We've been watching, but the lead character seems to reset to zero pretty much each season.
Yeah, I think that's part of what my issue was with it too. I think The Recruit has more character developement, but it's been awhile since I've seen it.
It's like the series with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first season was fun enough but the second season amped up the silliness to the point that I was no longer compelled to keep watching.
imagine a alternate earth in the multiverse where tv shows never got axed and they just kept going on
and how would the tv shows keep on going without getting the boot
recasting and changing production crew
and how would the tv shows keep on going without getting the boot
recasting and changing production crew
We don't have to imagine an alternate Earth for that, there are plenty of examples on our Earth of series that just never end. Coronation Street has 11,746 episodes, so far.
Lots of great shows would never had been made because all the focus would be maintaining decades old shows.
There's a thing called Soap Operas.
Law & Order: SVU, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS.... all 20+ seasons in with no end in sight. Criminal Minds is going into season 19, but they did a soft reset by moving it to streaming. So now it's serialized instead of episodic and lots of swearing. But it's still got a lot of the same long-time characters who are long in the tooth.
Matt Groening has entered the chat.
CBS Reveals Fall 2026 Schedule: ‘Matlock,’ ‘Ghosts’ Held for Midseason as Three New Series Set Premieres
CBS announced its fall 2026 schedule, which included holding 'Matlock' and 'Ghosts' for Midseason and premiering three new series.
variety.com
NBC Fall 2026-27 Schedule: 'The Traitors' joins, 'Law & Order' Shifts
NBC fall 2026 schedule targets "core broadcast audience," keeps anchors in place as 'The Traitors' & 2 new scripted series join, 'Law & Order' shifts.
deadline.com
We should also not forget that a Turk has been in the lead role, and Alarm für Cobra 11 has been running since the late 90s.
Fox Fall 2026 Schedule: ‘Animal Control’ Joins Sunday Animated Block; ‘Baywatch’, ‘Bob’s Burgers’, ‘Murder’ & ‘Memory Of A Killer’ Held For Midseason
Stability has been the theme of all 2026-27 broadcast schedules released so far, and Fox fits that to a t with its fall 2026 lineup.
deadline.com
That is quite impressive. I imagine it's had to evolve via the changing political climate.
In Canada, the longest running TV show began in 1972 and ended in 1990. In doing so, it became a cultural icon.
Türkiye’s longest-running show is the police drama Arka Sokaklar, which started in 2006. It is about to finish its 20th season. So far, there has never been another Turkish weekly TV series that lasted this long.
Before Arka Sokaklar, the longest-running weekly show was Bizimkiler, a family comedy series. It told the stories and adventures of a group of people living in the same apartment building. It started on the state television channel in 1989, later moved to private TV channels, and was canceled in 2002.
Also, in our country, even daily TV shows usually last a maximum of 8–9 seasons before ending.
Before Arka Sokaklar, the longest-running weekly show was Bizimkiler, a family comedy series. It told the stories and adventures of a group of people living in the same apartment building. It started on the state television channel in 1989, later moved to private TV channels, and was canceled in 2002.
Also, in our country, even daily TV shows usually last a maximum of 8–9 seasons before ending.
How many episodes per season? Yeah, 8 or 9 is typical for number of seasons over here. Unless of course they're like the energizer bunny and keep going. 19-20 Seasons seem to be getting a bit more frequent. But then I feel it becomes more obvious when they're running out of gas.
But if you don't count the 1958 movie, The Littlest Hobo ran non-contiguously from 1963 to 1985, surely that's worth an honorable mention?
"This hour has 22 minutes" has been on for 33 seasons, but they stopped doing musical numbers which is a shame.
Oh Canada!
It usually changes: episodes are generally between 30 and 44 episodes, and episode durations are 2.5–3 hours. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, shows were 45–50 minutes long; then they increased to 90 minutes, and later to 2.5–3 hours.
In our country, weekly series, if they become successful, usually run for 2, 3, 4, or 5 seasons and then end. The fact that Arka Sokaklar is still continuing is a somewhat rare case.
Daily dramas, on the other hand, usually continue for 2 to 9 seasons by constantly changing their cast.
We also have Emmerdale in the UK which began as Emmerdale Farm in 1972, and Hollyoaks which started in 1996 and just hit its thirtieth anniversary.
If you look at non-constant shows, weve also got Casualty which is approaching its fiftieth season and started in 1986.
As far as I know, there were two different versions of The Littlest Hobo. There was the B&W original, and a coloured series, but I don't think those two were considered to be the same production. The coloured version was considered a revival of the series, which would be kind of like a reboot now. The B&W ran from 63 to 65. After a long break, they began to make a new series that lasted from 1979 to 1985. As such, I don't think it can be a claim.
As for 22 minutes, well, I think sketch series are a bit different in that regard. I mean look at how long SNL has been going on for. I think we've been focusing on drama series that have lasted for long periods of time.
Not to mention some daytime soap operas
Similar threads
- Poll
