Quality TV shows that stayed on way, way too long

[caj]

Mary Tyler Moore was smart when they called it quits while the quality was still high. But some of the most quality shows hang on way, way too long.

Examples:
Modern Family
Friends
Frasier
Dallas
M*A*S*H

[Midvillian1322]

House M.D probaly should have been cut shorter.

[Jackalope89]

Mary Tyler Moore was smart when they called it quits while the quality was still high. But some of the most quality shows hang on way, way too long.

Examples:
Modern Family
Friends
Frasier
Dallas
M*A*S*H

MASH was still going strong when it finally ended though. Besides which, its 11 seasons have been surpassed by multiple series now.

Anyway;
Law and Order SVU (20 years or so now)
Spongebob
Pokemon (at least with the whole keeping Ash 10 thing, after 20 YEARS)

[Jim Kelly]

Shows that I stopped watching well before they actually ended: MASH, GUNSMOKE, L&O: SVU, CHEERS, ALL IN THE FAMILY, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE SIMPSONS.

I watched BONANZA up to the end, but that was a show that should have ended a few seasons earlier. It lasted for 14 seasons, but Dan Blocker died during the 13th season--and the show was just not the same in its final season without Hoss.

GUNSMOKE had twenty seasons--and had started on the radio before that. Matt, Kitty and Doc got older and older.

[j9ac9k]

Happy Days - Ron Howard knew to bail when it had already gotten tired. Then they just kept going...

[Cyke]

I always felt Frasier was consistently strong. Stronger than Friends, at that.

Back on topic:
Big Bang Theory
How I Met Your Mother

[Joker]

Frasier probably went too long, but it was never awful.

Scrubs. After Season 5 it's pretty bad.

The Simpsons? I mean, everyone involved still seems happy to be doing it, and is anyone really offended it's still going? Definitely well past its prime, though.

I don't think MASH went too long. There's not really MASH I dislike.

[Cyke]

Oooh, I'm really curious about how folks feel about Law & Order: SVU in the context of this thread. I can't say I'm a regular watcher, but I've friends from all walks of life who love it, or at least make it a habit to watch.

[Beaddle]

Alias
Will and Grace
Desperate Housewives

[Powerboy]

Shows like Mary Tyler Moore and the Andy Griffith show wisely stopped at the top of their game. I do find it amusing that "Jumping the Shark" refers to an episode of Happy Days that the guy who coined the phrase didn't like but the episode and the season took the show to higher ratings than ever.

The M*A*S*H series finale was the highest rated single television broadcast for a couple of decades and even now only a Super Bowl has beaten it so they ended at the right time.

In addition to Gunsmoke which James Arness used his influence to keep on the air for way too long, Bonanza tried to go on after the loss of Dan Blocker as Hoss and sort of faded away.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer went on two seasons too long. Yes, we got the musical episode and it wasn't so much that it went on too long but that it went in a direction that lost the entire audience it had built up. After the third season, it's ratings started dropping until it's last season equaled it's first as the lowest rated season. Angel also didn't so much go on too long but went in a direction that was badly losing ratings in it's last season.

[Jackalope89]

Oooh, I'm really curious about how folks feel about Law & Order: SVU in the context of this thread. I can't say I'm a regular watcher, but I've friends from all walks of life who love it, or at least make it a habit to watch.

I did for awhile. Even binged the seasons I missed to catch up. And while I certainly agree that the show's message is important, I just feel you can only keep it going as a series, keeping it fresh, for so long.

[AndrewCrossett]

M*A*S*H
The X-Files
Castle
Night Court
How I Met Your Mother (one season too long)
The Simpsons
Bonanza
Friends
Northern Exposure (also one season too long)

[Kirby101]

Lost.
Walking Dead

[Nine Crocodile]

M*A*S*H was probably on for two seasons too long, but the finale was great, so that's easily forgotten.

Same with the last season of Babylon 5. Not great, but out of the control of the creators.

[SpiderClops]

Supernatural.