Before we get into the list, I would like to point out the shows on this list are some of my favorite ones on television right now, but for some reason or another I feel they should end before ending up like Heroes and pissing off their fans. Also unlike my other top 10 lists, this one has no particular order, so I'll start at number 1.
1) How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is one of my favorite shows on television, possibly of all time. The flaw here is in the premise; Ted is telling a story to his children about how he and his wife met, its been 9 years, he has gone through 31 different women, and now Barney and Robin are getting married before him. At the start of the show Ted wanted to settle down and meet a girl he can grow old with, but Barney and Robin simply want to have fun, yet they get married first. Ted's children at the start of the earlier episodes are no longer in the show because the actors have now age 9 years and moved on to their own series. But what really sealed it for me is that is the last few seasons has layed out a time table, last year we learned about trilogy night, every three years the guys get together to watch the original Star Wars trilogy, and the next one is in 2015 where Ted brings his infant daughter, thus he is married by then, or at least met his future wife. Then there is this season, very recently Ted mentioned he would meet is future wife in 45 days, and there is one more season announced I don't think they can drag out 45 days into another season. However if they choose to have a season with her in it I wouldn't mind, again it's been 9 years, we as the viewers deserve to get to know the mother.
2) Dexter
Dexter only made this list thanks to the last season. All season 7 I was waiting for the show to pick up, but it never did. Seasons 1 through 6 were amazing, solid build-up to a strong ending. Season 7 however was boring, none of Dexter's internal struggles are talked about, in fact the whole season he is trying to corrupt his sister Deb. Also all throughout the season Lt. LeGuerta is not only actually doing detective work, but is working on an already closed case and is 100% positive Dexter is the killer. Let me tear this apart piece by piece, part of LeGuerta's character is that she never did police work and played the politic game to get ahead in her career. Thus she would never reopen a case that was wrapped up so neatly. Finally when the Bay Harbor Butcher case was open in season 2 everyone was convinced Dexter could in no way be the killer, and even she admitted that Doakes made sense as the killer. Then the season ends with him and Deb killing LeGuerta rather than go to prison, nobody believes he's a killer and back in season 2 he was willing to turn himself in. So basically his smart and calculating personality did a complete 180 to progress a stupid plot point.
3) Two And A Half Men
No show has been so self destructive as Two And A Half Men. When it started out it was the adventures of Charlie Sheen, his brother Allen who just got kicked out of his house, and Allen's son Jake. Fast forward to 2013 and the show is Allen manipulating his way into staying at the beach house, Walden, a billionaire womanizer who up until last season never even fantasized about anyone other than his ex wife, and Jake who makes an appearance via Skype every couple of episodes. The entire series is now about these three guys trying to have as much sex as possible. This makes sense for Jake who was partially raised by his uncle Charlie, but as mentioned before Walden was so in love with his ex that being a womanizer doesn't make any sense. Allen is in a stable relationship, but you often forget that because his girlfriend only makes appearances about once a month. A huge problem for me is the mystery that is Allen, at this point Allen is a Chiropractor, a profession that pays well, especially in Beverly Hills, he no long has to pay child support or alimony, and is on the board of directors at Walden's company, yet he still is too broke to move out, or better yet buy the beach house that he inherited from Charlie. If the show continues much longer I feel it's going to piss off all of the fans of the original show, and only have a fan base of frat guys and dirty old men. Besides, the guy who plays Jake more than likely leave the show the first chance he gets.
4) Last Man Standing
Probably the newest show on this list. Last Man Standing started last year and I instantly liked it. The premise is Tim Allen plays a father who used to travel around the world to take photos for the Outdoor Man catalogue, but since the internet does away with the need for catalogues he now is home more with his family. He has 3 daughters, the oldest is in her early 20s, has a son and works part time at a diner while attending school, the middle is the stereotypical ditzy cheerleader who is more concerned with her looks than her future, and the youngest is like the son he never got. Season 1 was very well done in my opinion. The characters were all complex, the stories were both emotional and funny and the audience could easily connect with the show. Season two however sucks. In the first episode we find out the show replaced the actress who played his oldest daughter, as well as her son, and baby daddy. Her baby daddy now plays a huge role in the show and wants to get back together with her. So now the oldest daughter's plotline is simple and boring. The middle daughter is the only one who didn't change, only now rather than imply she's been with a lot of guys, they flat out tell you she's slept with everyone she ever dated, and that list is long. The youngest still retains some of her athletic tomboy personality, but now she to is interested in boys and is beginning to follow in her sisters' footsteps. Basically this season took away all the things that made the characters interesting and changed their personalities to one or two basic traits.
