The Adam West Batman TV series instantly comes to mind for example:
*Shoehorning Batgirl in a desperate attempt to perk up dwindling interest

*The absence of Julie Newmar's Catwoman

*Madge Blake's (Aunt Harriet) severely limited appearances because of her declining health

*Cheap looking sets (i.e. the villains' hideouts) due to budget cuts

*The elimination of the two-part episode, cliffhanger format

*The campiness being more "bad" (as if they were exclusively trying to appeal to little kids) than good. By this point, the producers were focusing more and more on satirizing whatever was "in" at that particular point (e.g. flower children, beach blanket movies, "Swinging London", etc.), thus making the third season episodes feel seriously dated.

Roseanne - that final season was weird and terrible

Rhoda - it completely lost its way

Happy Days and Bewitched both had bad ends to their run but I actually think their final season was better than their next-to-last season

Bewitched-way too many episodes that were remakes of previous episodes.

Dallas-what a big fall after being so great for several seasons.

That '70s Show - No Eric and hardly any Kelso (he appeared in 5 episodes). The writing got sloppy and lazy. Fans don't seem to like the new character, Randy (played by Josh Meyers). The show ran out of steam.

Laverne & Shirley - Um, no Shirley. No, thanks.

Chico and the Man - The death of star Freddie Prinze forced the producers to bring in a replacement character. They chose a 12-year-old boy named Raul.

Welcome Back, Kotter - Barely any Kotter or Barbarino. A new, southern Sweathog named Beau joined. The writing for this show sucked that final season. It was a disaster.

From what I remember of it, I never liked the final season of "The Facts of Life" when Cloris Leachmen replaced Charlotte Rae.

The Cosby Show - the addition of cousin Pam and her "ghetto" friends in the final season steered this show way off course from it's original premise. It also meant we saw less of the rest of the Huxtable family.

"ROSEANNE"-that last season ohno:

"DALLAS"-pretty much the same as ""ROSEANNE". J.R. did things and got in situations that he would NEVER do in previeous seasons, for instance when he was put in that asilum. In preveious seasons he would NEVER, EVER, EVER have allowed that to happen to him. Also, when he was forced into marrying Callie that time.

Bosom Buddies: Their identities were discovered thus no more dressing like women plus they got their own advertising agency reducing Holland Taylor's role.

According To Jim: Courtney Thorn Smith's absence due to her real life pregnancy and her tv sister Dana leaving the show.

Family Matters: Switched to CBS for it's 10th and final season without Jo Marie as Harriet Winslow, it wasn't the same without her.

"ROSEANNE"-that last season ohno:

"DALLAS"-pretty much the same as ""ROSEANNE". J.R. did things and got in situations that he would NEVER do in previeous seasons, for instance when he was put in that asilum. In preveious seasons he would NEVER, EVER, EVER have allowed that to happen to him. Also, when he was forced into marrying Callie that time.




You are so right about Dallas, I am surprised Larry Hagman went along with that.

That '70s Show - No Eric and hardly any Kelso (he appeared in 5 episodes). The writing got sloppy and lazy. Fans don't seem to like the new character, Randy (played by Josh Meyers). The show ran out of steam.

Laverne & Shirley - Um, no Shirley. No, thanks.

Chico and the Man - The death of star Freddie Prinze forced the producers to bring in a replacement character. They chose a 12-year-old boy named Raul.

Welcome Back, Kotter - Barely any Kotter or Barbarino. A new, southern Sweathog named Beau joined. The writing for this show sucked that final season. It was a disaster.



Forgot about Kotter, man did that show hit rock bottom the last season.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find shows that didn't see a marked slip in quality during their final seasons. Most of it is due to the greed of the execs in their foolish quests to soldier on after major characters had left and/or the potential pool of interesting stories had run dry.

All of these are good examples. I'd add All in the Family, The X-Files, Lost, Seinfeld and Frasier (well, to be fair those two lost their mojo three years or more before the end), Blake's 7 (from the U.K.), Babylon 5, NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street.

'My Three Sons': with only two sons who they hardly ever showed and a lookalike cousin for Steve

'The Beverly Hillbillies': just plain silly and awful

The Waltons: I'm starting to think CBS kept this on a little too long. Without Olivia the show just, well, sucked. CBS could have saved some money without having the Burton family from Baltimore (aka the 3-headed Cousin Oliver!) replace Olivia and Esther. There should just have been two less people in the cast. (Somewhere I read that CBS made cuts to the last season, so they dropped John the father from some episodes by having him go out to Arizona to visit Olivia.) I recently finished Season 8 (the second-to-last; there were 9) on DVD, which I found boring enough. I have no plans to buy Season 9.

The Wonder Years: ABC stuck with the Greg Beeman experiment, with episodes that made Kevin a bad guy. Plus, there was no closure! ABC could have avoided this nightmare had they brought back the original writers, who were free after The Jackie Thomas Show was axed, for another season to wrap things up!

:soapbox:

The Courtship of Eddie's Father: The third and final season was just not as good as the first two. The concept of the father actually having romances was abandoned in large part, and the season was simply not as enjoyable. Guests also for the most part were sub-par in comparison to the stellar ones from earlier.

"DALLAS"-pretty much the same as ""ROSEANNE". J.R. did things and got in situations that he would NEVER do in previeous seasons, for instance when he was put in that asilum. In preveious seasons he would NEVER, EVER, EVER have allowed that to happen to him. Also, when he was forced into marrying Callie that time.

:clap

"Happy Days"- The episodes weren't that funny and the storylines were kind of meh (except for the finale).

friends the whole 10th season just seemed rushed and tiresome

I think you'd be hard pressed to find shows that didn't see a marked slip in quality during their final seasons. Most of it is due to the greed of the execs in their foolish quests to soldier on after major characters had left and/or the potential pool of interesting stories had run dry.

All of these are good examples. I'd add All in the Family, The X-Files, Lost, Seinfeld and Frasier (well, to be fair those two lost their mojo three years or more before the end), Blake's 7 (from the U.K.), Babylon 5, NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street.Another couple of examples are 1)"Get Smart"(switched from NBC to CBS at the time.Here,in the CBS shows,the focus was not on Max(as it had been on the NBC shows)but Larabee.After all,the show was called "Get Smart",NOT "Get Larabee" and 2-"Green Acres"-In the final season,the show veered off into other directions,with the not-bad pilot "Hawaiian Honeymoon"(only saving grace:It DID feature Oliver and Lisa quite a bit,otherwise,it would have been a bust)and the rotten last show of the series,the unfunny pilot "The Ex-Secretary"(which only featured Oliver and Lisa at the beginning,and then no more).And you could tell the writers had run out of ideas,because there were very few new-and funny-ideas.

Hawaii Five-O had a major decline in quality during the last two seasons. And I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Simpsons yet. The last several seasons have been a pale imitation of it's former brilliance.

And another one,was "Hazel"-(switched from NBC to CBS)-Despite the fact that there were only a couple of really good episodes reminiscent of the NBC glory days(1961-1965),the show,as I said before ,suffered immensely when they switched networks,and the CBS episodes had kind of a different,rather unpleasant taste to them.They should have cancelled the series in 1965.

Personally, I think any show's final season with no proper series finale is considered "Bad".

You are so right about Dallas, I am surprised Larry Hagman went along with that.

