I watch too much TV. I’d like to think I have a pretty good idea of whether what I’m watching is good or not. I’ve compiled a list of only 6 TV shows that aired far longer than they should have. If the greedy executives behind the show cared more about quality and less about money, they should have seen this too. I should point out that in some of these examples, I quit watching when I deemed that the show got stupid.
Dexter
What can I say except that Dexter ended the series as a lumberjack faking his own death. In the same episode he secretly concealed Deb out of the hospital and gave her a bizarre burial at sea. These were only the icing on the cake because the show should have ended when Dexter killed John Lithgow seasons ago. The villains in the last few seasons were corny and the show was weakening without dynamic murderers. The premise behind a serial killer murdering bad people while being on the police force was cool… for a period of time. Once you stretch that past 4 seasons with ridiculous plot twists, you get tired and that’s exactly what happened.
Californication
I stumbled upon this show and a 9th? seasons started last Monday night. I was surprised it was still going. Hank Moody is a great character and his fucked up family life and womanizing ways was intriguing. The dialogue is generally hilarious and at one point I thought this was one of the best shows on television. I stopped watching after the season with RZA from Wu-Tang. The show kept having to one up itself and that’s not good. Realistic television is the best television and once you bypass that point, you need to quit. The current season has Hank fathering an unknown child. No thanks. Runkle is still great.
The Walking Dead
I couldn’t watch the current season of the Walking Dead. I actually started it and got pissed off that Carl was trying to be a badass and the Daryl – hot blonde girl episode was the worst I’ve ever seen. During the jail season, I knew what I was watching was getting stupider. The governor wasn’t bad by any means but he wasn’t as good as season 1 when you actually were anticipating what was going to happen next. It’s bizarre to think that a show could be so compelling in its first season and go downhill from there. However, with the idea of surviving a zombie apocalypse, this runs its course after 2 seasons.
The Simpsons
I haven’t watched a new Simpsons episode in 10 years. I can’t believe it’s still going. The glory days of the Simpsons were incredible. I remember buying the episode guide and reading up on every single episode and loving every bit of it. Maybe I was younger then but it feels like the show just stopped being funny. It was too much of a good thing. Why continue this series? The ideas have to keep getting zanier and creatores have to keep coming up with jokes that are just being recycled. Family Guy is hitting this phase as well.
True Blood
Haven’t watched True Blood in many seasons. This was an interesting show when the Bill and Sookie romance was hitting its peak and there were only vampires. Once the werewolves and pixies and lord knows what else hit, the show became diluted and dumb. Jason Stackhouse was a quality actor though for the first few series.
Weeds
Never watched the finale. This is one of the best examples of a show that needed to quit while it was ahead. The first couple seasons were awesome. I remember not being able to wait to watch the next episode. The idea of a pot dealer was fresh because this show was on Showtime and they could do things network TV couldn’t. Once the hole to Mexico got involved and the family kept moving around, I lost interest. I think this show jumped the shark when Shane clubbed the woman over the head with a mallet.
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