Series with a good lifespan

pickarooney

I'm finding it harder and harder to find series that were consistently good throughout and came to a natural end rather than being cancelled or dragged on way past their best before date.

Even classics like The Sopranos could, truth be told, have been shortened by a year and could certainly have done without the lengthy lay-offs between seasons. I suppose The Shield is the last one that springs to mind; to me it never felt stretched or strained. I'll reserve judgement on Lost for another month or two as I feel it might be at once drawn out and artificially foreshortened, depending on how you look at it.

Comedy-wise, it's nigh on impossible to find anything that hasn't either been killed too soon or life-supported when all the jokes had run dry. I suppose Arrested Development, despite being executed and resuscitated then whacked a second time, ended up being just a perfect length in the end. If only Family Guy had done the decent thing and not outstayed its welcome.

I haven't seen all of The Wire yet, before you all jump in.

No unspoilered spoilers for any shows, if possible, please.

unklerosco

Older BBC shows like Blackadder and Bottom etc where the perfect length. Red Dwarf should have ended at series 6 (not that I'm complaining, i'm a huge fan)

I think with American shows the seasons are insanely long, loved Flight of the Conchords. about 12 episodes per season.... Would have loved another season tho. Other shows like the US Office where great but I find this season and last its very hit and miss, more miss I find....

Mr E

I agree that The Shield would qualify. It has a beginning, a middle and an end - they planned for 7 series, and it allowed them to work towards a cohesive and rewarding goal. As a complete package, it was terrific and was one of those rare shows that got better every season (the last few episodes of season 7 were pretty close to being the best thing I've seen in recent years).

Come back in May, and I'll probably recommend Lost too.
Please God, let it be a satisfying ending.

In a few years I'll probably recommend Breaking Bad too.
2 seasons down, and its one of the best written shows on TV.

Magic Eight Ball

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm finding it harder and harder to find series that were consistently good throughout and came to a natural end rather than being cancelled or dragged on way past their best before date.

Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are the first (& only) that spring to mind.

Lost should have ended after the first series IMO.

Richard Dower

Trevor Coulahan wrote: »

Lost should have ended after the first series IMO.

andreab

Ok I'm as a girl who loves tv I can give you a few of my favourites.

If you wanna watch a series from begining to end I recommend Prison Break, I loved every minute of it. And not just for the hot men!:P

The best comedy at the moment ( I haven't watched a bad episode yet) is How I met your mother. Poeple are saying it's the new friends but to be honest I think it's way better.

I haven't watched the wire yet but friends and family keep telling me how good it is, I'll get round to it eventually.

Oh and I like Bones, it's like all the CSI's but better.

Just my opinion

pickarooney

Prison Break became unwatchable about half way through season 2. HIMYM has been in rapid decline since the 4th season.

Star Trek TNG - holy smokes, I won't even start on how dreadful that was.

andreab

pickarooney wrote: »

Prison Break became unwatchable about half way through season 2. HIMYM has been in rapid decline since the 4th season.

U should have kept going season 3 and 4 of prison break was great

HIMYM is still class, I love Neil Patrick Harris funniest man on tv, can't believe he's gay.....such a waste

Richard Dower

I think CSI Vegas has had a great lifespan, it's got a few more seasons left....but tbh, it died when Grissom/Petersen left.

amacachi

I felt with The Shield in (I think) season 3 or 4 there was a lull, including one bit that really pissed me off.

The bit when Mackey and the lads set up a meet to take a bribe, and Forest is there to sting them, but it turns out that they had gone up top already so that the bribe was a sting of their own and they made him look a tool. It made sense later but at the time I was annoyed.

With season 5 of The Wire

if you can look past the made up serial killer it was still an excellent season of television. Second and third times I watched it I enjoyed it far more.

Arrested Development wasn't long enough!

I hate people comparing How I Met Your Mother to friends, the similarities are very shallow. Also I think it's just cruising along now, which I can't really blame the writers for to an extent. It's over 100 episodes now I think, and it's hard to keep it going at a good quality when everyone knows the ending and is waiting for it. The fact that we know it has another season at least to go also detracts from it somewhat.

South Park is still going strong IMO.

Kiith

West Wing.