Well, Hagman was pretty pickled at that point, which explains why he went along with such storylines. J.R. would never have gotten into such silly scrapes in the earlier seasons.

rec.arts.tv - Worst final season of a TV series? (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.tv/browse_thread/thread/8c8aaa7297972f8d#)

i forgot about picket fences after david e kelly left this once great show turned into an unwatchable piece of trash

'My Three Sons': with only two sons who they hardly ever showed and a lookalike cousin for Steve

In fairness, Steve's lookalike cousin Fergus had appeared earlier in a black & white season. It's good to revisit a past theme, and this time we got Anne Francis in there playing Fergus' soon-to-be new wife -- a real plus.

Also, let's remember that the final 2 seasons covered the marriage of one of the two sons to whom you refer, Chip -- Stanley Livingston continued to have a major role, and his brother Barry was not exactly cast aside either.

Hawaii Five-O had a major decline in quality during the last two seasons.
I agree,and especially the last season when the main person from the original cast that was still on the show was only Jack Lord.The addition of William Smith and Sharon Farrell just did not work.Also the show ran from 1968-1980 so they just ran out of ideas and stories in the last season or two.The original Hawaii 5-0 is probably the best show of it genre ever made,but it's final season is not good at all.

I think they should have brought back Amanda McBroom for that final season. Also, there were lots of people around who could have returned to guest, like Andrew Duggan, Elaine Joyce, and Nancy Malone (McGarrett's sister on the series), to give the season a shot in the arm. Still though, there is something extremely surreal about McGarrett with songs by the Bee Gees featured prominently together. Unreal that McGarrett went from '68 all the way into the heart of disco.

:clap

"Happy Days"- The episodes weren't that funny and the storylines were kind of meh (except for the finale).

The Episode where Fonz did a Stunt while waterskiing gave us a Monikor for when a TV Show has reached the peak of its popularity. From that point on, whenever a show declines, it is said to have "Jumped the Shark".:rolleyes:

Bosom Buddies: Their identities were discovered thus no more dressing like women plus they got their own advertising agency reducing Holland Taylor's role.

According To Jim: Courtney Thorn Smith's absence due to her real life pregnancy and her tv sister Dana leaving the show.

Family Matters: Switched to CBS for it's 10th and final season without Jo Marie as Harriet Winslow, it wasn't the same without her.

Actually, the last season number was nine. Jo Marie was actually in that season. She was in the first half. Her last appearance was the Christmas episode and then that was it. The next two or three eps, we didn't see Harriet but then got introduced to Judy Anne Elder as the new Harriet after several episdoes without Harriet. During season five, she played a nun in one episode. I can understand why Jo Marie left. She wanted more creative control and the producers overlooked it. She should have gotten it because she WAS THE ONE that got spun off into the series from Perfect Strangers. Carl made a guest appearance on PS and participated in the spinoff as well

Another series that had a terrible final season was The Hogan Family. It aired on CBS for its sixth season in the 1990-1991 season. The producers were ordered by NBC to cancel the series following the fifth season in 1989-90 due to declining ratings and then CBS decided to pick up the series for the following season. CBS dropped the show from its weekly schedule in December due to dismal ratings after 9 episodes had aired. The remaining four were aired in July of 1991. Before the four episodes were burned off, CBS decided to not renew The Hogan family for a seventh season in 1991-92 and released the series from its contract. So The Hogan Family were not given the chance to end with a proper finale. The last episode aired was a Christmas episode held over from December of the previous year.

I could have somehow fixed up the final season of The Hogan Family rather than fake-renew it for a season 7. I'm terrible at fan fiction, though. CBS can treat Miller-Boyett sitcoms like crap. (No offense to M-B's earlier sitcoms distributed by Paramount, such as Happy Days.)

Personally, I think any show's final season with no proper series finale is considered "Bad".

those shows also tend to be ones that have been cancelled due to low ratings and poor storylines.

L.A. Law - The last 2 seasons of this show seemed too soap opera-esque.

Bonanza - You can really tell that the whole cast seemed to be going through the motions during that short final S14 following Dan Blocker's death. To this day, Bonanza remains one of the very VERY few very-long running shows that got cancelled at midseason.

Growing Pains - That whole final season stunk so badly! Tracey Gold's appearances were far less, the show increasingly focused on Kirk Cameron and the addition of Leonardo DiCaprio didn't help matters.

The A-Team - The 5th season should've never happened. Having them working for the government instead of running from them showed just that the novelty of this show

Wiseguy - Without Ken Wahl, this show's 4th season didn't even make it to midseason and was canned towards the end of 1990.

ALF - the 4th season was kind of bleech at worst. The series finale ending stunk and it b/c of this show's sagging ratings, it also dragged down its Monday night stablemate The Hogan Family.


I agree wholehearetedly about:

Welcome Back, Kotter

Chico and the Man

Hawaii Five-O

Family Matters

This is going to be pretty obvious coming from me but Season 9 of Night Court because it was unplanned. Season 7 was pretty bad as well.

What was with that ending? Dan suddenly cares about Christine beyond sexual conquest and Bull is kidnapped by aliens? Clearly the writers threw in the towel and didn't give a crap anymore. What's worse is the fans who still think there was something to the mythical Night Court "love triangle". There wasn't, it wasn't even acknowledged in earlier seasons except for the flirtation between Harry and Christine. Dan spent all that time chasing skirts or being whacked out by Phil's death.

The final season of MASH is unbearable. The final episode was almost physically painful to watch. A show that started with such promise had to end in ruins.
I disagree about Happy Days though. The final season seemed to be a return to the more adult first two seasons. But it was too late by then.
Another one:
Who can forget the final season of the Dukes of Hazzard with model cars making jumps?:rolleyes:

Regarding Hawaii Five-O. It wasn't bad enough that the quality of the episodes nosedived. CBS also decided to frequently pre-empt this show to air some kind of "Special". It seemed like every other week the show was not being shown, and there was one period that lasted an entire month. I'm certain by this time many people thought the series had already been cancelled, and moved on to other things.

Hawaii Five-0 had been on a slow, gradual slide in the ratings in its longtime Thursday slot. By the time the 1979-80 season began (with exactly the same competition as the 78-79 season) it was consistently third in its timeslot, but still solid, landing between halfway and 2/3rds down in the list.

In December it was moved directly against Three's Company and the bottom fell out. It lasted about a month on Tuesdays, ranking near the bottom each week. I don't recall many pre-emptions while it was on the schedule, but it was indeed off the schedule for an entire month--specifically the entire month of February. Gee, I wonder why....

In March, with a handful of episodes left, it was moved to Saturday against the Love Boat and not even a somewhat-hyped finale featuring Wo Fat could lift it out of the ratings basement. A summer of reruns on Saturday seemed to be the plan, but after a one week pre-emption following the finale, CBS aired a single rerun and never another.

These are shows where they are good except for the final season. So not like the last few seasons were crap, just the final season and it's usually due to cast changes. Even though I say "crap" some of these shows are favorites of mine and I enjoy them all the way through but it's just a general feeling that their last season sucked. Here's my list with the explanations...

Laverne & Shirley ... NO SHIRLEY! That's the main problem. Also no Edna, Lenny bailed mid-season, the writing wasn't as good and I just don't think the remaining cast cared anymore. I've been watching some of this season on The Hub and I can't get over how bad it was.

Welcome Back, Kotter ... NO KOTTER! Okay, hardly any Kotter. Hardly any Barbarino. The addition of Beau, the southern Sweathog. Also, they got different writers who were good writers but just not for this particular show.

Chico and the Man ... NO CHICO! True, they had a kid that Ed Brown called "Chico" once or twice, Raul was no Chico. It wasn't so much the young actor's fault. Freddie Prinze just left a huge void to fill and as it turns out, it was not able to be filled.

