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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsName a great TV Series that stayed on too long
There was a thread a few days back about shows that ended too soon so list some great ones that, to put it kindly, limped across the finish line.
Cheers-- some really good episodes, but overall I thought they should have ended 2 or 3 years before they did.
MASH-- See Cheers
Hill Street Blues-- downward trend began when
Michael Conrad died.
All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place-- Loved the first 4-5 years but they should of called it a day when the Stivic's moved.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer-- Should have ended with her death in season 5
stopbush
(24,392 posts)MANative
(4,112 posts)underpants
(182,585 posts)11 seasons. At the end it was the Fonz and the Cunningham's.
Docreed2003
(16,846 posts)In Feb of 78, Robin Williams would make his first appearance as Mork, catapulting his career!
ebbie15644
(1,214 posts)LakeArenal
(28,798 posts)Matt Dillon
Moving on Up
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Dreadful plot lines.
When I started watching it, they had Vietnam on every night.
Now they have Trump.
They really need better material.
genxlib
(5,518 posts)But sometimes I actually do.
Well done
hlthe2b
(102,105 posts)mucifer
(23,470 posts)so many episodes are about the weather being too cold or too hot and some product or food they want that they can't get. They reused those two plots sooo many times.
But, yeah overall it was a great show.
Iggo
(47,534 posts)I have the same-ish observation, but it's about the...tidiness.
When the uniforms stop being rumpled and started looking crisp and clean, the show was on its downward trend.
gibraltar72
(7,498 posts)lapfog_1
(29,189 posts)Friends
That 70s Show
Gilligans Island
MASH
The Avengers (when Diana Rigg left)
Downton Abbey (after about 3 seasons)
Star Trek... pick any of them
Gunsmoke
House
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)most popular characters, and they tend to introduce new characters that are not as interesting and new subplots and it ends up in self-cannibalism.
I would say the X-Files and, to a lesser extent, Millennium sort of went sour. Loved both of them, but they substituted plot complications when they'd exhausted their mainline stories.
I even think Twin Peaks, as great as it was, sort of derailed in the latter half of the second season. I think even David Lynch knew he'd run out of runway.
lapfog_1
(29,189 posts)The West Wing... maybe even as early as when "Sam Seaborn" left the show.
Sorkin quit writing the episodes... and it got a little stale.
ProfessorGAC
(64,827 posts)And ST:TOS only ran 4 years.
Lastly, Gilligan's Island was one season too long at the end of season 1.
sarge43
(28,940 posts)ST: TNG finale was a perfect hail and fair well.
ProfessorGAC
(64,827 posts)I stand corrected.
lapfog_1
(29,189 posts)almost being rescued about 14 shows in.
Not to mention all of the people that "drop in" on a desert isle.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,827 posts)Including a rock band with electric instruments and a full drum kit.
Go figure!
Fla Dem
(23,573 posts)It had a great story line, but they keep adding twists and turns so that I really have no idea what the point is anymore.
rurallib
(62,373 posts)Most shows have 5 to 6 good years BBT had 8 maybe 9.
They should have quit when the marriages started and they became common middle-class married sitcoms
Coventina
(27,052 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)to completely ignored basically overnight in our house. They just utterly lost their way.
rurallib
(62,373 posts)Laffy Kat
(16,366 posts)Sanity Claws
(21,839 posts)I loved the first couple of years but in its later years it became more of a soap opera.
Bradshaw3
(7,484 posts)Loved it for many years but those last couple of seasons were reptetitive and mediocre at best and that finale was awful.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)Trying to spin them out indefinitely made both jump the shark very quickly.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)It was a masterpiece until it wasn't.
hunter
(38,301 posts)It always astonishes me how much poorly written crap Hollywood produces. Compared to the expense of everything else required for a major television or movie production, good writing is cheap.
One very positive aspect of streaming television is that it has made the concept of televisions "seasons" obsolete.
