Grey’s Anatomy was probably the first show to come to mind when you read this headline, and for good reason. The show went majorly downhill after season five, when a whole new cast was brought in and fan favorites were phased out, but it REALLY should’ve died with McDreamy in season 11.
Nonetheless, the show just finished its 16th season, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Although HIMYM is entertaining the whole way through, its last season was a major slap in the face to long-time fans.
Not only did the entire final season revolve around Barney and Robin’s wedding (which was pointless, because they didn’t even end up together), but the “twist” at the end made it seem like the entire show was Ted justifying ending up with “Aunt Robin” in the end to his children. No thanks.
Although I personally never want KUWTK to end, 20 seasons in 14 years is a bit much. Not to mention they’ve had a billion spinoffs, which recently reached a new low with The Life of Kylie. E! is going to have a hard time finding something to fill the void.
No matter how much people love to hate the Kardashian-Jenner family, it was the most popular show on the network.
E.R. introduced us to George Clooney, so we are eternally grateful.
But 15 seasons proved to be a bit too long, and not even John Stamos could save it in the end.
Glee really should’ve ended when most of the main cast graduated high school. But instead, they tried to keep the show going by introducing new characters and forcing the old characters to stick around town (or come back later after failing at chasing their dreams).
But at least in later seasons we were introduced to Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist, who would later go on to become the Flash and Supergirl, respectively.
Not only did American Idol run way, way too long (name more than 5 winners without googling it, I dare you), but now it’s back. With Katy Perry as a judge, no less.
Come to think of it, they’ve probably had even more judges than they have seasons.
Full House dominated TV in the early 90s and gained even more popularity when it was syndicated later. But each episode followed an extremely predictable, formulaic pattern: one of the three daughters struggled, went to their uncles for advice, and a cheesy speech ensued (always immediately followed by a round of hugs).
The show’s recent reboot, Fuller House, is three seasons in and still embarrassingly popular.
How did this series last this long? It was great at first, but it started to become extremely repetitive. Even many of the strongest fans got bored and moved on.
Occasionally, The Walking Dead would add something new that drew people back, but they realized nothing had really changed. After season 10, it was finally announced that the show was coming to an end after season 11. It was certainly a long run.
I’ll probably get some hate mail for including Supernatural on this list, but the show’s been on the air for 2005, making it the longest-running North American science fiction series.
The show was originally supposed to end after season five, but it was so popular that it just kept going...and going...and going.
South Park is 23 seasons in and still going strong.
It’s still currently one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated TV shows, has a handful of Emmy Awards, and has been renewed through 26 seasons.
The first five seasons of Community were critically acclaimed, and fans were shocked when the series was cancelled. It was brought back for a series of webisodes and an eventual sixth season later, which were not as warmly received.
There’s been talk of a Community movie, but nothing has been officially announced.
Murder, She Wrote didn’t even end after its 12-season run—there were also four TV movies released between 1997 and 2003. The show suffered during its last season, as CBS moved it from its Sunday night time slot to Thursday.
Angela Lansbury has expressed interest in reprising the role of Jessica Fletcher, but nothing is currently in the works.
Six seasons may not seem like a long time, but if you’ve ever seen an episode of 2 Broke Girls, it feels like an eternity. Critics hated the show because it relied heavily on raunchy and racially insensitive jokes.
I hated it because of the obnoxious way the two main characters delivered their lines; they’d over-deliver in loud, theater-like voices and then smirk, anticipating a laugh they didn’t deserve.
Charlie Sheen had a public meltdown in 2011, and his contract was terminated during the show’s eighth season. Sheen went to rehab and Ashton Kutcher was brought in to replace him.
The show lasted another four seasons, although the show really should’ve ended when Sheen left (and preferably before Jake went through puberty…).
Like Full House, 7th Heaven was an obnoxiously warm, fuzzy-feeling family show that lasted way too long.
How many life lessons could the Camden kids possibly need to learn?
Thirty-five seasons is...a lot. The show premiered to 28.30 million viewers in 2000, and season 34 brought in less than half that with 10.32.
That being said, that’s still a few million more viewers than some of the shows on this list ended with. So it’s safe to say this one will be around a while longer.
Desperate Housewives won a slew of Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG awards, and surpassed Charmed as the longest-running hour-long TV series featuring all-female leads.
But despite its critical acclaim, most fans pinpoint the downfall of the show to season 5, when the show leaped forward five years.
Although The Vampire Diaries dominated The CW during its eight-year run and resulted in a successful spinoff, The Originals, it suffered throughout its final season after Nina Dobrev’s season seven exit.
At the time of its cancellation in 2010, Law & Order was the longest-running crime drama on American primetime TV with 20 seasons. There are now a ton of spinoffs, including Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Los Angeles, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
Married...With Children featured America’s favorite dysfunctional family and introduced the world to Katey Sagal and Christina Applegate, but the crude humor the show centered around could only take it so far—although there’s been recent talk of a potential reboot or reunion.
Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace both left the hit comedy after season 7, so the show tried to find a new main character in Josh Meyers to combine the looks of Kutcher and the wit of Grace—and failed on both accounts. The show only lasted one more season, and it’s honestly difficult to watch.
The Facts of Life was one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 80s and even spawned three movie specials. The show went through some major cast shakeups during season 8, and although the show there were plans to renew for season 10, Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon chose to leave. So unlike the other shows on this list, Facts of Life decided to call it quits when two of their leads left.
Along with the announcement of a season 7 for OUAT, came the departure of the majority of the series’ main cast, including Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jared S. Gilmore, Emillie de Ravin, and Rebecca Mader. Season 7 is a complete reboot of the series, with new versions of the fairy tales already told—so many fans think the show should have ended with the season 6 finale, which featured the characters getting a “happy beginning” instead of a “happy ending.”
Although Charmed is a cult classic and there are even talks of a reboot, most fans of the show are in agreement that the show took a more campy direction after Prue’s death in the season 3 finale. Things got even worse during the show’s final season, when Kaley Cuoco was added into the mix.
With the number of parents who hate Spongebob Squarepants, it’s amazing that it’s still on the air. The show began in 1999 and just ended after its 12th season. It’s also had two feature films.
A reboot was just announced for Roseanne—let’s just hope they correct the damage they did with that stupid lottery plot in season 9.
Yet another example of a show making the terrible decision to continue on after the main character exits. David Duchovny left after season 7, and most fans feel that’s when the show should’ve ended.
Although six seasons is on the shorter side of this list, Lost ran out of magical steam pretty quickly. And the way the series ended really messed fans up. It’s probably still one of the most confusing series finales of all time.
(image via Instagram)
Although the show’s two main characters had amazing chemistry, Bones’ entertainment value stops there. The show was good...just not good enough to last 12 seasons.
The Big Bang Theory is currently still one of the most-watched TV shows out right now, and finally came to an end with season 12. Some fans have complained about the later seasons, especially since science seems to be taking a backseat to romance.