Roseanne ... NO ROSEANNE!! Just kidding, it just seemed like a trend I had started. There was limited John Goodman, though and the stories weren't as good. It seemed over the top silly (especially with the way Jackie acted). Obviously, the whole lottery storyline wasn't liked by many of the fans. I was never a big fan of this show anyways, but that's the thing I hear is that the final season of "Roseanne" sucked!

NewsRadio ... Phil Hartman was dead and it took the writers some time to bounce back from that loss. Jon Lovitz did his best but it just wasn't good enough. I personally like the fifth (final) season but it seems like the general feeling among the fans is that the last season was bad.

That '70s Show ... Eric, the focal point of the show, was gone and yet the writers couldn't seem to move on. He was always mentioned (usually in a negative way) and the gang still hung out in the Forman's basement. You'd think they would spend more time in Fez and Jackie's apartment than the basement. Also, Kelso left after only a few episodes and fans seem to hate the new guy for season 8, Josh Meyers as Randy Pearson. The show that was once so cool, seemed like it was washed up and was only on because no one at FOX cancelled it, not because any of them wanted to be there or cared anymore.

Ellen ... At the end of season four, Ellen's character (as well as the actress) came out as gay. The coming out episode is a classic and even the rest of season four was very well done. Season five, however, lost it. Ellen no longer worked at the bookstore, Buy the Book, which was one of the main settings for the show in the previous seasons. Her friends, which had appeared in every episode (they were cast members for) now only appeared on a recurring basis. Ellen's struggle to find herself was gone because she HAD found herself. She no longer lived in the apartment but rather got a house. She was in a happy relationship (which I actually liked but a single Ellen is funnier to me than Ellen in a relationship). Maybe if the show got picked up for a sixth season, some of these changes could have been fixed (I'm mainly referring to the amount of screen time her co-stars got) but it didn't happen.

Gimme a Break! ... The move to New York City and ditching the daughters was a mistake, in my opinion.

Reno 911! ... Johnson, Garcia and Kimball didn't return for the sixth (final) season. The show just didn't seem as funny anymore, which is weird because the writers (who also happen to be some of the actors) felt the final season was their best.

Okay, you can either add to this list, say which one you think was the worst or just discuss it any way you want to.

I'm also a big fan of That '70s Show but I actually really liked a lot of the season 8 episodes. They just didn't need to add Randy as a character. They could have gotten by just fine without him. Most viewers probably would have found that to be a better option since it seemed that adding him to the cast was kind of a sellout and just served as a reminder that Kutcher and Topher Grace had left.

Saved by the Bell -- Season 5 when they added Tori and the characters of Kelly and Jessie left the show. Bayside just wasn't the same (although this is one of my favorite shows so I still really like most of the eps)

Seinfeld -- Most seem to think the show got too wacky and ran out of ideas but I thought they had some great episodes like the frogger, the dealership episode with George and the Twix bar, etc. It was just really the finale that bugged people. I thought it a cool way to include all the characters but it was a bit serious the episode, and maybe didn't have the same "vibe" as most of the other episodes.

Wonder Years -- Many talk about how the show had jumped the shark, Kevin was too old, this and that but nevertheless there were still many solid episodes in this season. I would, however, agree that it wasn't of the same quality of earlier seasons.

Boy Meets World -- Of all my favorite shows, I think this final season was the worst. I found "The War" episode was PERFECT as a series finale (which it was supposed to be) but then more episodes were ordered and then it was as if the writers had to scrounge around for more ideas and it just got a bit tired at that point. Final episode was pretty good though.

I agree with most of the choices listed above - but I have to add Family Matters to this list. Pure PAIN!!!! :eek:

I'm also a big fan of That '70s Show but I actually really liked a lot of the season 8 episodes. They just didn't need to add Randy as a character. They could have gotten by just fine without him. Most viewers probably would have found that to be a better option since it seemed that adding him to the cast was kind of a sellout and just served as a reminder that Kutcher and Topher Grace had left.

Saved by the Bell -- Season 5 when they added Tori and the characters of Kelly and Jessie left the show. Bayside just wasn't the same (although this is one of my favorite shows so I still really like most of the eps)

Seinfeld -- Most seem to think the show got too wacky and ran out of ideas but I thought they had some great episodes like the frogger, the dealership episode with George and the Twix bar, etc. It was just really the finale that bugged people. I thought it a cool way to include all the characters but it was a bit serious the episode, and maybe didn't have the same "vibe" as most of the other episodes.

Wonder Years -- Many talk about how the show had jumped the shark, Kevin was too old, this and that but nevertheless there were still many solid episodes in this season. I would, however, agree that it wasn't of the same quality of earlier seasons.

Boy Meets World -- Of all my favorite shows, I think this final season was the worst. I found "The War" episode was PERFECT as a series finale (which it was supposed to be) but then more episodes were ordered and then it was as if the writers had to scrounge around for more ideas and it just got a bit tired at that point. Final episode was pretty good though.



That 70's show i still loved season 8 also.Agree they could of gone with out Randy.Of course it would of been better ,If nobody left though.

Saved by the bell.I still loved it,But it never could of been as good with out Kelly and Jesse.It's just not possible

Seinfeld No real complaints because it was still hysterical.But maybe it did get too wacky.But not enough for me too complain too much.Because it was always a comedy.Never a heart felt family show.

Wonder years I thought should of gone much longer than it did.I don't think he ever got too old.It was still great.I wish him and whinnie we're married and the dad wouldn't of died.

Boy meets world.Another show that i loved.Can't complain too much.But there are a few things i would of done differently.

I agree with most of the choices listed above - but I have to add Family Matters to this list. Pure PAIN!!!! :eek:


I agree on family matters too.It actually is the worst of them all.When good it was great and for most of the run i loved it.But really after the appearance of Stephan it just got too weird.

Then Roseanne at the end.Dan cheating,Bev being gay,And Jackie becoming the way she did.Was just too much.

Punky Brewster - The last couple of seasons got a lot more silly with Punky focusing more of her energy on boys but there were some standouts, especially the episode where Punky gets the entire cast to invest in beauty products and it turns out the company is nothing more than a scam. The final episode, where Brandon the golden retriever gets married, was cute but a terrible choice for a series finale. I did hear that the show wasn't expecting to get canceled and they were eventually going to have Punky's mother turn up and explained why she abandoned her---it's too bad that this plot angle wasn't the series finale.

Hawaii Five-O (the original): No Danno as James MacArthur left by the second-to-last season, no Chin Ho as Kam Fong got tired of the role by the third-to-last season. So in came Kimo, Truck and Lori w/ the only original cast member left standing was Duke (Herman Wedemeyer) and if you wanna be technical, the Governor, too. To make matters worse, the series finale w/ MacGarrett putting away his long-time arch nemesis Wo Fat came off as a bit comic book-like and not in a good way either.

ALF: The 4th season saw the addition of baby Eric and appearances by Willie's brother Neal and the series finale was a cliffhanger as ALF was captured by the U.S. Military

All in the Family: With Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers leaving the series after its 8th season, the 9th season saw the arrival of Stephanie (Danielle Brisbois).

The A-Team: After 4 seasons, the team went from running from the government to working FOR the government for its 5th and final season. Plus, the theme song was upgraded and Eddie Valdez and Robert Vaughn joined the cast as Frankie Santana and Hunt Stockwell respectively.

Ditto for Kotter and Chico.

Hawaii Five-O (the original): No Danno as James MacArthur left by the second-to-last season, no Chin Ho as Kam Fong got tired of the role by the third-to-last season. So in came Kimo, Truck and Lori w/ the only original cast member left standing was Duke (Herman Wedemeyer) and if you wanna be technical, the Governor, too. To make matters worse, the series finale w/ MacGarrett putting away his long-time arch nemesis Wo Fat came off as a bit comic book-like and not in a good way either.

