How Long should a Show Last?

How many seasons should a show have before it starts to lose its luster, as most would believe?

I would have say that 3 to 4 seasons would be it. Thought, The Simpson was considered good for 10 season before it stared to slip.

Incidentally, Courage the Cowardly Dog on Cartoon Network only had 4 seasons; all considered good, whereas Fish Hooks on Disney Channel, hated by many, lasted for 3 seasons.

Hmmm

It depends. How many characters it has? More characters generally demand for more time to develop them all. Is the show comedic or action? Does it have an unique setting that can be explored throughly, or an average setting with nothing special about it? Does it aim for deep analysis and character arcs, or merely simple, fluffy fun? Every show has its own needs about lenght, depth and continuity or lack thereof.

For kids' television I'd give, say, 5 or 6 years tops.

Adult television, I'd add maybe 4 more years.

After that you have to be particularly talented to keep it going.

It used to be that season 8 was the last good season of The Simpsons. Before that it was season 5. Who knows... in a few more years we'll be saying that season 14 was the last good season. Maybe.

And I'd like to add that Courage The Cowardly Dog was hated in its time, mainly by adults who didn't like that the shows they liked on CN were being edged out by newer programming...

edited 21st Jul '14 3:40:08 PM by Aldo930

Wait, Courage was considered new then?

Then, what shows were worth it before it?

Scooby-Doo reruns.

Everything was new at one time.

A few of them were those who liked the first few Cartoon Cartoons but stopped watching after The Powerpuff Girls.

A few were fans of Looney Tunes, Tom And Jerry and the like.

It still never got as much hate as the stuff on Nick did.

I'd hate to just arbitrarily say that a show is guaranteed to suck if it hits a particular season. I think it would really depend both on the concept and how well the team behind it could execute. I'd say Duck Tales probably went on about a half-season too long, but TaleSpin was at least a half season too short, though both were the same length overall. Animaniacs was definitely at least a season short, and I'm glad that Adventure Time}} is still going strong. Meanwhile, Histeria! annoyed me from the getgo, and I've been going back and forth over whether I'll ever like Steven Universe.

I could go on, but it'd just further belabor the point - it depends on who is telling what story.

Animaniacs ran a season too short?

Having seen the last two seasons of the show, I can safely say that a lot of those episodes are proof that the show ran far too long.

No, not really. The series just needed a better distribution of the sketches, since some segments were either dropped or all but dropped later on, and if Pinky and the Brain hadn't spun off into their own show, they could have easily helped to add a few seasons to the show by themselves.

The Warners themselves still had enough available material to keep tackling and parodying, especially as the entertainment landscape changed offering more targets, it's just the creator themselves chose sticking themselves into an overdependence of musicals in the show's last stretch.

edited 21st Jul '14 6:53:12 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

One ought to keep into mind that the last two seasons brought us such episodes as "Anchors A-Warners," one of the few truly mean-spirited episodes of any cartoon I've ever seen, and "Acquaintances," a Friends parody where the main joke of every scene is "This is that character from Friends! He's doing the thing he does! LAUGH!"

There were brilliant episodes - "Back in Style," "Bully for Skippy," "A Very Very Very Special Show" - but the bad stuff was BAD.

edited 21st Jul '14 6:55:45 PM by Aldo930

Hmmm, I wonder if I should apply this thread for Live-Action TV as well...

I don't see why not.There are some notable shows that either were shortlived(ie.Firefly) or considered worn out after a while.(ie.Buffy).

To answer the thread title: Until the crew feels like they've run out of ideas. Simple.

Doesn't matter if you think a show's gone on too long, though, as there will always be fans of that supposedly extraneous material.

I think that for shows that are just shown for comedy and have standalone episodes that don't tie up into a larger story arcs should last for at least 4 to 5 seasons, while shows that have larger story arcs should last from 6 to 8 seasons. Either way, it all really depends on what story you are telling and how much time you need to tell these stories.

My criterion regarding the subject matter - Without naming examples:

1) Once a show loses its key writers and creators that made it legitimately good (only if it was that), end it (properly send it off, of course - UNLESS said show is terrible, overall.).

2) If a show is (growing to be) unpopular (with little to no fanbase, and too many mixed to negative criticisms, or if people are starting to complain that once liked it in social media), please (put it out of its misery already and just) end it.

3) If a show considered bad to begin via critical reception, definitely end it without question, as there is no chance of it getting better (I know countless examples as of recent memory that fall under this.).

4) GOOD SHOWS should only be allowed to last if the writing and material being worked with are good and timeless enough to keep going forward. Or else, do the right thing and properly END!

"Animaniacs was definitely at least a season short"

Pinky and the Brain rose from the ashes of Animaniacs, and they debuted on Animaniacs. So technically Pat B is a continuation of Animaniacs.

Do I detect a Take That! directed at Samurai Jack?

On topic: Most cartoons are good for 3-4 seasons, but they can be good for longer depending on the crew (like The Simpsons and Futurama, imo).

Of course, I am only talking about Western Animation, Anime tends to go on for as long as it wants. Usually because of Filler episodes.

edited 22nd Jul '14 10:31:16 PM by powerpuffbats

I thought most anime was 12-24 episodes.

I mean, yeah, I know there are some that go on for literally hundreds of episodes, but I thought those were the exception, not the rule.

Technically Pinky And The Brain ran at the same time as the later seasons of Animaniacs, and both expired around the same time.

Oh, we don't want to get into the hair-splitting over whether a spinoff should be counted as part of the main series for these purposes. That gets into way too many headaches. I count them as distinct because P&tB didn't have the array of characters and sketches that Animaniacs had.

Besides, we can all agree that Pinky & The Brain lasted a season too long (the notorious Pinky, Elmyra, & The Brain season - I had never seen anyone codify complaints about Executive Meddling in the theme song before).

That was a different show. It had a different theme song, it had a different title, it was released on DVD as its own thing. It was a different show and is not part of the original series by any means.

(I thought we'd all agreed on that.)

I agree. 3 or 4 seasons sounds right.

You said "should" instead of "must" or "does".

So you answer goes like this: as long as the creators want.

edited 23rd Jul '14 9:09:50 PM by KlarkKentThe3rd

"I thought most anime was 12-24 episodes."

The REALLY popular anime (Pokemon, Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball series, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sailor Moon, Bleach, Inu Yasha) have all lasted for well over 100 episodes. (Exceptions to this being Evangelion, Madoka, Elfen Lied, Full Metal Alchemist (2003 and Brotherhood, and Cowboy Bebop)

Depends on if the writers can keep up the quality work. Shows like Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents had pretty clear end games (the theatrical movie and "Channel Chasers" respectively) but both shows got pushed well past that point to their detriment.

Ongoing anime are becoming more and more of a rarity. They have to be a runaway hit even beyond the core Otaku demographics for them to stay without a pre-defined end nowadays (a season's end, at least). These days, that's limited to pretty much only certified runaway hits like Naruto, One Piece, Doraemon, Pokemon and Fairy Tail. They axed even the likes of Bleach and Toriko in their anime runs.

edited 24th Jul '14 7:24:57 AM by NapoleonDeCheese