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I Said Good Day, Sir: Once Great TV Shows That Lasted Far Longer Than They Should Have

By Courtney Enlow | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (91)

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After eight seasons, Dr. Greg House is finally hanging up his cane and doing a little softshoe right off our televisions. And if you’re anything like me, you heard that and said, “eight seasons? Only eight? Hasn’t it been on, like, eleven?”

That’s the thing. A television show can start out good, even great. And “House MD”—for a procedural drama—really was great when it started. But then it kept going. And going. And then Olivia Wilde happened. And then it kept going. And then apparently he drove a car through a house and didn’t get in as much trouble as one would think. While some excel, most ideas cannot sustain greatness, or even okayness, for that many years. Sure, they will continue to have their moments of brilliance here and there, but, for most, the magic is gone, and went away years, some half dozen cast changes and an add-a-kid ago. The second Fonzie is trying to adopt a child, it’s not your show anymore.

While lots of shows are on the air far longer than they deserve—and for some that includes “at all”—these are the shows that most recently really brought us joy, were truly must-see-TV, and then…just…kind of…petered…out. You may of course take to the comments with your own.

“Scrubs”

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Should have ended: Sometime before JD and Carla kissed, or Elliot moved to a different hospital.

“Friends”

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Should have ended: After Monica and Chandler’s wedding. And that’s being generous.

“The Office”

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Should have ended: After Michael Scott left. It lost its luster before that, but Steve Carrell’s exit was their way out. Now it wallows in fine-ness every week.

“House MD”

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Should have ended: After season three, when the entire cast changed.

“Dexter”

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Should have ended: Post-Lithgow.

“Ally McBeal”

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Should have ended: Frankly, it was in trouble in Season 3, but it was saved by the awesomeness of Robert Downey, Jr. It for sure should have left when RDJ did, because Season 5 was a disaster. Such a disaster, that I’m clearly violating my “recent” rule, trying to keep this to the last four or five years, but had to include this because, as a huge fan of this show, its latter-day awfulness was so heartbreaking.

“How I Met Your Mother,” if it goes longer than next season

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Should have ended: Next season. Do not do this to me, Bays and Thomas. Do not make me put you on this list.










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Comments

Another one to add from the 90s is ER. Originally fantastic and interesting, it devolved into a ludicrous soap opera. It should have ended before Dr. Carter took that detour down the painkiller addiction alley, or at the very least before he went to Doctors Without Borders.

Posted by: Nyltiak at February 9, 2012 2:20 PM

Smallville should have ended when Lex and Lana left.

What?

IT WAS A GREAT SHOW!

Posted by: superasente at February 9, 2012 2:22 PM

No The X-Files? Which should have gone away with Duchovny?

No ER, which had so many cast changes that the whole cast (but Noah Wyle) left and came back?

Posted by: Fredo at February 9, 2012 2:24 PM

If we're going to break the 'recent' rule to take into account heartbreaking, elongated failures of things that were once incredibly great, I have the winner: The X-Files. The X-Files, The X-Files, The X-Files. Forever and always. Sigh.
Also, some people are probably gonna yell at you for leaving off Lost. Stay strong.

Posted by: BiblioGeek at February 9, 2012 2:24 PM

Obviously Ally McBeal continued on because we feared retributions from the Omicronians.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at February 9, 2012 2:26 PM

I maintain that "House" remained good and interesting up to the season after he checked himself into the mental hospital. After that, there was nowhere to go. As a matter of fact, I think that the cast changes were actually one of the main things that kept the show going, by infusing different personalities into the mix. I prefer Taub, 13, etc to the original cast. Where it fell off the rails was when it started running out of lows for House to sink to. That's when it started to become repetitive. I checked out when he drove the car into Cuddy's living room.

Actually, that's a lie. I still never miss an episode. God damn it.

Posted by: Southworth at February 9, 2012 2:26 PM

Based on the title of the post, I totally thought That 70's Show was going to be on the list, which would have been absolutely appropriate.

