TV shows that hung around a year too long

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by DaleClark, Jun 9, 2018.

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  1. The final season of The Rockford Files is tough to judge--there were only 12 episodes because Garner had to withdraw from shooting due to the pain he was in from performing his own stunts. It was cancelled mid-season.
     
  2. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    I always well up when I see this, and I've seen it many times.
     
  3. I think that the seventh season was a holding operation. Plenty of quality episodes but the show had matured and, I personally feel, seasons three to six were the best seasons.
     
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

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    What does that mean? Sounds cryptic to me.
     
  5. Benno123

    Benno123 Forum Resident

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    Ohio
    The Dick Van Dyke Show did it correctly: leave ‘em wanting more while you’re still ahead in quality. Ditto The Mary Tyler Moore Show. MTM feels like they could have gone on one more year but by the time of the final few episodes it’s apparent they’re wrapping up the series with episodes built around each character, going a bit crazier in premise, etc. and just having a bit fun with everything.

    I always thought that the move to Connecticut would have allowed I Love Lucy to go one more season in the half hour format, but some of the hour shows that followed, like “Lucy’s Summer Vacation” and a few others, happen to be the direction the series would have gone then 6 seasons were enough.

    I sometimes think Seinfeld went on a year too long but then we would have never had Festivus so I then change my mind ... :D
     
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  6. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

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    Northern Exposure

    As soon as they replaced Dr. Fleishman with...that other guy...it was over.
     
  7. James Slattery

    James Slattery Forum Resident

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    Long Island
    You're thinking of Sanford, which was the revival series of the show that came on around 3 years later. Lamont wasn't in the series but he was there for the full run of Sanford and Son.
     
  8. James Slattery

    James Slattery Forum Resident

    Location:
    Long Island
    I maintain that the ideal run for all series is 3 to 5 years and anything beyond that is inevitably of lesser quality. There are a lot of shows which have horrendous final seasons. Among them:

    Chico and the Man after Freddie Prinze killed himself
    Welcome Back Kotter, with little or no Gabriel Kaplan and John Travolta
    Route 66, more comedic episodes than dramas
    The Untouchables. Bowing to pressure to limit the violence as well as go easy on the Italian mobsters, the last season had Ness doing more talking than shooting and the only villain with a vowel at the end of his name was Joe Vodka!
    The Real McCoys with no Kathleen Nolan and Richard Crenna a widower
    Laverne and Shirley, with no Shirley
    77 Sunset Strip. Not a great show to begin with but the whole cast was dropped except Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and turned into a different show
    Burke's Law - The police commissioner becomes a secret agent!

    Lots more but those are the ones that come first to mind.
     
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  9. Gethan Wall

    Gethan Wall Agent Provocateur

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    Spot on!
     
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  10. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

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  11. Gethan Wall

    Gethan Wall Agent Provocateur

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    Re: The Killing, are you talking about the Swedish original or the US remake?
     
  12. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

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    Coach
     
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  13. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

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    I guess I should've mentioned that. I guess subconsciously, I assumed most people would be discussing US TV shows. It's the US version I was referring to ; not the Swedish version.
     
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  14. rockerreds

    rockerreds Senior Member

    Empty Nest
     
  15. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

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    The Sopranos. The last season was/is my least favorite. The gay gangster story line was the worst.
     
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  16. Gethan Wall

    Gethan Wall Agent Provocateur

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    Ah ok. Cheers for clearing it up.
     
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  17. Isaac K.

    Isaac K. Forum Resident

    It was sad about Phil, but there was still much to love about their final season.
     
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  18. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

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    imo as soon as all 3 couples were attached, it took a nose dive, theres a reason Cheers kept with the 'will they or wont they' season after season
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
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  19. MonkeyLizard

    MonkeyLizard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    The last 2 seasons of Seinfeld (the ones without Larry David's involvement) are utterly painful to watch.
    I'm a huge fan of the show and I actually have fond memories of many of those later bits, but rewatching the series on DVD recently I found those last seasons completely unwatchable.
     
  20. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I have to agree. I just found out recently that the MASH 2 hour finale was actually filmed before the 2nd to last episode. Made things weird, in my mind, watching the finalie again 35 years later.
     
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  21. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    It’s probably hard for a cast, writers, etc to turn down the money when the network wants to squeeze another year. I cannot remember the actor, but he said he decided to do one final year because he thought about the crew, co stars, etc and their families. The actor stated that giving a year notice seemed like the right thing to do. It may have been Michael Landon. Not sure. People always think about the top stars of a series. However, more times than not, the lesser known actors are really not heard from again.
     
  22. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    I disagree about the Office. For me, the only true misfires came in Carrell’s last season, with the cringeworthy bit with the candles (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers but if you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean) and the parade of grotesques in the finale (excepting James Spader). I actually felt it was picking up in the final two seasons, though I’d agree that the moment in the series finale was a definite highpoint.
     
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  23. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    Though the final season of the Danish version is several orders of magnitude worse than the US one.
     
  24. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Community.
     
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  25. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

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    "The Untouchables". The first two seasons were great, the third, not so much, IMO.
     
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