Seasons 1-5 are fantastic, season 6 is decent, and season 7 is very good again.

BongoJuice

I think 'The Fast Show' managed sustained brilliance which is no mean feat for a comedy sketch show.

pickarooney

I hated the Fast Show for ages, then grew to love it the more it went on. Would I have loved it beyond that? Hard to say, really.

I'm tempted to say Six Feet Under but there was a bit of a drop-off in quality around season 3 (I think, could have been 4) before it picked up again.

gagiteebo

I'm a big fan of Supernatural and I think it has gotten better as it has gone out tbh....it's in the 5th season now I think, I'm wondering how much longer they will go on though? Maybe they should end it on a high even though that would make me really sad

Flight of the Conchords was great as well

Personally speaking there really is only one show which came to a natural conclusion and maintained a consistent level of quality across it 5 seasons, that show is Babylon 5. Without a shadow of a doubt the best thing ever produced for American Television. It had great writing, a truly awe inspiring overall arch which spanned all 5 seasons, superb acting and an overall sense of wonder.

Mr E

In the context of pickarooney's OP, Flight of the Conchords is the type of show he is complaining about....

Season 1 of FotC was superb, because Bret and Jemaine were playing off material and songs that they'd been playing for years (all of their best stuff). For Season 2, they wrote mostly new songs which weren't a patch on the first set. Season 2 was a big dip in quality (IMHO, etc.)

Still a good show, but in the context of the 2 seasons, they should have left after the first.

Conor108

I thought, and maybe Im in the extreme minority, Star Trek Voyager came to a grand end.

KnifeWRENCH

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm tempted to say Six Feet Under but there was a bit of a drop-off in quality around season 3 (I think, could have been 4) before it picked up again.

Hmm not sure there was a drop off in quality, really. I loved all seasons of Six Feet Under. But I've heard people saying Season 3 wasn't as good as the others before.

Mr E wrote: »

In the context of pickarooney's OP, Flight of the Conchords is the type of show he is complaining about....

Season 1 of FotC was superb, because Bret and Jemaine were playing off material and songs that they'd been playing for years (all of their best stuff). For Season 2, they wrote mostly new songs which weren't a patch on the first set. Season 2 was a big dip in quality (IMHO, etc.)

Still a good show, but in the context of the 2 seasons, they should have left after the first.

No, I have to completely disagree. I thought the 2nd season was excellent. The songs may not have been as good, but I thought the jokes were consistently great.
I much prefer having 2 seasons of FOTC to one season of FOTC.

Ivan

Malcolm in the Middle is the longest running, consistently funny series I've ever seen. The final episode is just brilliant.

Wossack

I thought 'My Name is Earl' and 'That 70's Show' as being consistantly good throughout their lifetimes

grimm2005

KMKY/I'm Alan Partridge, The Office(UK) and Extras all were consistent and great throughout their lifespan I thought.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is also still great

Closed ac

I wish Lost had ended after the third season, it would've been a good enough ending aswell with the prospect of them being rescued. Now,

it's then jumping through time and the island disappearing

and it's just dragging on too long..

missyfirefly

I agree with kiith about the West Wing great series that had pretty much great longevity throughout.

Rome - excellent but too short.

beanyb

I love the West Wing. It's one of my favourite tv shows ever. But I dont think it's accurate to say it was great the whole way through. After Sorkin was sacked at the end of season 4 the quality went WAY down. I still enjoyed the rest of it, but it never quite matched the quality of Sorkin's 4 seasons again.

pickarooney

grimm2005 wrote: »

KMKY/I'm Alan Partridge, The Office(UK) and Extras all were consistent and great throughout their lifespan I thought.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is also still great

All two season shows, IIRC (except CYE, which is a good example although it's not wraped yet so can't really be counted - it might have a lousy season in the future). Could none of them have benefitted from a third series? ("Can I get a third series? Oh, please give me a third series!")

ancapailldorcha

Personally, I think the Shield is the Ultimate example.
Must watch Oz and The Wire at some point.
I also love House. I know people don't like the medicine, the case of the week thing but I think it's actually better now than at the start. Same with HIMYM.
Just my 2 cents.

amacachi

SPOILERS FFS!

The Express

Minder (1979-1994).

Over 100 episodes, beautifully written and free of political correctness.

