10 TV Shows That Should Have Quit While They Were Ahead

There’s plenty of Television shows that get too so repetitive and boring after a couple of seasons that they should have been canceled but fans kept tuning in so the networks kept the show going. Here are 10 shows that The Vine think should have been quit while they were ahead.

10. Friends (10 seasons)

By the end this was less a sitcom than it was a really long, drawn out, torturous partner-swap party.

09. Dawson’s Creek (6 seasons)

A major sufferer of “Graduation Syndrome”, when the protagonists of Dawson’s Creek split up and went to college, they kept the show going for another two full 20-something episode seasons. This despite the fact that there was no longer a Creek for them all to hang out at, and even the Dawson part becoming increasingly misleading as every character had a completely independent life. Oh and in the final episode they kill off Jen. HOT PATHOS INJECTION.

08. Saved by the Bell (5 seasons + telemovies)

Well, less specifically Saved by the Bell – although the use of a mystery girl named Tori to pad out the absence of two main characters for half of the final season was telling – and more specifically Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Which was, in the end, only one year. But did lead to a telemovie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, so the writers evidently still had plenty of episode ideas kicking about.

07. Survivor (23 seasons)

I guess there’s legitimate argument as to whether this was ever “good” per se, but I mean, really? 23 goddamn seasons? And that’s for America alone! Maybe, just maybe the concept has worn out its welcome. Also, four of those have now been shot in Samoa, a country which, with a total area of around 2800 km2 – i.e. roughly a third the size of Melbourne – has got to be running out of threatening environs.

06. 24 (8 seasons)

Oh my God! There’s only 24 hours to save the Senator! Oh my God! There’s only 24 hours to avert nuclear war! Oh my God! There’s only 24 hours to stop Mexican drug lords from releasing a deadly virus in America! Oh my God! There’s only 24 hours to… something… Oh my God! There’s only 24 hours to come up with a new premise!

05. Family Matters (9 seasons)

I used to really like Family Matters, but I guess I just grew out of it. Also, I think they may have stopped airing it here. Which is a shame, because that means we didn’t get to see it turn from warm-hearted family sitcom into sci-fi themed buddy comedy starring Urkel and Carl.

04. The Simpsons (22 seasons)

Whose inclusion is ironic considering they produced an entire episode mocking stagnant shows grasping frantically for new ideas all the way back in season 8 AKA when I was 12.

03. The Brady Bunch (5 seasons)

Perhaps the second most infamous example of a TV show “jumping the shark”, the introduction of nine year old cousin Oliver into a family environment that could already have been described as “overloaded” was pretty much the equivalent of literally introducing the character of Death into the show. As in, the show died six episodes later. See also The Cosby Show introducing ‘Olivia’.

02. Baywatch Nights (2 seasons)

So, Baywatch had a pretty good run. It was even a little bit zeitgeist there for a while and launched/stalled the careers of numerous stars. But as with all good things, its time had passed and it quietly swam off into deeper waters. Well, you try telling that to David Hasselhoff! Witness Baywatch Nights, a spin-off that took certain of the Baywatch characters and had them setting up a detective agency and solving paranormal mysteries on the beach. Episode themes included thawed out vikings and surfing aliens. It somehow lasted two seasons.

01. Happy Days (11 seasons)

Well, here it is. The show that actually birthed the phrase “jumping the shark”. Which occurred in season 5, as Fonzie water-skied over a cage containing a shark. Shortly thereafter they introduced Fonzie’s cousin Chachi, which led to that other famous phrase “inserting the Chachi”. The show lasted six more seasons, four of them without Richie Cunningham, the main character, which is truly admirable.

I would add The Office and Will & Grace to this list but I agree completely with them all. What shows do you think belong on this list?