How many seasons is too much?

When it comes to animated shows, how many seasons is too much? For comedies, i'd say 4-5 seasons is just enough, maybe 7 if the show is one of those shows split into 15 minute episodes (adventure time, regular show, etc). Anything more risks becoming a Franchise Zombie and running out of plots. For action shows, i'd actually recommend LESS seasons, maybe 3 or 4. With most current action cartoons being very continuity-driven, it helps the series be more concise without too much filler. Of course, thats only my opinion.

For decent shows, 3 to 5 is fine by me. Anything more than that usually starts to becomes stale and repetitive.

edited 16th Sep '14 4:52:05 PM by teddy

That is entirely dependent on how much quality material the writing staff can come up with, IMO.

For some shows, one season could be far too much.

It's entirely dependent on the show in question.

I don't think there's a number you can put on it.

Ed Edd n Eddy was good throughout its run, but they had to switch up the setting from summer to fall to winter, and take us out of the cul'de'sac and show the kids actually going to school towards the end of the series.

Dexter Lab's ran for 3-4 seasons I think, and the later episodes took on a new art style and lost some of their humor.

Powerpuff Girls ran out of steam IIRC, but now they're bringing it back with a reboot.

Gargoyles got 2 good seasons, but an allegedly awful, non-canon third season.

Adventure Time has only gotten better and more layered with each season if you ask me.

Billy and Mandy split off from Grim & Evil, and ended around the 6-7 season mark with two TV movies.

Really, provided the original writers tickle a funny bone, I'd say keep the show going until the creators put a definitive stop point on it. Spongebob should've ended seasons ago.

I think it depends on what kind of show they are doing. If the cartoon is all about comedy, then I think that 3 to 4 seasons would be good enough for the show since comedy can be a bit difficult to keep fresh in each episode. But if the show has many story arcs that tie into each other, then 5 to 7 seasons would be pretty good, depending on what story they are telling.

As far as I'm concerned, let it run for however long you like, but let it die when it dies.

While the above doesn't matter if you want to revive the show maybe 2 to 3 years after the original, it does if you want to do it more than 5 years after the original. Remember Ren And Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon?

I thought the revived Beavis and Butthead was still pretty good, it just shouldn't have aired on MTV since the riffing segments weren't that great (they were forced to watch terrible reality shows rather than music videos most of the time).

At any rate, I think once the show's original creators leave it's usually time to throw in the towel. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is still decent and possibly the only exception I can think of to this rule, but then again it hasn't been without it's faults since it's creator Lauren Faust left (crappy movies being the most prominent thing).

Another indicator would be when young voice actors go through puberty. I'm remembering how awkward the later Animaniacs episodes got when they had to pitch up Skippy Squirrel's voice in the Slappy segments.

edited 16th Sep '14 9:00:27 PM by Surenity

I've always been a fan of "Brevity is Wit" and "Leave the audience wanting more".

Thus, ending it sooner is always better than ending it later. Even if it means being cancelled while in it's prime.

I feel that there is no good amount of seasons, especially for a series with limited continuity. If it ends while still good, people will be disappointed there isn't more. If it doesn't, it will eventually become boring and have overstayed its welcome.

Whatever length the show writers/creators want it to be. No more and no less. Too long and it runs out of ideas, not long enough and story arcs never get resolved.

How ever long the creators want it to.I don't feel there is a definite answer for every cartoon or show.

The shows that I've seen get the most universal acclaim seem to be ones that were cut off far too early, like after only one season. The major examples that come to mind are Clone High, Mission Hill, and Clerks The Animated Series. Of course, in their cases, they were ended before they really had a chance to experience any decay.

I definitely agree with this. I think that if the creators already had an ending planned for the show, they should end the show right there.

65 half-hours was the usual tradition for older TV series.

I agree that 4-5 seasons is generally all you really need. Provided they’re something of full-length seasons (20 or so episodes for conventional 22-minute shows) in the first place. I’ll let a show like Bobs Burgers slide because they seem to still be on a high, and their first couple of seasons were quite short.

There is no such thing as too many seasons. If the show's gotten old, stop watching it.

The answer to how many seasons is right for a show often winds up being, "The exact number of seasons required for the audience to get tired of it, minus one."

edited 22nd Sep '14 5:29:38 PM by TobiasDrake