What are your favourite long running TV shows and why?

[Hawki]

Farscape - Adventure in space. Not as good after the "twinning" episode. I hate those in general..

I loved that episode, especially how it leaves it vague as to which characters made it back to the ship - the original or the clone.

That said, I can kind of see what you're getting at. If I had to rank Farscape's seasons, it would be 2>1>3>4. With 3, I loved the blackshirt!John episodes, but disliked the greenshirt!John ones (mostly). That said, I think it's kind of a brave choice, that blackshirt!John is implied to be the 'real' John Crichton, yet is the one that's killed off, leaving greenshirt to win back the audience's trust, as well as the crew's.

Oh, and the finale. Bloody hell the finale...that was worth it.

Andromeda - Started out good. Until they went to that system. Oh and those alien "bugs" before that.

Andromeda is a series that epitomizes wasted potential for me, but not sure what system or bugs (the than?) you're talking about there.

Avatar The Last Airbender - Better than Korra. Would have wanted it to continue.

Loved TLA, much better than Korra, but I don't think it needed to continue - it ended exactly where it needed to. Of course, there are the sequel comics if one needs more story.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Andromeda - Started out good. Until they went to that system. Oh and those alien "bugs" before that.

Andromeda is a series that epitomizes wasted potential for me, but not sure what system or bugs (the than?) you're talking about there.

The "bugs" I mean are the extra-dimensional beings in the last episode of season 2 and the first of season 3, and the system I refer to is Seefra-1 (Tarn-Vedra), the one after they pass through the Route of Ages.
I had managed to forget the highs and low of the entire season 3 as well. Mostly too political and in a downward spiral sadly.

Avatar The Last Airbender - Better than Korra. Would have wanted it to continue.

Loved TLA, much better than Korra, but I don't think it needed to continue - it ended exactly where it needed to. Of course, there are the sequel comics if one needs more story.

It did end with a really good finale. Epic, even.
Still, the "job" was only half-finished and I think they could have kept up the quality for some time.
Though I always prefer series that go on until they become bad rather than end while there is still some steam left, so..

 

[Hawki]

The "bugs" I mean are the extra-dimensional beings in the last episode of season 2 and the first of season 3,

Oh. THEM.

Bleh.

and the system I refer to is Seefra-1 (Tarn-Vedra), the one after they pass through the Route of Ages.

In Season 5?

Only watched the first four seasons.

I had managed to forget the highs and low of the entire season 3 as well. Mostly too political and in a downward spiral sadly.

Not sure what you mean by "too political." Andromeda dealt with a scenario that was political from the outset - reform the Commonwealth, reunite the Tri-Galaxies, and deal with a universal threat. Kinda like Game of Thrones really.

That said, Season 3 is pretty wretched in my eyes, though I'd say the downward spiral began in the second half of season 2. Season 4 did regain some of the original vigour, but, well, if I had to rank Andromeda's seasons it would be 1>2>4>3. But again, I think Andromeda had the potential for an excellent story, but one that was poorly executed.

 

[Xprimentyl]

It?s Always Sunny in Philadelphia ? Razor sharp and often crass humor about a group of dimwitted, narcissistic sociopaths who run a bar. ?The gang? have nothing but bad schemes and ideas and completely lack the self-awareness to know better before it?s too late (i.e.: Sweet Dee and her brother Dennis decide to get hooked on crack just so they can collect government assistance.) Very few television comedies have ever offered my kind of humor and make me laugh out loud, and It?s Always Sunny does it best.

I see this on Netflix and I always consider starting it and never do. So it's a sort of intelligent comedy?

I found myself watching an episode where Frank was waterboarding his own daughter in a urinal.

^This. (Literally laughed out loud just reading this sentence.) Though I wouldn?t say that it?s not intelligent; it?s self-aware of how ridiculous it is, and that, to me, is pretty clever. The comedic timing is second to none, hence some of the outright belly laughs it elicits from me, i.e.: the episode where they go to their high school reunion with a chip on their shoulder and their fantastic song-and-dance routine turns out to? not be so fantastic? So I?d say the comedy is intelligent, the comedic situations though, absolutely not. Closer to South Park than Big Bang Theory. It?s how I?d imagine smart people would write dumb people who think they?re smart. Kinda meta, really, lol.