ALF: The 4th season saw the addition of baby Eric and appearances by Willie's brother Neal and the series finale was a cliffhanger as ALF was captured by the U.S. Military

All in the Family: With Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers leaving the series after its 8th season, the 9th season saw the arrival of Stephanie (Danielle Brisbois).

The A-Team: After 4 seasons, the team went from running from the government to working FOR the government for its 5th and final season. Plus, the theme song was upgraded and Eddie Valdez and Robert Vaughn joined the cast as Frankie Santana and Hunt Stockwell respectively.

Ditto for Kotter and Chico.



A team and Alf for sure! I loved Ateam the first 4 seasons.The fifth one just wasn't quite right.It was ok though.

I agree on family matters too.It actually is the worst of them all.When good it was great and for most of the run i loved it.But really after the appearance of Stephan it just got too weird.

What I found really annoying was how the show just let Rachel, little Richie, Judy, and a bunch of other characters (like Waldo) just fall off throughout the series. Then when the actress who played Harriette quit, they got another actress to play her for the final 9 (?) I think episodes. That I found to be so so so ridiculous. Like throughout the entire show they somehow found a way to sneakily ignore a bunch of important characters so why not just say a reason she wasn't there or just forget about her for the last few episodes. At that point it was all about the Urkel-Laura dynamic and a bit about Eddie pursuing a career as a cop. Harriette wasn't involved in any major storylines (largely a reason she left to begin with!) but in that case I found it ridiculous to replace her. One of the dumbest decisions but I guess it didn't really make a difference because the show had already jumped the shark. I personally really liked the middle seasons like 3, 4, and 5 the most.

What I found really annoying was how the show just let Rachel, little Richie, Judy, and a bunch of other characters (like Waldo) just fall off throughout the series. Then when the actress who played Harriette quit, they got another actress to play her for the final 9 (?) I think episodes. That I found to be so so so ridiculous. Like throughout the entire show they somehow found a way to sneakily ignore a bunch of important characters so why not just say a reason she wasn't there or just forget about her for the last few episodes. At that point it was all about the Urkel-Laura dynamic and a bit about Eddie pursuing a career as a cop. Harriette wasn't involved in any major storylines (largely a reason she left to begin with!) but in that case I found it ridiculous to replace her. One of the dumbest decisions but I guess it didn't really make a difference because the show had already jumped the shark. I personally really liked the middle seasons like 3, 4, and 5 the most.



I agree completley with every thing you said.They let what started out as a great show with lots of beloved charecthors.Become sort of a joke.

Most fans of Scrubs pretend the last season didn't exist. Most of the main cast left.

We can probably add The Office to the list whenever their final season might be with more and more cast members leaving every year...

Outside of sitcoms, The Man Show was absolutely unwatchable with Joe Rogan and Doug Stanhope as hosts for the final 2 seasons. Once Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla were gone, it was immediately evident that they were the real charm of the show. Instead of a dynamic comedy duo, we were treated to a really unfunny comedian and the weakest link from the Newsradio cast.

I would have to say "Monk". That was such a great show for the first 6 seasons and then in Season 7 it pretty much fell apart. Of course I was devastated by the death of Stanley Kammel (Dr. Kroger), and I absolutely HATED the way they 'mistreated' him in remembering his death. It was nothing more than having Adrian mention at the beginning of the show that Dr. Kroger had died of a heart attack (which is also how Stanley Kammel died). Then at the end of the show they had Dr. Kroger's picture on the mantle at Adrian's apartment. Adrian was a very disturbed character (in a good way) and he definitely needed therapy and they just glossed over the fact that this man who'd been working with him for the past 5 years (maybe more, since in the first episode it was established that he'd most likely been a patient of Dr. Kroger's for a while) was now dead. And he was never mentioned again. I'm sorry but if Dr. Kroger worked so closely with Adrian, I find it hard to believe that Adrian would be able to forget all that so quickly. And what really irritated me is that they got him another psychiatrist right away. I do like Hector Elizondo, who played Dr. Bell, but again, I find it highly unbelievable that Adrian would have no problem going into a brand new office to meet a stranger after spending all those years with Dr. Kroger.

Okay, there's the end of my rant on that issue.

Another show I remember having a final season that wasn't so great was "Full House". It wasn't bad per say and it still had it's funny moments, but I think it was good that they ended it when they did.

A similar thread that I started sometime last year:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=278786

night court the whole final season was just awful also the final season of friends was not truly bad it just had a tiresome rushed feeling and was not worthy of what had come before

Roseanne immediately sprang to mind. That might be the worst final season of any show. I also agree about Newsradio (though that was beyond their control) Laverne & Shirley, and That 70s Show.

A few others I thought of: Rhoda, Murphy Brown, Designing Women

Happy Days and Bewitched were bad towards the end too but I think their penultimate seasons were worse than their last one.

What I found really annoying was how the show just let Rachel, little Richie, Judy, and a bunch of other characters (like Waldo) just fall off throughout the series. Then when the actress who played Harriette quit, they got another actress to play her for the final 9 (?) I think episodes. That I found to be so so so ridiculous. Like throughout the entire show they somehow found a way to sneakily ignore a bunch of important characters so why not just say a reason she wasn't there or just forget about her for the last few episodes. At that point it was all about the Urkel-Laura dynamic and a bit about Eddie pursuing a career as a cop. Harriette wasn't involved in any major storylines (largely a reason she left to begin with!) but in that case I found it ridiculous to replace her. One of the dumbest decisions but I guess it didn't really make a difference because the show had already jumped the shark. I personally really liked the middle seasons like 3, 4, and 5 the most.
Most of the characters, who disappeared from this show, did so because the actors wanted to quit. And that's also why Harriette was replaced, the original actress quit. I agree that season 9 wasn't that great though, especially since I've never thought, that Steve belonged with Laura.

Most of the characters, who disappeared from this show, did so because the actors wanted to quit. And that's also why Harriette was replaced, the original actress quit. I agree that season 9 wasn't that great though, especially since I've never thought, that Steve belonged with Laura.
That's true. I think Judy was the only one who was actually fired, which is probably why her character was the only one never seen again, while the others popped up once in a while. That killed the show for me, and the reason why I only like the first four seasons.

That's true. I think Judy was the only one who was actually fired, which is probably why her character was the only one never seen again, while the others popped up once in a while. That killed the show for me, and the reason why I only like the first four seasons.

her handlers demanded a raise and more screen time

These are all great shows but all had bad final seasons.

The Brady Bunch. Some of the final season are decent but when Cousin Oliver was added it just started getting unrealistic.

The Partridge Family. Like the BB when they added a child (Ricky)it became horrendous and his episodes are unwatchable. Once he was dropped the final episodes started getting better but too late.

The Flintstones. Great show but the Great Gazoo was awful and the plots were getting thin.

The Andy Griffith Show. The final season I call the Sam Jones season because it seemed more about him than Andy and his family.

I Love Lucy. The Connecticut episodes to me just aren't all that great.

Most fans of Scrubs pretend the last season didn't exist. Most of the main cast left.

We can probably add The Office to the list whenever their final season might be with more and more cast members leaving every year...
It's not always about a good portion of the cast leaving, because shows do survive, and sometimes get even better with cast changes (Buffy, ER, Beverly Hills 90210, Star Trek, Three's Company, to name a few). Even with most of the original cast still intact a year or two ago, The Office just wasn't the same. Not that it was ever awful, but they were struggling for good stories even before Michael's last year on the show.

I will add Buffy The Vampire Slayer to this list of "bad" final seasons.

