Take Them With You

About a month and a half ago I remember writing about how it would be better if some TV shows decided to pull themselves off the air instead of leaving it in the hands of the network executives. At the time I said the writers would be doing themselves a favor in the long run because they could go out while the writing was still high-quality and not risk stretching the stories thin just to make to through a season they didn't anticipating having. It may suck to leave a big paycheck on the table, but it would increase their odds of getting another show later. Basically, my premise was that it is better to go out too soon than stay too late. Well, it appears the people behind the show "House" agree with me, because this afternoon they announced that this season will be the last for the show.

Now, I'll be honest - I almost never watch "House" on it's regularly scheduled night. Much like shows such as "NCIS" and I only catch it when the re-runs show on various cable channels months later. So, I'm not even 100% sure who is even still on the cast, but I have seen enough episodes and subsequent promos for the new season to know the show has gotten stale. Let's see, someone has a mysterious illness, House acts like a jerk, but he'll figure it out after several wrong guesses and unforeseen obstacles and the only question is whether or not the patient is going to die anyway. And, honestly, how many times can one doctor go to rehab, jail or the insane asylum before someone pulls his medical license? Eight years of this was just about enough. So, with the people from "House" having the good sense to walk away before the show went from stale to downright lazy I started thinking about a few other shows that should also have the good sense to walk before they are pushed.

-American Dad: This hasn't been around for that long, but I still think we have seen enough. Remember, it came on when a Republican was in office, so most of the jokes don't even really work anymore. I know Seth MacFarlane has several huge deals with Fox, but I still they can cancel this show without him purposely tanking "Family Guy" or "The Cleveland Show"... not that you would really notice with "The Cleveland Show".

-Survivor: Let me guess what happens this season: a bunch of people will be trapped on an island, forced to eat random crap, stab each other in the back to win some money and go back to whatever obscurity they were living in before as soon as the next season starts? I've never seen more than five episodes of this show and I'm pretty sure I just nailed it. Do you want to know why? Because that is what happens every season. When you are adding 18 new people to your cast every year and the show is still repetitive than it is time to go.

-American Idol: Ok, maybe this show still does well enough in the ratings that it can stick around, but can we please get rid of at least one of the 10 different singing competition shows which are infesting my TV line-up? Maybe I would be more enthusiastic if the shows repeatedly produced interesting and talented performers, but they disappear from the entertainment industry as quickly as they appear. Either start giving us people who are going to actually produce quality music or there is no point in having you around.

-CSI: I'm not saying the original has to go. Or maybe it does. I just know that one of the three needs to be cancelled, because there are just too many versions on right now. Honestly, how many hard-to-solve-crimes requiring high-tech solutions does this country have? I've seen "The First 48" and I'm pretty sure most people confess as soon as they are arrested.

-The Simpsons: It's just time. I haven't laughed at "The Simpsons" in about a decade. I know they wanted to make it to a certain number of years to be the longest-running show in history, but now that they have done that they can all move on to other projects. It's like when Brett Favre kept chucking footballs well past his prime, determined to end up with the most touchdown passes in NFL history. What ended up happening was along the way he also threw more interceptions than anyone else. The only good news is that the cast seems to see that the end is near, because they actually took a pay cut in the last contract negotiations, something they never would have agreed to just five years ago. Their run was better than everyone else's, but it's time to let go.