Television Shows That Stay Around Way Too Long

[alchemist]

Father Ted didn't run long enough. Poor Dermot Morgan. I still miss him.

Father Ted shares something with Fawlty Towers; there were so few episodes that they never had a chance to go stale, and every remaining episode is precious.

Got another one for u guys. Grey's Anatomy! 11 seasons too many

Don't be so harsh! When Grey's Anatomy is on, that's my chance to put the headphones and browse the internet in peace

 

[BAYLOR]

Father Ted shares something with Fawlty Towers; there were so few episodes that they never had a chance to go stale, and every remaining episode is precious.



Don't be so harsh! When Grey's Anatomy is on, that's my chance to put the headphones and browse the internet in peace

That's rough.

 

[Ashaman]

Lol Alchemist. Hadn't thought it that way mate

 

[svalbard]

Eastenders and Coronation Street. Both series are a couple of decades past their sell by date.

 

[Vertigo]

Father Ted didn't run long enough. Poor Dermot Morgan. I still miss him.

Father Ted shares something with Fawlty Towers; there were so few episodes that they never had a chance to go stale, and every remaining episode is precious.

I agree Springs and exactly so Alc. Both Father Ted and Fawlty Towers are priceless classics. The difference is that Fawlty Towers was ended by 'choice' whilst Father Ted was by tragedy. I think it was the right decision to end Fawlty Towers when they did so it didn't have time to fail. It's interesting to speculate whether, but for Dermot Morgan's untimely end, they would have ended up milking Father Ted into exhaustion. As it is it will remain one of the greats of comedy.

As for series that ran too long that I watched at the beginning but eventually gave up on, the two worst offenders for me were Heroes and Lost.

 

[BAYLOR]

I felt the same with Heroes. it should have been a mini-series, with the same ambiguous ending. Or continue the show but with a different cast each season/series.

One of the biggest problems , Hiro Nakamura's seemingly unlimited ability to time jump undermined things.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Simpsons. They should have ended the show at it's 10 season.

 

[Ursa major]

Shows like Friends, and the Office (US version) went on for at least 2 seasons too long.

Funny that: The Office (UK original) also went on for two seasons too long....

 

[HareBrain]

The Simpsons. They should have ended the show at it's 10 season.

I was going to say the same, but I have enjoyed some of the later ones, so I didn't. It's not what it was, though.

 

[Rodders]

I think that a lot of newer tV series have a great start, but then fizzle out. Lost, Heroes, Flash Forward etc.

I think Lexx went on for too long and got a little too suggestive for me. Perhaps it should've stopped after the third series. Stargate SG1. I really didn't get into this series and couldn't see how it went on for so long. X-Files, yeah, i'll go with that. Babylon 5, sorry Brian, i just couldn't agree. Dr. Who (the old series) was silly once Colin Baker was the Doctor (Sorry).

I haven't gotten around to seeing the final series of BSG, so i'm not going to comment.

 

[Highlander II]

House, MD went on a few seasons longer than it should have (and I <3 that show). X-Files I didn't get into until long after it was finished and I'm one of the odd-balls who likes Doggett. Highlander stretched on a season or so too long. And Stargate should have stopped when RDA decided he was done.

 

[Ashaman]

Rodders mate, Flash forward didnt even have time to start, let alone fizzle out. They stopped it way too early!

 

[Bugg]

The X-Files - I loved the first three seasons but after that it was only the occasional episode that gripped me. Same for Buffy - loved the first three seasons, then just occasional episodes. I still haven't seen the ends of Battlestar Galactica or Smallville because I ran out of steam on them much earlier, and I gave up on Supernatural after season 6 or 7 (can't remember which - which says it all, really!).

 

[Vince W]

Community. I can't even watch it any more.

 

[soulsinging]

Community. I can't even watch it any more.

I loved this show for the first 2-3 seasons, but season 4 was SOOOO bad. I thought season 5 was a decent recovery but it's pretty clear the moment has sort of passed and the magic is gone (along with Troy).

 

[Dinosaur]

I think that a lot of newer tV series have a great start, but then fizzle out. Lost, Heroes, Flash Forward etc.

There is a definite sense that writers come up with an amazing hook and pitch the first series around that without ever actually coming up with a master plan for later series. I guess so many series get cancelled, what's the point of developing a five-year year arc that will never see the light day? Imagine Homeland if the first series just ended when Brody (?) Walked out of the toilet after fixing the bomb, instead there's a load of stuff in later seasons that obviously didn't make the script first time around.

Dexter could have easily ended early and I would have been happy.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Red Dwarf should have finished at series 5. Quit when you're ahead.

 

[Alysheba]

Dexter. I really enjoyed the show then it went off the rails. The final season was crap. The final episode was worse than crap.
True Blood. It should've ended two seasons ago. It didn't and we were tortured to death.
Supernatural I thought would run for 10 seasons (which it has). While they had a few rough seasons I have to say they did find their footing again but it is clear that they need to be careful about the future and not go too much longer. Even if I will miss the Winchesters. A LOT. Mostly Dean...
CSI. I still watch it but it was really hard once Grissom left. I'm trying to forget the Laurence Fishburne years. I still enjoy it but not like I did in the beginning.
Grey's Anatomy is revisiting the same storylines. I wanted to give up on it last year. Now that Christina is gone it's not nearly as interesting.
The Real Housewives of (enter any city here) Please make them stop!!!

 

[BAYLOR]

Red Dwarf should have finished at series 5. Quit when you're ahead.

I did the later seasons , I like it when Kryton's nanites resurrected the the whole crew on the Red Dwarf . That was fun to see.

 

[markpud]

Dexter. I really enjoyed the show then it went off the rails. The final season was crap. The final episode was worse than crap.

Definitely! Peaked at season 4 and then floundered, and they totally bottled the ending!

Babylon 5 is a good case too. They wrapped up the whole arc at the end of s4 but then got renewed and had to deal with a main character sacrificing himself for another, but that actor left the show so that story was never continued.

I think Walking Dead still has a way to go, it found it's feet with season 4 and seems to be going from strength to strength. Hopefully no more changes in Showrunner and its got a couple more seasons at least.