Posted by: Nicole at February 9, 2012 2:27 PM

The radioactive whiteness of the teeth in the Alley McBeal cast pic is freaking me out.
P.S. Recent shmecent, I can't believe The X-Files wasn't included in this list.

Posted by: The Kilted Yaksman at February 9, 2012 2:27 PM

The X-Files. It probably would have been best to end it before Season 7, but without a doubt, after Season 7.

Posted by: Asta at February 9, 2012 2:30 PM

It could have had certain plot lines dropped to make it a shorter series, but I thought the last season (ABC's first with the show) of Scrubs was up to par with the best of them.

Posted by: KaGe at February 9, 2012 2:34 PM

What about Heroes? SUCH a good first season. Then it turned to crap. And that was sad.

Posted by: rubyviolet at February 9, 2012 2:36 PM

ER lasted way too long. There were many points where it should have ended. But the very very very end should have been Dr. Greene's death and memorial. The show started with him and should have ended with him.

Posted by: Erich at February 9, 2012 2:36 PM

No mention of Lost?

Posted by: Will at February 9, 2012 2:42 PM

Very nice, Socrates_Johnson.

Posted by: shmee at February 9, 2012 2:45 PM

I wouldn't have nearly as much contempt for Battlestar Galactica if it had ended after the second season. The first two seasons were average TV sci-fi; it wasn't until the latter two that it turned into such a godawful mess.

Posted by: Todd at February 9, 2012 2:49 PM

Buffy Season 5 following the jump.

Angel Season 6. That's right. Season 6 and not Season 5 with a stupid cliffhanger like that.

The O.C. Season 3, the moment Marissa started dating Volcheck and Summer started to magically transform into Brown material.

Posted by: haplo at February 9, 2012 2:50 PM

Weeds is another show that should have ended 1 or 2 seasons ago. It just keeps dragging and dragging, I really hate Mary Louise Parker in the show now.

Posted by: John at February 9, 2012 2:52 PM

They say a samurai's lifelong goal is to die at the moment of perfection. Can you name a single television series that ended at it's best? If you can, then it probably was cancelled rather than ending voluntarily. Every show summits and then begins the long descent back towards mediocrity. The question is how long do they continue to ride the momentum of the glory days before calling it a series.

Whoever jumps the shark, must come down.

Posted by: Leftylad at February 9, 2012 2:53 PM

Weeds. Weeds. Weeds.

After Nancy burnt down agrestic. And where the fuck is Celia Hodes?

Posted by: ric at February 9, 2012 2:53 PM

Seconded, KaGe,
There were two weak NBC seasons holding it down, for sure, but the first (and in my mind, ONLY) ABC season was absolute gold. SO good. And the end of that season is what I call the series finale - and it was perfection.

Posted by: Tammy at February 9, 2012 2:54 PM

Supernatural, season 5. What? I have a penchant for some of the CW's roster of unreasonably hot boys, no shame in that.

Posted by: catagisreading at February 9, 2012 3:02 PM

Seinfeld was a samurai who commited seppuku.

Posted by: said superasente, who's sentences start with "s" sounds at February 9, 2012 3:03 PM

Walking dead should have ended after season 1.

Posted by: Roland at February 9, 2012 3:11 PM

Cheers. It should have ended before Diane came back.

Posted by: Bob Frapples at February 9, 2012 3:14 PM

Supernatural, season 5.

If it ended with the fifth season finale, and you left out Sam's little "O HAI" at the end, that would have capped off one of the finest series arcs I've ever seen. Nicely self-contained, with a great (and often hilarious) mythology and just the right number of standalone episodes to keep things lively. I'd recommend seasons 1-5 of Supernatural to anyone.

Well, unless they don't like classic rock.

Posted by: Pete at February 9, 2012 3:16 PM

2 Broke Girls, right before the pilot was shot. Because you KNOW they're getting 6 seasons and a movie.

Posted by: Mrcreosote at February 9, 2012 3:17 PM

"Heroes" after season 1. I've never seen a show self destruct like that

Posted by: Frellac at February 9, 2012 3:34 PM

I've got to back up the motion to include Supernatural. I used to shamelessly love it, but post-season five has been utter shite and I've since given up on it.

