Sometimes when a show proves long in the tooth, the quality tends to decline (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=300069), lots of unnecessary twists, distracting gimmicks, new characters, "The Scrappies" etc, some shows peak too early and then have diminishing returns followed by swift cancellation. This thread is devoted to the shows that managed a belter in it's last act compared to other seasons in it's run.

Early Edition. One evening I turned on my TV to watch this series and was greeted by some cheesy game show. :angryfire The weekly TV listing said EE was on, and did so for the next three weeks! Shows that had fewer viewers were getting renewed, yet EE got the ax. :confused:

^I know you are going to hate me for this, but I've never seen Early Edition.

i agree about early Edition but the only part i didn't like is they never gave it an ending!

quantum leap they gave it an ending but i didn't like it much!!

the wonder years they gave it an ending but i didn't like it much!!

others i can think of are:
i love lucy
the honeymooners
sanford & son
Alf
family ties
fresh prince of bel -air
'boy meets world i

Early Edition, The Odd Couple, That's Life, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Friends.

Early Edition, The Odd Couple, That's Life, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Friends.

I'm a big Seinfeld fan, but I disagree with you. Seinfeld's last two seasons dropped off considerably after Larry David left. The ratings were still good (they were #1), but the last season was definitely the worst in my opinion. The only good episodes of that season were The Merv Griffin Show and The Frogger. The series finale was OK too.

Cheers last season was one of their top 5 seasons in my opinion.

M Squad-- all of this 1957-60 NBC police series w/Lee Marvin was great, and there was not a bad season in all three.

IMO these shows' final season was not the worst season:
Cheers
Seinfeld
I Love Lucy
Get Smart
Green Acres
Gilligan's Island
Dream of Jeannie
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Father Knows Best
Leave it to Beaver
The Odd Couple
Newhart

For anyone who chose Seinfeld, what season was possibly worse than their final season. It was over the top bad.

And season 1&2 shouldn't even count because they were partial seasons because NBC had yet to commit to the show at the time.

For anyone who chose Seinfeld, what season was possibly worse than their final season. It was over the top bad.

And season 1&2 shouldn't even count because they were partial seasons because NBC had yet to commit to the show at the time.
I just happen to like the last season. Lots of funny, creative plots and great writing (Serenity Now, Festivus, etc. in addition to the Merv Griffith Show and Frogger you mentioned earlier). It may have been getting strange or wild by this time I'll admit, but I think that made it more entertaining. As long as it genuinely made you laugh I can't complain. I think it was a solid season.

I consider the earlier seasons my least favorite since the writing and acting was a bit unrefined, but that's to be expected in any show.

I liked the whole series of Seinfeld. Even the last two seasons, if you want to say it was bad, I'd take them over any show today.

The final season of King of Queens was pretty good. Golden Girls was also very good in the final season.