Shows you LIKED that lasted too long.

[jgdst]

The Simpsons, Family Guy, The X-Files definitely (coincidence they're all Fox cashcows?) Happy Days, Diff'rent Strokes, Frasier and Mork and Mindy. I thought the last half of season 5 and all of season 6 of That 70s Show was pushing it, but it had a bit of a return to form for 7 and 8. Will & Grace (or Jack & Karen as it should've been known).

Voyager I think lost its way some time during season 6 and season 7 became a bit of a hard slog.

Scrubs. When your main character actually starts to irritate you and they have to rely on jokes that Turk may in fact be black and not white (I hadn't realised! ), and they make mention in the episode that JD/Elliot is Ross/Rachel all over again, it's time to pull the plug.

Smallville just seems to be going on and on for some reason, and Buffy. When you've killed off your main character, the clichéd resurrection plot line is NEVER a good idea, in my opinion

I feel like Heroes more than ran its course in the first season (I could get lynched for saying that). I also think Lost spent a lot of seasons 2 and 3 stalling for time, but I won't pass judgement on that until season 6 has aired. Prison Break and 24 - How can the same shit happen to the same guys that many times and they still act surprised?!

And the only British show I can think of offhand is My Family. The Lisa Kudrow clone is an added annoyance, and the plots have become so contrived, it doesn't at all resemble the original show. It really should've ended when Kris Marhsall left the cast.

Umm... yeah. They're just the ones I felt some kind of affinity for but felt like the producers tested my patience. Sorry!

Does "too long" necessarily mean "jumped the shark"? I'm not convinced some of the ones I mentioned actually jumped the shark, but it definitely became more of an effort to watch some of them.

 

[captcalhoun]

definitely X-Files i lost interest at the start of season 6...

 

[Skywalker]

Buffy definitely went two seasons too long. Maybe if they'd combined events from seasons six and seven, like wamdue suggested, it might have been better. But there was a significant drop-off in quality after season five, IMO.

 

[Seven of Five]

Friends, Frasier, Will and Grace, The Simpsons, Scrubs, Family Guy and Cheers.

I mean, some of the above are my absolute favourites, but at the end of the day, the they're all sitcoms at that overstay their welcome after the situation has been worn out after a few years.

I'll throw Buffy and 24 into the mix as well.

 

[wamdue]

Buffy definitely went two seasons too long. Maybe if they'd combined events from seasons six and seven, like wamdue suggested, it might have been better. But there was a significant drop-off in quality after season five, IMO.

S5 was close to perfect IMO, despite my dislike of the Spike character by that point, he was still used well.

 

[firehawk12]

Because someone has to say it: Heroes.

That said, Simpsons is the default choice. As for MASH and Everybody Loves Raymond, I guess I'm of the opinion that those shows got much better after the third season... so really, if they didn't last as long as they did, the shows would have been much worse.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Because someone has to say it: Heroes.

No, Heroes hasn't jumped the shark yet, they could still turn it around.

But for a current show: 24 is six seasons over their time now imo (maybe five, the second season was still tolerable), they should have quit after the first one. And CSI has been going on a bit too long also, it's not getting any better; plus, both the spin-offs are trash.

 

[Rii]

Buffy definitely went two seasons too long. Maybe if they'd combined events from seasons six and seven, like wamdue suggested, it might have been better. But there was a significant drop-off in quality after season five, IMO.

If we're consolidating Buffy I'd merge S1 with S2 and S4 with S5 before touching S6 or S7.

 

[Skywalker]

Buffy definitely went two seasons too long. Maybe if they'd combined events from seasons six and seven, like wamdue suggested, it might have been better. But there was a significant drop-off in quality after season five, IMO.

If we're consolidating Buffy I'd merge S1 with S2 and S4 with S5 before touching S6 or S7.

I don't know, I think both S4 and S5 are strong enough on their own (though not as strong as S2 or S3, of course) that they don't need to be consolidated.

 

[TheSeeker]

Happy Days? I'm not exactly sure WHEN it was, but there was a point where it just wasn't worth the trouble to watch anymore.

Perhaps it was when Fonzie jumped the shark?

 

[JoeZhang]

Most american shows go on too long - you really like to kick the arse out of a concept.

 

[Trekker4747]

E fucking R.

Jesus, that show's life support needs life support at this point.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Happy Days? I'm not exactly sure WHEN it was, but there was a point where it just wasn't worth the trouble to watch anymore.

That was the one that immediately popped in my head. Of course that show was the origin of "jumping the shark" after all. Every now and then I'll be flipping through the channels and see a rerun, and I can't even watch it for 5 minutes. I'm like, how in the hell did I watch this when it was on?

 

[gh4chiefs]

Most american shows go on too long - you really like to kick the arse out of a concept.

I don't think it's so much the concept as it is you get comfortable with certain characters and you really like having them around. Magnum PI was such a show for me. I just loved the chemistry of that cast, and it was like having another family that you visited once a week. I really hated to see them go, but it was time.

 

[BillJ]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Married... with Children
King of the Hill

 

[nevermore]

The only one I give a shit about is the X-Files, which should have ended with dignity after Season 7. If they wanted to do the Doggett and Reyes show, they could have spun it off and I could have just ignored it like I did with everything else Carter has done.

 

[Mr. B]

Stargate: SG1 was the first show that came to mind. Family Guy needs to die. I would probably say the Simpsons and ER myself had I ever watched those shows.

I am reluctant to mention 24 since I have high hopes for the new season, but there are a couple of those seasons we could live without.

 

[John Picard]

Mad About You
Friends (was funny for the first three seasons)

 

[FordSVT]

I still think that X-Files went on a bit too long. I was a big fan of the show, but once they started replacing the main characters, I lost interest very quickly. It probably could have ended after 7 years.

Oh God yes. I'd forgotten how terrible that show got after Robert Patrick came on board. I dont' mean it's his fault, but the show didn't need to continue without Mulder and Scully.

 

[auntiehill]

ER was the first that came to mind. After Carter left, they should have just called it quits.

SG1--as much as I love it, it probably should have wrapped up about the time that RDA left--season 8, I think it was.

X-Files. I found unwatchable after Mulder left. They should have just let it die.

And, sad to say it, but The Simpsons. They just aren't funny any more. Even the Halloween specials, which I used to simply adore, are really only mildly amusing at best.