And I can name a show that stopped when it was ahead, but it was a little show called Corner Gas and Canadian made, so there's no doubt you give no fucks.

Posted by: Goldie at February 9, 2012 3:36 PM

The Office should have ended after maybe 2 or 3 seasons. I'll give you up until Jim and Pam's wedding though I was bored with it years before that.

Posted by: dagnabbit at February 9, 2012 3:48 PM

As much as I LOVE "Once More, With Feeling," I agree with haplo. Buffy should've ended with the jump in Season 5. Would've been perfect.

Good call on "Friends." I think that whole Joey & Rachel hook-up storyline should be stricken from the records.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at February 9, 2012 3:49 PM

People have already mentioned these but they (ie, my intense and rampant bitterness) need to be reiterated:

The X-Files after season 7
Supernatural after season 5
Heroes after season 1
That 70's Show before the Blonde Donna Years.

Okay, I'm only really bitter about the first two. But oh how bitter I am. Conversely, The O.C.'s two middle seasons were pretty awful but its last was, quite possibly, the most perfect season of them all (perfect for The O.C., that is, not TV in general). So sometimes good things do happen when a show is kept past its sell-by date.

But la la la The X-Files ended when Mulder was abducted by aliens and Supernatural ended when Sam jumped into Hell and la la la the rest of it doesn't exist.

Posted by: Lipton at February 9, 2012 3:52 PM

How is The Simpsons not on this list? It peaked 20 years ago.

Posted by: fracas at February 9, 2012 3:53 PM

If HIMYM continues to suck this bad throughout the season I will be forced to admit that they should have stopped at season 6. I'm a seriously diehard fan of the show but this season has been for crap so far. Maybe 1 or 2 good episodes, at most. I would prefer that they wrapped things up quickly with a few more good episodes last season than continue on for 2 more. Hopefully they will bring it back to prior levels of awesomeness, but otherwise, much like a flaming beekeeper, it should be put out of its misery.

Posted by: Corina at February 9, 2012 3:53 PM

Also Laura Prepon should be stripped of her ginger locks for bleaching them blonde and leaving them that way. And the show should have stopped before stupid Randy showed up and stupid Hyde and Jackie were still together. Okay that's all.

Posted by: Corina at February 9, 2012 3:55 PM

No mention of The Simpsons? Too obvious? Am I too generous in calling season 12 the last best season? Aren't questions great?

I have to agree with Southworth on House. I loved the season 4 new team competition, I loved House's short-lived rehabilitation and attempts to not be a prick. Even this week's episode was a great one, though in retrospect it works better as a final season stunt. I am extremely forgiving of quality drops in later seasons because I'm just invested in the show (for example, I harbour no bad feelings about how Lost went down, and still enjoy The Office and Supernatural.) How I Met Your mother is the one I'd have to agree with because it started with the promise of a mother, then stretched it out for-goddamned-ever. I still watch and laugh though!

Posted by: TranscendMatter at February 9, 2012 3:57 PM

Also: Corner Gas is a good call. It lost all steam after season 3.

Posted by: TranscendMatter at February 9, 2012 4:03 PM

At the very least, That 70's Show should have ended with Eric and Donna getting married, or even sticking with Eric leaving her at the alter if the producers could stand a melancholy ending. Continuing the show after Topher Grace left was just even more awful. When the main character is gone, your show is over.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at February 9, 2012 4:10 PM

I'm glad Supernatural is still going. Season 7 hasn't been great, but I still love it. If it had ended after Season 5, I would have missed out on my all time favorite episode The French Mistake.

Posted by: Dingle Berry at February 9, 2012 4:20 PM

Supernatural shouldn't have ended. It's just that season 6 should just never have happened. Season 7, so far, is pretty fine by me. (And even in season 6, there were some moments. Mark Shepperd was in most of them.)