The days of three television networks doing battle with one another on fixed time slots are over.
My children can't imagine sitting down to watch some television show, other than a sporting event, at a fixed time.
The Netflix model of television production changed everything.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)Millennium
Twin Peaks
and (especially) X-Files
As I said above, I loved all three, but they ran their course, as most great TV shows do.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)A thousand times YES!!!
It got unwatchable by season 7 (and I might be being kind with that).
I did like the brief re-launch, though. I found it interesting to revisit the characters and see where they were down the road.
eppur_se_muova
(36,247 posts)They only had two good seasons. I know there was a lot of talent invested in that program, very quirky characters with developed backstories, but the exec producers were trying to launch new shows instead of nurturing the one big success they already had.
dhill926
(16,309 posts)then, not so much....had to stop watching...
LisaM
(27,792 posts)In theory, they should have been moving new doctors in every few years, which was the premise the show is based on, doctors exchanging their medical school debt for serving for a few years in a town. In practice, it didn't work out so well for a sitcom.
Rhiannon12866
(204,675 posts)But after Rob Morrow left it was like they no longer knew what to do with them. My job at the time was writing descriptions for CBS shows for the newspaper listings and that was a favorite, I always tried promoting the unusual plot lines.
jimfields33
(15,669 posts)I loved it but that last season was dreadful and the last scene? Ridiculous
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)binge-watching it from discs borrowed from the library, and yes, that last season was awful.
Aristus
(66,275 posts)The last three seasons, after the departure of creator/head writer Aaron Sorkin, sucked. Watching these beloved characters mouthing dialogue written by hacks unworthy of sharpening Sorkin's pencils was a dismaying experience.
Alacritous Crier
(3,813 posts)And then they went and made that terrible spinoff.
Those big dummies!!
enid602
(8,593 posts)I still watch reruns to see Esther, Grady, Rollo, Bubba. Incredible cast.
Alacritous Crier
(3,813 posts)The casting and writing were great. The first four seasons were great but after that it seemed like they were beginning to run out of ideas.
Archae
(46,299 posts)Just been on too damn long.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)There have been a few good episodes since, but they are few and far between.
It's just painful to watch, so I don't anymore.
My husband refuses to throw in the towel, though.
Mike Nelson
(9,942 posts)with...
Happy Days
Twin Peaks
plus...
The Trump Coronavirus Briefing
The Brady Bunch
sarge43
(28,940 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)it was just awful.
Funtatlaguy
(10,862 posts)Coventina
(27,052 posts)(unless that was its original premise) it's over, Johnny.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)Ok - it was never great or even good but it went on waaaaayyyyy too long.
Disaffected
(4,544 posts)from start to finish.
Submariner
(12,497 posts)They gave me the false impression Wisconsin was a blue state, and I wanted to choke Squigy and Lenny.
mucifer
(23,470 posts)33taw
(2,435 posts)hunter
(38,301 posts)Or damned near any police show.
The cops in my 99.44% white hometown didn't have much to do so they made sport of harassing people who "didn't belong." Mostly that would be people who were not white, but it was also LGBTQ people who refused to stay in their closets, or homeless and mentally ill people as well.
Affluent white "good old boys" could run wild. For them there was no such thing as drunk driving, date rape, spousal abuse...
LastDemocratInSC
(3,645 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)The OP said to name a great television show. That was never great.
LisaM
(27,792 posts)Wayyyyyyy too much Larry, Darryl, and Darryl.
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)It started out as a sexy and compelling musing about "what if vampires were actually real?" with a psychic main character who felt most comfortable around them since they're the only people whose thoughts weren't broadcast into her head like unwanted music and turned into "Oh, as it turns out, everybody in Louisiana is secretly some kind of supernatural creature..."
Coventina
(27,052 posts)I still enjoy it, but I'm starting to get annoyed with the Maryanne storyline.
I mean, come on, NOBODY is suspicious of her but Sam and the detective?
