TV Shows That Passed The Expiry Date

In a time of great beauties like Game of Thrones, True Detective and House of Cards, TV has reached new heights of potential. There is a line however which must not be crossed. Breaking Dad didn't and many others, have retained their reputation- unblemished. But every now and again, a creator or producer will take it just too far, so that all the initial fun and bravado is stretched out. Here are just some of the accursed TV shows that were dragged out past their expiry dates, complete with recommendations of when they should have ended:

Entourage (8 Seasons)- Spoilers

This isn't as extreme an example as you might hope for. Entourage was a show about rich, good-looking guys whose lives always worked out for the better- in Hollywood- and for most of its tenure, it worked out pretty well for us too. BUT were those last two seasons really as good? Basically, Season 7 saw Vince become a drug addict and then Season 8 saw him rehabilitated. Likewise for other characters' storylines, the end of the show just solved the problems created in the previous Season.

Now, there will be a movie- which may or may not work out- so I won't damn this show yet but clearly, an earlier break wouldn't have done any harm.

Scrubs (9 Seasons)

The show reached its peak around S4-5 but the following couple weren't bad. Still, by the time JD walked out of that hospital, it was time to say goodbye...

Then he was back and the emotion of that finale was undone. Season 9 saw Sacred Heart become a college, with a few of the main characters repirising their roles in this perplexing environment- and Dave Franco! Surmised briefly- shouldn't have happened.

Two & A Half Men (11 Seasons)

This show has gone on so long that only one of the 2.5 men remain. After a public breakdown in 2011, Charlie Sheen went off to shoot another show in which he plays Charlie Sheen. Last year, Angus T. Jones, who played hapless Jake, found God and called the show "filth." Giving up a contract worth hundreds of thousands each episode, the young man actually went on to preach- that seemed like the more desirable option!

The problem was that there was little room to manoeuvre with this show from the beginning. Charlie slept with many women and got drunk. Jake was stupid. Alan was a sponge. Every episode seemed to maniuplate these circumstances in new and unoriginal ways, but with a few laughs here and there. Then, somewhere around when Jake became a teenager and Alan's hairline started to recede, the show just lost it completely. They became charicatures of themselves and Charlie, on the cusp of marriage, turned back to his old ways and thus started the mind-numbing cycle again.

Then there was Ashton Kutcher- the ultimate slap in the face! I'm not saying the show should have ended with Charlie, because it should have ended before that- but to inflict us with this? It's just not right. Then Jake joined the army, Miley Cyrus appeared and nowadays, Alan is still up to his high-jinx. I challenge anyone to successfully argue for its continuation (in terms of quality).

How I Met Your Mother (9 Seasons)- Spoilers

It's the poor man's Friends and the fact that both are on the TV begs the question of why anyone would choose to watch it in the first place... Okay, so I'm being harsh but Ted has to be one of the most boring characters ever created- he just has to!

The premise of this show revolves around an older Ted (whose voice has for some reason, drastically changed) telling his children the story of how he met their mother. It's basically a ridiculous amount of backstory but for many years, people found it easy-watching and affable. Patience has a limit however and the revelation of the mother  (as a new character) proved a long-drawn out disappointment.

The Simpsons (25 Seasons)

The mid-1990s saw the production of some of the best episodes of any TV show ever. It is now two decades since we saw Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes, since the B-Sharps sang on top of Moe's and since Bart got an elephant- these should be great memories but ALAS, they are now slightly, slightly tarnished by the knowledge that this show continues to plummet new lows. I think it was around the time Lisa taught Willie to be a gentleman, through song, that I'd given up officially, but even that was too late for many of its original fans.

Specifically, I'd say it was around 2001-2003 when the show really started to get tatchy, after which it dropped completely from pre-eminence. If it had ended there, with the movie following a few years later, there would be many more satisfied fans, if yes, a few less million dollars. In fact, here's a recently released graph will demonstrates well the critical acclaim with which fans hold each episode: http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0096697

Do you agree with these 6 examples? Which shows would you testify have gone on for far too long? Are there any shows you wish hadn't been cut so early? Please comment below.