Seconds and thirds on Heroes. How I loved the first season. The new episode was the one thing that I would be looking forward to all week. And then season 2 happened.

And for all his irresistable charm, Mentalist should have ended already. Or the one episode in which Jane is SPOILER**** found not guilty despite having shot a guy in cold blood in front of witnesses ****Spoiler should never have happened. I loved the recent episodes to death, but that verdict was just so wrong and everything that is now in its wake tastes queer.

Also, I can't believe Glee hasn't been mentioned. Or is it now officially forbidden to speak of this show in positive terms here in the Pajibaverse? Anyway, the first season was pure fun. Everything after that so far (except very, very few songs and scenes) was ... let's not talk about it.

Posted by: Rooks at February 9, 2012 4:20 PM

I don't care how bad Supernatural gets, and I don't think it's gotten bad at all yet, I don't want it to EVER end. I love those guys.

I knew I had had my fill when just seeing the photo of Hugh Laurie as House (such as the header photo) filled me with rage. I think Hugh Laurie is wonderful but god damn, I hate the House character. I need to refresh my mind of his wonderful comedic skills by watching him as the Prince Regent in Blackadder. Nothing is funnier than the "lucky lucky luck" sketch.

Posted by: snapnhiss at February 9, 2012 4:32 PM

Downton oh yes, I am going there Abbey after series one.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at February 9, 2012 4:38 PM

Leftylad:

Freaks and Geeks ended just about perfectly. But, yes, it was a cancellation, not a choice.

Posted by: jollies at February 9, 2012 4:43 PM

Seinfeld: After Larry David left.

Posted by: feelsgoodman at February 9, 2012 5:16 PM

I have to heartily agree with That 70s Show and Heroes. When will TV execs learn when your main character goes, end the show? The only time I've seen a show work when a main character left was "Cheers" but that was more of an ensemble show than That 70s Show. And Heroes, goddamn, what a perfect first season and then blam! Absolute dreck.

Posted by: Tecuya at February 9, 2012 5:24 PM

"Continuing the show after Topher Grace left was just even more awful. When the main character is gone, your show is over"

Although, I think Ted could leave and HIMYM would be , wait for it... better!!! ;)

Posted by: layla at February 9, 2012 5:31 PM

"Downton oh yes, I am going there Abbey after series one."

Have faith Mrs Julien, have faith.

Posted by: layla at February 9, 2012 5:34 PM

I support the vote for Weeds. No one should ever detest Mary Louise Parker, but the show's suckitude is beginning to wear off onto everything else she does. Also, yeah, Elizabeth Perkins's unexplained disappearance from the show took a good bit of air out of the proceedings.

Posted by: Jerry at February 9, 2012 6:21 PM

@Corina Jackie and Hyde were the best thing about That 70's show in it's later years.They were the only reason I kept watching. It should've ended in season 7 when Ashton and Topher left, and the show made the horrendous mistake of having Jackie end up with Fez! Seriously, Fez. Jackie and Hyde belonged together. The show killed itself right there for me.

Posted by: Lola at February 9, 2012 6:23 PM

I meant "before" the show made the mistake of having Jackie end up with Fez in season 8.

Posted by: Lola at February 9, 2012 6:25 PM

2 and A Half Men, after Mr. Sheen imploded before our loving eyes and took all the funny with him. Not the same with Kelso trying to mimic him.

Posted by: Mr. Stitch at February 9, 2012 6:46 PM

The goddamn Simpsons, obviously. Should have ended after season 10, when it was obviously on the decline but not yet terrible.

HIMYM will drag on for years, it's a sitcom, that's how they work.

Posted by: Steph at February 9, 2012 6:57 PM

What, no mention of Firefly, Arrested Development, or Community? Talk about shows that ran out of good ideas and went on too long.

Posted by: Craig at February 9, 2012 7:12 PM

To those that think Heroes season 1 was great: go back an rewatch the season 1 finale. The showdown between Peter and Sylar, which should have been epic, was the definition of a letdown. They shoulda canceled it right before that finale.

