Howdie,

you people got any strong feelings about good tv-series that turned to cr#p, simply because the producers did not pull the plug in time?

I have noticed this phenomenon mainly with US series, by the way.
The Brits seem to know how to keep things short & sweet, I´ll give you a few notable examples:

-Fawlty Towers
-The Office (UK, of course!)
-Blackadder.

Few episodes, high quality!

So, back on topic...here are 2 prime examples of a good show that simply lost its attraction:

-The Big Bang Theory
-Two and a Half Men.

Come on, I loved the earlier seasons on both of these!
And then the story ran its course........
Simply too much money involved to quit, I guess.
Characters change, or personalities change dramatically......I think TBTT writers are desperate about filling yet another season!??

Do you have other series in mind that nose-dived in quality over time?


No Tax On Rotax

Friends. Went on way too long.
I love it, but starting to lose its edge - Modern Family.

My theory is, when you start getting guest stars appearing in episodes, the writers are running out of ideas.

The Walking Dead - telling the same story over and over again
How I met your Mother - worst final season ever

The Simpsons - I stopped watching after the 19th season. Did I miss something?

notaxonrotax wrote:

Do you have other series in mind that nose-dived in quality over time?

In scope of series I ever looked at:

Castle ( goes down in partner bickering )
Stargate ( complete bust : Universe.)
Outlander ( season 3 is a goner )
Vikings ( except that recourse for the latest season ( Ragnar's "death" and onwards with his sons holds my interest. )

ER first 8-10 seasons were among the best made ever but the it faded into mediocrity.
NCIS About the same here. First 7-8 seaons were really good then it went into repeat mode.
Bones
Frasier, it was still pretty good in the final seasons but once *you know what* happened it lost a big part of it's charm.

The only long running tv-series that I think was good all the to the final moment is M*A*S*H. It's two first seasons are ok-good but
once Harry Morgan, Mike Farell and David Ogden Stiers joined (not at the same time) it become really great and stayed great all the way to the end.

As a huge fan I deeply regret to nominate Doctor who. I think the show trouble is now that people are more talking about the cast and sexuality of the characters than the scenario.

scbriml wrote:

Friends. Went on way too long.
I love it, but starting to lose its edge - Modern Family.

My theory is, when you start getting guest stars appearing in episodes, the writers are running out of ideas.

I was going to say Modern Family, also. I think one can tell writers are desperate to kill off a show is Vanessa Williams. I think she is funny and a great singer and very beautiful, but, for some reason, when she is cast, the show ends very soon after.

Prison Break. It was supposed to be a one season series, and should have stayed that way.

Aesma wrote:

Prison Break. It was supposed to be a one season series, and should have stayed that way.

Sleepy hollow is another one. It was a great build up in the first season that it ended in an anti climax.

Years ago there was a great website call 'Jumped the Shark' when a serial show was on too long, their stories or plots got dumb, and lost it although it also noted great shows that ended right in time and well. Some shows like 'Big Bang Theory' become such moneymakers that they are hard to kill off even when they have gone past their prime.

A show that I think went 1 season too long was 'The Sopranos'. In part it was due to a writers' strike that pushed a season later, but it also became such a eyeball catcher for HBO they were afraid to end it sooner.

Thunderboltdrgn wrote:

Frasier, it was still pretty good in the final seasons but once *you know what* happened it lost a big part of it's charm.

Any show with sexual tension as a big part of its make up declines the instant it loses that.

Thunderboltdrgn wrote:

The only long running tv-series that I think was good all the to the final moment is M*A*S*H. It's two first seasons are ok-good but
once Harry Morgan, Mike Farell and David Ogden Stiers joined (not at the same time) it become really great and stayed great all the way to the end.
Interesting, I feel the exact opposite. The first two years were edgy and unique, then it declined to becoming the ok-good but too safe US sitcom, and by the end it was pretty meh.

ltbewr wrote:

Years ago there was a great website call 'Jumped the Shark' when a serial show was on too long, their stories or plots got dumb, and lost it although it also noted great shows that ended right in time and well. Some shows like 'Big Bang Theory' become such moneymakers that they are hard to kill off even when they have gone past their prime.

You'd think being a big nerd I would have gotten into BBT, but nope. I guess these days I just can't watch any show with canned laughter.

The Walking Dead.

make. it. stop.

