Shows you LIKED that lasted too long.

[jgdst]

Yup, Red Dwarf definitely. Series VII was a kick in the teeth to any fan who'd stuck with it since the beginning.

Sticking with British shows - The New Statesman never needed a fourth season, and I wasn't happy with how the characters had changed, nor how the finale went.

The Brittas Empire was two seasons too long. It was dodgy to bring it back after the leisure centre sploded. Bringing back Gordon from the dead would've been a great finale, but they went ahead and did another season anyway. GAR!

One Foot in the Grave didn't need that last season either I feel. The finale's good and everything, and I understand (and even agree) with them killing off Victor, but I would've preferred open endedness than definite closure.

After last night, Emmerdale is taunting me to put it on the list.

And, controversial as this may be, take your pick from any of the thousands of identical crime dramas that fill up ITV's schedules (and a few from the BBC too). Midsomer Murders and Heartbeat top this list. When your main characters are starting to point out that these tiny little villages are having multiple serious crimes committed EVERY week for over 10 years (close to 20 for Heartbeat), it's time to give up

Plus, with Heartbeat, shouldn't it be like 1983 or something by now?

 

[wamdue]

yes Heartbeat has a problem, that only Heartbeat can have, its stuck in a 60s time loop, and the Doctor just refuses to save them.

 

[Gojirob]

I agree with just about all of the choices so far (especially The A-Team!), but not TNG.

I think TNG could've done 2 or 3 more years if they hadn't been holding back planning their movie. Plus, if they had merged into the Dominion War story line from DS9, it could've been great.

Agree with you there, except Patrick Stewart didn't want to go on. And when the star of the show dosen't want to go on, well.... I would have let Stewart go, have Frakes/Riker be Captain, Dorn be First Officer, and have Stewart/Picard be a Fleet Captain who would come back for special episodes.

I didn't see anyone mention Charmed. It went a season longer than the producers wanted and two seasons longer than it should have.

That series should have been like Doctor Strange/Dr. Fate/Jennifer Kale, in that the ladies become the supreme sorceresses of Earth. The writers should have studied the above-mentioned characters for a way to continue the show in the first place.

The last season of Man From UNCLE was pretty bad too. It went "serious" sort of like the A-Team.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. went off of the rails in the third season, but recovered in the fourth. It was always supposed to be serious in the first place, and had it stayed that way, it could have continued. But...we all know what happened.

The show that went on too long that nobody here talks about is Mission: Impossible. That should have ended in 1970, but it was so successful, that nobody could conceive of it going off of the air. But when you have the IMF doing 'impossible missions' against people/organizations the FBI/NSA/DEA/Interpol are supposed to tackle (the Mob) then it's time to end it.

Another CBS show that should have ended after four seasons was Hawaii Five-O: that show went on as long as the CSI shows are going on. Maybe, like CSI, it was CBS's cash cow?

Speaking of CBS's cash cows, doesn't anybody think Gunsmoke went on way too long? Let me know.

Not only did Gunsmoke go on too long, but it was saved from cancellation at the expense of another classic that was still in its prime : Gilligan's Island. Seems CBS founder William Paley's wife loved the show, and so he commanded it stay, and the expense of this stranded Gilligan and the others for 12 more years, albeit in limbo.

 

[LutherSloan]

I was a HUGE Simpsons fan for a long time. However, I stopped watching the new episodes a few years ago because they were no longer funny. All of the writers from the good years of the show are long gone, and so is the series' relevance. It used to be one of the most relevant shows on TV, but that time has long since past. Now they are (I hear) starting to re-write some of the early established events of the series, such as Homer and Marge's first meetings, and the early years of Lisa and Bart's lives. That's not cool.

I personally can't say that King of the Hill went past its prime, because I never thought it was very funny. I am surprised that it lasted this long, especially when better shows like Family Guy and Futurama died after far shorter runs (obviously it's somewhat different now).

I also agree with other postings that TNG Season 7 should have been scrapped, and just had 'All Good Things' be the finale at the end of Season 6. There are very few quality episodes from that season at all.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Not only did Gunsmoke go on too long, but it was saved from cancellation at the expense of another classic that was still in its prime : Gilligan's Island. Seems CBS founder William Paley's wife loved the show, and so he commanded it stay, and the expense of this stranded Gilligan and the others for 12 more years, albeit in limbo.

Maybe I should have been a bit more clearer, but Gilligan's Island is one of the programs that I meant that are crap, and should have been canceled. This show is no classic at all, just bullshit, and it deserved to be ended, along with Gomer Pyle, Petticoat Junction, Mr. Ed, and I'm sad to say, Green Acres. Again, these shows are shitty and stupid, and deserved to be ended; they did not deserve to be on the air at all, PERIOD! That's why Paley woke up, smelled the strong coffee (winds of change), and canceled the shows for shows like All In The Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Good Times, and Maude. These are what made TV great, not stupid 'rural comedies'.