Well, it wasn't infamously bad but I thought the last season of CHUCK was considerably weaker than the rest. It went on a year too long.

Also, the last season of Babylon Five had some decent episodes but it was obvious that the main storyline had already been concluded. The creator of the show wrapped up the main storyline at the end of season four when he was told that there would be no season five. Then the network changed their mind and renewed the show. As a result, much of the last season is just filler.

I can't believe we haven't mentioned The Drew Carey Show yet. Actually, the last 3 or so seasons before were lousy, too, but I digress. :crazy:

These are shows where they are good except for the final season. So not like the last few seasons were crap, just the final season and it's usually due to cast changes. Even though I say "crap" some of these shows are favorites of mine and I enjoy them all the way through but it's just a general feeling that their last season sucked.

I got to add What's Happening!!!

There was no MAMA in the third and finale season.

Also, Shirley moved into the house.

:mad:

That's true. I think Judy was the only one who was actually fired, which is probably why her character was the only one never seen again, while the others popped up once in a while. That killed the show for me, and the reason why I only like the first four seasons.

Carl Winslow is the worst father AND the worst police officer ever!

He never look for his missing daughter, Judy, on Family Matters!

LOL

Carl Winslow is the worst father AND the worst police officer ever!

He never look for his missing daughter, Judy, on Family Matters!

LOL

HAHAHA that's hilarious!

Although I never watched the show, didn't Suddenly Susan have an infamously bad final season? I know that David Strickland had died at the end of the previous season and Judd Nelson left the show. It seems to me like that final season would stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the series.

I got to add What's Happening!!!

There was no MAMA in the third and finale season.

Also, Shirley moved into the house.

:mad:

I agree with you.

Although I never watched the show, didn't Suddenly Susan have an infamously bad final season? I know that David Strickland had died at the end of the previous season and Judd Nelson left the show. It seems to me like that final season would stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the series.
Judd Nelson left the show?? Wow, shows how much attention I was paying to SS back then. :lol:

The fourth and final season of Caroline in the City was horrendous. The downhill slide had actually begun in the third season, but in the fourth it completely fell apart - and totally vanished in the ratings!!!

MASH should have been cancelled after Gary Burghoff left. They were rehashing old storylines and one can tell that the actors are physically older. They did make up for it with the finale, but MASH itself went on for about two or three seasons too long!

I have to agree about "Monk". It started slipping in Season 5 noticeably and pretty much continued downward until the end. The finale was inexcusable, almost "Bizarro Monk", the main arc of the show who killed Trudy seemed like an afterthought even though the writers had 8 seasons to solve it. It make Adrian seem a horrible detective to have been looking the solution right in his face for 8 seasons and previous clues were pretty much ignored for a tidy fast solution. Just a horrible finale.

A similar thread that I started sometime last year:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=278786

Another old but similar thread that I just dug up:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=231629

Pick 5 Shows you enjoyed watching that had Bad Last Seasons (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=161098)

I vote for Arrested Development. First season was good, second season was middling and the third season was so bad that I did not bother finishing the series (I remember that there was a "British town" like Chinatown with Michael Bluth in love with some British woman for some reason and I don't know and ZZZZZZ.

Lots of talented people (Jeffrey Tambor rules!) but I think it just lost it and the ratings showed that I was not the only one who felt this way because it was about half of what it started with and probably had a third season because of Ron Howard and a cult following.

Just one man's opinion.

Kate and Allie- By the last season Ari Myers and producers Bill Persky and Bob Randall who produced the show since the 1st episode had left. The show should had ended with Bob and Allie getting married and Kate moving to California to be closer to Emma.

Malcom in the Middle-It seemed that the 2nd half of the series was losing steam and this dysfunctional famliy seemed to act more normal as the as the series went on.

Home Improvement-I still love this show, but when the boys got older and JTT left...the show got more serious. Luckily, it bowed-out before Marty Taylor's daughters would give the show "Cousin Oliver Syndrome".

The Facts of Life-When Charollette Rae left the show, sure we still had the girls, but TFOL was losing steam.

I vote for Arrested Development. First season was good, second season was middling and the third season was so bad that I did not bother finishing the series (I remember that there was a "British town" like Chinatown with Michael Bluth in love with some British woman for some reason and I don't know and ZZZZZZ.

Lots of talented people (Jeffrey Tambor rules!) but I think it just lost it and the ratings showed that I was not the only one who felt this way because it was about half of what it started with and probably had a third season because of Ron Howard and a cult following.

Just one man's opinion.
I would definitely not say Arrested Development's final (well, not final anymore) season was "infamously bad"...

I got to add What's Happening!!!

There was no MAMA in the third and finale season.

Also, Shirley moved into the house.

:mad:

This is why I only have the first two releases. I had once purchased #3, but then realized how awful it was.

I hated Murphy Brown's few last seasons. After Grant Shaud (Miles) left. I hated the damn show. He made that show for me. And, I'll just go ahead and say it. He was my first TV crush.

I think Roseanne, head and shoulders, last season was terrible. For me, its Roseanne and then everybody else. The fact that they won the Lottery, made Dan cheat on Roseanne, his overall attitude in general and there weird journey across the country made Roseanne's last season not very good.

I think Happy Days last season wasnt that great. The fact that Joanie and Chacai were guest stars for the past couple of seasons didnt help. They made so many appearances the past couple of years, you thought they were part of the cast. Also, the last season really showed the inconsistencies that Happy Days had up to that point. The fact that KC/Flip suddenly disappeared, the fact that Joanie somehow was a teacher when she didnt graduate high school. Also the fact that I didnt know what Chacai did during the last season.


Laverne and Shirley. I dont remember too much of the last season but I did watch the series finale. Now, I heard the episode was bad but I wanted to see it as I hadn't seen it in a while. It was bad. When a show is called Laverne and Shirley, you have to have, you know, Laverne and Shirley. I understand that Shirley left the show but Laverne has to be in there more than she was.

Though it's still in the middle of it.....The Office has to be on this list. A horrible, train-wreck ending to a once really fun show to watch.

Happy Days.....sad to see. Though you could really say the last 3 or 4 seasons were terrible.

Definitely Family Matters.

1. Home Improvement season 8 because JTT left the show.
2. Everybody Loves Raymond season 9 because it was a short season with 16 episodes.

http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/01/25-worst-seasons-great-tv-shows/

Everybody makes mistakes. It's sometimes hard to admit that in the age of overzealous Internet criticism and ardent fanboy defenses of any decent media that comes down the pike. No matter how bad it is to openly acknowledge, even the best shows can have down moments, or even down years. While some televisions shows, like The Wire and Arrested Development were able to make it through their run without a weak season, most programs, especially those that enjoy long runs, occasionally, and disastrously, run afoul.

Off seasons can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a show loses a showrunner, other times they can't negotiate a new contract with the lead actor, and from time to time the story just comes to an end before the ratings and accompanying ad money are ready to call it quits.

When Groucho Marx said, "They can't all be gems," he was, prophetically speaking, talking about The 25 Worst Seasons of Great TV Shows. Or so we'd like to think.

I agree with the two posts about The Wonder Years, although I would add the fact that the original writers (Neal Marlens and Carol Black) quit right before the crew entered McKinley High School.

It's hard to believe it was twenty years ago that this show suddenly ended! I can't remember the exact day I learned it, but it was at the end of April 1993; I went to the website of The Miami Student (the newspaper at Miami University where I attended), and oddly enough there are no digital editions for the period between April 16 and sometime in September 1993! (Yes, I know they took a break for summer, but there were a few weeks left in the year in April, as well as early May!)