Posted by: ed newman at February 9, 2012 7:25 PM

In defense of Heroes... Season 2 happened just before and during the writer's guild strike. Had the right people kept at that show, it may still be airing. With the scabs they got to fill in... no dice, it was horrible!

Posted by: Spiffy McFly at February 9, 2012 7:58 PM

Star Trek: The Next Generation. Should have gone off to the big screen(with a big budget)after season 5.
Family Guy. After season 5.
Star Trek:Voyager. Before the pilot even aired.

Posted by: Sean at February 9, 2012 8:12 PM

Community needs to wrap up season 3 and be done with it. It'll get an Arrested Development level of cult status, which it DOES NOT deserve, but at least it'll be over. Quickest fall from grace by a television show I have ever seen.

Dexter needs to either be over or get better. I hate the fact next season isn't the last one and I also hate that I'm going to watch season 7 DESPITE the stupid Deb plot line and BECAUSE OF the cliffhanger.

As for shows ending before things get stale and on its own terms, I believe Breaking Bad will be doing that next season.

Posted by: Joyeetargh at February 9, 2012 8:20 PM

Breaking Bad would be out on a high note if it had ended after the most recent season, I think. Really, really hoping the next one is just as good.

Posted by: Mattfactor at February 9, 2012 8:47 PM

Supernatural has been a guilty pleasure for me (come on, it's a borderline STUPID concept), but without Castiel it's just Sam whining and Dean drinking and refusing to talk about his feelings. Bring back My Sweet Baboo!

Posted by: Uriah Creep at February 9, 2012 9:18 PM


Sex and the City. It was actually pretty funny and sweet for a while...I'd say maybe 3 seasons? Then Carrie got dumber and shriller, and it all became about some whiny bitches in New York.

The Office should have ended with Jim and Pam's wedding. The entirety of the show had followed their relationship, and it should have ended with the culmination of that. They should also have had Holly get with Michael way earlier than that, because then it felt like they were just dragging it on until the two of them could be together.

Posted by: figgy at February 9, 2012 9:33 PM

I see a lot of people saying Heroes, but it was always somewhat shitty, the very existence of Hiro and Peter created so many plotholes the show was almost impossible to take seriously, even discounting how hokey the science was. Not to mention that half the actors in the show were so awful they couldn't get cast in a George Lucas movie. This was before getting into the disaster that was the Season 1 finale.

I agree with the nominations for Buffy, that seventh season was the worst thing Whedon ever attached his name too, but I'm not sure when the appropriate time to have capped Buffy was. Dawn was pretty awful, but seasons 5 and 6 had a lot going for them, seasons 1 and 4 were almost as bad as season 7, but season 1 had "The Pack," and season 4 had that episode with the Gentleman. I'll just go with season 7 unless someone can explain to me why everyone hates season 6.

It's kind of amazing how good Buffy could be, it probably had more awful episodes and actors than any other truly great show, but its high notes were very high, and it was responsible for Angel, which was the best thing ever.

Posted by: Devil Child at February 9, 2012 10:54 PM

I think Desperate Housewives should have been finished after Season 1

Posted by: Albert C. Delano at February 10, 2012 12:02 AM

Wow, Joyeetargh. I can't even parse that first paragraph; such is its complete disconnect with observable reality. Many of Season 3's episodes have been among the best Community have ever produced.

I mean, are you trying to be fashionably nonconformist by advancing the utterly false claim that the show's quality has declined? Or did you lose a bet? Or what?

Posted by: gbeenie at February 10, 2012 12:02 AM

God yes to HIMYM

Posted by: Protoguy at February 10, 2012 1:50 AM

As much as it pains me to agree, Buffy after season 5. That jump would have been the perfect, most bittersweet ending. I love the musical episode but 1 out of 44 episodes isn't exactly high praise.

Some others:
The X-Files

Supernatural after season 5. Look, it's not terrible but that was a perfect and realistic way to end it. And then they didn't.

Chuck after season 3. Don't even get me started on that finale.