Revelation wrote:

Any show with sexual tension as a big part of its make up declines the instant it loses that.

Yep - Moonlighting being a classic example.

ltbewr wrote:

You'd think being a big nerd I would have gotten into BBT, but nope. I guess these days I just can't watch any show with canned laughter.

With technology these days I would like to have the option to turn those off. I'm in the same boat as you, laughter (even if done live) is insufferable.

seahawk wrote:

How I met your Mother - worst final season ever

Thanks for the heads-up! I just started watching it on Netflix, I probably won't continue until the end now.

The first two that come to mind for me are M*A*S*H* and Happy Days. In fact, the website "Jump The Shark" mentioned by a poster upthread took its name from an episode of Happy Days where they went to Hawaii and Fonzie literally jumped a shark.

While not a scripted show in the sense of sitcoms and dramas, I'd include the original Mythbusters series as well.
One more I might mention, and it pains to to say it because I really loved the show was Cheers. I think they should have ended it about three years sooner than they did. Some of the plot lines involving Rebecca and Sam trying to have a baby etc got pretty silly. It was clear the writers were running out of ideas.

There are two shows in Australia, Neighbours and Home and Away, that are still going after thirty years. Who actually watches these?

I know they are exported of course, but, they are just utter nonsense.. I did watch them years ago when I was college age - the age group they would be aiming them at I guess, but the storylines were really slipping then..

The Simpsons was mentioned upthread. YES, YES, YES!! The first seasons were the best. The animation wasn't great - but that was part of the character. The humor was much better. Now it comes off as overly slapstick. I think the change in format coincided with when the movie came out.

The Office (US) was also mentioned upthread. When Jim and Pam finally got together, it lost it's edge. When Michael Scott moved away, it lost its soul.:

My Three Sons. They just all got too old.

I Love Lucy. It's the most classic show out there. But it lost its heart when they moved to the country.

Sesame Street. LOVE the show. But the prominence of Elmo dumbed down the show. Take a look at some of the early 1970's sketches. They are truly classic.

Designated Survivor is moving in this direction IMHO. Other than Kifer Sutherland everyone else on the show is a poor actor.

The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy and even (getting there) Archer, are stale now. They need to die an honorable death before they go off the deep end, which the first 3 already have. At least Archer is capped at 10 seasons with season 9 starting next year.

Revelation wrote:

You'd think being a big nerd I would have gotten into BBT, but nope. I guess these days I just can't watch any show with canned laughter.

Oddly enough, BBT is filmed in front of a live audience, they generally don't use laugh tracks - they use a mix of the life audience and audiences shown dailies.

That said, BBT is way past it's prime for me, solely because Sheldon being the naive socially inept nerd at the start was great, but after a few seasons he went from being unknowingly abrupt and socially awkward to actively nasty and intentional. That change in Sheldon destroyed BBT for me.

Aside from BBT, my vote is "Lost". That should have ended before it begun - the writers and producers actively lied about their plans and spent pretty much the entire show digging themselves into many many holes they couldn't write themselves out of.

And then they ended it on a premise that they had denied in season one ("they are all dead").

I have a controversial pick- The Wire.

Series 1 was incredible, and series 2 was even better. Series 3 seemed to me to be treading the same ground as season 1, and I gave up after that.

The other obvious pick is the X-Files. I was thinking the other day about how the X-Files contrasted with Quantum Leap- they were the two shows from the US which aired in the UK that I watched in my adolescence. With the former, things got very weird, but somehow lost their ability to make you care about them. With Quantum Leap the episodes got even weirder, and on occasion more spiritual, but somehow drew you in so much more.

Olddog wrote:

As a huge fan I deeply regret to nominate Doctor who. I think the show trouble is now that people are more talking about the cast and sexuality of the characters than the scenario.

Dr. Who lives with the doctor. The last doctor did not work for me.But with a new Doctor the show has the option to re-invent itself.

stlgph wrote:

The Walking Dead.

make. it. stop.

They lost it when Zombies became a nuisance and it turned into just one big drama series with the "enemy" being other humans and zombies becoming a side show.

seahawk wrote:

Olddog wrote:

As a huge fan I deeply regret to nominate Doctor who. I think the show trouble is now that people are more talking about the cast and sexuality of the characters than the scenario.

Dr. Who lives with the doctor. The last doctor did not work for me.But with a new Doctor the show has the option to re-invent itself.