If CBS wanted to do comedies about rural America, they could and should have done so, but not at the expense of the intelligence of the American people. Intelligent comedy is what should have been done, as well as intelligent drama about what America was as a nation, not bullshit about rural America that makes the people look like idiots.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Gunsmoke and Bonaza...wait, I never liked those shows.

The Simpsons

The X-Files

Maybe Miami Vice, too. Silly Don Johnson, thought he'd have a movie career.

Melrose Place got more and more silly. And new characters stopped being worthwhile, probably when Lisa Rinna joined.

 

[Orintho]

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

This is true. If a program becomes a hit, it will be milked to death then re-animated for more undead action, then we will follow it to the afterlife for a later TV movie revisiting with all the cast. Then it might even hit the big screen and there will be serious consideration for a re-incarnation with a whole new series based upon a reboot. LOL, we are insane.

However, other countries, like the Brits for example, commit their own errors. They will come up with a good show - it will be an international hit. Then for no reason and only after an rather small amount of episodes, the creators/actors will all decide to go work on some obscure project about Samuel Pepys and gardening.

Some of the shows I say were on too long:

MASH - and I add no apology here. Good riddance! The show was, what - 11 years long, plus an additional two hundred years for that sob-fest finale. (That's how long the final episode seemed to me.) The Korean War only lasted about TWO years. If they wanted to make a lengthy Hollywood guilt-fest over Vietnam, then they should have chosen the right war.

X Files - if the main cast leaves, it is a rare show to continue further successfully. It is not impossible, but the show will not work if we keep revisiting with the characters that have left. They should have killed Mulder off or something rather than dragging Duchovny back in to we could be reminded of what once was while detracking from what was new and working (Robert Patrick character). If an actor whines and wants off a show, then boot his ass off and be done with it!

Xena - I loved this show. But had I known the ridiculousness that they were going to pull for the last season, I would have preferred the show to end before all of that.

Laverne and Shirley - did this show start out set in the 1950s? I thought it lasted so long that it caught up to the 1970s in which it was made.

Happy Days - for all the obvious reasons, and it tanked when Fonzi became the safe, sensitive center of the show. Also as with L&S and other shows set in the recent past, I get a little annoyed with no reasonable frames of time reference getting followed. 'That 70s Show' used to jump all over the decade.

Friends - for the reasons already mentioned.

Survivor - am a little tired of the dumb gimmicks and the obvious staging and scripted scenes. How about a REAL survival show about actual wilderness survival?

Law and Order and CSI - I blame this on whoever decided to start rerunning these shows and all of their incarnations) 24/7 on Cable TV. The episodes are quite predictable.

Home Improvement- when a comedy gives in to too many 'very special episodes', its time to call the undertakers.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Laverne and Shirley - did this show start out set in the 1950s? I thought it lasted so long that it caught up to the 1970s in which it was made.

Happy Days - for all the obvious reasons, and it tanked when Fonzi became the safe, sensitive center of the show. Also as with L&S and other shows set in the recent past, I get a little annoyed with no reasonable frames of time reference getting followed. 'That 70s Show' used to jump all over the decade.

Both shows started in the late '50's, and ended in the '60's (Happy Days ended in 1964, Laverne & Shirley ended in 1967.) At least we knew when they ended, unlike Heartbeat, which hasn't really stated what era it's still in (it should be the early-to-mid '70's).

 

[cardinal biggles]

Count me in with those who felt TNG ran maybe a season, possibly two, too long. Those last two containted so many soulless, unmemorable stories that I hardly have watched any of them but one time. There still were a few that are classic, so it's made me reluctant to dismiss the entirety.

They probably should have taken all the good episodes from the last two seasons, made one single strong season, and ended with that.

 

[Neroon]

Count me in with those who felt TNG ran maybe a season, possibly two, too long. Those last two containted so many soulless, unmemorable stories that I hardly have watched any of them but one time. There still were a few that are classic, so it's made me reluctant to dismiss the entirety.

They probably should have taken all the good episodes from the last two seasons, made one single strong season, and ended with that.

There are some - including me - who feel that the revers is true of the final episode. That they took all the UNused stories and combined them to make that final ep.

 

[Siwilliams]

I am glad Star Trek The Next Generation had a seventh season, Genesis is a good episode. Shame, the series could have gone to 10 seasons and at least 2 or 3 more movies

 

[tharpdevenport]

"The Simpsons"
the show has been bad for 10+ years now. IT's disgusting the way FOX just keeps it aroudn to milk it, even though it's a corpse.

"The X-Files"
Doggett may have been a nice guy, but he was pretty 2 dimentional and no Fox Mulder. Bring to that Scully's baby and convuluted plots lost in the show's owm mythology, wish a dash of we no longer give a damn plotlines = SHIT.


"Star Trek: Voyager"
Should have been canned after the first season. Or mid season.