5) Community
Like How I Met Your Mother this one simply has a time limit. Season 1 started during my freshman year of college, and now I'm a senior on a 5 year plan so I have 1 more year. However I'm at a university, most Community Colleges only offer 2 year degree programs. I love this show and it has yet to go downhill like others shows on this list, but because of the premise you can't have 6 seasons and a movie (Its funny if you watch the show) especially with Chevy Chase leaving at the end of this season. In fact the only real problems this show has this season is that it started late, throwing off the time frame, and the characters don't go to class anymore, something pointed out by Ahbed in the show itself. I'll allow a 5th season because I know 5 year plans are becoming standard now, but anything after that and it will feel like it's dragging on. One last thing, I have to commend the showrunners of Community for successfully pulling off every style of film besides silent and somehow connecting it all together with the plot.
6) Supernatural
This one is not exactly fair, Eric Kripke created the show with the idea that it would only last 4 seasons, and he wrote the entire plot out to accommodate that, then when he reached the season 4 mid season finale he decided to drag it out one more year for the fans. The problem here is after he finished the story the CW didn't want to lose one of its most popular shows of all time so they hired new showrunners. Season 6 inevitably sucked, but after that Kripke came back as a consultant and the show has continued to be good since. The problem here is that the main story ended in season 5 with the Winchester brothers defeating Lucifer himself and stopping the end times. As a result every enemy after doesn't really seem as threatening. Now the brothers have a network of hunters and Men of Letter resources at their disposal and are planning to lock the gates of Hell for good. So lets look at the problems that fans notice, at the end of season 5 it is strongly implied that Chuck is in fact God, so where is he now? Next I understand why Sam no longer has demon powers, but Dean was meant to be the vessel of Michael and has shown some angel powers, so why doesn't he use them? All in all though I like this show, and will most likely continue to watch it until it finally dies and leaves the air.
7) The Big Bang Theory
I'm sure your wondering why this one is on my list, well here's the deal, like Chuck Lorre's other shows this one has lost what originally made it good. The show used to be about 4 nerdy guys, their hot neighbor and the shenanigans they pull. Now The creepy single guy is a loving husband and an astronaut, the hopeless romantic is dating his dream girl (Not really a problem, but for the sake of argument I'm stating it), the silent guy who manages to get women is now possibly gay, and the asexual condescending naive Sheldon is now in a relationship and knows all kinds of things that makes watching the show with family a little awkward. Though like most of these shows it's still awesome, just not as awesome as it used to be.
8) Suburgatory
What is it with shows putting a timer on themselves with their premise? Suburgatory is about a girl named Tessa who is forced to move from the city to the suburbs and wants to go back. It's a great show that I highly recommend. However Tessa is graduating high school next year, and thus will no longer be forced to live in the suburbs. Sure it will probably have a clever way to prevent this since the show is very well written, but for now it looks like that is the way it will go.
9) Bones
The only show on this list that I actually stopped watching, the show has become a mess. Every year when the new Prius model comes out their is an episode that spends a few minutes going over the new features, I can tolerate that, but this season almost every episode felt like an ad for something. I finally made the decision to stop watching when I realized I was spending the entire time watching the show yelling at my television because it was pissing me off. I forgave the 2 week pregnancy, I forgave the Prius ads, hell I even forgave the historical inaccuracies (As a history education major this was hard to overlook), but the show has developed so many flaws that its unwatchable, which is too bad since I really enjoy the cast.
10) The Middle
This show hasn't necessarily done anything wrong, it just simply got boring. The show follows the Hecks, a middle class family living in Orson Illinois. The show is still funny, but not anywhere near as funny as other shows on television. Every week it feels like I'm watching it just to go through the motions rather than I actually enjoy it.
Well there is my list, I would like to point out these are all shows I watch currently, or have watched in the case of Bones, and I'm sure other shows are also deserving of cancellation, but since I don't watch those series they can't make the list. So if you have any additions to the list feel free to comment below.
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