The issue with Dr Who for me is that the choice for a female doctor next was done solely to satisfy the outcry around it - that much is obvious.

Of course I've never liked the new Who - it's always come across as camp sci-fi. The original series was certainly low budget, but it was intended for an adult audience and as such used effects and sets designed as "real", while the new Who is definitely aimed at the younger audience with a nod to the older audience and cartoons up the effects, sets and aliens.

moo wrote:

seahawk wrote:

Olddog wrote:

As a huge fan I deeply regret to nominate Doctor who. I think the show trouble is now that people are more talking about the cast and sexuality of the characters than the scenario.

Dr. Who lives with the doctor. The last doctor did not work for me.But with a new Doctor the show has the option to re-invent itself.

The issue with Dr Who for me is that the choice for a female doctor next was done solely to satisfy the outcry around it - that much is obvious.

Of course I've never liked the new Who - it's always come across as camp sci-fi. The original series was certainly low budget, but it was intended for an adult audience and as such used effects and sets designed as "real", while the new Who is definitely aimed at the younger audience with a nod to the older audience and cartoons up the effects, sets and aliens.

I must say I liked David Tennant and Matt Smith as the Doctor. The way they played the Doctor and the general mood in the seasons were more positive and fun. Peter Capaldi was too serious for my taste. We will have to see how Jodie Whittaker does and how the new season will be. But in general Dr. Who is one of the few shows that can really re-invent itself with a new doctor.

seahawk wrote:

moo wrote:

seahawk wrote:

Dr. Who lives with the doctor. The last doctor did not work for me.But with a new Doctor the show has the option to re-invent itself.

The issue with Dr Who for me is that the choice for a female doctor next was done solely to satisfy the outcry around it - that much is obvious.

Of course I've never liked the new Who - it's always come across as camp sci-fi. The original series was certainly low budget, but it was intended for an adult audience and as such used effects and sets designed as "real", while the new Who is definitely aimed at the younger audience with a nod to the older audience and cartoons up the effects, sets and aliens.

I must say I liked David Tennant and Matt Smith as the Doctor. The way they played the Doctor and the general mood in the seasons were more positive and fun. Peter Capaldi was too serious for my taste. We will have to see how Jodie Whittaker does and how the new season will be. But in general Dr. Who is one of the few shows that can really re-invent itself with a new doctor.

I did like the first two, but overall the show has been set way way way too cartoony for my liking.

I would wholeheartedly agree with "Mythbusters". The 3 additional crew never did the show any good.

"Cheers" went on a little too long, indeed.

But here's another shocking example: "Roseanne". She really lost it in the last season or two. It was a pretty sharp show for its time but alas, they ran out of ideas before they ran out of episodes.

A British example of this phenomenon could be "'Allo 'Allo" and "Keeping Up Appearances".
Not necessarily shows that went terribly off track, but they could have ended them a little earlier.


No Tax On Rotax

Aesma wrote:

ltbewr wrote:

You'd think being a big nerd I would have gotten into BBT, but nope. I guess these days I just can't watch any show with canned laughter.

With technology these days I would like to have the option to turn those off. I'm in the same boat as you, laughter (even if done live) is insufferable.

Oddly enough, I think there are YouTube's out there with the laughter removed. I've seen a few of these and it's actually more creepy than convenient. There are a lot of scenes where the laugh pauses are painfully apparent. But stranger than that, a lot of the one liners and throw a ways that are supposed to be funny actually end up coming off as mean spirited to the point of abusive behavior. I'm not sensitive or anything and I do get a kick out of the changes, but it does totally alter the dynamic. Kind of a 'Jon without Garfield' thing...


Anyway, I agree that sitcoms really aren't my thing too, I just don't think they get better without the laugh track.

ER757 wrote:

The first two that come to mind for me are M*A*S*H* and Happy Days.

I totally disagree about MASH. IMO it held up very good and it changed allot of the years. The first two seasons were probably the least good seasons.
it was a bit too silly while the last seasons were much more serious which I liked.

Pretty much any series where they keep adding more and more characters to the core cast comes to mind.

Roseanne was a good mention, especially the last season which was really just an imagining of the Roseanne's writing to deal with Dan's death.

Married with Children suffered from that as well -- plus the hackneyed sitcom trope of adding a new and cuter child to the cast.

