# Which shows should be watched, but abandoned before the final season? - possible spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521 "2011-12-08T16:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/1 "2011-12-08T16:29:36Z")
This thread is about shows that were very strong, then declined to the point that they had few redeeming qualities by the end. A “the show ran for ten seasons, but stop renting the DVDs after you watch season seven” sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/2 "2011-12-08T16:39:32Z")
House, through season 5 or 6. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/3 "2011-12-08T16:42:43Z")
\*\*Roseanne \*\*was great through season 5, then started a gradual decline until it hit rock bottom in season 9 with the Conner family winning the lottery, Darlene and David getting married, Becky and Mark living in a trailer, and the final episode in which it was revealed that Dan did die as a result of his heart attack. But it was a funny, moving and often realistic portrayal of family life for the first 5 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/4 "2011-12-08T17:10:08Z")
Buffy ended when she sacrificed herself to save the world, right? If they did another year or two after that they would have been meaningless. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/5 "2011-12-08T17:48:47Z")
Northern Exposure. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/6 "2011-12-08T17:52:23Z")
**The Simpsons** - The first 7 seasons are excellent, some of the best television ever produced. Seasons 8 and 9 are a mixed bag. Seasons 10-12 are unbelievably horrible. I gave up at the end of Season 13. I did like the movie, and I’ve heard the show has gotten better, but I haven’t taken the time to try it again. **The X-Files** - It ran 9 seasons, but stop watching around the middle of Season 7, once Mulder finds out what happened to his sister. His motivation for the entire show has been to uncover the truth behind his sister’s disappearance. Once he knows that truth, what’s left? The show meandered another 2 1/2 seasons trying and failing to find another hook, and ended with one of the most pathetic series finales ever (seriously, a 9 year build up to a clip show?) I haven’t watched it yet, but my friends all say the first season of \*\*Heroes \*\*was great, but not to bother with anything after that. It’s still ongoing, but **Spongebob Squarepants** definitely has some seasons to skip. The first 3 seasons and the movie are excellent. Season 5 was weak, and the Season 6 Volume 2 set was a massive pile of suck. Currently Season 8 is airing, and there seems to be some improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/7 "2011-12-08T17:54:51Z")
**Babylon 5** and **Battlestar Galactica**. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/8 "2011-12-08T17:54:57Z")
One should watch the first two seasons of Millenium and pretend the third does not exist. One should watch the first four seasons of Babylon 5 and pretend the fifth does not exist. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/9 "2011-12-08T19:14:28Z")
LOST I’d even venture to say to watch it right up until the penultimate episode. My soon-to-be wife and I missed the first 2 seasons, and so bought them on DVD, and we routinely watched 4 episodes in a row, foregoing sleep and sustenance in our entirely rapt state. We bought the DVD packs for each season and would rewatch the most recent season over again (after following week-to-week on the network, like everyone else) in September prior to the beginning of the newest season. It was completely compelling, to us. I sometimes watched a season 3 times, so riddled with hints and subtleties and clever nuances the show was. This trend lasted for 4 years. Mysteriously. Happily. Consistently. After watching the finale, the “big explanation”, I have no desire whatsoever to ever watch a single episode of LOST ever again. EVER. I highly recommend the series LOST; just don’t watch the last 2 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/10 "2011-12-08T22:40:01Z")
**Scrubs.** It ended. They did a final episode and everything. Then, inexplicably, it kept going for one more season with a completely different setting and format. Absolutely terrible. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/11 "2011-12-08T22:48:34Z")
**M_A_S\*H**. I’d quit once you get to the point where Radar goes home, if not earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/12 "2011-12-08T22:50:05Z")
Someone beat me to **Heroes** , which should not be watched after season one. **Twin Peaks** goes downhill after Laura Palmer’s killer is captured. **Prison Break** ’s fourth and final season was laughable, even moreso than the rest. I’d probably recommend only the first two seasons and pretend the last two minutes of the season two finale didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/13 "2011-12-08T22:58:15Z")
**Moonlighting** , before they had sex. **Magnum P.I.** should have ended with Magnum walking off into Heaven (or whatever). Instead they brought it back for one more season of mediocrity. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/14 "2011-12-08T23:12:34Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > We bought the DVD packs for each season and would rewatch the most recent season over again (after following week-to-week on the network, like everyone else) in September prior to the beginning of the newest season. It was completely compelling, to us. I sometimes watched a season 3 times, so riddled with hints and subtleties and clever nuances the show was. > > This trend lasted for 4 years. Mysteriously. Happily. Consistently. > > After watching the finale, the “big explanation”, I have no desire whatsoever to ever watch a single episode of LOST ever again. EVER. > > I highly recommend the series LOST; just don’t watch the last 2 episodes. I find this attitude a little perplexing. What sucks about Lost is that it was all meaningless - all just random red herrings to string you along set to seem like one day you’d get the big reveal - and then ends with no real attempt to explain much. If you cut off the final episodes, aren’t you just left with the same unsatisfying unresolved feeling? ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/15 "2011-12-08T23:15:28Z")
**Sliders**. The first and second season were quite good. You can even go a couple of episodes into season 3 if you want. You really should drop it after that. And don’t even consider watching season 5. It is awful. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/16 "2011-12-08T23:20:33Z")
Lost (I think - without an ending it doesn’t make sense, but it was still a letdown…) Prison Break (though I’m in love with Wentworth Miller, so I really didn’t mind) Grey’s Anatomy should’ve ended awhile ago. And part of me thinks that West Wing took a nosedive in the last season. But only sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/17 "2011-12-08T23:24:06Z")
**Veronica Mars** : just watch the first season. Is it worth watching the last, Phil Hartmanless season of **NewsRadio**? ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/18 "2011-12-08T23:26:03Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > **The X-Files** - It ran 9 seasons, but stop watching around the middle of Season 7, once Mulder finds out what happened to his sister. I’d say stop after Season 4. At least up until that point there was the chance that there was some master plan or plot that would eventually tie together. But after about the season 4/5 break you began to realize that they had no clue and were just making it up as they went along. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/19 "2011-12-08T23:49:43Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Buffy ended when she sacrificed herself to save the world, right? If they did another year or two after that they would have been meaningless. Right? Yes, but then you never get to see “Once More With Feeling”! Actually, I am one of the few who LIKE Season six. Just ignore Marni Nixon’s “magic is drugs” bullshit and substitute “Willow gets seduced by the Dark Side”. You can quit watching **ER** when Mark dies. And that’s being a bit overgenerous. Perhaps you should quit when he gets sick. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521/20 "2011-12-09T01:27:29Z")
I’m hoping that eventually I’ll be proven wrong on this, but **Supernatural** was golden for the first 5 seasons, but the last two have just not been as consistently good; a few flashes of brilliance but not nearly frequently enough. Hopefully it’ll recapture more of the former brilliance that drew me in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shows-should-be-watched-but-abandoned-before-the-final-season-possible-spoilers/605521.md?page=2)