My vote is for Boston Legal. I enjoyed the Practice, but even that show knew when to hang it up. The fact they spun this waste of a show from the Practice irks me, even more because James Spader steals acting awards from some of my favorite show-headers. And don't get me started on 'Denny Crane. Denny Crane'.

I wholeheartedly agree with ana's comment above

I can't believe you didn't mention the Simpsons. That's past its prime by over a decade now.

Ok Chris, them's fighting words about Boston Legal. I'm still said that it ended this past Monday.

Full House, anyone? Really any sitcom where they have to keep having people have babies to hook in the cutness factor.
Hopefully Two and a Half Mena dn the New Adventures of Old Christine will be eligible for this list shortly...

One Tree Hill. Enough said.

Man, I remember being so angry that '7th Heaven' was renewed (after it had already been cancelled) but my beloved 'Everwood' couldn't catch a break. Although honestly - and this list backs me up, I think - most shows really shouldn't go past four or five seasons anyway, so maybe it's a good thing it ended when it did. The memory wasn't tainted at all.

It pains me, but I must add BTVS. Or at least the final half or so of the final season. Stop speechifying, Buffy! Stop! Speechifying!

That 70s Show, anyone? It seemed like they wanted that show on long enough for Mila Kunis to date every single cast member, up to and including Red. ER - great choice. In my mind, the series ends right as the helicopter is about to land on Romano. He suddenly snaps out of it and realizes he's having a serious panic attach, walks back into County General, resigns and goes off to start a private practice. The end.

I see your That 70s Show and raise you a Grey's Anatomy. You can't really go back from having sex with a dead man.

I agree Alex...Grey's Anatomy has gone downhill since they brought dead Denny into the mix. Puhlease!

I second EmperorSeth...the Simpsons both sucks and blows, and has for quite a few years now. Pity.

Vegas, Smallville, That 70s Show should have ended with Topher Grace leaving. How is Numb3rs still on?

Maybe its because I was the same age as the Dawson's Creek characters, but that show should have left highschool when I did - and not followed me to college. Awful, awful, awful

Anybody for Monk? granted, Tony Shalhoub is quirky and funny, but there's a whole list of bad kids' movies he's missing by continuing on this show. I think it would leave a huge hole in USA's programming, though.

Will & Grace should have ended when the original writers left. After that, all of the characters lost any brains or common sense. Everybody was dumbed down. Will became shrill & annoying. Any plotline involving a baby was a horrible idea & don't even get me started on the finale...

I second your Buffy love/angst. As much as it would have pained me to see the show end after season 5, and as much as I loved the musical, it's true that the second half of season 6 and all of season 7 were a sorry mess.

You guys are wrong on Friends, the West Wing, and Frasier

The Gilmore Girls should never have gone on after Amy Sherman-Palladino left. Unwatchable.

I agree with ending BTVS after Season 6 musical. They could have found a way.

ITA about Smallville, ER, and That 70s Show. End when your main character (or every original cast member)leaves, damnit!

I second the vote for Scrubs. I enjoy it and all, but really, enough is enough. Quirky can only last for so many seasons.

Each and every version of Law & Order. Dum, dum.

Adding my vote to "Scrubs" and "That 70s Show". The early seasons of the latter are pure gold, but the quality started to slide marginally in the later seasons and then, once topher left and they decided to continue...the hell? With Topher 2.0 (blech) and Jackie breaking up with Hyde and going back to Michael then Fez, and Kelso getting a girl pregnant, it was all so convoluted.

And while I'm still loyal to "Scrubs" and am happy to see another season of it, the will they won't they with Eliot and J.D. is just getting old (I really only tune in for the supporting characters and snappy dialogue now). But I heard a rumour that Zach Braff is planning on leaving at the end of the last season, but the creators are pushing for at least one more, J.D. less season. WHY!!! J.D. is the heart of that show. Just bow out gracerfully people.

My favorite show: Babylon 5.
They knew it was canceled part-way through season 4 and so the writer/creator sped up the plot lines and resolved the whole 5-year arc in 4 seasons.
Then it got renewed for a 5th season. Which was a lousy season. I own all of the DVDs and I never re-watch season 5. Writer/director J. Michael Straczynski admits it and has a good excuse - his detailed outlines for the first several episodes got tossed out when he was at a hotel for a convention, and he had to scramble like mad to get scripts in the hopper for filming.