The Simpsons most definitely. I think I stopped watching as appointment viewing around 2000 or 2001. I do actually like the movie.

Futurama, as excited as I was about the movies and the later Comedy Central episodes I was left underwhelmed. Plus the original final episode was about as good as a series finale as most fans would want.

Family Guy.... another show I was happy about returning after Fox neglected it. And the initial episodes were pretty good. But as time goes on they just keep falling back to their usual bad crutches like too long cutaways and hating on Meg.

King of the Hill.... this one I am hesitant about. It did probably linger on too long. But it became pretty uneven in later years but there are still some solid episodes at the end. The addition of Lucky is both good and bad. He didn't work great as a primary character but worked well in the background -- plus Tom Petty.

As a Big Bang Theory fan, I don't think its been on too long, and I still find it very funny. The characters are not what they were at the start of the series as the writers have done a great job developing them. For example Sheldon was a socially awkward OCD know it all at the start of the series, and while in a lot of ways this is still true, he is now engaged to Amy and this was really strong writing. Howard went from a womanizing pig to a loving husband, Penny went from a failed acting career to a successful pharmaceutical rep, etc.

As for shows that lasted too long, I am surprised no one mentioned Dallas. This show was great for many years, but losing Patrick Duffy for a season gave us the infamous dream season, and the show never recovered from that. Happy Days lasted a bit too long as well. Simpsons and South Park are up there on my list. Criminal Minds is on my list as well. The show isn't the same with Shemar Moore leaving and Thomas Gibson being fired.

General Hospital......going since 1963....

Days of Our Lives.....since 1972...

The Young and the Restless.....since 1965...

I have never watched it but Emmerdale (farm) is also still going and have been since 1972.

BartSimpson wrote:

The Simpsons - I stopped watching after the 19th season. Did I miss something?

Not really.

I don't know why, but when they went to the HD format and changed the oening and went to the four acts instead of three....it wasn't the same for me.



"Lisa The Drama Queen", season 20-episode 9 was the last episode before the HD...and it was the last one with the old opening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_the_Drama_Queen

moo wrote:

Of course I've never liked the new Who - it's always come across as camp sci-fi. The original series was certainly low budget, but it was intended for an adult audience and as such used effects and sets designed as "real"

Afaik
Dr. Who was started as "family series" with some educational aspects
watchable and likeable for kids but also taking in the adults.

The presentation always was more abstract fitting a stage setting better than a realistic life production.

They've kept that up quite well.
Same with the fantasms that seem to build on Alice in Wonderland and maybe that poor Slumberland boy

Of cause no Dr. will be everybody's Dr.

BBC did a rather nice restrospective documentary recently.

dfwjim1 wrote:

Designated Survivor is moving in this direction IMHO. Other than Kifer Sutherland everyone else on the show is a poor actor.

Yeah, but his chief of staff is pretty cute, so I'll cut her some slack on the bad acting.....

Someone mentioned ER earlier - agreed. I would throw L.A. Law in there with ER. They were very similar shows just set in different environments and as old characters left and new ones came in, the quality went downhill. Which I think could be said about the original CSI as well

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from its best season straight into its worst.

Best regards
Thomas

LockheedBBD wrote:

General Hospital......going since 1963....

Days of Our Lives.....since 1972...

The Young and the Restless.....since 1965...

I have a TV at work and these gems come on every day.

Days of Our Lives and Young and the Restless actually still have storylines so I can understand their longevity. (somewhat)

General Hospital, however, holy christ, how does anyone who works on or with that show admit that in public?

Dexter. Peaked with the John Lithgow season, and never was as good. Once Deb was in on the secret the show just dissolved. One of the worst series finales ever.

True Blood. Started off great. Became a bloody (pun intended) mess toward the end. Far too many characters too keep track of, I couldn't follow anything and gave up before the last season.

Will and Grace, the original run. The last two seasons were rubbish with too many characters coming in and out, and the original characters became caricatures. The new episodes are pretty good though.

zrs70 wrote:

I Love Lucy. It's the most classic show out there. But it lost its heart when they moved to the country.

Probably had more to do with the fact that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were barely speaking to each other by that point. The move to the country just reflected the sociological trend of the time--though now that I've typed that, one could use that as a metaphor for a lot of things related to sub-urbanization--no soul.

I agree about The Walking Dead. Enough already. Gawd, you can't keep fabricating man vs man stories in this post-apocalyptic world without end. It has absolutely and utterly run its course. The writing is so inconsistent too.

