# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/61 "2016-02-14T15:37:47Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Funny. All the same shows from the “went to shit” thread. > > One man’s garbage… I know. _The Sopranos_? _The Sopranos_??? Good grief. Two fine seasons then a pale imitation of itself at best. The few shows like _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ that really did go out on top are very rare. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/62 "2016-02-14T16:24:32Z")
The Wire, for one. Arguably, the 5th season was not as strong as 1, 3 or 4. While I liked parts of 2, the whole port scene was kind of limp. season 5 was in a hurry to wrap up McNultys story arc, with a reduced number of episodes, so not as strong. The arc concerning the newspaper reporter was clumsy and cartoonish in places. Best David Simon ended it after 5 seasons. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I know season 7 has its detractors but I loved seeing the Scoobies turn out as they did and there are some super moments. Besides, who can argue with Nathan Fillion as the big bad? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/63 "2016-02-14T16:40:00Z")
_Dead Like Me_ ran two seasons. It wrapped up the last episode with the series in a pretty good place: George came to terms with her afterlife, accepted it, and looked forward to her future. Many shows which lasted longer fared much worse. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/64 "2016-02-14T16:58:03Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > The 1970s edition of “Upstairs, Downstairs” > > Perhaps “Dobie Gillis” although in the last season they started emphasing “Maynard discovers a caveman”, “Maynard becomes Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and “Commie agent Barbara Bain mistakes Maynard for a rocket scientist” episodes. And a couple whete they tried to pass off Dobie’s cousin Dunky. They had enough left to do the season acceptably but if it came back for another year, it easily could have been terrible. It could have been worse than you imagined - I read one story where the plan was for Dobie’s mother to become pregnant, and the season would be filled with stories about how jealous Dobie became of the new baby. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/65 "2016-02-14T16:58:58Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > GoT costs about $6mil per episode. Rome was costing over $10mil per episode in 2005. The first season cost over $100mil. Do you have a cite for that? I’m not trying to be a dick or anything, just really curious. I thought _Rome_ was some of the best TV ever done, and would like to read more about the production costs-- I do remember reading that cost was one of the main reasons they killed it, but it’s hard to believe the cost was THAT high. In the first season, you notice that the camera angles are almost always very narrow, so you’re not seeing the spectacular wide scenes you might expect would be very pricey. The battle scene is just a blur. ---
**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 14, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/66 "2016-02-14T17:35:06Z")
I checked before I wrote that and saw $10 mil. Most “cites” are clickbait style lists and I’m seeing a lot of $9mil although my point remains the same – it was well more expensive than Game of Thrones. [This site says $10mil and was possibly my source last time (I honestly don’t recall)](http://www.therichest.com/luxury/most-expensive/10-expensive-tv-series-that-ended-too-soon/?view=all) [Another better cite for $10mil](http://www.ibtimes.com/game-thrones-big-budgets-bring-huge-success-how-hbo-series-makes-money-high-cost-episode-1658966) [This site says $9mil](http://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/7-of-the-most-expensive-shows-ever-produced.html/?a=viewall) [This one says the same](http://financesonline.com/10-of-the-most-expensive-tv-shows-ever-made/) [Same again](http://www.imdb.com/list/ls073226828/) The first link says “lack of viewers” which goes against other articles on it although it could just be “lack of viewers in relation to cost” despite it being one of HBO’s better rated programs. ---
**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 14, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/67 "2016-02-14T17:52:35Z")
[This site gives a little more detail](http://hbowatch.com/remembering-rome-what-became-of-the-cancelled-hit-hbo-show/) in the costs: > [@](#): > > What made Rome stand out was its sheer scale, its attention to detail in costuming and architecture that were all visible in its grandeur. > > In fact, it’s rumored that the period sets spanned a whopping 5 acres and that would make it one of the largest period sets ever. The joint BBC/HBO production had an estimated budget of $100,000,000, though the result of that was a new, innovative historical epic the likes of which had not been seen since of Band Of Brothers (and more recently, Game of Thrones). > […] > With its strong cast and increasing popularity, it was certainly a surprise when Rome wasn’t renewed for another season. Rome was initially meant to be a mini-series, but when more people got behind its creation and the quality of writing improved it turned into a full ongoing series. However, with its blockbuster size budget, Rome was scrutinized financially, causing HBO to announce that they wouldn’t be renewing Rome into its third season. Supposedly, the ratings and awards buzz generated by the second season made HBO start to regret their decision but, by then, the writers and principle actors were already getting signed onto other projects. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/68 "2016-02-14T17:55:40Z")
