Blah blah explain what a Long Runner is, you know the drill...
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Long Runners that Have Completed Their Run
More than 10 but less than 20 years:
Started in the 1940s
Television
Started in the 1940's
- Break the Bank (12 years in its original run, 1945-57)
- Strike It Rich (Game Show, June 29, 1947 – January 3, 1958)
Started in the 1950s
Television
- Beat the Clock: Total of 18 years (1950-61, 1969-74, 1979-80, 2002-03).
- Lassie (1954-73)
- Tic-Tac-Dough (originally ran from 1956-59 on NBC, then in syndication from 1978-86 and 1990-91; total of 12 seasons)
Western Animation
- Chilly Willy (produced by Walter Lantz) ran from 1953 to 1972. However, the studio only did an average of three cartoons per year with the character. As a result he only has 50 shorts despite being in production for 19 years.
Radio
- Monitor (NBC Radio weekend show ran just shy of 20 years, from June 1955 to January 1975)
Started in the 1960s
Television
- The Carol Burnett Show (11 years, 1967-78)
- The Doctors (19 years, 1963-82; 5,280 episodes)
- The French Chef, a PBS cooking show starring Julia Child, ran for 10 years from 1963 to 1973. It's still being rerun on cable.
- Hawaii Five-O (1968-80)
- Match Game (18 years—1962-69 on NBC, 1973-82 on CBS and syndication, 1983-84 as The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, 1990-91 on ABC and 1998-99 in syndication)
Started in the 1970s
Television
- All Creatures Great And Small ran on and off from 1978-90.
- Are You Being Served?. Lasted from 1972 to 1985, 13 years.
- Beachcombers (387 episodes from 1972-91; longest dramatic series in Canada)
- Countdown (Australia; 1974-87)
- Dallas (1978-91)
- Definition. Lasted from 1974 to 1989, 15 years.
- Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids . Lasted from 1972 to 1984 in the original format, plus 1984 to 1985 in first-run syndication.
- The Joker's Wild (originally ran from 1972-75 on CBS, followed by syndicated revivals from 1977-86 and 1990-91; total of 13 seasons)
- Knots Landing (14 seasons, Spin-Off of Dallas that outlasted its already long running parent show, 1979-1993)
- M*A*S*H (1972-83; The Korean War only lasted 3 years)
- Pinwheel (13 years, 1977-90. Was Nickelodeon's biggest show at 260 episodes until You Can't Do That on Television dethroned it.)
- Play for Today: Drama anthology series that ran from 1970 to 1984.
- The Pyramid Game Show series: 19 years (27 years worth of episodes due to the overlapping syndicated versions):
- 1973-74, CBS (The $10,000 Pyramid)
- 1974-80, ABC (The $10,000/$20,000 Pyramid)
- 1974-79, syndicated (The $25,000 Pyramid)
- 1981, syndicated (The $50,000 Pyramid)
- 1982-88, CBS (The $25,000 Pyramid; called The New $25,000 Pyramid from November 8, 1982 - January 28, 1985)
- 1985-88, syndicated (The $100,000 Pyramid)
- 1991, syndicated (The $100,000 Pyramid)
- 2002-04, syndicated (Pyramid)
- 2012, GSN (The Pyramid)
- Ryan's Hope (13 years, 1975-89)
Started in the 1980s
Television
- 'Allo 'Allo!. Lasted from 1982 to 1992, a full decade.
- Almost Live!: Sketch comedy on NBC affiliate KING-TV Seattle from 1984-99, best known for launching the TV career of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
- Cheers (11 years, 1984-1995)
- Fifteen to One (British quiz show, 1988-2003)
- Fred Penner's Place (CBC children's show, 1985-97)
- Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (1984-95)
- London's Burning (1986-2002)
- Loving (1983-95)
- Married... with Children (1987-97; longest-running live-action sitcom on FOX)
- Murder, She Wrote (1984-96)
- Murphy Brown (1988-98)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-99; originated on KTMA, then moved to Comedy Central, then Sci Fi Channel)
- Only Fools and Horses initially ran from 1981-1991 (10 years), and continued for another 7 years with annual Christmas specials.
- Red Dwarf (1988-1993; 1997-1999; 2009; 2012, ten seasons including the mini-series Back To Earth)
- Sally Jessy Raphael (ran from 1983-2002; canceled by distributor Studios USA due to the fading popularity of talk shows.)