 

[Natemans]

Doctor Who
M*A*S*H
Cheers
Frasier
South Park

I would say Simpsons up until season 10 or so because that was then when I stopped watching

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

The only one which I've been watching since the beginning until now is Dragonball.
I used to train martial arts so I became interested in it that way.
The overall theme of the show (you can always get better if you keep practicing) inspired me throughout the years.
The characters are great so, even if there's a weak couple of episodes here and there, you still have them to keep you entertained. I even like the filler episodes because of the banter and comedy.
I wouldn't mind a short 12 episodes DB series without fights with just the characters interacting.
that being said, you can't deny that the fight scenes are awsome. Not only that, they keep getting better. The last fight in the last episode of Dragonball Super might be the best fight in the entire franchise, in my opinion (no giant energy waves, no big transformations, just a few exhausted guys at 1% of their power fighting with whatever they have left).

Spoiler: some character development + final fight at 1:30

 

[COMaestro]

Here's one that hasn't been mentioned: Psych - take Murder She Wrote, make it a comedy, and add a bunch of pop culture references. Masterpiece.

I will echo M*A*S*H and House, as I really enjoyed both of those, though I feel House started petering out when he hit rehab. Actually, I realize I haven't seen the last season yet.

And what may be a controversial one: How I Met Your Mother. It's a mixture of crap sitcom, good comedy, and some actually touching drama. It was good background TV for my wife and I until it left Netflix.

 

[Kreett]

Firefly... oh wait.

Speaking of did you guys know that the Boss Baby has about as much media material as Firefly now that it has its own show?

 

[Natemans]

Avatar The Last Airbender - Better than Korra. Would have wanted it to continue.

Yeah, as much as I've enjoyed the Avatar comics and Korra, the ending to TLA was a pretty good way to end the story.

 

[Natemans]

Here's one that hasn't been mentioned: Psych - take Murder She Wrote, make it a comedy, and add a bunch of pop culture references. Masterpiece.

I will echo M*A*S*H and House, as I really enjoyed both of those, though I feel House started petering out when he hit rehab. Actually, I realize I haven't seen the last season yet.

And what may be a controversial one: How I Met Your Mother. It's a mixture of crap sitcom, good comedy, and some actually touching drama. It was good background TV for my wife and I until it left Netflix.

Eh, I still love most of How I Met Your Mother though it kinda got stale for me around season 6 or 7. Also that finale which I don't wanna talk about.

 

[Natemans]

I enjoyed a majority of all 8 seasons for Scrubs.

 

[throwmetothewolves]

The Simpsons? I guess the show has been plain awful for about 15 years, but tbh, I'll still watch an episode, new or old, when it's on. I kind of wish they would stop soon though, as it's definitely run its course.

 

[Dalisclock]

Right now I'm going with Archer, which, to paraphrase someone else who I can't remember who said it, is the best show that clearly ran out of ideas years ago. I just finished Archer Dreamland and I honestly don't care that this is a coma dream and none of it matters in the real world(and neither will Danger Island). Hell, they haven't been spies for like 4 seasons now(not counting the CIA season) and I had to go look up on Len Trexler was.

It turns out he was the guy running ODIN and then I realized I'd totally forgotten ODIN existed because it hasn't been mentioned in forever. Especially since they dropped focus once Barry the Bionic Asshole went out on his own.

Still a little wierded by what was going on with Pam in the new season. It's like her character is supposed to be a man but they go to some lengths to avoid actually mentioning Poovy's Gender. I almost wonder if Poovy is supposed to be a closeted Trans-person(no idea what the right term is there).

The only thing even weirder is that in Dreamland, Archer is a lot more sympathetic then his normal self. Partially due to the rest of the cast being more jerkass(except possibly dreamland Kreiger...which is complicated).