Check out some of the stuff on YouTube featuring Arfur, Tel and barman Dave. Pure comedy gold.

They don't make 'em like the used to.

ancapailldorcha

amacachi wrote: »

SPOILERS FFS!

I don't have any spoilers.

amacachi

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I don't have any spoilers.

Didn't mean you.:)

murpho999

DKZ wrote: »

I wish Lost had ended after the third season, it would've been a good enough ending aswell with the prospect of them being rescued.

Now, it's then jumping through time and the island disappearing

and it's just dragging on too long..

You obviously have not been following Lost properly, now in last season and

no island hopping or time travel

In the first 3 seaons there were huge questions and mysteries raised and to finish at the end of that season without explanations would have been a terrible ending. It has been a great series, and could be an absolute classic if they get the ending right, which I believe they will.

Don't like how people slam a show without having watched the whole lot. Lost is the one show I really look forward to every week and I'm even planning on watching the whole lot again when it concludes as there is so much in it!

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Married With Children went for 11 seasons and was consistently funny throughout - so I'd class that as having a good lifespan...

There isn't many shows though that can be classed as having a good lifespan... most shows are either cut short due to premature cancellation (Freaks and Geeks, Dark Angel), are sometimes excellent but go one season too many and lose some of the best cast members (That 70s Show, Scrubs) or are dragged to death even though they began superbly (Prison Break, Family Guy)...

barochoc

Only fools & horses, Faulty Towers, possibly the greatest comedies of all time. I still watch them when on TV, even if I seen the episode 20-30 times.

Faulty Towers was ended prematurely, only fools was perfect but the specials never really worked as well for me.

At the moment 30 Rock is pure genius for me. Baldwin is fantastic & I've nothing but admiration for him now. I believe they're good for another 2-3 seasons.

Dexter is the most entertaining series on TV for the last decade in my opinion. Michael C Hall is fantastic in it. 4 Seasons past & I can't wait for the 5th to start. It's looking like the darkest & craziest is yet to come. A great twist at the end of season 4 threw the gates wide open.

I can't recommend it highly enough. It certainly hasn't been dragged out like many lame series currently on TV.

Cougar Town is looking ok. Too early to say but even though it basically a 40 year old Monica divorcee, it's still a good laugh!

Time will tell.

Please, what ever people do, please don't bring up that abomination "Desperate Housewives" That out stayed it's welcome a long long time ago! :eek:

Also Starring LeVar Burton

^I was with you up until you mentioned Cougar Town - utter tripe...

Richard Dower

CaptainNegative wrote: »

^I was with you up until you mentioned Cougar Town - utter tripe...

+1..muck.

pickarooney

barochoc wrote: »

Only fools & horses, Faulty Towers, possibly the greatest comedies of all time. I still watch them when on TV, even if I seen the episode 20-30 times.

Faulty Towers was ended prematurely, only fools was perfect but the specials never really worked as well for me.

At the moment 30 Rock is pure genius for me. Baldwin is fantastic & I've nothing but admiration for him now. I believe they're good for another 2-3 seasons.

Dexter is the most entertaining series on TV for the last decade in my opinion. Michael C Hall is fantastic in it. 4 Seasons past & I can't wait for the 5th to start. It's looking like the darkest & craziest is yet to come. A great twist at the end of season 4 threw the gates wide open.

I can't recommend it highly enough. It certainly hasn't been dragged out like many lame series currently on TV.

Cougar Town is looking ok. Too early to say but even though it basically a 40 year old Monica divorcee, it's still a good laugh!

Time will tell.

Please, what ever people do, please don't bring up that abomination "Desperate Housewives" That out stayed it's welcome a long long time ago! :eek:

Fawlty Towers could definitely have gone at least one ;ore season wihout losing in quality I reckon and OFAH was let down badly by the specials. The others you mention are still going and I'd be willing to bet that they don't just stop making 30 Rock when they run out of funny. I haven't seen Dexter but heard a lot of fans say Season 3 was comparatively poor, and of course it's not finished yet.

Desperate Housewives was actually really good for a couple of years but I've rarely seen a show tread water for so long. It started out as a misrepresented dark 'dramedy' then proceeded to become exactly what it was dismissed for being (when it wasn't).

