The original post: /r/television by /u/DevourerOfRedditors on 2026-02-26 05:12:35+00:00.
Smiling Friends getting cancelled by its own creators in its prime has me thinking about this. If a show runs long enough, it inevitably reaches that point where the creativity starts to vanish, the writing gets noticeably worse, the characters get flanderized, things either fall into a rote routine or horrible changes are made in a desperate attempt to spark life back into the show…
What’s the farthest you’ve seen a great show go still remaining great? I think 8 might be the magic number. Plenty of great shows fall before that, but I’ve never seen a show last longer than 8 seasons before The Decline. The Office had 7 seasons worth a damn. KotH faltered around 7, was definitely post-decline by 8. Parks and Rec managed 5, maybe 6 good seasons. I’ve always felt the S8 finale of Bob’s Burgers was the last hurrah for that show’s greatness. The Simpsons decline happened in Season 8 in my opinion, though YMMV on whether it was 7, 8, or 9.
I would allow for exceptions to this concerning anthology shows or something like Doctor Who that’s constantly rotating casts and creative teams, going on long hiatuses, etc.