Is there anything worse than one of your favorite TV shows getting canceled prematurely? Yes there is! We’re here to talk about a fate way worse, and that’s when your favorite show keeps putting out new episodes despite the fact that it’s clearly run its course. Listen, we know that it’s hard to let go, but sometimes it’s better to end on top. That’s exactly whatJerry Seinfelddid when he decided to stopSeinfeldat the height of its popularity, and he’s not wrong. It’s always better to have your audience begging for more than it is to have them begging you to stop tainting the legacy of your favorite show. We’re here to weigh in with a ranked list of shows that would have been better off if they ended sooner!
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11Game of Thrones
We’re going to go easy onGame of Thrones, because we know that their fans are loyal and unwavering. And maybe we’re wrong to say that the show should have ended sooner. The biggest problem with howGame of Thronesended was that it felt rushed. There were too many complex storylines that were not resolved in satisfying ways, and a lot of fans felt that the ending was anticlimactic. We felt thatGame of Thronesbelongs in the rankings because many people felt that the series should have ended differently, and that season eight was mostly disappointing.
10The Office
Many die-hard fans ofThe Officeexpress the sentiment that the series should have ended after season seven, when Steve Carell departed from the show. We’re inclined to agree with these fans because Michael Scott was such a strong character. Shows are never the same when a main character moves onto something else, and writers were forced to move the show in a different direction to keep the show going. While many are happy with the finale ofThe Office, wrapping things up a little sooner would have been better for the entire run.
9Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Blackhad an amazing run, but sometimes there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. The series reached amazing heights in its fifth season, with the prison riot plot line, and the cliffhanger left us at the edge of our seats. To many, the death of Pouseey at the end of season four leading up to the events that took place in season five were the climax of the series. Ending on season seven gave fans much-needed resolutions, but it’s the uncertainty in season five that truly captured the drama that is life in prison. An extended epilogue could have wrapped up after season five, and leaving things a little more open-ended would have benefited the series.
8How I Met Your Mother
The frustrating part aboutHow I Met Your Motheris that Ted ends up with Robin, after all is said and done. It took nine seasons to get there, and it feels like Tracy (the mother) was robbed. There was so much buildup to when we finallymet their mother, that it felt weird to most of us when Ted ends up standing outside Robin’s window with the blue French horn at the end of the series. While we suspected all along that this would be the case, it just didn’t play out satisfyingly.
7The Walking Dead
We don’t think we’re alone when we say thatThe Walking Deadshould have ended withGlenn’s death. Many point out that this is the departure point for the series, and when the quality started to decline. Despite the drop in quality after season seven, the series went on for four more seasons, and the Negan plot line was starting to get tired. However, purists disagree with this sentiment, as Glenn’s death in theWalking Deadcomics was too important to the story line. In other words, Glennhadto die. It just didn’t go over well with viewers.
Frasierhad an amazing run, but we’d be lying if we said that season 11 didn’t get weird. While there were many standalone episodes likeHigh Holidays,andFreudian Sleep, the season wasn’t consistent like the 10 that preceded it. Many fans point out that most of the season’s long story arcs were resolved with season 10, and for many, it felt like theFrasiercrew was just trying to run out the clock until the series finale. While season 11 was overall pretty solid, there was a dip in quality, as it seemed the show had already run its course.
5The Simpsons
It’s no mystery thatThe Simpsonsare long past theirgolden eraof the ’90s. But when you’re holding the record for longest-running animated series, are you going to stop anytime soon? Many think the show should have ended with seasons 11 or 12, but decades later, new episodes arestill coming out. Now that we’re living in the age of reboots, we wonder if the show would have been better served by ending its run in the 90s, and then coming back for another run. While many say the show has improved with some of its most recent seasons, even the diehards admit that there are a lot of canonical clunkers at this point.
Dextermay go down in history as having one of the most hated endings of all time, and it’s for good reason. As much as we hate to see an anti-hero get what they deserve, a fall from grace is often what does them in. We’ve seen this withOzarkandBreaking Bad; they didn’t have pretty endings, but they made sense.Dexterdid a disservice to its fans when Dexter got off scott-free after faking his own death. As much as we loved following the psychotic story arc, it didn’t seem authentic, and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
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Season nine ofScrubsis technically a spinoff, but it lacked the magic that season eight had. To many fans, season eight was the perfect bookend to the medical comedy-drama, and the series should have ended there. But here’s where it gets tricky. Season nine, if treated like a spinoff, isn’t all that bad. However, many fans feel that if you keep it canonical, that a lot of character development from the first eight seasons is undone, and ruins the series. You might want to see for yourself, but don’t say that we didn’t warn you.
2Law & Order: SVU
If you said thatLaw & Order: SVUtook a nosedive after Elliot Stabler said “so long” to the series, literally nobody would argue with you. But listen, long-running soap-operas are like this… characters come and go. We still haveBensonand Tutuola, right? But good things come to those who wait, because, as time has shown us, we got Stabler back in the form of a spinoff. WhileLaw & Order: Organized Crimeis rising in popularity, the best part about the Dick Wolf universe is that there will be many crossover episodes, and that chemistry we missed so much in Stabler’s absence is starting to show itself again.