I have to give my vote to Coach when they moved to Florida, it was not as funny as before

I never found out why Coach Hayden moved to Orlando? I do remember that he told the owner no but I guess he changed his mind?

I have to give my vote to Coach when they moved to Florida, it was not as funny as before

Had Coach left his wife Christine in Minnesota it would have been a lot better. Why they had that hag in the show I don't know. They had no chemistry! Why couldn't Hayden stay single? (But that's a whole 'nother topic!)

Family Matter was a bad season to most of the world because it turned into a cartoon reality show that was similar to the 1988 movie who framed roger rabbit it was fantasy, boy meets world was turning into a fantasy show by season 7 eric getting struck by lightning it was still entertaining lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyOqEimpca8

Had Coach left his wife Christine in Minnesota it would have been a lot better. Why they had that hag in the show I don't know. They had no chemistry! Why couldn't Hayden stay single? (But that's a whole 'nother topic!)Come on, a family values guy like you is advocating Hayden abandoning his wife? Christine is not a hag, the show wouldn't have been the same without her.

Family Matter was a bad season to most of the world because it turned into a cartoon reality show that was similar to the 1988 movie who framed roger rabbit it was fantasy, boy meets world was turning into a fantasy show by season 7 eric getting struck by lightning it was still entertaining lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyOqEimpca8
I still liked "Family Matters" until the last season, when Steve became a jerk, who dumped Myra for Laura. The cartoony stuff only fitted in with Steve's character.

Which TV Show Had The Best Final Season? (http://whatculture.com/tv/which-tv-show-had-the-best-final-season.php)

I still liked "Family Matters" until the last season, when Steve became a jerk, who dumped Myra for Laura. The cartoony stuff only fitted in with Steve's character.

Yeah considering all the times she rejected him and used him.

Season 8 and 9 of Night Court. I wasn't here for Twee Breakdown Dan.

Season 4 and 5 of Boston Legal. Carl Sack flops harder than Gaga's seashells.

Season 8 and 9 of Night Court. I wasn't here for Twee Breakdown Dan.

Season 4 and 5 of Boston Legal. Carl Sack flops harder than Gaga's seashells.
Gaga's seashells ---haha that tickled me a little bit. :D

Come on, a family values guy like you is advocating Hayden abandoning his wife? Christine is not a hag, the show wouldn't have been the same without her.

They should have had Hayden never be married to begin with, not abandon his wife.

How about Bonanza? Once Hoss died, the heart of the show was gone.

I'm rather surprised no one mentioned "Mork & Mindy"- that one always seems to get slammed for its 4th. season. Having seen every episode of the series, I would say myself that I enjoy the series all the way through, from beginning to end. But maybe I'm not as critical in my taste as others- lol.:) :cool:

The truth is that most shows have poor final years. The networks never want to let go of their cash cows and usually do anything to keep the name brand afloat, even if main cast members leave and the entire premise of the show is changed.

It's pretty sad; so many of my memories of favorite shows are marred by those terrible exits.

MASH should have been cancelled after Gary Burghoff left. They were rehashing old storylines and one can tell that the actors are physically older. They did make up for it with the finale, but MASH itself went on for about two or three seasons too long!

I agree. They should've done the time capsule episode and the TV movie at the end of the eight season.

Though it's still in the middle of it.....The Office has to be on this list. A horrible, train-wreck ending to a once really fun show to watch.

Happy Days.....sad to see. Though you could really say the last 3 or 4 seasons were terrible.

Definitely Family Matters.

Happy Days definitely sucked during its final season. I hated that episode where Fonzie picked up the female hitch hiker.

Happy Days definitely sucked during its final season. I hated that episode where Fonzie picked up the female hitch hiker.I don't remember that episode.

Hawaii Five-O (The Original Last Season)

The Six Million Dollar Man

Baywatch

I don't remember that episode.

It was the final season's "The Spirit Is Willing" episode.

Judd Nelson left the show?? Wow, shows how much attention I was paying to SS back then. :lol:


Yes, Judd Nelson left the series. And by the final season almost the entire cast had been replaced. The setting changed as well, they no longer worked at "The Gate"...

Should How I Met Your Mother count? The whole last season was built upon the weekend leading into Robin and Barney's wedding only to find out in the final episode that they got a divorce. To add "insult to injury", we finally get to know the mother of Ted's children only to find out that the whole thing (and point of the show's title) was inconsequential, since Ted was going to ultimately end up w/ Robin anyway.

The Facts of Life-When Charollette Rae left the show, sure we still had the girls, but TFOL was losing steam.

The show probably should have ended when Mrs. G left the show. The show was always about her. Although I do like what they did at the end of the series: they brought it back full circle, so the storyline was about Eastland School again, with Blair as the new Mrs. Garrett.

Night Court should have stuck with their original plan for Season 8 and then ended it. Season 9 was pretty bad. Not very funny and Harry's attitude changed for the worst. He was so sweet and funny the whole series and then...he was pretty much an arrogant bastard for all of season 9. Kills me to say that. *sighs* Plus, if the original plan went through. None of the stuff with Dan being twee would have happened. Sad Dan was the worst. (Dan acted more like Harry and Harry acted more like Dan..*well, emotionally*) It was terrible.

The writers had no clue what they were doing.

(The original season 8 storyline was supposed to end with Harry/Christine getting married.)

Night Court should have stuck with their original plan for Season 8 and then ended it. Season 9 was pretty bad. Not very funny and Harry's attitude changed for the worst. He was so sweet and funny the whole series and then...he was pretty much an arrogant bastard for all of season 9. Kills me to say that. *sighs* Plus, if the original plan went through. None of the stuff with Dan being twee would have happened. Sad Dan was the worst. (Dan acted more like Harry and Harry acted more like Dan..*well, emotionally*) It was terrible.

The writers had no clue what they were doing.

(The original season 8 storyline was supposed to end with Harry/Christine getting married.)i agree with you 100 percent about night court i watched maybe 2 eps that final season and the finale was one of the all time worst in sitcom history

The finale should have had Harry and Christine marry. Not Bull getting sucked up to space and Dan betraying his only friend by stealing his woman!

I think Happy Days last season wasnt that great. T Also the fact that I didnt know what Chacai did during the last season.



.
Chacai was supposed to go on tour with the Beach Boys :rolleyes: , but was diagnosed with the diabeetus and had to bow out. Not unlike the original drummer of RUSH.

Night Court should have stuck with their original plan for Season 8 and then ended it. Season 9 was pretty bad. Not very funny and Harry's attitude changed for the worst. He was so sweet and funny the whole series and then...he was pretty much an arrogant bastard for all of season 9. Kills me to say that. *sighs* Plus, if the original plan went through. None of the stuff with Dan being twee would have happened. Sad Dan was the worst. (Dan acted more like Harry and Harry acted more like Dan..*well, emotionally*) It was terrible.

The writers had no clue what they were doing.

(The original season 8 storyline was supposed to end with Harry/Christine getting married.)

You can make the argument (now that I've had a chance to watch the episodes again on Encore Classic) that Night Court started slipping (it started losing its edge to put it in another way) when Reinhold Weege left as executive producer following Season 6. Arguably the jump the shark moment (although fans will also contend that the "Phil Foundation" arc, in which the producers tried to make Dan into full-fledged "good guy" was the "final nail in the coffin" so to speak) was the whole arc involving Christine getting pregnant (which incidentally, happened in the season after Weege left). That really screwed w/ the tension between her, Harry and Dan. To make matters worse, in order to stall for time, they paired Harry up w/ some reporter lady (who in the process, made Harry stop being a fun, wacky judge) played by Mary Cadorette, who is practically a mini-show killer since she also played Jack Tripper's love interest Vicki in the last few episodes of Three's Company and it's short-lived spin-off, Three's a Crowd.