Gilmore Girls after Rory became an ungrateful, whiny brat (pretty sure it was the end of season 4)

Posted by: Even Stevens at February 10, 2012 2:07 AM

Oh and Fringe, right about now

Posted by: Even Stevens at February 10, 2012 2:08 AM

I really don't get the dislike for Olivia Wilde.

Posted by: , at February 10, 2012 2:39 AM

Since no one has said it yet: The Wire was a show that ended without a single bad season. Season five wasn´t the best but still awesome.

Posted by: Qualtinger at February 10, 2012 4:38 AM

Hands down the winner is X-Files after season 7. It made no sense to continue after half of what made that show great was gone.

I'm surprised by seeing Dexter in the list and in comments. I rather like season 5.

Posted by: Ozpinhead at February 10, 2012 5:55 AM

Alias. Was great season one and had some great moments in S2 but then triple and quadruple agent fluff.

Also gotta say, much as I adore it, the post Sorkin West Wing years were pretty ho-hum.

Posted by: Nxx at February 10, 2012 7:29 AM

If you want to look back even further, MASH, All In The Family, Cheers, The Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-O, Twilight Zone and quite a few others went on at least one or more seasons longer than they should have.

Shows like Firefly or the original Star Trek are probably more cherished by fans because of cancellation, which didn't allow for a series to become stale and over-stay it's welcome.

Lots of other good shows mentioned, and nice to see a list that isn't a self-proclaimed 'Top Ten' or 'The Greatest, Best, Worst, Whatever' - that rarely ever works out well.

Posted by: special snowflake at February 10, 2012 7:51 AM

Nicole don't you mean:
"Based on the title of the post, I thought The Simpsons was going to be included. "

Posted by: Sara Tonin at February 10, 2012 10:45 AM

T7S T7S T7S!!!

Hyde marries a stripper? Jackie is with Fez? Randy is allowed into Point Place? Eric is in Africa? Kelso is in Chicago? WTF!!!!

S8 was the biggest abomination of any tv show ever in the entire universe. They took well defined characters who all experienced growth and shit all over them. Josh Meyers and the stripper were two of the worst actors I've ever seen and the rest of the cast phoned it in. Danny Masterson was even asked on his radio show how he liked S8 and he said he hated it and thought Jackie and Hyde should have ended up together. The weird thing is, they actually had a dream sequence where Fez jumps a shark. Pot to kettle, "you're black"
They should have ended it at S6 before the blonde Donna, the black dad for the whitest guy on the planet, and the illegitimate Kelso baby. High School shows should end after 4 years, beyond that it's just ridiculous.

Only Red stayed true to the show.

Oh yeah, WEEEEEEDS!!! What a ball of suck that is.

Posted by: kirbyjay at February 10, 2012 10:46 AM

Also: The British Coupling.

Should've ended after the baby was born, and DEFINITELY before Jeff came back as a woman. *sigh*

Posted by: Sara Tonin at February 10, 2012 10:47 AM

Nicole don't you mean:
"Based on the title of the post, I thought The Simpsons was going to be included. "

Posted by: Sara Tonin at February 10, 2012 10:45 AM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fez always said

"Good Day"
"But Fez"
" I SAID Good Day"

Close enuf

Posted by: kirbyjay at February 10, 2012 10:48 AM

I'm not really into TV - too busy & no cable - but I've been into a couple of shows, namely The Office & The X-Files, where I've definitely borne the mild dolor of a main character leaving a show. Not inherently due to the loss of the character, i.e. the show will be less enjoyable without it, but because it lifts the curtain on the production & reminds me that people move on, that all things end, & that it's just a show, one with a bottom line. That's a character, played by an actor who may very well despise it, after so much time devoted to it. The show must go on without it - it's business, not art - except it won't go on, it will fizzle & fade until some suit pulls the plug.

The X-Files is exemplary. It got better & better over time, there was a pretty righteous movie version, then not only did (1/2 of the) main character leave but the plot continuously doled out false hope, like "SOMEDAY...WE'LL FIND HIM." And on that day the show will be terrible & you will feel regret.