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)Hope that's not a spoiler, but I remember that was where they seemed to get the "Oh, let's make this show a bestiary of all supernatural creatures!" idea. It is fun and enjoyable most of the way so not trying to deter you.
I enjoyed some of the vampire politics in later seasons and the bat-shit craziness of that. Werewolves were fine, shape-shifters were interesting (though the main character who ends up being one seemed a serious retcon). Werepanthers got to be a little much, especially since the show seemed to suggest they were all the white-trash meth dealers. I gave up once they introduced Fae and the actually interesting vampire lore was seemingly back-burnered. I got tired of learning new rules for each type of creature and you could bet that every new person Jason Stackhouse was banging would - surprise! - have a secret supernatural identity.
Essentially, the show suffered the Cheers fate of "what do you do once your primary will-they/won't-they characters get together and run out of problems to solve?"
Coventina
(27,052 posts)I guess my biggest problem at this point with the show is:
Basic premise: vampires have gone public. What does that mean for them and society? Very interesting premise, I agree.
Now, there seems to be shape shifters & Maenads that are immortal for some reason? (They were just female human worshipers of Dionysus according to Classical lit).
I can grasp the premise that vampires kept their existence mostly hidden throughout history, but it does beggar belief that there could be so many different supes, that apparently appear with such frequency, and keep all of them secret. To be realistic, the supes would either have to a) not mix in human societies at all, or extremely rarely or b) be extremely rare.
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)I thought they did the "hidden society comes out" plotline really well and it made sense that True Blood gave them a reason since they no longer had to prey upon humans, and it made sense that most of them preferred human blood, and that there would be closeted politicians - and I wish they would have kept with that. But I think you nailed it - there's so many hidden "superpowers" that seem to not know about each other that it got a little ludicrous. Why wouldn't Bill (or Eric any of the other Vampires Sookie interacts with at some point) give her the lowdown, "Hey, there are also vampires and shapeshifters and...guess what YOU are!" If not Sookie, than any of the people who were notorious fang-bangers would surely have known. I suppose Bill might have an excuse being somewhat reclusive but you'll see in later seasons he interacts with his entire community when necessary.
The maenad plotline was actually good. If that had been a one-off baddie for that season it would have not stretched the suspension of disbelief. I actually loved the Jessica plotline and I wish they'd done more of that instead of introducing new archetypes.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)It is really interesting to see how a person would adjust to being undead.
That she comes from an abusive, fundie family makes it especially interesting.
The last episode I watched was her hooking up with Hoyt, another character I've come to really enjoy.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)We watched until the end and never had many complaints but it did occasionally irritate me when characters didn't get their comeuppance when I felt they should have.
The show strayed far from the books in many places but that just kept the show interesting for us.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)It's fun.
It comes across more light-hearted than the TV show.
The TV show has a much more serious feel to it.
So far, the book and the show are very similar, except that the TV show delves much further into the characters of Maudette and Dawn. (And Jason's dalliances with them). And Tara and her storyline haven't appeared in the book at all, so far. But I do like her!
The casting is really excellent!
(I'm at the point where Grandma just got murdered & Sookie & Bill just hooked up for the first time & Sam is throwing a temper tantrum about it).
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)My wife pestered me for a while to read them but I resisted because I thought they were just romance novels (she loves those too lol) with vampires but I finally read one and laughed a lot and enjoyed the story so I'd read them as she finished them. We have tried a couple other Charlaine Harris book series but haven't liked any of them as much as The Southern Vampire Series although we didn't mind the Midnight Texas TV show from one of her series (the TV show was terrible but just terrible enough to be kinda good, ya know?)
Coventina
(27,052 posts)But I agree, they definitely are not like typical romance novels.
(I admit to reading a few, but they rarely hold my interest, because they are sooooooo formulaic.)