I'll submit another one: The League

I loved this show! Funny as hell, edgy, wittily written, but it went on too long and ran out of gas at the end, clearly, as it got too far away the fantasy football undertones that were the foundation of the show.

LockheedBBD wrote:

General Hospital......going since 1963....

Days of Our Lives.....since 1972...

The Young and the Restless.....since 1965...

Actually, Days Of Our Lives began in 1965
The Young & The Restless began in 1973

stlgph wrote:

General Hospital, however, holy christ, how does anyone who works on or with that show admit that in public?

Don't enjoy The Sopranos of daytime?

It's kind of a amazing how a show called General Hospital is about anything but....

Two British examples:

Benidorm
Mrs Brown's boys.

The first has resorted to "guest stars" plus it has suffered from the inevitable problems of a long running programme, death of major characters and others looking to move on to other projects
The second with its small cast and three room set has just run out of ideas.

apodino wrote:

As a Big Bang Theory fan, I don't think its been on too long, and I still find it very funny. The characters are not what they were at the start of the series as the writers have done a great job developing them. For example Sheldon was a socially awkward OCD know it all at the start of the series, and while in a lot of ways this is still true, he is now engaged to Amy and this was really strong writing. Howard went from a womanizing pig to a loving husband, Penny went from a failed acting career to a successful pharmaceutical rep etc

So interesting to see how we experience things differently.
All the character changes you describe are correct in itself, but have all killed the serie for me.

Howard is almost a 2 time dad, with Raj practicallly living in with them. (?) Sheldon is miiiiles away from what he used to be, he even cracks sexually tinted jokes. (?) He smiles way too much too.
Penny and Leonard just potter on, the sexual build up between them is gone, and I means 3 years ago.

The screen writers are going round and round. The conversations aren't as sharp and witty.
Let's face it: Sheldon lost the the inhuman side, Howard lost the nerdy unrealistic way of pulling girls, and Leonard is way too comfortable with his dream-girl.

R.I.P to the show if you ask me.
Many people appear to agree with me too.

Great shame!

No Tax On Rotax

Whatever anyone’s opinion of Roseanne Barr, the first years of her show were very novel, well-written, and well-performed. Her show was unlike any other we’d seen. The last season was beyond the pale. Are you aware that her show is returning with the original cast, including John Goodman? Apparently, he didn’t die after all!!

All in the Family, for those old enough to remember, was also groundbreaking. But in later seasons, it became formulaic, and Jean Stapleton actually asked the writers to kill off her character. Carroll O’Connor continued on in Archie’s Place, but it was a pale imitation of the former show.

A similar thing happened to the Golden Girls when Bea Arthur decided to leave the show. The other ‘girls’ continued in the Golden Palace, but it didn’t last like long.

For those of you as old as I am, perhaps you remember Bewitched and Lost in Space. Both were quite novel in their first few seasons. But Bewitched lost its first Darrin, and they should’ve stopped there. Lost in Space simply became a parody of a sci-fi series, what with a prancing Dr Smith and a singing robot!

Sadly I must concur with The Walking Dead....this season has been a dull letdown. For me, when they launched the Fear The Walking Dead spinoff, it was all downhill from there...overmilked the genre. Yawn.

The Big Bang Theory is a show that I really should hate as it's not my usual type of comedy, and it's gone on far too long, however I still find it hilarious because one of my former flatmates at university was the real-life incarnation of Sheldon. Every single episode relives the hilarious times we had living with him.

HA_DC9 wrote:

Sadly I must concur with The Walking Dead....this season has been a dull letdown. For me, when they launched the Fear The Walking Dead spinoff, it was all downhill from there...overmilked the genre. Yawn.

I have tried hard to get into Fear, but man it is so bad.....

The original Walking Dead.

I actually ignored it for a few years, it wasn't until I was stuck in bed for a month that I broke down and watched it, of course I watched 5 years worth in a few days. This season though, it's been fine up until 2 episodes ago. I'm sorry, Negan comes out onto the loading dock, gives a 5 minute speech and nobody fires a shot ? There is bad writing and then there is just BS writing to try and keep the show going.

The same can be said for Lost, that last season was painful to watch, you could see the writers had no idea how to finish the show.

Fox "news"......hell, even they admit it is entertainment,,,,