10 TV Shows That Should Have Quit While They Were Ahead
6. Supernatural
Supernatural is the last surviving show left over from the WB Network, along with One Tree Hill, Smallville and Gilmore Girls. All of those shows are dead and buried, but Supernatural is currently knee deep in its eleventh season.
The shows creator, Eric Kripke, had made it clear that the show was only intended to run for five years. Five years would cover the original storyline set up by the pilot episode, the arc plot involving angels, demons and the return to the world of the Morning Star, Lucifer. At the climax of the fifth season, Sam and Dean Winchester defeated Lucifer, beat the devil himself, and resolved those story threads. Thats it. Job done.
Only it wasn't, because season five was six years ago and Supernatural is still going. In that time, Sam and Dean have died again, been possessed, died again did I mention theyd been killed? Repeatedly. Sam has died and been saved or brought back six times during the shows lifetime. Dean, the poor bastard, has been killed and brought back 111 times however, 103 of those times were by the same villain in the same episode, so we'll call it nine, which is still plenty.
These are supposed to be mortal men with a calling - hunting monsters to protect the innocent. But theres no drama, no tension, if the lead characters arent really in any danger: and this is a show thats made it clear that it will kill and resurrect its leads any time it likes.
Thematically, the show could keep going over and over, following the formula set down from the beginning: monster of the week, pithy macho dialogue from Dean, awkward brotherly bonding, kill the monster, rinse and repeat. And thats exactly whats happened. Thats not to suggest that there havent been odd flashes of the old brilliance since the fifth season, but this is a show that went past its natural lifespan some years ago.