Posted by: the new transported man at February 10, 2012 11:12 AM

Jackie and Fez was an abomination akin to Rachel and Joey. At least Friends had the good sense to drop that shit before the finale.

Seriously though, Fez has an unrequited and foolish crush on Jackie when they're younger. He finally grows out of it by the end, but they say fuck it let's reverse the guy's development completely and put him with Jackie in the end. That's not coming full circle. That's regression.

Jackie and Hyde were pretty much perfect. Jackie and Fez was just weird.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at February 10, 2012 12:30 PM

I agree with Southworth, House was improved by the cast changes and Olivia Wilde's character was by far my favorite, a very different female character from anyone else on TV and one of the few almost entirely immune to House's jackassery. I'm not saying she's great in everything else...but on House she was great.

Should have ended after House and Cuddy got together. They had the opportunity to end the show on a positive note where House agrees to give up the drugs and become a real person...but then the show just Had to keep going.

-I agree with Ally McBeal, I was a huge fan at a time when I was way to young to understand most of what was going on but even I was appaulled at how it progressed. Doesnt it end with a surprise Hayden Panetiere child? A SURPRISE BIOLOGICAL CHILD? And that's generously forgetting the plotline about Ally actually going insane.

Posted by: valerie at February 10, 2012 1:28 PM

I've read all the plot summaries including the Christmas episode, layla, and I stand by my opinion: Downton should have bowed out after one season. The only reason to watch now is to yell incoherently at the plotting.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at February 10, 2012 4:19 PM

HIMYM should have ended, I don't know, two years ago. Because this? Has nothing to do with How He Met Their Mother.

Posted by: Kate Nonymous at February 10, 2012 7:38 PM

No one mentioned Bones??

Posted by: Hmm at February 10, 2012 10:06 PM

gbeenie , I am not being any of those things, I just don't like the show anymore. Is it your primary profession to be a pants shitting child to people who don't share your views about a tv show?

Posted by: Joyeetargh at February 10, 2012 10:23 PM

So many otherwise good shows have a shark-jumping moment. With The Simpsons, for me, it was when they killed Maude Flanders. With Deadwood, as with so many other shows, it was when they had a wedding in Season 2. Weddings. Really. I'm romantic and all, but they are seriously bad television, and the show is never the same afterwards.

Posted by: rocky at February 10, 2012 11:50 PM

Leftylad said:
They say a samurai's lifelong goal is to die at the moment of perfection. Can you name a single television series that ended at it's best? If you can, then it probably was cancelled rather than ending voluntarily. Every show summits and then begins the long descent back towards mediocrity. The question is how long do they continue to ride the momentum of the glory days before calling it a series.

Whoever jumps the shark, must come down.

I would submit Avatar the Last Airbender as the only show in the last decade that had any idea what it was doing or where it was going from the start.

Posted by: Nomanisat at February 11, 2012 12:02 AM

While I give kudos to you for that, Nomanisat, I disagree that it's the *only* series of the last decade with some semblance of a plan in mind, because A. Breaking Bad is insanely well thought-out, just as an example, and B. Avatar's plot wasn't as well laid out from the start as it seems.

The creators confirmed this. They only had vague ideas about the direction that the latter two books would take during Book One. Yes, they foreshadowed the ending reveal, but they'd only planned the inclusion of a Lion Turtle, not what it'd do. When they came up with the idea of Energybending, they wanted to develop the idea over time, but Nickelodeon rushed their production schedule, forcing them to cut Ursa's appearance and essentially make Energybending seem like a deus ex machina.

As for other series, yes, Buffy should've ended at season five, but I enjoy the latter seasons for what they are. I don't believe that I can completely disregard the fact that the series didn't take the direction that I would've hoped for, after all.

That 70s Show. .yeah, before the African-American father thing for Hyde, Kelso and Eric leaving, etc. is about right for its end. I firmly stand by the eighth season of Scrubs as its end, loved that finale.