- Toei Fushigi Comedy Series (1981 - 1993)
- Whose Line Is It Anyway? started out on BBC Radio 4 in 1988, then moved onto Channel 4 the same year, where it lasted for 10 seasons; the show moved to Hollywood in 1998, when it got picked up by ABC. The show was cancelled in 2003 — and by cancelled, we mean it stopped filming new episodes; new episodes continued to air on ABC Family until November 2006. Several years later, the series was uncanceled and made a Channel Hop to The CW, where new episodes began airing in 2013.
- X-Play (1998-2012, originally as Game Spot TV on ZDTV)
Anime And Manga
- Dragon Ball: The (manga started in late 1984, ended in 1995. The Anime started in 1986 and ended in 1997 with Dragon Ball GT. Dragon Ball Z Kai may or may not count as additional seasons. It is still quite alive in terms of people finding ways to try and make money out of it.
Radio
- Finkleman's 45s (CBC radio retro music show; October 5, 1985 -o June 25, 2005)
- '* Frasier ran for 11 seasons between September 16, 1993 and May 13, 2004 for a total of 264 episodes. (Combined with Cheers, this means Kelsey Grammer played Frasier Crane from 1984-2004.)
- All That ran from 1994 to 2005.
- As Time Goes By ran from 1992-2002 with a reunion episode in 2005.
- The Atheist Experience. Started in 1997, still ongoing.
- Bananas in Pyjamas — the "costumed" series debuted in 1991 and ended in 2002, but a an All-CGI Cartoon adaptation beginning in 2011 has made the show one of these.
- Big Brother: The show premiered in the Netherlands in 1999. While the original version has ended, several international versions continue to air and would belong here.
- Blue's Clues (1996-2006)
- Brum (1991-2002, still in syndication in some territories)
- Caillou: (13 years, October 2, 1997-October 3, 2010)
- Cat and Girl, a web comic that has been running since 1999.
- Comedy Central Presents (1998-2011, 14 seasons, over 260 episodes; a show that has about 30 minutes of Stand-Up Comedy by a different comedian each episode)
- The Daily Show (as its anniversary celebration put it, "10 F$!king Years", although current and best-known host Jon Stewart first showed up in 1999; the show debuted in 1996 with host Craig Kilborn)
- Darkbolt (1999-2011) Long manga-style web comic
- Definitely Not the Opera (CBC Radio variety show since 1994, named Brand X 1994-97; hosted by Sook-Yin Lee since 2002)
- The EarthSiege/Starsiege/Tribes series (July 1994-)
- ER (15 years, 1994-2009)
- The Fairly Oddparents (premiered on Oh Yeah! Cartoons in September 1998; the show proper debuted in March 2001 and is still ongoing, with a ninth season being produced for 2013)
- Family Guy (running since January 31, 1999, cancelled in 2000 and 2002, got uncancelled in 2001 and 2005)
- Firan MUX (circa 1997-)
- The Funday Pawpet Show (November 1999-; 466 4-hour episodes as of July 18, 2010)
- Futari Ecchi (1997, still ongoing as of 2012, 15 years), holds the record for the longest running manga with near explicit sex being showcased in every single chapter, in every volume. Something that sounds so bland and lewd has a reason for having more than 50 Volumes published, the series is basically an insightful encyclopedia for sex in manga form, no gratuitous sex scenes for the sake of it, everything being show relates to detailed reseatch on the author's part, something beyond than Plot With Porn.
- Futurama (March 28, 1999-August 10, 2003, March 23, 2008-September 4, 2013 counting the four Made-For-TVMovies)
- Good Eats (debuted July 7, 1999; Food Network's longest-running consecutive original program, with 14 seasons and 249 episodes). Ended in 2011.
- Happy Tree Friends (Web Series running December 24, 1999-present)
- Heartbeat (1992-2010)
- Hi-5 (Started airing in January 1999 and also spawned a very successful American incarnation.)
- Iketeru Futari (1997-2010)
- Inuyasha (although the anime got axed when it was going to overtake the manga, the manga itself ran from 1996-2008; the anime came back and finished the story in 2009-2010. That's 14 years if you count the anime as part of its run as well)
- Iron Chef (started in 1993; between Iron Chef Japan and Iron Chef America, that's nearly (but not quite) two decades in one form or another.)
- JAG (1995-2005)
- Kevin & Kell started in 1995, making it one of the oldest webcomics in existence.
