25 TV Shows That Should Have Ended Sooner

All too often, networks and showrunners squeeze every bit of juice out of a popular series, refusing to let them die at their peak. They'll run a whole series into the ground with nonsensical storylines and stagnant character development to get a few more seasons, rather than letting a show end while it's still good and while viewers still want more.

But there are signs that that could be changing. The Good Place creator Mike Schur announced he'd be ending his NBC afterlife dark comedy after its fourth season, saying in a statement, "At times over the past few years we’ve been tempted to go beyond four seasons, but mostly because making this show is a rare, creatively fulfilling joy, and at the end of the day, we don’t want to tread water just because the water is so warm and pleasant." Amazon's Fleabag, a British comedy that found a huge following and critical acclaim in the U.S., tied up its story after just two seasons. Amazon is trying to persuade series star and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to extend the series. Fans can only hope she doesn't give in.

While Schur and Waller-Bridge are leading a charge towards quality over quantity, too many others let once-beloved shows morph into tiresome filler that ended with a fart rather than a bang. The TV-watchers of VICE have compiled 25 shows that should have ended much sooner. It's time. They know it, we know it, and our DVRs know it. 

Grey's Anatomy

Series finale: Still running


Should have been: Season 14


There are so many points in Grey's Anatomy that would have made a tidy ending: the plane crash; when Derek died; when Christina left; the constant bombs and fires. Grey's has jumped every single possible shark, but the ridiculous events kind of make the series, at this point. I'm glad they happened, if only just to give us more years of this absurd, endless soap.


That said, the show was renewed for seasons 16 and 17, and one has to ask: What else can even happen at this point? What if it had ended with season 14? In that season's finale, we got two weddings from couples who'd long suffered through the show's twists (the admittedly endearing Alex and Jo, and the unexpected Matthew and April). We got a nice life-saving scenario when Bailey and Ben ended up at the wrong wedding, where—of course—the bride's family went into cardiac arrest. There was even a sneaky (and very Grey's) sex romp in a shed. It would have been exactly the sappy, sentimental end we'd expect from such a dramatic show. —Bettina Makalintal

Big Little Lies

Series Finale: Season 3 likely coming


Should Have Been: Season 1


Stacked with a cast of Hollywood's heavyweights (Kidman! Witherspoon! Dern!) and talented up-and-comers (Kravitz! Woodley!), the series—based on Liane Moriarty's bestseller—crushed it its first season, as the Monterey mom squad tells lies of varying size and severity, both to themselves, their partners, and eventually the authorities. It was a decadently enthralling and often gruesome look at marriage, abuse, and trauma, ending with the "Monterey Five," as they'd come to be known, killing an abuser and seemingly getting away with it. Naturally, with its success came the hordes wanting a season two. It was delivered on June 9, 2019, with the addition of the heaviest of all Hollywood heavyweights—Meryl Streep.


What could have been a continuation of the richly layered story of these five women became a meandering soap with a few gifable moments thanks to Dern and Streep. They should've just let them have their post-murder, softly filtered beach day and ended it there, but noooo. With another season likely coming, as season 2 ended with the five entering the police station, we'll see if BLL can find its stride again. —Alex Zaragoza

Mad Men

Series finale: Season 7 (aired May 2015)


Should have been: Season 5 (with some changes)


The actual series finale of Mad Men was perfect, but the two seasons leading up to it were totally off the rails, yet somehow still kind of boring—perhaps fitting for a (granted, very good) show that's about, uh, a bunch of white people in advertising. What was all that shit with Bob Benson, that so-goody-two-shoes-he-was-sinister brown-noser? They got us all worked up about him in season six, then didn't even make him a serial killer or anything fun like that.


Do we even remember Pete's affair? Megan's miscarriage? They pale in comparison to the sexy, slow-burn drama of the first five seasons. At the end of season five, Don Draper should have turned out to be DB Cooper, Peggy should have stuck with Abe, and everyone else should have moved to a hippie commune or something. —Hilary Pollack

The O.C.

Series finale: Season 4 (aired Feb. 22, 2007)


Should have been: Season 3


The first two seasons of The O.C. were some of the best television of the aughts—or ever. What the Orange County-set show lacked in originality (a teen show about a good girl and a bad boy? And the bad boy is taken in by a rich family? Never heard that one before…) and diversity, it made up for in spades with witty writing, nuanced characters, a dope soundtrack, and sky-high entertainment value.


The flaws of its protagonists were part of what made its cast come to life, and Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton)—despite being a depressive brat—was crucial to its dynamic. Once they killed her off at the end of the third season, we suddenly realized that we actually don't need another entire season of Seth and Summer bickering, Ryan continuing to pick duds as his post-Marissa romantic interests, and Sandy and Ryan continuing to prove that marriage is all about weathering the storm, or something like that. Killing Marissa in a fiery car crash would have been a perfect decision if they had stopped right then and there. —HP