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)I never was interested in anything vampire but the whole setting and setup made it compelling and I was hooked. And the fact that it was on cable and they pushed it a bit more adult and made it a sexy/bloody supernatural drama/mystery/adventure instead of light romance gave it some major appeal. It's a perfect grownup couple-watch series. I mean...
Oh, and it had one of my all-time favorite theme songs for a series. I never fast forwarded the opening titles!
Coventina
(27,052 posts)was Chris Isaak.
Now that I've heard it a bunch of times (like you, I don't fast forward!) I can hear the subtle differences.
But yeah, it's great and fits the series really well!!
I also love that Anna and Stephen are still together. Those Hollywood romances don't seem to last, but theirs apparently did!
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)I remember her flooring me in her tiny part as Tara's horrifying but oddly sympathetic mom, and then was happy when I recognized her getting bigger roles on American Horror Story.
Coventina
(27,052 posts)I tried American Horror Story, but it was too gory for me.
forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)I was shocked to read that it was supposed to be Lafayette who bit it at the end of book 1/S1 and I'm glad they kept him around.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,102 posts)Hestia
(3,818 posts)or when Claude dies. (I think that is Book 11; if not mea culpa)
"Sookie gets up, works on her tan, makes breakfast, takes a bath, washes her hair, goes to the post office, gets a coke to go at the diner."
That is literally the books. Everything after Book 11 is just is either Charlaine or her publisher whoring. She did move to Dallas, so must be her needing the money.
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...the last couple seasons of Night Court, without Reinhold Wigge, were painful to watch...
MichMan
(11,864 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)To the point that the actual title of the show didn't make sense anymore when Jake grew up and moved away (and left the show) and then Charlie Sheen flamed out and they were down one-and-a-half men!
I will say they did the most valiant job possible of rebooting the now-misnomered show (plot-wise, at least) with Ashton Kutcher but it should have been a spin-off with a new title in the same house. Same problem though - once AK's initial character motivation was solved (he stopped pining for his wife) it quickly got stupid again... "Let's pretend we're gay and adopt a kid!" what??? If they wanted to go full-on "The Odd Couple" they should have leaned better into that.
I did enjoy all the meta-humor with bringing back Charlie's exes to rag on him. But that was good for an episode.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,102 posts)Tribalceltic
(1,000 posts)Killing Sweets off destroyed it.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)They just seem to be phoning it in lately. Not very funny or clever anymore.
lkinwi
(1,477 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,519 posts)Me and one of my college friends used to have fun assembling "do-it-yourself LHotP" episodes with checklists. Pick one: "Does Laura feel guilty about something not her fault? Does Pa Ingalls cry? Is there a new town member who will be forgotten or killed off by the end of the episode? Will a child go blind? B-plot with Oleson family scheme?"
BusyBeingBest
(8,052 posts)it was time to hang it up. There was no Albert in Little House lore!
The Magistrate
(95,241 posts)By the last couple of years it had just got too too....
Great at the start, and a lot of fun for most of its run.
Response to Va Lefty (Original post)
denem This message was self-deleted by its author.
Yavin4
(35,420 posts)Thread over. I win.
LoveMyCali
(2,015 posts)it's on something like season 104 now.
I agree with the Walking Dead but feel obligated to keep watching because I have so much time invested.
ebbie15644
(1,214 posts)BusyBeingBest
(8,052 posts)The Office was over when Steve Carell left. Parks and Rec when the Ann Perkins/Chris Traeger characters were written out--it also became very maudlin, with characters constantly summing up how wonderful and special and amazing they all were: "April, you are an amazing strong independent woman!" Nobody talks about their coworkers that way.
Sanity Claws
(21,839 posts)I loved the show for the first couple of seasons. It handled a lot of social issues as legal issues. But then it lost sight of what the show was about and became about love stories between various characters.
dameatball
(7,392 posts)IADEMO2004
(5,551 posts)My wife was a big fan but cancer took her before second season started. I stayed for the next two but it is so grim and cruel I felt I'd seen enough.