- King of the Hill (13 seasons and survivor of FOX's Sunday Sports Pre-emption Slot, 1997-2010)
- The Late Late Show (since 1995 on CBS; hosted by Tom Snyder {1995-99}, Craig Kilborn {1999-2005}, Craig Ferguson {2005-})
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-; 12 years as of 2010, when it also became the longest-running first-run drama series in primetime, carrying on the mantle of its parent series)*
- Legend Of The Five Rings (1995-present; the longest running CCG after Magic: The Gathering itself)
- The Life of Nob T. Mouse began in December 1996 and is still going.
- MADtv (1995-2009; is considered Saturday Night Live's longest-running rival sketch show, and like SNL had its share of cast changes, writer changes, and executive producer changes)
- Major (15 years; started in 1994 and reached over 700 chapters by the time it finished in 2010)
- Midsomer Murders, which has aired on ITV since 1997 and continued even after the main character left in 2011 (replaced by his cousin).
- The Montel Williams Show (1991-2008)
- Mythbusters (2003-)
- Naruto (first published in 1999 and aired in 2002. Now has 61 volumes, almost 500 episodes, 5 OVA, 1 novel, numerous games, and 9 movies. With more to come.)
- Nevermind The Buzzcocks (first broadcast in 1996. As of latest broadcast season, they now have 227 episodes.)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion's manga has been running since February 1995, but only because of Schedule Slip.
- The Now Show (first broadcast in 1998 and still airing)
- NYPD Blue started in 1993 and ended in 2005 (12 seasons).
- One Piece (started publication in 1997. Over 700 manga chapters in 70+ volumes, more than 600 episodes, twelve movies, and counting.) In 2010, the creator announced that the story had reached its halfway point; if this is true, then the series will run for a total of 26 years. When Eiichiro Oda initially thought up the plot of the series, he planned to end it after 5 years.
- The Oreilly Factor (started in 1996, not going anywhere soon)
- Parlamentet (aired on Swedish television from 1999-2011, though the possibility of further episodes has not been ruled out; by contrast, its parent programme, the BBC's If I Ruled The World, only aired for fourteen episodes in 1998-99)
- Penny Arcade, since 1998.
- The first Pico flash, Pico's School, was made in 1999. Since then, Pico has been kept alive (in a sense) as Newgrounds' Series Mascot by all sorts of Newgrounders to this day. And to think, Pico's School was inspired by Columbine.
- Pokémon (since 1997, 800+ episodes, and 17+ movies (one per year)).
- Police, Camera, Action! (cop documentary, first broadcast in 1994)
90's
- Yu-Gi-Oh! got its start as a manga by Kazuki Takahashi in 1996. In addition to the original manga, the franchise has developed into five other manga series, six anime series (with a seventh scheduled to debut in spring of 2014), one 30-minute animated movie, and two full-length animated movies. (The Collectible Card Game that most of the franchise was based on didn't actually debut until 1999; the anime series that most fans are familiar with was sponsored by Konami, revolving around their version of the card game to ensure their domination of the card game license.)
- WWE's WWE SmackDown, has been airing regularly since April 29, 1999.
- User Friendly has published daily since 1997, with only short hiatus periods lately due to serious losses in the author's family.
- Video And Arcade Top 10 (Canadian kids game show about video games that aired from 1991-2006, and one of the longest running English language Canadian game shows in history)
- The View, ABC daytime talk show, 10-plus years (daily since 1997)
- The Vinyl Café with Stuart Mclean, CBC Radio music-variety show, 15+ years (Summer replacement 1994-97, weekly since 1997)
- Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me has been running since 1998.
- Trinton Chronicles: (1999-2011 as a web original)
- True Life: MTV documentary series, with topics like, "I Have Schizophrenia", "I'm a Staten Island Girl", "I Don't Like My Small Breasts", "I'm Embarrassed of My Mom", and "I'm Living With My Ex" (among others), running since 1998, 15 seasons so far.
- The following Cirque du Soleil troupes:
- Tokyo Friend Park II (Japanese game show, aired nearly every week from April 1994 through March 2011, plus another year prior if you count the original Tokyo Friend Park which aired from October 1992 through September 1993)
- Toonami : Cartoon Network's longest running block at over 11 years, from March 17, 1997 - September 20, 2008. Revived on May 26, 2012.
- Time Team (British series, 19 years 1994-2013)
- Tech Infantry, which started as a fan-made Tabletop RPG expansion pack in the mid-1990s, still has a couple of people writing short stories set in that universe today.
- They Think It's All Over ran from 1995-2006 for 19 full series and two summer specials.
- This American Life has aired nationally since 1996 (beginning locally one year earlier as Your Radio Playhouse), as well as a Showtime TV series from 2007-09.
