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There are some shows that I love, yet if the choice were mine, I would have canceled several seasons ago. Very few tv shows really have the legs to stand up to a run of more than 3-5 seasons. In my own experience, it's around that timeframe when audiences start to drift away from a show. Here I'll list a few shows that should have already been canceled.
Monk
At first Monk was an interesting little show. The defective detective was actually worth watching. The quirks were entertaining. The mysteries were intriguing. The novelty has worn off. The character of Adrian Monk has seen no character development. Nothing substantial has changed with him from the beginning of the show to the latest episode. Like many shows that I've grown tired of, it is as if you could play 5 random shows in any order and it wouldn't matter. Sure, the sidekick has changed. The psychiatrist has changed. Nothing else has changed. The show has become formulaic.
Law & Order
To be honest, this could apply to any flavor of the show. Yes, it is still somewhat fascinating to see how the writers take a story that has been in the news and put their own L&O twist on it, but that isn't enough to sustain interest. I have watched the original show since the beginning. There have always been hints of character development but never anything worthwhile. The lives of the characters mean nothing to the overall story. If something bad happens to a character this week there won't be any mention of it in next week's show. The episodes exist in their own self-contained bottles. Even as various actors have come and gone over the years, there has never been any effort at establishing a story arc. For example, it has been hinted that Jack McCoy has slept with most of his female ADA's but this has never caused any plot complications. Surely someone could have hit him with a sexual harassment claim or someone from his past could have come back into his life. Instead, we get nothing but interchangeable shows.
ER
Yes, I know this is the final season of the show, but it should have been put to a merciful end several seasons ago. Somewhere around the 5th season it became derivative of itself. There are only so many season-ending cliff-hangers and must-see episodes that can be thrown into the mix. Unlike the other shows that I've mentioned, we did get to see some character development and the show can't entirely be watched in random order. When put up against other medical dramas though, the show is not as compelling as it once was.
So do you agree with my choices? What shows do you think should have been canceled but haven't yet been?
