Series as long as they needed to be

Fringe did pretty well, certainly about as well as we can expect from any network show. That said I feel like the uncertainty of the last two seasons didn't do it many favors. There's a real feeling that the finales to seasons 3 and 4 are both hedging their bets to kinda sorta provide closure without being able to really close things up. So seasons 4 and 5 both feel just a little separate from everything else.

It was a great show, and I do think it wrapped up well all things said. Like repo said, it's not really fair to judge network shows (X-Files, Arrested Development, Lost, Fringe) by the same standard as cable dramas and BBC shows. The circumstances are really different.

At the risk of sounding like a total tool, I really think that Friends turned in 10 terrific seasons. It's still one of my favorite sitcoms ever.

Battlestar Galactica. Dexter (Season 1-3). Justified. Grimm.

All winners.

KingPut wrote: I'm not so hopefully about my favorite chick shows Madmen and Donington Abbey which have gone downhill fast (not as bad as Battlestar Galatia went downhill season 3-5). I didn't finish last season of Madmen and I'm not likely to finish DA.

I'm perplexed by the above general sentiment I've seen a lot about Mad Men season 6. It is admittedly not as good as season 5, but that's not much of a diss. It's still one of my 2 or 3 favorite seasons of the show. Still the all-time best TV drama IMHO.

SuperflyTNT wrote: Dexter (Season 1-3). Justified. Grimm.

You didn't like season 4 with Lithgow? I haven't watched past S4 yet, but I thought Dexter got better and better with each successive seasons.

Fringe and The Wire are good answers. Both shows suffered a little bit from shortened final seasons, but that just meant the story had to be tighter and faster-paced. Not necessarily a bad thing.

I HOPE to be able to add Justified to the list when it finishes its run after its 6th season. That's a really great show, and I hope they stick the landing next year.

I would add the original Star Wars trilogy. It was the perfect length for the story that Lucas wanted to tell. The problem is everything that's come after has diluted the greatness of that story.

dragonstout wrote: I'm perplexed by the above general sentiment I've seen a lot about Mad Men season 6. It is admittedly not as good as season 5, but that's not much of a diss. It's still one of my 2 or 3 favorite seasons of the show. Still the all-time best TV drama IMHO.

I made it through two seasons of Mad Men before I gave up in total boredom. Just not my style of show at all. I like PLOT. Mad Men felt like it was all character/setting, but nothing ever happens. I did love Roger though. Everything that dude said was amazing and hilarious.

San Il Defanso wrote: Fringe did pretty well, certainly about as well as we can expect from any network show. That said I feel like the uncertainty of the last two seasons didn't do it many favors. There's a real feeling that the finales to seasons 3 and 4 are both hedging their bets to kinda sorta provide closure without being able to really close things up. So seasons 4 and 5 both feel just a little separate from everything else.

It was a great show, and I do think it wrapped up well all things said.

At the risk of sounding like a total tool, I really think that Friends turned in 10 terrific seasons. It's still one of my favorite sitcoms ever.

Your Fringe comments are heresy and you shall be burnt at the stake. Fringe was never a straight SF show its a meta show about relationships and how far you would go for love of a child or lover. In this context, it is far and away the best of its kind.

Yes, you are a tool. Friends is so twee it puts my teeth on edge.

Oh believe me, I totally agree with your assessment of the themes of the show. I just don't think it was quite as unified as you feel, especially in the last season. It's a pretty minor complaint, and probably it was unavoidable given how tenuous the show was on the last two renewals. I still really loved it, and your right that it was a show about relationships first and foremost.

Parks & Recreation has done really well since about Season 2, Season 1 being mostly throat-clearing.