The Simpsons should DEFINITELY be on this list, but yet it still seems to be on.

As soon as I read the title, Alias jumps to mind. Seasons 1 and 2 were brilliant, 3 and 4 were decent. I actually have edited the last episode of Season 4 to give it more finality and pretend there was no Season 5.

Thank you for mentioning 7th Heaven...I stupidly watched the final season and it was terrible! It should've never happened.

Agree about Friends. I loved it, but the ninth and tenth seasons had maybe four good jokes between the two.

Prison Break should have been over after season two. I was going to stop watching when Sara was decapitated but for some reason couldn't...then I was going to stop watching when they brought her back to life, but I still couldn't...then I was going to stop after the slutty schoolgirl nonsense, and yet I'm still watching...I wonder what this says about me?

not to mention that in the last two seasons every episode had a special celebrity guest star. i guess they figured that if they couldn't turn out a good storyline or any good jokes, guest stars would bring in the ratings. seriously, shame on all of the writers and producers.

Wow, considering how much BUFFY love there is on the 'net(especially on sites like this), I'm surprised to see it mentioned so often. Of course, it's true that it went on too long, but still. Anyway, the king of shows that hung on too long is ER, and it's almost torturous to think about considering ER used to be my all-time favorite. The fact that it's STILL ON, about 6-7 years after it should've ended, has pretty much ruined it's legacy, certainly my view of it. Is there any cast member from before season 10 that's still there? Didn't anyone at NBC find the idea of Uncle Jessie headlining a once-great DRAMA series an obvious warning sign?! He was on f---in' FULL HOUSE for God's sake!

For another oldie I would like to add family matters. I loved Urkel but the Stephan crap was too much.

It pains me to say it, but House just isn't great any more. The formula is stale, and the supporting cast just does nothing for me, with the exception of Cuddy and Wilson. I love the medical mysteries and Hugh Laurie, but I no longer love the show.




The other show I love but think should end is Scrubs. I honestly don't like JD that much (mostly because Zach Braff bugs the hell out of me), but if they took him out of the show it just wouldn't work. There are only so many his/her/their stories they can do (although I assume they'll cast JD v.2 instead). Also, I wish everyone would quit having babies. I think the series would have done well to have ended the way it was supposed to pre-strike.

On the suject of Buffy...I loved Season 6. I was going through an emotionally devestating time when it aired. Watching Buffy's struggles that season felt oddly familiar. Yes, it was a rather depressing season, but it got me through a depressing year. But Season 7 was a mess, so if they had tied up the exisiting stories better at the end of 6, it would have been a better end.

I think all the "reality" TV have been on for too long, especially Survivor and American Idol. How many times can a show do the same thing over and over? Just end the entire "reality" TV genre.

One Tree Hill - how they ever canceled Gilmore Girls and left that dreck on baffles me.

Quantum Leap - brilliant, quirky, and funny the first few seasons, then it not only jumped the shark, but the entire aquarium when they started having him leap into famous and infamous historical figures (Lee Harvey Oswald, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe) and when they brought in the Evil Leaper.

Um, HEROES, that should have been left for the comic books after season one.

Meant to say, a 9th season WITHOUT Clrak Kent is a bad idea (doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the show?), unless you make it a spin-off about Chloe, ace reporter. That I can get behind.

You need to add 3 more shows. Charmed,Angel and Scrubs.

ALIAS Season 5 was a big pile of shit. The season was terrible and the finale was so disappointing.

About Buffy, season 6 is depressing, but has a lot of qualities (and I'm not talking exclusively about the musical). Season 6 was about the characters going wrong and messing up. Entertaining premise? Maybe not. Interesting? Yes! Was it a risky idea? Yes. Did it come with flaws? Yes ("magic = drugs" I'm looking at you). But the writers also scored. Maybe you can relate more to the storylines if you have gone depressed (like Buffy) or took a while to grow up (like Xander).

So they screwed their characters in season 6. They needed a season 7 to fix them, bring them back to the place where we loved them. And they failed. The seven first episodes were mostly entertaining and the characters were funny and likable again. But from "Sleeper" on, the season was a mess. I was glad that the finale was good, though.

