So, I just realized something a little depressing about the nature of television programming.  TV shows — with the exception of those that get cancelled long before their time — are just about never as good in their last season as they were to begin with (many spectacular series finales not withstanding; I'm talking about a television season as a whole).

And true, not all shows are as good at the beginning as they are later on, but that is not the point either.  The point is, as last seasons (and sometimes even the last couple seasons) go, they tend to be full of stuff like tacky and/or boring plots, random gimmicks, a gratuitous amount of guest stars, and often the loss of many of the things — sometimes including cast members — that once made the show great.  Some of my own favorites are among the unfortunate examples: Buffy, Angel, Alias, Roswell, Ally McBeal...

About the only show I can think of where I've seen enough episodes to definitively say this isn't the case, is Home Movies.  And I love HM, and I love Brendon Small... but the show is a cartoon (and not even the kind with a real plot, like Metalocalypse or The Venture Bros.).


Can anybody out there give me at least one or two other examples that might weaken this theory?  Anyone?  I'd love to be proven wrong.  (Though, please no spoilers.)