What are some long running shows that you think no matter how bad they get will never get cancelled?

I know its ending (by choice) but Will and Grace should have been cancelled two seasons ago.

The West Wing would never be cancelled, ever. It goes off the air by choice.

Shows that will always be on my television, without volunterily going off the air are:

Law and Order (original)
The Simpsons
CSI
And the daytime soaps: Days of our Lives, Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital etc.

I can only hope that the American people will one day be sick of reality television and I can kiss goodbye to Survivor and American Idol. But probably not in the near future.

Here in the UK, Eastenders and Coronation Street will probably be around long after I'm not.

Most of our best sitcoms don't get cancelled either, the writers just decide to stop after 12 episodes (Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones), or a bit longer (The Office, Only Fools and Horses)

I agree roasty goodness, both have been around longer than I have but it's not impossible. Remember the demise of Brookside, one might argue that it was superior to both Eastenders and Coronation Street and was around a good while but it eventually got cancelled.

I will have a big party if either gets cancelled though.

The arrogance of journalists have kept 60 Minutes, Nightline, and the 6:30 nightly news on despite falling ratings.

I think both The Simpsons and South Park jumped the cartoon shark a few seasons ago. Both were great in their time (sustained flashes of genius, and both were certainly ground-breaking) but that time has passed. I don't think either one will be cancelled though.

ER. Which sucks big time (I mean, it sucks now, and it sucks that such a once-great show is now so bad).

The Simpsons: it hasn't been good in at least half a decade, yet shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Even though they announced this would be the final season on 7th Heaven, I still don't believe it.

The Bill is another British show that's seen a massive quality dip, but is still going.

I agree with ER, the Simpsons and the Bold and Beautiful. All 3 have gone way past their use-by date.

In Australia: Neighbours
In New Zealand: Shortland Street

Both are not surprisingly soaps of course.

The freaking Bill, is utter pants although I did appreciate last nights drugging the men to steal their money and then accusing them of rape plot on last night. It was a bit different.

I used to love Neighbours when it was about Scott and Charlene back in the 80s but it should just die a death now. Bringing back Paul and Harold doesn't turn back the clock.

It should have ended after the entire Harry Connick Jr debacle. That was when the show really went downhill in my opinion.

America's Funniest Home Videos.

Also probably Sesame Street.

And yeah, the Simpsons should've quit while they were ahead.

Word! ER owns this thread. Will it never die? It's been so long since the show has actually been good, that I can't even remember when that was.
Ditto for the West Wing.

ETA: Whoa. This show is still on?

How long has Barney been on? It won't go away.

Eh, I give kids shows a pass because their audience grows up and moves on but another group of preschoolers take their place. Besides, they do teach kids and perform a service; unlike ER, According to Jim, Still Standing, and Yes, Dear, which have all sucked since day one (excepting ER). And whoever is watching Queer Eye, please stop. They don't even stick with the original concept. There are more than enough 'Help out the severely unorganized/downright nasty family' and 'Oh please help us plan our wedding because we're famewhores who want free swag' shows on already; QE doesn't need to pile on.

Its still on, but I'm pretty sure at this point they're just re-mixing all the different old clips into new sequences with a sprinkling of whatever small portion of new videos they happen to receive.

This means they literally never have to cancel the show.

The Simpsons owns this thread, doesn't it? I don't even remember the last time that it was funny.

And, although it has its ups and downs, I don't think Saturday Night Live is getting cancelled anytime soon.

Entertainment Tonight will probably never get cancelled.

Word rafflestv. I know Flick was popular with the boys, but I didn't like the Scullys much. In fact for me, it stopped being must-watch TV around 1992, when Gabby left.

Also agree with the Will and Grace being too long in the tooth. And American's Funniest Home Videos, Australia's Funniest Home Videos (Toni wasn't much of an improvement over Kim), and New Zealands Funniest Home Videos.

Cops is right up there with America's Funniest Home Videos and Entertainment Tonight.

Last year I would have said Everybody Loves Raymond was the Zombie Show That Would Not Die, but apparently it's been shot with a silver bullet and buried at the crossroads. Finally.

Didn't Entertainment Tonight claim they were going to cancelled at one point? I think I heard this several years ago, but even then I didn't believe it.

I don't see The Daily Show getting cancelled anytime in the near future, I won't be suprised to see it on when Jon Stewart is in his 60s, ala David Letterman. But who knows.

As far as I know, Power Rangers is still on the air and has always been on in one form or another since it first aired about a decade ago.

Didn't America's Funniest Home Videos go off the air at some point but then came back?

I agree with Saturday Night Live.

I'd like to add:

60 Minutes (the hosts are going to be on until they're like 200 years old)
Oprah (no matter what she says, she's going to be on the air as long as she can)

For some godforsaken reason charmed has not been cancelled yet, but hopefully this will be the year.

You mean they aren't already? :)

Saturday Night Live has been on for at least 20 years longer than it's been funny.