I can’t find anything online, but as far as The Dick Van Dyke Show, I remember reading several times that Carl Reiner had always planned for five seasons and no more. Even though the show was still popular, he refused to reconsider because he wanted to be free to pursue other projects, and wanted the show to go out on top. If I find anything online to confirm this I’ll post a link but haven’t had much time to research it. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/69 "2016-02-14T18:53:51Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 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. When ER was cancelled, most everyone I knew didn’t realize it was still on. They held on far too long. The last episode of MASH was the highest-rated episode in TV history, and it was still a top-ten show. Hell, I just watched Season 11 a couple months ago and it still holds up IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/70 "2016-02-15T06:18:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _The Dick Van Dyke Show_. Everyone agreed it had plenty of good stories to tell, but Van Dyke wanted to be a movie star. > [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > I can’t find anything online, but as far as The Dick Van Dyke Show, I remember reading several times that Carl Reiner had always planned for five seasons and no more. Even though the show was still popular, he refused to reconsider because he wanted to be free to pursue other projects, and wanted the show to go out on top. If I find anything online to confirm this I’ll post a link but haven’t had much time to research it. On page 70 in [The Dick Van Dyke Show: Anatomy of a Classic - Ginny Weissman, Coyne Steven Sanders - Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=La2TBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=dick%20van%20dyke%20show&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q=five%20years&f=false) Reiner is quoted as saying > [@](#): > > …we all had set the clocks in our heads from the beginning to run only five years. We all decided if we went on for a sixth year, we’d be doing more of the same. Of course, a lot of viewers like more of the same. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/71 "2016-02-15T06:49:21Z")
Has anyone mentioned Spaced yet? Only 2 series of 7 shows each. Hilarious, every singe one. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/72 "2016-02-15T19:20:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > GoT costs about $6mil per episode. Rome was costing over $10mil per episode in 2005. The first season cost over $100mil. Something I’ve always wondered is WHY “Rome” cost so much. The cast wasn’t _that_ high-dollar; Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Tobias Menzies, James Purifoy, Allen Leech and Ciaran Hinds aren’t that prominent even now, and that’s AFTER the show sort of catapulted them into semi-stardom. Was Cinecitta that expensive to work from? It seems that GoT has more filming locations spread across Europe, and a cast that was no more well known than Rome’s, at least when it started. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/73 "2016-02-15T21:57:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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: > > Seinfeld is about as close as you can get. I would have to call that ‘going out on a high note’. [Did you say high note?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O27RzZEOkeA) ---
**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 15, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/74 "2016-02-15T22:34:28Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Perhaps “Dobie Gillis” although in the last season they started emphasing “Maynard discovers a caveman”, “Maynard becomes Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and “Commie agent Barbara Bain mistakes Maynard for a rocket scientist” episodes. And a couple whete they tried to pass off Dobie’s cousin Dunky. They had enough left to do the season acceptably but if it came back for another year, it easily could have been terrible. I thought you were kidding, and then I looked at wikipedia. Oh my! Thinking of Jekyll and Hyde, is there one out there where they switch brains? Because “the episode where the mad scientist switches their brains all around is de facto the best episode of the series.” ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/75 "2016-02-15T23:37:06Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > _Dead Like Me_ ran two seasons. It wrapped up the last episode with the series in a pretty good place: George came to terms with her afterlife, accepted it, and looked forward to her future. Many shows which lasted longer fared much worse. I guess we’re not counting the stunningly, gut-wrenchingly awful postscript movie as not part of the show, then? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/76 "2016-02-15T23:40:22Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I guess we’re not counting the stunningly, gut-wrenchingly awful postscript movie as not part of the show, then? 😉 No. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/77 "2016-02-16T01:34:37Z")
If you’re looking for a show that was still turning out good stuff and pulled the plug on itself (rather than being canceled), look no further than **The Muppet Show**. Jim Henson lived for being creative and hated to be stuck in a rut, and apparently from the beginning he said he’d do only five seasons (if by some miracle it lasted that long, which it did). If you remember it as a kid’s show, go back and watch some of them again. It was safe for kids but made for adults. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/78 "2016-02-16T03:08:24Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It seems that GoT has more filming locations spread across Europe, and a cast that was no more well known than Rome’s, at least when it started. Largely true, except for Peter Dinklage and (to a lesser extent) Lena Headey. Plus Sean Bean, but he doesn’t really count. At this point I think of him as having had a guest spot on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/79 "2016-02-16T03:37:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I thought you were kidding, and then I looked at wikipedia. Oh my! > > Thinking of Jekyll and Hyde, is there one out there where they switch brains? Because “the episode where the mad scientist switches their brains all around is de facto the best episode of the series.” I think it was the episode where he made a formula in Dr Imogene Burkhalt’s chemistryclass. At least I think she was a chem prof that week. One week she was a home economics prof, other weeks a math prof. S Peter Pryor college got good mileage out of their faculty. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951/80 "2016-02-16T03:42:39Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > The original _Dark Shadows_. Exactly what I came on to say! There were all kinds of tie-ins to that show too. Everything from comic books to novels to bubblegum cards were to be found. I still have all the books as a matter of fact. There were even a couple of movies which came out around the time he show ended. The later remakes and the Johnny Depp movie were fun, but just not the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-quit-while-they-were-ahead/745951.md?page=5)