I hated Murphy Brown's few last seasons. After Grant Shaud (Miles) left. I hated the damn show. He made that show for me. And, I'll just go ahead and say it. He was my first TV crush.

I was just thinking about Murphy Brown because I just saw on Encore Classic, an episode from the final season involving Jim scoring Murphy some pot to deal w/ her breast cancer treatment. Apparently, this is Charles Kimbrough's (the actor who played Jim Dial) favorite episode.

Murphy Brown is arguably one of those shows that have have lasted a few seasons too long. Doing a season long arc in which the main character gets cancer (although well meaning, if the intent is to encourage viewers to get themselves checked out), just wreaks of contrivance in means of getting viewers to watch the show again. Plus, since when was storylines about cancer okay for a sitcom (as opposed to something like say thirtysomething). It's sort of like how when Diff'rent Strokes would try to tackle really hard-hitting or gritty subjects, which seemed more subtle (or not so awkward or difficult to digest) for something like say, Hill Street Blues.

Basically, the problem when sitcoms would try to tackle important real world issues, is that they run the risk (especially w/o skillful writing or talented acting so it won't come across as too preachy, smug, or puffed up on its own importance) of making the message (or whatever suits the producers agenda to be more specific) more important than being there to entertain.

Well, I know a lot of people say that "Murphy Brown" hasn't aged so well. But I really liked it, including the cancer story line. But the scoring pot episode seems weird to me, as it never would have flied over here in Sweden. We're mostly a liberal country, but marijuana is still illegal and will hopefully remain so. Even if you have cancer, you get proper medicin from your doctor. But even before I saw that "Murphy Brown" episode, I had seen a footage of a cancer patient in the US, who had permission to grow marijuana in her garden for health reasons. So I can only assume that Americans (or, at least some Americans) have a different view on this.

I stopped watching Murphy Brown after she had the baby.

Well, I know a lot of people say that "Murphy Brown" hasn't aged so well. But I really liked it, including the cancer story line. But the scoring pot episode seems weird to me, as it never would have flied over here in Sweden. We're mostly a liberal country, but marijuana is still illegal and will hopefully remain so. Even if you have cancer, you get proper medicin from your doctor. But even before I saw that "Murphy Brown" episode, I had seen a footage of a cancer patient in the US, who had permission to grow marijuana in her garden for health reasons. So I can only assume that Americans (or, at least some Americans) have a different view on this.

I'm different. I love the pot episode. That is one of the episodes of the last 2 seasons I actually loved. Jim high was so funny. "I've known you for 20 years...and yet, I cannot remember your name!" :lol:

*BUMP* (http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/510360/horrible-last-seasons-tv-shows)

Step By Step

Blossom

Laverne without Shirley

Laverne without Shirley

They should've changed the show's title to that for the final season.

:D

Family Matters

If nobody mentioned it....Arrested Development. Show went from absolutely hilarious in first season, to ho hum the second season and the third season just sucked. I went from a fan (and I will still watch the first season) to avoiding the finale. The Netflix revival was actually good, reverse shark jump.

Out With A Whimper: The Worst Final Seasons On TV, Ever (http://www.hitfix.com/news/out-with-a-whimper-the-worst-final-tv-seasons-on-record)

Lamest final seasons in TV history (http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/lamest-final-seasons-in-tv-history)

One I just discovered... "The Real McCoys." Kate, Hassie and Little Luke were gone. Grandpa missed a few episodes in the season. It was originally a show about a family and by the end of it, the family was fading away.

Bad final seasons: (Even though I think these are bad seasons, I don't think they're horrible and I still enjoy watching them)
227
Diff'rent Strokes
The Drew Carey Show
Family Matters
Ellen
Home Improvement
Step by Step (only because of Brendan missing)
Laverne & Shirley
Night Court
Gimme a Break!
Roseanne
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Saved by the Bell
Petticoat Junction
The Facts of Life
The Real McCoys
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Excellent final seasons:
Murder, She Wrote
Matlock
Mama's Family
Newhart
The Jeffersons
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Desperate Housewives
The Golden Girls
Pee-wee's Playhouse
Three's Company
Will & Grace

Raising Hope

Last season was sucked and was super boring. Greg Garcia stepping down as showrunner to run the now cancelled The Millers was a huge mistake. Season 4 should have been called The Burt and Virginia Show because they got 95% of the screentime.

Diff'rent Strokes:

It should have ended with Phillip marrying Maggie but producers brought in little Danny Cooksey as Sam to keep on the cute factor because Gary Coleman frankly despite looking young just didn't look right when the actor is becoming a teenager.

Then season 8 began with the switch from NBC to ABC, a totally different actress playing Maggie and the penthouse remodeled to a depressing shade of red (wine), and with Gary's health issues more noticeable in the later episodes as he's slurring his lines at times.

Two and a half men, This show is beyond horrible.

I know the ones below aren't sitcoms but still......

7th Heaven had really gone down hill, it was time for it to end.

Ghost Whisperer is another, the show just got really BAD.

Medium, I loved this show but that final season was horrible.

ER, oh gezzzzz, I think they ran out of stories.

Northern Exposure, my parents have this on DVD, the last season was terrible!

It kind of seems to me like the shows with the good final seasons had an advantage over those that had bad ones in that the former shows KNEW it was their last season, and planned accordingly. The latter shows seem like the ones who didn't know when to call it quits, and just kept dragging on, despite the fact that their original premises (and often, actors) were gone.

Designing Women--- It really never recovered from the loss of Delta Burke and Jean Smart. Although Judith Ivey was a step in the right direction it was just too little, too late.

Ally McBeal--- Frankly it felt like an entirely different show and just wasn't that interesting anymore.

ALF - the 4th season was kind of bleech at worst. The series finale ending stunk and it b/c of this show's sagging ratings, it also dragged down its Monday night stablemate The Hogan Family.

I have to disagree with you on The Hogan Family. That show could have lasted a whole lot longer if the producers actually listened to what Valerie Harper wanted.

One, I have to completely disagree that the MASH finale was terrible, you're wrong. It was one of the funniest and most touching series finale's in history. And two, ALF was never that good anyways. I'll never understand why people liked that show to begin with. ALF the alien was just way too annoying.

Ed.

the MASH finale was AWFUL!! It had a couple parts that were just OK but that was it.

OK well that's what makes America great we don't always have to agree on everything. :) So we'll just have to agree to disagree about that.

Ed.

exactly! Like; I disagree with you about ALF but like my father's college professor used to say "Well, great minds differ!" Like you say that's what makes America great!

You could say "Happy Days"'had a bad final season

Bewitched- The new Darren wasn't as good as the original, which kinda made that last season bad

Wings- The tone of the show changed by its final season. It was likely caused by Lowell leaving. I still love the show though

I have to disagree with you on The Hogan Family. That show could have lasted a whole lot longer if the producers actually listened to what Valerie Harper wanted.

What was that?

What was that?

To be compensated fairly and to have equally representative and smart story lines that respected the viewer's intelligence.

Homicide: Life on the Street - suffers from the absence of Andre Braugher.

Kids Incorporated - should have ended when Stacy Ferguson left.

Law & Order - not the same without Jerry Orbach.

Fantasy Island - big mistake in replacing Herve Villechaize with Christopher Hewett.

Tic-Tac-Dough - Jim Caldwell pales in comparison to Wink Martindale.

Sale of the Century - Don Morrow lacks the enthusiasm of Jay Stewart.

