Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 1, 2017 16:47:20 GMT
We touched on this topic in the thread about Boon, which was good at first but went off the boil towards the end and I think it is quite a common trap which TV series fall into.
Here are a few I can think of:
Frasier. At least three series too many, went off when Niles and Daphne got together
The Simpsons and South Park. Both funny at first but now stale
MASH
Boon, already mentioned
Dads Army - should have been canned when Walker (James Beck) died in 73
Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - brilliant at first but ran out of ideas
League of Gentlemen - first series great but declined in 2 and 3
Minder - IMO only the first three or four series any good
Heartbeat - OK at first, deteriorated into utter twaddle
Last of the Summer Wine - probably the most blatant example. Believe it or not, it actually wasn't bad at first, between starting in 73 and until about 78 ish, then it just became utter, utter tripe
There must be many, many more
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The Saint
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Swinging London - 1967
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Post by The Saint on Feb 1, 2017 17:25:35 GMT
Only Fools & Horses should have ended in the late 80s.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 1, 2017 17:40:08 GMT
I'd agree with a lot of the the above.
I think most of the 90's christmas specials of Only Fools were good. It did get worse after that though.
Minder. I liked all the terry stuff however by series 7 it was tired. I thought the Ray years worked initially because the show had changed so much centering on Arthur. Some of series nine and series 10 were too much though.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 2, 2017 9:25:42 GMT
A few which finished at the right time, before going into decline were
Porridge
Rising Damp
Blackadder - actually this went in reverse in a way. The first series was poor, the second, with Miranda Richardson as Elizabeth I was better, but the final two, the 18th Century one and World War I were superb
The Sweeney
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights - signs that this was running out of steam a bit in the last couple of episodes of series 2
Fawlty Towers
Sometimes knowing when to quit is a bonus!
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Feb 2, 2017 16:39:31 GMT
I think OFAH lost its way when wives & girlfriends got involved, I prefered it when it was just the 3 of them. Same goes for Auf Wiedersehen Pet, I think even series 2 was compromised by involving family members & other characters, except that Arthur Pringle, he's good.
Rising Damp was still watchable but Rigsby & Philip palling up didn't make much sense, Phillip was always the aloof character in conflict with Rigsby.
Minder after series 5 or 6 was running out of steam & I've never really watched the Ray Daley episodes.
I'm in disagreement with most on Blackadder, I love the first series but don't watch the others.
Are You Being Served became quite cringeworthy in its last couple of years. Many sitcoms go on too long. Dad's Army maybe a series or two too many but Walker's replacement Cheeseman played by Talfryn Thomas is a great character, though apparently Arthur Lowe & others weren't keen, 'he's getting too many laughs' is what Lowe is quoted as saying.
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Post by Steve Austin on Feb 2, 2017 16:56:08 GMT
Blackadder flipped the characters after series one. In that series Blackadder was a bit of a twit and Baldrick was the brains but for the subsequent series it was the other way around.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Feb 2, 2017 18:51:31 GMT
Blackadder flipped the characters after series one. In that series Blackadder was a bit of a twit and Baldrick was the brains but for the subsequent series it was the other way around. That's right, one of the reasons I'm not keen on series 2,3 & 4 is that Edmund is a bit of a smarmy git & Baldrick & Percy are just reduced to whipping boys. I think Edmund as the fool & Baldrick as the 'brains' works better, also I like the Medieval setting. Once Ben Elton got involved it became more knockabout/farce based. Oddly the Blackadder pilot is more like series 2 than series 1.
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Post by Charles Bronson on Feb 2, 2017 19:17:01 GMT
I think OFAH lost its way when wives & girlfriends got involved, I prefered it when it was just the 3 of them. Same goes for Auf Wiedersehen Pet, I think even series 2 was compromised by involving family members & other characters, except that Arthur Pringle, he's good. Rising Damp was still watchable but Rigsby & Philip palling up didn't make much sense, Phillip was always the aloof character in conflict with Rigsby. Minder after series 5 or 6 was running out of steam & I've never really watched the Ray Daley episodes. I'm in disagreement with most on Blackadder, I love the first series but don't watch the others. Are You Being Served became quite cringeworthy in its last couple of years. Many sitcoms go on too long. Dad's Army maybe a series or two too many but Walker's replacement Cheeseman played by Talfryn Thomas is a great character, though apparently Arthur Lowe & others weren't keen, 'he's getting too many laughs' is what Lowe is quoted as saying. Spot on Arthur, especially about OFAH and the wives and girlfriends. Charles.
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Feb 2, 2017 19:17:53 GMT
First one that springs to mind is the pretty dire "Never the Twain" with Windsor Davies and Donald Sinden, both wasted in the series, Davies was better in "It ain't half hot mum". Sinden of course had done some top notch stuff before.
Hi De Hi perhaps went on a bit too long and so did Keeping up Appearances.
US sitcom "Happy Days" was thought of in America as jumping the shark and I remember it as being quite fun with the late 50's setting in the early series with the scrapes Richie and his pals got into and Fonz having to come and save the day, but it got stale after Richie Cunningham was written out of the series when he went away in the army, and the timeline moved to the early 60's. Some of the period detail was lost with too many liberties taken with suspiciously modern looking clothing and 80's hairstyles seen on some characters etc.
One I'm glad also ended when it did was The Professionals - There was consideration given to continuing the series with 2 new leads after Lewis and Martin hung up their Capri car keys, with Gordon Jackson quite happy to continue as Cowley, but the series just wouldn't have had the same appeal I don't think, and probably wouldn't have had the following from fans as much. Despite Martin Shaw in particular not enjoying the series, no one else could have been CI5's top 2 agents!
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Post by John Steed on Feb 2, 2017 20:58:18 GMT
I think OFAH lost its way when wives & girlfriends got involved, I prefered it when it was just the 3 of them. Same goes for Auf Wiedersehen Pet, I think even series 2 was compromised by involving family members & other characters, except that Arthur Pringle, he's good. Rising Damp was still watchable but Rigsby & Philip palling up didn't make much sense, Phillip was always the aloof character in conflict with Rigsby. Minder after series 5 or 6 was running out of steam & I've never really watched the Ray Daley episodes. I'm in disagreement with most on Blackadder, I love the first series but don't watch the others. Are You Being Served became quite cringeworthy in its last couple of years. Many sitcoms go on too long. Dad's Army maybe a series or two too many but Walker's replacement Cheeseman played by Talfryn Thomas is a great character, though apparently Arthur Lowe & others weren't keen, 'he's getting too many laughs' is what Lowe is quoted as saying. Some good points there Arthur. I enjoyed all of series 1 and 2 of Auf Wiedersehen Pet but think that they should have left it at 2 series. I couldn't take to Blackadder at all though; it just didn't appeal to me Steed
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