In our generation, our sustained access to social media and the internet has led to a variety of different patterns in TV show culture. Many of us discover shows through different apps or from advertisements on billboards and classic references from friends. However, many of these shows we stream have been going on for ages, to the point where we see the 20 seasons of one specific show and immediately decide this is not for us. The weird thing is that many of these shows were good at one point in their career, but the excessive amount of seasons made them pretty much unwatchable. All of this leads me to believe that shows should remain under six seasons, or at maximum 10, for the benefit of the actual show and our viewership.
Oftentimes, when TV shows continuously air for years upon years, the show has to change or add key storylines to keep the show interesting and retain its viewers. I think it has the opposite effect though. When people see changes happening to their favorite shows and characters, they shy away from it because they want to remember the show in its original storyline before it turned “bad.” A good example of this would be “Grey’s Anatomy.” For some odd reason, “Grey’s Anatomy” is on its 21st season and has been renewed for its 22nd, which will be aired in the fall of this year. This show should have ended about 10 years ago as many would agree, specifically at the end of its 11th season, as that was when the show changed for good.
Many of the fans’ favorite characters had already left the show by then, and the finale of this season would end up making this show a completely different series. Despite what seemed like the end of the show in season 11, it kept going on for 10 more years after, and in its 21st season, fans were taken by surprise when they learned that the main character, Meredith Grey, who the show is named after, would be pursuing a special guest role in the show rather than being a lead. Since the show is named after her, without her presence, the show would have to find a new center to revolve around, leaving viewers with just “Anatomy.” instead of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Another well known show that does not have nearly as many seasons but reflects a similar view on characterization and story line is “Gilmore Girls.” “Gilmore Girls,” a fan favorite among teenage girls, follows a young mother whose early life faced a sudden change due to the birth of her daughter, who in her future, is on the opposite track and has a whole career ahead of her. The first couple of seasons were revolutionary and kept fans excited for the upcoming seasons. However, the show took a turn for the worse when the daughter, Rory, made some life decisions that seem very uncharacteristic based on her personality in the previous seasons.
Ultimately, the writers felt the need to do something drastic to keep its viewers when in reality, the show was fine the way it was going. This led the final seasons of “Gilmore Girls” to be an extremely hard watch for fans as they watched their favorite character participate in a downward spiral, ending in a completely different character than the one that was presented to them in the first season.
Both of these shows are completely different in the nature of their shows as one is a medical drama and the other is a teenage one; however, they both ended their success when they tried to fix something that was not in need of fixing. Even though some fans may beg for a new season, most of the time it is unnecessary as this ends up changing the show to something it was not meant to be as the seasons add up.