"Family Guy"
I used to love the show, and I still enjoy new episodes from time-to-time, but all it seems to be about now is pushign bad jokes and lame comedy shtick. I'm not sure it needs to be canned, so much as it needs new writers and possibly Seth MacFarlane put in his place.


"King of the Hill"
Had it's run. Should have ended far back, just because of wanning interest. I hope ABC (was that the station) doesn't pick it up after it's gone from FOX. It's time to give this it's proper barial at sea.


"Gunsmoke"
Not because it was a bad show, but simply because as time goes on, the fan base is dying off and we'll never see complete seasons because there were 20 and some episodes are missing the studios can't find them. Shame too, good show. Now there's a show that never had a proper finale. It just ended on a regular episode.
The music for the show is good too. The list of composers for the series (about 50+) reads liek a Who's Who in the most famous TV & film composers ever.

 

[Rincewiend]

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.

Probably when Richie left and the it became "The Fonzie Show"...

 

[Gojirob]

Not only did Gunsmoke go on too long, but it was saved from cancellation at the expense of another classic that was still in its prime : Gilligan's Island. Seems CBS founder William Paley's wife loved the show, and so he commanded it stay, and the expense of this stranded Gilligan and the others for 12 more years, albeit in limbo.

Maybe I should have been a bit more clearer, but Gilligan's Island is one of the programs that I meant that are crap, and should have been canceled. This show is no classic at all, just bullshit, and it deserved to be ended, along with Gomer Pyle, Petticoat Junction, Mr. Ed, and I'm sad to say, Green Acres. Again, these shows are shitty and stupid, and deserved to be ended; they did not deserve to be on the air at all, PERIOD! That's why Paley woke up, smelled the strong coffee (winds of change), and canceled the shows for shows like All In The Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Good Times, and Maude. These are what made TV great, not stupid 'rural comedies'.

If CBS wanted to do comedies about rural America, they could and should have done so, but not at the expense of the intelligence of the American people. Intelligent comedy is what should have been done, as well as intelligent drama about what America was as a nation, not bullshit about rural America that makes the people look like idiots.

Gilligan's Island met its end in 67. That was way before the rural purge of 71. And whatever its quality, GI was a new show when it left and had good ratings. Gunsmoke had already been on 12 years and had declining ratings.

Paul Henning made most of the comedies you dismiss.

 

[DWF]

I really liked the final two seasons of TNG, however had they omitted parts of the fifth season I would've minded it so much and I really liked their finale.

But I am surprised that nobody's mentioned Dr. Who yet, while I do like Sylvester McCoy's Doctor two of the final three seasons of the show was alittle iffy. But that's all been fixed now

Babylon 5, Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda could've safely have ended after four seasons, their storylines were finished and their fifth seasons were iffy most of the time.

 

[Neroon]

Only a portion of B5's fifth season - the infamous Byron's teep subplot - was regrettable. The rest after that point was still of good enough quality that I wouldn't classify the series as "lasting too long".

 

[Lonemagpie]

Buffy - it comes to a perfect stunning natural conclusion in The Gift... And then they make two more seasons, turn all the male characters into scum, and generally fuck it up.

The X Files - just went on too long and got tired

Stargate SG1. Again, comes to a good natural conclusion in Moebius, then they make more inferior seasons.

Red Dwarf

Star Trek TNG - I love it to bits but the latter half of season 7 is just soullesly going through the motions.

Voyager - should have ended somewhere between Living Witness (an ideal coda to the series) and season 6.

Dr Who (original) - Should have stopped at Caves Of Androzani. Having said that, this is also the series that proves a show that has lasted too long can sometimes recover...

Oh, and any UK poster will surely agree with Last Of The Summer Wine, which was funny round about 1980...

 

[DWF]

Only a portion of B5's fifth season - the infamous Byron's teep subplot - was regrettable. The rest after that point was still of good enough quality that I wouldn't classify the series as "lasting too long".

I don't think the 100 ep. model works and that's clearly the model that E:FC, B5 and Andromeda followed and their storylines were finished after four seasons all three were renewed at the last minute with B5 being picked up by a cable network just to have that last season. It was nice that JMS fullfilled his promise of five seasons and the telepath story took almost half of the season to tell, The Ragged Edge was the season really took off IMO. And there's the matter of JMS's health, his health was declining and it affected even his appearance.

And the 100 ep. syndication model was meant to continue a series in snydication well after it's first run and that clearly didn't happen with either of three series. And cutting down storylines didn't IMO hurt the shows, ending the Shadow War alittle early didn't really hurt the fourth season if anything it made it flow better and allowed JMS to tell the other two storylines of the season without cutting them down and the Earth and Minbari civil war plots were pretty important to the show, for me anyway.

 

[Kryton]

Wasn't Star Trek: TOS one of the first under-100-eps shows to be successful in syndication?

 

[Siwilliams]

Wasn't Star Trek: TOS one of the first under-100-eps shows to be successful in syndication?

most likely