Spaced - pretty happy with how long that lasted.

Mr E

Spoiler tags added to some posts.....

Blazer

Dexter & Supernatural.
Dexter still going strong after 4 season while Supernatural has been fantastic through it's 5 seasons.
It's nearly finished now. Only about 9 eps left of Season 5 which was the plan all along. Great show..

toomevara

Seinfeld, Frasier; two fabulous televisual gifts that just keep on giving.....

J-blk

Berkut wrote: »

Dexter & Supernatural.
Dexter still going strong after 4 season while Supernatural has been fantastic through it's 5 seasons.
It's nearly finished now. Only about 9 eps left of Season 5 which was the plan all along. Great show..

Supernatural has been already renewed for a 6th season... it's too early to tell, but it looks like the CW will keep milking it. The original plan was indeed for the 5 seasons and the main writer/showrunner is leaving at the end of the season.

If season 6 (and any more after it) are crap, it becomes a perfect example of the opposite of what Pickarooney is looking for: a great show that went on for way too long, outliving its' welcome. Unfortunately, that's extremely common on US TV... (just look at UK Office vs US Office for a clear example).

I agree on Dexter totally, though I'd only want to see it get one (two at the most extreme) more season... even though I love the show.

ancapailldorcha

amacachi wrote: »

Didn't mean you.:)

Oh, Sorry!!

JP Liz V1

Freaks and Geeks even though it was only one season

Mash

and

Six Feet Under

pickarooney

You must be one of the few that doesn't think Freaks and Geeks should have been renewed!

donfers

Has anybody said alias?

JP Liz V1

pickarooney wrote: »

You must be one of the few that doesn't think Freaks and Geeks should have been renewed!

I would have loved if it got renewed but i was happy with how it ended

Mark Hamill

J-blk wrote: »

Supernatural has been already renewed for a 6th season... it's too early to tell, but it looks like the CW will keep milking it. The original plan was indeed for the 5 seasons and the main writer/showrunner is leaving at the end of the season.

If season 6 (and any more after it) are crap, it becomes a perfect example of the opposite of what Pickarooney is looking for: a great show that went on for way too long, outliving its' welcome. Unfortunately, that's extremely common on US TV... (just look at UK Office vs US Office for a clear example).

I agree on Dexter totally, though I'd only want to see it get one (two at the most extreme) more season... even though I love the show.

The thing about Supernatural is that the current storyline wont be dragged out for the sixth season, it will finish at the end of the fifth season, with the sixth season being an entirely new storyline. This is the best situation for the viewers because an excellent story gets the ending it needs at the time it was supposed to, and the TV Execs are kept happy because they get to milk the show afterwards (and the viewers can safely ignore the new material if turns out to be crap because they were given closure of the original story which caught their attention in the first place).

steve_r

it's a hard one allright,

IMO, shows that maintained their quality and didn't get cancelled:

- Life on Mars - Solid Drama with some great perfomances. I haven't seen Ashes to Ashes, I'm counting that as a seperate show

- Californication - makes me laugh, not cancelled yet.

- South Park - The style has changed, it's still as popular as ever though.

pickarooney

donfers wrote: »

Has anybody said alias?

As a perfect example of a shw that went on two, if not three years too long? Good call

Richard Dower

Smallville?...... (j/k)

fitz0

steve_r wrote: »

it's a hard one allright,

IMO, shows that maintained their quality and didn't get cancelled:

- South Park - The style has changed, it's still as popular as ever though.

Negative. South Park has turned into a big steaming pile of poo in the last few seasons. I haven't seen the first few seasons but the peak was around S8.

One show that I'm amazed nobody has mentioned is the Simpsons. It should have bee euthanized at season 14 or even before that.

Not to forget Band of Brothers. It was excellently paced and never felt like a drag.

Aidric

In terms of consistent excellence across just about every facet of drama programming nothing has topped The Sopranos imo. It was for me a weekly event, which very few programmes achieve. It hasn't waned on repeat viewing either and will stand the test of time as one of the all time greats.
Mad Men, which I'm a huge fan of has put two outstanding series out. The third has however dipped a little in quality particularly in the area of character development. Season 4 is confirmed and may see a return to the highs of the first two hopefully.