I also think that while Rescue Me ending at the tenth anniversary of 9/11 was fitting, and I relatively liked the finale, I believe that the series should've taken longer breaks between seasons, because they wound up going back to the same plotline wells way too many damn times, especially with Tommy's alcoholism.

And Sara Tonin: *I love love love* the British Coupling. It's nice to see another fan.

Posted by: Lovelyb0nes at February 11, 2012 8:21 AM

Dexter? What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK.

No. Just no. Season 5 and 6 are fantastic.

Posted by: Sam at February 11, 2012 9:57 AM

A huge "ditto" to all who have already said X-Files, BSG, The Simpsons and HIMYM. Seriously I'm almost at the point where I don't care how how, where and why they met. Yes I know that's blasphemy. Don't get me started on the sheer awfulness that Friends is and which unleashed poor Jen et al on us. Thankfully Big Bang Theory is not at this point yet.Bazinga!

Posted by: Carolyn at February 11, 2012 5:08 PM

Nomanisat: I would submit Avatar the Last Airbender as the only show in the last decade that had any idea what it was doing or where it was going from the start.

Which only reinforces my fright of this Legend of Korra sequel. They fuck it up, and the whole Avatar series is going to land on my version of this thread. While Avatar wasn't as planned out as we thought, it just highlights how good and lucky that creative team was to do it so well and under pressure.

Posted by: idiosynchronic at February 11, 2012 5:34 PM

Big Bang Theory has never been, nor shall it be a great TV show.

Go sit down.

Posted by: idiosynchronic at February 11, 2012 5:51 PM

They never should have brought back Family Guy. The world would've been spared that fall from, well, semi-coherency and The Cleveland Show.

I seem to be one of the seemingly few who destested the Alison Cameron character on House. Such a dour and humourless pill who couldn't understand why her constant self-righteousness and nagging didn't make her boss go pants silly over her. What a child. So, given the choice between her and 'Thirteen', I guess I have to go with the latter, if for no reason other than the fact that she was the only major or semi-major character who didn't turn into a doormat mooncalf around House. But Cuddy counts the towels, so can I get a witness? Yargh. I was pretty well done with Thirteen around the 600th time Foreman was forced to apologise for having ever had the temerity to be born. That was just too much. The girl's not Streep, but they threw a lot of rickety developments at her at too rough a pace (usually centred around her languishing prettily), so I take that into account.

I don't know what the shit they did with Roseanne, but it shouldn't have happened. They win the lotto, Ab Fab shows up, they start playing musical orientations with everyone's marital status and sexualities, Dan was gone...just, what? I was laid up a lot of that year from a car accident and between physical therapy, swelling and powerful drugs I watched a lot of television. When your mother has to bathe you, it's not the time to dive into Finnegan's Wake (if such a time exists). So, there.

There's introspection, navel-gazing and the ongoing collective sigh we still expire at the the knowledge that Mad About You's modern life ditzy hand-wriging can't hurt us. Name the damn baby.

Speaking of overwritten self-regarding pap, Party of Five should've quit right before the car accident that took the parents occurred.

Any show that transplants they characters from high school to university. Andrea tried to pledge to an anti-Semitic sorority--wait, I've always hated that show, but I didn't have the converter, did I?

Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at February 12, 2012 2:04 AM

what about M.A.S.H? It should have ended after season three.

Posted by: pishkot at February 12, 2012 5:46 AM

Socrates. That was the problem with S8. All of the characters grew, well, not Kelso, but they all managed to mature a little. Hyde made Jackie less bitchy and more intune with others feelings, Jackie made Hyde grow a heart, Eric was planning his future, Fez lost his virginity, Donna was less a teenage self righteous shrew and more of an adult one, and then in S8 it was like S1 again, without the funny. Why would the writers have us invest so much in the characters and then have them revert to idiots? Did they really think thet two people that were in love and then breakup treat each other like shit? That is not comedy, it is tragedy. Oh....don't get me started.

Posted by: kirbyjay at February 12, 2012 7:14 AM