, is it" - Dogma
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LFRibeiro
16 years ago
The thing is, if a second series was intended, what would be the point of Ros resigning? The whole show was built around her being the PM, incorruptible and inexperienced. Although intended as a cliff hanger, the end is fairly clear (even if a few characters do remain at loose ends); even Ros herself had come around to admitting that resigning would be disastrous after all she has accomplished in the previous year. The set up for year two would clearly be how divorcing Ian would wreck her relationship with her family and how that would affect her as PM. And I like to think that Catherine, despite struggling to be so unemotional, might still keep her "fifteen year old" speech writer around one way or another. So ignore those closing remarks in the DVD release; they are completely illogical.
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