Can we still put Monday Night Football in this cateogry? Even though TECHNICALLY the package is now to be on NBC on Sunday nights while the old Sunday Night package that ESPN has is just being "transfered" to Monday night

I am going to nominate The Today Show for show that will never die. It probably should have died back when one of it's main newscasters was a monkey (1950's) but now we are stuck with Khatie Couric. Blech.

Also, Martha Stewart has claerly proven that she can't be put down. I fear she'll live on for many more generations.

Wandering through the channels the other day when what show from my childhood (of oh, about 150 years ago) is STILL on the air?

The Sooooooooouuuuuuuullllllll Train!

Unfortunately, my throat started closing due to an allergic reaction to rap, so I didn't stick around to see if there were still the random "white chick/dude", cat suits, and hair down to the back of the knee.

Ah, my youth...oy, my youth.

If Entertainment Tonight is going to get cancelled, Access Hollywood, The Insider, and Extra should go along too. They're exactly the same thing but with different people hosting, I don't know why we need so many shows to report the same thing.

Charmed your thread is calling!

I'm still appalled that Angel got canceled, but the increasingly sucktastic Charmed is on its 9th season.

Here's my theory about TV shows: the better they are, the sooner they should go off air before suckitude kicks in. There's a ton of examples of these, on both sides of the spectrum. The really good ones go quickly in a blaze of glory and are remembered foreverafter with affection by their fans; think Firefly, Wonderfalls, other shows I can't think of right now. If shows aren't so lucky, they outlast their prime till it's painful to watch. The ideal is when a show can go for a few seasons but stop while it's still good. I think that's what happened to Angel; unlike Buffy, it was able to end on a positive note.

Season 14 begins next month.

I'm not positive, but I believe it is one of the longest running non-educational kids show to air in America.

Here in the UK the dismal 'Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps' keeps getting new series.

God only knows why, it is amongst the worst things I've ever seen.

Law & Order (the original) has been on for well over a decade and I don't think it will be cancelled anytime soon. Not that I'm complaining, because I do like the show.

Which brings me to CSI (original). I doubt this show will ever go off the air. It will be like Law & Order. Which bothers me, because I'm SO SICK of CSI and CSI spinoffs. I'm sick of the crime drama trend in general, except Law & Order, which was the originator of the genre, and IMHO, still the best one.

I'm amazed that ER is still on. I stopped watching a few years ago, but my mother still watches it devotedly, so every once in a while I'll catch an episode. And I have to say, I think it's still pretty good.

I don't think Saturday Night Live will ever go off the air, even though it's not funny. It's like a staple of American television. On the rare occassions when I'm home on a Saturday night, I'll glance at the clock, realize its 1130, and put it on. Even though I know it sucks. I think it's an old habit that will never die.

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy will always be on.

The Price is Right will always be on.

The Price is Right should go on FOREVER. I wanna play Plinko, dammit!

What about Real TV? I remember when Spike Tv used to air it five times a day.



I always thought Charmed would end after it ran out of Buffy and Angel storylines to ripoff.

Measured against most of tv, ER is still good. However, measured against it's heyday, not so much. But I still like it. I'm just not hooked the way I was.

They also ripped off Popeye cartoons, which gives them another 76 years worth of material to swipe. Remember the Sea Hag as a villain-of-the-week?

I seem to remember the producers of The Simpsons boasting a few years ago that they wouldn't end the show until Fox cancels them. It's infuriating, because now the "bad" seasons are starting to vastly outnumber the "good" seasons, and the legacy of what should be seen as one of the greatest comedies ever is tarnished beyond repair.

The Simpsons and ER seriously own this thread. I remember they were on ever since I was... Mmm... OK, don't remember, but I was much younger than I'm now.

And I'll nominate its sister show, The Tonight Show. Leno will be leaving in the next few years, but I'm sure the management at NBC is already grooming his replacement. Anyone for Conan?

Back in the 1950s, the power-that-be at NBC developed the concept of the early morning show (Today) and the late night show (Tonight). I also think they tinkered with the idea of a very late night show (Tomorrow), however The Tomorrow Show didn't come into being until the 1970s, and that didn't last too long.

I'm looking forward to the day when 'American Idol's ratings bottom out- and almost NO ONE buys the 'winner's' churned-out CD in spite of all the mega-hype but I doubt either event will happen in the foreseeable future!

I would like to know what is propping up the long dead corpse of Fear Factor? Will it never be buried?

Three words. The Real World. It's on at least season 13. At this point, it's better scripted and acted then some teen dramas.

Season 17 actually.

I think as long as people want to be on it, and people are willing to watch it (no matter how stupid it gets) it's never gonna get cancelled. A lot of MTV shows never get cancelled, True Life is apparently on it's 8th year; although I was a bit surprised that Road Rules was cancelled.

You're kidding right? Conan was announced to be the next Tonight Show host months ago.