10 TV Shows That Went One Season Too Long
Those TV shows that didn't know when to end.
It's tough not to respect TV shows which know when their numbers is up and decide to bow out at just the right time, before things start to get stale and the fanbase inevitably turns on them.
But considering the advertising and syndication dollars which can be made from even a terrible season of a hit TV series, it's little surprise that many shows end up dragging themselves to the finish line.
While none of these 10 TV series went egregiously past their expiration dates, each nevertheless had a ripe dramatic opportunity to wrap things up the year before, but cynically milked things for one extra season.
Though some fans may well defend these seasons as entertaining in spite of their excessiveness, it's clear that each show would've maintained a far greater sense of integrity had it resisted the urge to take one final dip into the cookie jar.
And if you take anything at all away from this list, it should surely be that NBC has no shame when it comes to flogging its sitcom shows to within an each of their life...
10. Scrubs
There's perhaps no more blatant example of a show bowing out a season before it was actually laid to rest than Scrubs.
The series' eighth season was widely expected to be its last, to the extent that Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence even said so himself.
The season's final episode "My Finale" was very clearly written and presented as a final farewell to J.D. (Zach Braff) and the rest of the Sacred Heart crew.
But in an attempt to milk their investment for every drop, ABC - who recently inherited the show from NBC - commissioned a surprise ninth season, which shifted the focus to a new set of medical interns, while the legacy cast were shuttled into supporting or cameo roles.
Season nine was met with a wildly polarised response from critics and audiences alike, and as the show's ratings plummeted throughout the season, ABC (thankfully) opted not to renew for season ten.
Though Scrubs' "final" season didn't tarnish the show's legacy in any overt way, it was nevertheless an awkward and unnecessary post-script which denied season eight's finale the space to have the final word on this beloved cast of characters.