So I don't think Buffy should have ended at season 5. Season 6, while flawed, has its strengths. What I wish is that season 7 had been happier and watchable.

Buffy definitely went on way too long. I hated pretty much all the post-high school additions (Dawn the most), but I would have been OK with it ending when Buffy died. The UPN seasons were atrocious, and the ending was unsatisfying.

I'm one of the people who gave actual money to keep Veronica Mars on the air, and lived to regret that decision. I wish that one ended after 2 seasons.

And yeah, Charmed had some pretty miserable 6th & 7th season eps, and the 8th season was useless, but the last two episodes were great -- the perfect ending for the series, which I don't think they could have pulled off any earlier. So though it seemed to drag on & on at the time, in retrospect, Forever Charmed kind of made up for it. It was never a great show, like Buffy or VM, but at its best, it was light, mindless fun, so it gets a bit of a pass for going on as long as it did.

Tom L, I think Everwood ended at exactly the right moment. And maybe Six Feet Under. But those are the only two that come to mind.

ER is the obvious choice here. They dragged it on after the entire original cast left. They dragged it on after their clones left.
The show used to be so great, but they have completely mind raped all good memories I had about this show over the past 6 years. Romano and the chopper, the assification of Carter, the completely over the top political plotlines, ugh.

ITA with all of those. Plus BTVS, Frasier (I never found that show interesting at all), the Simpsons (how many years has it been? Come on get rid of it already), and my very unpopular opinion of family guy!!!!! I find that show occasionally amusing. Mostly though, I find it basically mind numbing. Funny but intensely stupid, IMHO.
One more, Prison Break. It definitely could have ended after season 2. It's still my favourite show, but I am hoping this is it's last year running.

I don't understand this list because if people watch it, it will be ON. We don't have to like it, and it definitely doesn't have to be GOOD, since most TV is total CRAP. Shows that disappointed me after a period of time, which I ceased watching were ER (too many dead babies), Grey's Anatomy (I left when Hahn left, and I will never return), Ally McBeal.

Wow, all of these shows involve a main character having a brain tumor (well, Grey's maybe - we'll have to see what explains Izzy and Dead Denny). Maybe the true moment of shark jumping occurs at the exact moment a script writer says "Brain Tumor".

Desperate Housewives. I watched for the first 2 seasons, and it tanked after that.

I hate to say it, but Lost has gone a bit too far. It feels like they are scrambling after every few episodes to continue the story, making it feel half-assed and last minute. The story never gets finished....and will it ever?

I agree and i think that most of the shows on the list shouldn't be there.

I don't agree with most of the shows that were on the list. Someone said Survivor, that may be right or at least limit it to one a year. And how about Walker Texas Ranger, the final season was not so special. And someone also said Boston Legal, if a show can't go a season without cast changes must be wrong with it. And it pains me to say this what about Hill Street Blues after the original Sergeant died, the show just didn't seem the same, and also the loss of Steven Bochco may have been a factor. And MASH, I mean how they were able to stretch a three year was into 11 seasons is beyond me. And how about Charlie's Angels, after Kate Jackson left the show was going downhill, it should have ended after they tried it with Shelly Hack but they tried it with Tanya Roberts still. And Love Boat, after the original Cruise Director left things were not the same. Simon & Simon is another, after Tim Reid left they should have called it quits. Dallas after that dream season, it's hard to know what's what. Especially since it's spin-off show Knots Landing was not affected by it.

CSI should have ended years ago, but definitely once Sara & Grissom ended up in bed together.

Well I always thought Friends and Will & Grace sucked, the last few seasons just sucked a lot more. But it really hurts when fantastic shows like Scrubs or Alias become terrible. I didn't even understand the last season of Alias, it was like the writers reached into the bad idea hat and then started typing blindfolded.