- Thuis (Belgian soap opera, since 1995)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (May 1, 1999-October 11, 2004/May 6th 2005-present) (Began in 1999, rose in popularity in 2000, widely considered as the most popular cartoon of the decade and rightfully took its place as one of the most successful cartoons of all time. Despite this, it was cancelled in 2004, with the movie set to be the series finale. However, the movie did so well, beyond expectations, that Nickelodeon saw potential in the show, and quickly renewed it for a fourth season. Currently in its 9th Season, and renewed for a 10th.)
- South Park (1997-, 16 seasons, renewed through a 20th)
- Silent Witness (1996-, 13+ seasons)
- Sluggy Freelance has been daily since August 25, 1997.
- Scooby-Doo Direct-to-Video Film Series alone has been going on strong since 1998, releasing a new installment every year, even occasionally fitting two in the same year.
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
- Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)
- Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
- Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
- Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2010)
- Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)
- Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012)
- Big Top Scooby-Doo! (2012)
- Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013)
- Says You! has been running since 1997, and as of 2012 is in its 15th season.
- Saber y Ganar, a Spanish daily quiz show, started on 17th February, 1997. Since October 2011, it runs all seven days a week. It has consistently been the most viewed show in its channel since 2004.
- Road Rules (1995-2007)
- The Red Green Show (1990-2005, 300 episodes and a movie. Could go for almost thirty years if you count the length of time Steve Smith has been playing the Red Green character, having first done it on Smith and Smith in the late 1970s.)
2000's
- The Amazing Race first aired in September 2001.
- American Idol (June 11, 2002-present)
- The Angry Video Game Nerd: began in 2004 and still ongoing with The Movie released in 2014.
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which started in 2001 (2000 if you count the stealth airing of the first episode) and, despite a few title changes, is still going.
- Air Gear by Oh!Great ran for a full decade from 2002 to 2012 and ended with 357 chapters.
- Winx Club (2004 to 2014; the show is currently in its sixth season. It was originally supposed to stop after three seasons and a movie. Then, it was scheduled to stop after a third movie, which is to be released during summer of 2014. Now, a seventh season has been announced.)
- World War II Online, the massive multiplayer war simulator, went to paid subscription on June 6, 2001 and is still going strong.
- The Weakest Link (first broadcast in 2000, around 1,500 episodes in a decade, not including international versions)
- What Not to Wear (2003-2013)
- The following Cirque du Soleil troupes:
- Varekai (2002-2013 tents, 2013- arenas)
- Zumanity (2003-)
- Survivor has been on the air since 2000 and is currently in its 27th season.
- Schlock Mercenary (published daily since June 12, 2000...and not missing a single day)
- Retro Game Master, known as Game Center CX in its native Japan. Has been running since 2003, with the 17th season celebrating the tenth anniversary.
- Questionable Content started on July 31, 2003.
- Radio Dead Air, Nash Bozard's internet radio show, has been running weekly since July 2000. It makes his show the longest running entity connected with Channel Awesome (even if the show was on for about 8 years before he even began making videos in 2009, let alone getting signed on to TGWTG in 2010.)
- Between the Lions (2000-2010)
- The BIONICLE toy-line released its first sets in the Summer of 2001 and its last sets in the winter of 2010, hitting the 10 year mark on the dot.
- Bleach - Youngest of Weekly Shonen Jump's Big three (see Naruto and One Piece below), started 2001 with over 500 chapters.
- Claymore (2001-present, with a 26-episode anime)
- CSI (began in 2000 and still going)
- CSI: Miami (2002-2012)
- Deadliest Catch - 10 seasons (2005-), plus a four-episode miniseries called America's Deadliest Season which served as a pilot in 2004. Still ongoing.
- Degrassi: The Next Generation (running since 2001, now known as Degrassi, over 200 episodes so far; the very first incarnation of it was actually in 1979 with Kids of Degrassi Street)
- Dora the Explorer (2000-)
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Original manga began in 2001 and finished in 2009, has had two anime series the first one of which is approaching its tenth anniversary, 5 OVA's, and 2 movies, one for each respective anime series.
- El Goonish Shive (Started in January of 2002)
- History Detectives (PBS history show, 2003-12; a revamped version is scheduled for 2014.)
- How It's Made (Started in 2001, still ongoing)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-11)
- MegaTokyo began in August of 2000
- My Family (2000-11)
- NCIS (2003-)
- Pretty Cure (Began running in 2004, and has been doing so every week since airing. Currently in its 10th anniversary)