Family Feud - Richard Dawson was too old to be replacing Ray Combs, instead they should have just got rid of the "Bullseye-Bankroll" round.

The Joker's Wild - ditto for Bill Cullen replacing Jack Barry.

Hunter - Darlanne Fluegel and Lauren Lane are poor substitutes for Stepfanie Kramer

L.A. Law - should have ended with the departures of Harry Hamlin, Michele Greene, and Jimmy Smits.

Fantasy Island - big mistake in replacing Herve Villechaize with Christopher Hewett.I haven't seen Fantasy Island but Christopher Hewett was great on Mr. Belvedere, him being on the final season makes that the one I would want to see most.

I disagree with the "Batman" pick. I love Batgirl! (RIP Yvonne Craig)

Here's a few of my own:


8 Simple Rules - for obvious reasons

Petticoat Junction - death of Kate Bradley replaced by lady doctor June Lockhart

Andy Griffith Show - still great in Year 8 but without Barney and Gomer it wasn't nearly as funny or fun to watch as in the black and white episodes

Two and a Half Men - I still miss Charlie Sheen

Scrubs - All those interns were unfunny and unnecessary

-Seinfeld...had some good moments, but lost a lot of steam, IMO
-Agreed on Scrubs...I hated the interns
-Sanford and Son...same as Seinfeld: could be funny, but it lost a lot of steam

I'm surprised no one mentioned season 6 of Gimme a Break!...in a way, I like that season better than season 5, but I can see why it was panned...only Nell Carter was on that was part of the original cast of GAB. Grandpa was still there, but he became a regular in season 2.

And Home Improvement lost it in the 8th season. Johnathan Taylor Thomas leaves the show and follows the same path as McLean Stevenson and Marty Taylor moves-in making the show less interesting and then there's the two-part do where Jill goes into surgery...this was a little dark for a sitcom!

15 Worst Final Seasons Of TV Shows (http://screenrant.com/worst-final-seasons-tv-shows-ever-all-time/)

I'm only gonna rate shows I liked. I thought The Beverly Hillbillies and The Bob Newhart Show had very bad final seasons.

[QUOTE=glickmam]

Fantasy Island - big mistake in replacing Herve Villechaize with Christopher Hewett.


If I remember they had Wendy Schnall as a woman cohost before Chris. But I do think Herve was the best. The show lost it's punch when Herve left.

Fantasy Island - big mistake in replacing Herve Villechaize with Christopher Hewett.


If I remember they had Wendy Schnall as a woman cohost before Chris. But I do think Herve was the best. The show lost it's punch when Herve left.

Wendy was around for a little while before Herve left.

I think the point of thread is to list shows that held well enough until the final season and then completely collapsed, that said, here is my list :

Laverne and Shirley

The Real McCoys

The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour (the final two episodes "The Ricardos Go to Japan", and "Lucy Meets the Mustache" are painful to watch).

This is going to be pretty obvious coming from me but Season 9 of Night Court because it was unplanned.

You mean NBC was originally not going to renew Night Court for the 1991-
92 season?

Seinfeld - agree. The finale was particularly bad.

Everybody Loves Raymond - the abbreviated 9th season - it should have been renamed Everybody Wants To Move On. There were several clunker episodes, the actors looked like they were just going through the motions, and the final episode was just another episode.

Two And A Half Men - I guess I'd call the 8th season the last - this was Sheen's show. When he went rogue the scripts also went rogue and way off into the weeds.

(going way back) Our Miss Brooks - the 4th season went off in a totally different direction, and a couple of stars were gone. The interplay between Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton was central to this show, and he was gone. They brought him back late in the game, but it was too late to save the show.

TV shows that are better if you skip the final season (http://www.looper.com/47230/tv-shows-better-skip-final-season/)

One I recall that had a really bad final go was Miami Vice, in its fifth and final go (1988-89).

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In-most of the core cast members-save for Ruth Buzzi and Lily Tomlin-were gone, plus lame sketches did not help. Sarah Kennedy and Patti Deutsch were no Judy Carne or Goldie Hawn.

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These TV shows disappointing fans thanks to awful final seasons. For this list, we’ll be looking at beloved TV shows that went out on sour notes. Even if a show received a revival some time later, we still considered it here. Since we’re discussing final plot points, a massive spoiler warning is in effect. Our countdown of the worst final seasons includes “Game of Thrones” (2011-19): Season 8, “That ‘70s Show” (1998-2006): Season 8, “Roseanne” (1988-1997): Season 9, “Heroes” (2006-10): Season 4, and more! Which of these final seasons upset you the most? Are there any that you think get more hate than they deserve?

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Some TV shows start strong but end with a whimper. We're diving into the most disappointing final seasons that left fans frustrated, betrayed, and questioning why they invested years of their time into these once-beloved series. Our countdown includes epic fails like "Game of Thrones", "How I Met Your Mother", "Dexter", and more shocking TV endings that completely missed the mark! Which finally did you hate the most?

These are shows where they are good except for the final season. So not like the last few seasons were crap, just the final season and it's usually due to cast changes. Even though I say "crap" some of these shows are favorites of mine and I enjoy them all the way through but it's just a general feeling that their last season sucked. Here's my list with the explanations...

Laverne & Shirley ... NO SHIRLEY! That's the main problem. Also no Edna, Lenny bailed mid-season, the writing wasn't as good and I just don't think the remaining cast cared anymore. I've been watching some of this season on The Hub and I can't get over how bad it was.

Welcome Back, Kotter ... NO KOTTER! Okay, hardly any Kotter. Hardly any Barbarino. The addition of Beau, the southern Sweathog. Also, they got different writers who were good writers but just not for this particular show.

Chico and the Man ... NO CHICO! True, they had a kid that Ed Brown called "Chico" once or twice, Raul was no Chico. It wasn't so much the young actor's fault. Freddie Prinze just left a huge void to fill and as it turns out, it was not able to be filled.

Roseanne ... NO ROSEANNE!! Just kidding, it just seemed like a trend I had started.You made this post in 2012. Just six years later there really was no more Roseanne when she got herself fired from the revival and it was renamed The Conners. :lol:

Final season of Once Upon a Time blows chunks, it should have ended with season 6 and all the original actors still intact. ABC made a mistake cancelling Last Man Standing to move OUAT to Fridays. The FOX era of LMS was awful, but if it had remained on ABC with no year off we would have gotten more Molly Ephraim and Kaitlyn Dever.

Under the Dome- Writers destroyed the show in season 3. The series finale took things in a good direction but by that time a large portion of its audience had left.

I have not seen the final season of Petticoat Junction, but losing Bea Benaderet would naturally make it worse.

I agree with The Andy Griffith Show and Bewitched being terrible by the end. I am not interested in the Mayberry R.F.D. spin-off either.

Head of the Class- worst lead actor replacement in sitcom history

Newhart was still mostly good, but sleazy Prudence was a terrible addition.

Home Improvement- There are episodes that are still worth it especially the series finale. But it wasn't the same without Randy.

Murphy Brown- Lily Tomlin was a great replacement for Grant Shaud. But season 10 was too dark with cancer over the whole season.

I haven't seen Mad About You's final season in awhile, but Fran and Lisa both leaving would weaken it.

Benson- Tone became too ugly with the governor getting a lot meaner.

Too Close for Comfort- It is too bad Monroe didn't leave instead of the daughters.

The Partridge Family- At least they dropped the awful kid singer. But not worth watching while he butchered music.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine- Ezri Dax big downgrade from Jadzia Dax

Diff'rent Strokes

Boy Meets World

I totally disagree with everyone who doesn't like the final season of Seinfeld. It was still high quality, the series finale was great as well.