Roswell wnet on to long, once they bought the new alien on i was like "uuuuhhhhh no!"
7th heaven once they had the twins....my problem was that ruthie clearly was adopted or something, and she seemed to smart to be raised in the same house with everyone else. I also though that there was something wrong with the twins and that should have been touched on.
BTVS should have been cancelled around the time that they brought dawn on...although i loved buffy and spike.
dawsons creek should have been cancelled when they graduated.
Roseanne, once they once the lottery, was a goner.
oh yeah and felicity should have gone off the air a season sooner
however some shows that i feel like we ripped off on include
my so called life
everwood
boston public

7th Heaven should get some special award because not only did it get nine seasons more than it deserved, it was RESURRECTED like Jesus and dragged out for a bonus season. Remember the episode where the family experiences reverse racism all about how poor white people are so picked on in these modern times? Or the one where the people with no money spend all their food stamps on designer clothing and it was followed by a PSA that this is a problem with welfare? AHH.

Yep. S6 of Gilmore Girls was bad and it definitely should have ended when the Palladinos left. Loved Luke/Lorelai, but the on-again, off-again, on-again and then off-again ad nauseum thing just got old. And don't even get me started on Rory. She turned out to be a much more dead-eyed and shallow girl than I ever thought possible. I blame Logan somehow...

Yes the season that never should have been.

ER - definitely. I've been saying this for years. Once Anthony Edwards left it woulda been time to say goodbye.

Law and Order - enough already. If I hear that dong sound one more time I'm going to go mad.

dunno if its been mentioned yet but desperate housewives. went way downhill after season 2 argh. went from makeing appointments around it to making appointments during it

the real world--should have ended after new orleans. dont even get me started on their casting process now

who's the boss--cant believe that i ever watched it but after they put tony and angela together, forget it

family matters--the switched networks and brought on a new harriet??

smallville--used to be a weekly ritual for me but stopped after the fifth.

charmed--never should have gotten rid of shannen, but they actually managed to make it work with the fourth season. the fifth had its moments but still sucked. the sixth didnt even make sense. the seventh had its moments and the eight was just pathetic

queer as folk--shouldnt have necessarily been cancelled earlier, but the last season just seemed like repeating the same plot points from earlier ones.

weeds--hopefully this one wont make it on to the list next season. it continues to completely change as a show each season, and they do it well. although u-turn couldnt have died soon enough. started as a desperate housewives with pot, now they are mexican drug smugglers. but getting rid of conrad and heylia? big mistake

friends--the season after ross and emily almost marry should have been the last. they destroyed the character of monica and made her the most annoying person on television to watch, and made joey way too stupid (e.g. the french tutorial with phoebe) and how many episodes could they do with ross' physical appearance (his teeth are too white, he got too tan in the spray tan, he is wearing the same blouse as his date)

I agree with the Lee HArvey Oswald episode which was only done because DB had an encounter with Lee Harvey Oswald while he was int eh MArines. However, the Marilyn and Elvis epeisodes were earlier in the series and were brilliant. The evil Leaper needed to just DIAF.

Totally agree with Buffy. Show should have ended when Buffy jumped into that vortex.

A show that ended just right? THE SHIELD. I totally ignored the Glenn Close season, but everything else was excellent. In fact, so much happened during its run that I can't believe it wasn't on longer. On the subject of shows that should have been gone sooner: CHEERS, JUST SHOOT ME, THE DREW CAREY SHOW, practically every sitcom in history. I will not even get started on SCRUBS...

Have to disagree on Friends ... it was actually much better in the final two seasons than it had been the previous three, which redeemed the show. I'd have hated for it to fizzle out when it was at its worst.

You know ER has been on too long when I'd rather watch Noah Wyle in those wretched godawful Librarian films than the show that he left.

I have never been angrier at my television set than while watching the series finale of Alias. So glad the fine actors from this series ended up doing good work on other shows.

Speaking of Ron Rifkin, one show I want to put on warning that (I believe) no one's mentioned: Brothers & Sisters. Season 3 has been better than 2, but whenever they get too involved in the stupid daytime storylines (which brother is the artificial-insemination father of the third brother's kid? sex with a secretary? sex with the girl who you thought was your sister five minutes ago?), they take the focus on the genius of the ensemble cast, and no one wants to see that. I'd rather they end it soon than drag it into territory that puts them on this list.

agree with everything but Friends & Charmed. they are both awesome shows, and both were amazing... though I do wish Charmed had stopped at 7 seasons, the 8th was a bit of a blow, apart from the couple of hot sex scenes hahaha

I would absolutely need to add Seinfeld to this list. Once they started making a tv show inside the tv show...it had gone on too long.

