For another HBO show, Six Feet Under quit while it was still very good.
I believe MASH was still registering respectable ratings when they pulled the plug. From that standpoint I suppose they were ‘ahead’. That said, the show creatively had jumped the shark at least a couple of seasons earlier.
Somehow, I’d forgotten that. Probably a good thing.
The Dick Van Dyke Show. Everyone agreed it had plenty of good stories to tell, but Van Dyke wanted to be a movie star.
Homicide: Life on the Street was still doing good stuff, and the reunion movie was also great.
Quantum Leap
The latter two were not getting great ratings, but went out on their own terms.
Lots of UK shows, since they have short seasons and usually one writing, ensuring people don’t mess with the concept.
Yes, Cheers is the best sitcom example I can think of.
A very prime and recent example is “Home Improvement,” which was absolutely killing it in ratings and was as good as it had ever been. It was safe, family-friendly stuff, but it worked well enough and was still a Top Ten show when it ended.
According to rumor, ABC offered Allen $50 million and Richardson $25 million to continue on, but they just didn’t feel like doing it anymore; they already had more money than God and wanted to do other things.
British TV shows aren’t a good comparison, as they’re working under a fundamentally different model than US shows.
In the US, shows get green-lit, and they’re pretty much on the hook for annual (roughly) 22 episode seasons until they get cancelled. So a show that’s run 4 years has around 88 episodes aired.
In the UK, they show a “series”, and the series may be anywhere as small as 6 episodes, like “The Office” in the UK. They’re not necessarily run annually either; shows can often have gaps of a year or two (or even more) between series.
I think the notion of “quitting while ahead” presumes that the shows can get behind, which isn’t the case- they’re not going concerns like a US show is.
I really wish HBO had given us another season or two of Eastbound and Down.
Double for Deadwood.
I’ll go ahead and mention my #1 answer to this question: Terriers
The Bob Newhart Show and the UK mystery Rosemary and Thyne.
Have to disagree about Quantum Leap. Oh. it was good to the end all right (mostly), but it did not “go out on its own terms”. They tagged a line on the end about Dr. Beckett not making it home but it was not planned to be the last season. In fact, I would have looked forward to another season where, as the bartender said, the leaps were going to get harder.
Firefly and Futurama.
Slightly different take on the OP, both were were axed unnecessarily, and Futurama had a minor revival where it was still able to put together some great episodes (e.g. Zoidberg’s wereyeti backstory always gets me).
So what? Ted & Georgette’s kid is the very definition of a minor character: a supporting character of two other supporting characters. He did not and could not come close to taking over the show. If MARY had adopted a child, it would have been a Cousin Oliver situation.
I thought Breaking Bad was pushing it. Much of the storyline of that final season could have been done away with and we wouldn’t have lost much quality. Still, BB is not nearly as bad as some other shows in outstaying it’s welcome.
Freaks and Geeks, hands down.
If we look at Japan, Cowboy Bebop is a great show that quit after one season and left viewers wanting more.
The original Dark Shadows.
Did they quit? I thought the show was canceled for poor ratings.
I’d suggest Monk, which had various ups and downs in quality over the years, but decided that they were going to wrap it all up in the eighth season. That decision really focused the creative team and they ended very strong.