# shows that quit while they were ahead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951 "2016-02-12T17:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/1 "2016-02-12T17:16:39Z")
Lets go the opposite of some of the other threads here, such as “worst TV show decay” and Big Bang Theory. Are there any shows, especially sitcoms, that quit while they were still on a high note, instead of going several seasons too long and getting dropped because of low ratings? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/2 "2016-02-12T17:18:42Z")
> [@ruh-roh](#): > > Lets go the opposite of some of the other threads here, such as “worst TV show decay” and Big Bang Theory. > Are there any shows, especially sitcoms,\*\* that quit while they were still on a high note,\*\* instead of going several seasons too long and getting dropped because of low ratings? The Sopranos? ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/3 "2016-02-12T17:19:48Z")
Loads of British comedies Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Phoenix Nights, The Office etc ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/4 "2016-02-12T17:21:25Z")
Seinfeld comes to mind first. You could argue that the last couple of seasons were formulaic, but they were still hailed and he was looking at a huge contract for more seasons. The finale may not have been all that, but in general I think of Seinfeld as staying good to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/5 "2016-02-12T17:21:44Z")
Justified ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/6 "2016-02-12T17:22:02Z")
If you are going by ratings and popularity, Seinfeld and Lost would apply. Creatively? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/7 "2016-02-12T17:23:09Z")
On broadcast TV I can’t think of a single one. Some shows were cut off while still doing moderately well in the ratings, but it’s just downright un-American not to milk a success for all its worth. ETA: > [@WordMan](#): > > Seinfeld comes to mind first. You could argue that the last couple of seasons were formulaic, but they were still hailed and he was looking at a huge contract for more seasons. The finale may not have been all that, but in general I think of Seinfeld as staying good to the end. > [@Quimby](#): > > If you are going by ratings and popularity, Seinfeld and Lost would apply. Creatively? Not so much. Seinfeld is about as close as you can get. I would have to call that ‘going out on a high note’. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/8 "2016-02-12T17:25:20Z")
Lost Heroes Two and Half Men ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/9 "2016-02-12T17:26:17Z")
Police Squad. I could have watched more; maybe they should have made a movie version of it, with bigger stars perhaps, like OJ! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/10 "2016-02-12T17:31:24Z")
Mad Men was still a critical darling and topic of conversation up until its end. AMC seemed happy to drag out the remaining season to trawl for awards as opposed to wrapping it up and getting it off the air. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/11 "2016-02-12T17:32:50Z")
Breaking Bad ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/12 "2016-02-12T17:33:01Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Lost > Heroes > Two and Half Men I don’t think you read the OP _quite_ closely enough. Or should I be ducking right about now? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/13 "2016-02-12T17:41:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t think you read the OP _quite_ closely enough. > > Or should I be ducking right about now? Nope I agree with you. Men 2.5 may have quit with solid ratings, but creatively it had been in a rut for years. The Mary Tyler Moore show has always been hailed as a show that went out before it deteriorated, but when I rewatched it several years ago, I disagreed - I thought it suffered the same decay as every other show. Well, except any show that brought in a “Cousin Oliver”, that is. 🙂 They really milked it too far. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/14 "2016-02-12T17:42:14Z")
Flight of the chonchords. Two good seasons and then the boys called it a day. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/15 "2016-02-12T17:50:31Z")
The Dick Van Dyke Show The best of the MTM stable, Mary Tyler Moore and The (first) Bob Newhart Show Cheers Barney Miller E.R. was sagging badly, but it quit before it got canceled, so I’ll argue they knew when to let go. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/16 "2016-02-12T17:55:49Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The Mary Tyler Moore show has always been hailed as a show that went out before it deteriorated, but when I rewatched it several years ago, I disagreed - I thought it suffered the same decay as every other show. Well, except any show that brought in a “Cousin Oliver”, that is. 🙂 They really milked it too far. In season 6, episode 24 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, they pretty much did just that: Ted and Georgette adopted a son, played by"Cousin Oliver" himself, Robbie Rist. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/17 "2016-02-12T18:23:59Z")
JJ Abrams’ shows seem to be pretty good about this. Alias, Lost, and Fringe all lasted about 5 or 6 seasons, and managed to avoid feeling like they were dragging on for too long. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/18 "2016-02-12T18:33:01Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Flight of the chonchords. Two good seasons and then the boys called it a day. As I recall, they didn’t think they had it in them for a third season. They had used the best of ten year’s worth of collected material for the first season, then got told to create a season two and felt like they were scraping to come up with new quality material that quickly. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/19 "2016-02-12T18:36:29Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > JJ Abrams’ shows seem to be pretty good about this. Alias, Lost, and Fringe all lasted about 5 or 6 seasons, and managed to avoid feeling like they were dragging on for too long. I loved Fringe, but I don’t know if it applies here, because the acceleration in plot in the last season was based on the fact that they felt the network was about to pull the plug (and were in danger of cancellation almost every year). I think that’s a separate thing than a show that could have continued on, but chose to end it. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/20 "2016-02-12T18:36:52Z")
WKRP is a yes and no on this. Yes, because the original run was still running at peak quality when it was let go. No because the revived series stank to high heaven. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951.md?page=2)