I couldn't agree more.Charmed and FRIENDS are good shows.Charmed ends at exactly the right time it should.And the last two episodes were so great.Like the ending.

Charmed is a good show,please.
I enjoy wacthing every episodes of it. Charmed forever.Instead, you should add Law & Order and One Tree Hill to that list.They suck and keep dragging on and on.

Disagree entirely on West Wing. The show was weak when Sorkin initially left, but the 6th and 7th seasons were actually my favorites.

What? I can't believe that Charmed is on that list!In fact, prison break should be added to that list,it's only worth watching for season 1.

What the hell, Tthe practice while a good show for a while it was populated by pretty people playing scumbags who did whatever they could get murderers off for money then whined about it afterward. While Boston Legal was funny and questioned everthing about the powers that be while that twit Bush was in office at least one tv comedy/drama dared poke fun at him and his ilk and Denny Crane is one of the best tv charcters along with Alan Shore Spader and Shatner both deserved the Emmys they got.

Caome on America wake up and realise that 30rock is a pile of predictable crap with awful acting and worse scripts. Alec Baldwin bbeing funny just cringeworthy and Tracy oh his mad he's angry he's black no he's just unfunny.

Grey's Anatomy never ever as good as everybody claimed it to be not even as good as the most suckfest ER storyline a few good characters i.e Chang and Bailey, Isaiah Washington's character b4 they fired him but none of it makes up for the wettest most pointless twit of a lead charater and the dull will they/won't they with the equally wet dr Mcdreary.

You're kidding right? Season 6 was bad but out of the first 5, seasons 4 and 5 were the best. 24 is a great show.

Well given the two parameters of this list: The (CLEARLY STATED) fact that shows still on the air are not up for discussion and the implied fact that the shows need to be recent enough for people under the age of 25 will know about them, I think it's a pretty damn good list.

If you go back a little further in time, you'll find TONS of shows. Heck, you could pretty much name this list after Happy Days and nobody would even blink an eye.

If you want another one to add to the list, I would say that Home Improvement fits. Any sitcom where the kids grow from cute to annoying teenagers always fits.

To go in a different direction, you could also say pretty much every popular show on The Food Network has lasted at least three seasons too long. Rachael Ray's first three takes on Mac and Cheese were interesting. The last 14? Not so much.

Charmed- It was like eating fairy floss. Sure, you enjoy the first few bites of sugary goodness, but half the way through you realize you've just given yourself diabetes and your legs need cutting off.

BtVS-When you're seeing comparisons between vampire slayage and teen counselling, it's time to go.

X-Files- When the aliens who kidnapped your sister turn out to be the government, then aliens again, then an invisible child protection agency...you wonder if Chris Carter actually reads his old scripts or relies on Fox's episode guides for what happened 5, 7, 8 seasons ago.

Crossing Jordan-not that this show was ever good...and I only ever saw one episode...but that was so painful I was forced to sit in a damp room for 24hrs listening to Pierce Brosnan sing Christmas Carols in order to recover.

Angel-I'm sorry, but yes, it did, and yes, I'm going to a Special Level of Hell.

The Practise. ZZzzzzzzzzz*snort* huh?

Dawson's Creek. Like a traffic accident happening right in front of you, you know you should look away and yet...

So many shows, so little time. Since I'm not allowed to do the ones currently on...I've run out of self-righteous anger. Now if we were to talk about shows that SHOULD be cancelled......

Simpsons is #1 for being past its former glory. I groan at the lame humor. Some shows don't even get one laff! But I still enjoy the Treehouse of Horror shows.

American Idol for sure, friends, all of the Law & Orders, E.R., Survivor, Family Matters & Roseanne once she had her fat little baby!

My vote for shows that stayed past their prime: Roseanne, Family Matters, Full House, ER, According to Jim, Step by Step, and many others which I can not think of right now.
As for some of the other show mentioned, I have enjoyed Buffy, Charmed and Angel, and Smallville. I think that each episode (however, not stellar) lead to a larger part of the journey that each of the characters have had to go on. I still look forward to watching each episode in reruns.

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