Today I was reading Entertainment Weekly and found out that Smallville is entering it's 10th and final season next year. 10 years is unreal to me. It made think back to when I found out that Cheers was going off the air after 11 years. I was too young at the time to really follow Cheers but that was a big deal to me. 11 years with almost the same cast, the show succeeded and was given this hero's farewell from NBC. Nowadays, I had a thought, is it still as big a deal?
In an era where some shows barely make it past it's first season, does any show even stand a chance anymore to last a long time? That's why the news of Smallville surprised me even more.
So I took the time to actually look up the shows that have lasted a LONG time in the TV world. (I have excluded news shows (60 Minutes, 20/20, etc), sports shows (Monday Night Football, Monday Night Raw, etc.), movie blocks (Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Wonderful World of Disney, etc), variety shows (Ed Sullivan, etc.), music shows (Grand Ole Opry Live, etc) and PBS shows.)
1, The Simpsons (21 years)2. Gunsmoke (20 years)
3. Law & Order (20 years)
4. America's Funniest Home Videos (20 years)
5. COPS (19 years)
6. The Real World (18 seasons)
7. Lassie (17 years)
8. The Amazing Race (16 seasons)
9. ER (15 years)
10. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (14 years)
11. Bonanza (14 years)
12. Knots Landing (14 years)
13. South Park (14 years)
14. Survivor (14 seasons)
15. King of the Hill (13 years)
16. Dallas (13 years)
17, My Three Sons (12 years)
18. NYPD Blue (12 years)
19. Murder, She Wrote (12 years)
20. Hawaii Five-O (12 years)
21. M*A*S*H (11 years)
22. Cheers (11 years)
23. Frasier (11 years)
24. Married...with Children (11 years)
25. The Jeffersons (11 years)
26. 7th Heaven (11 years)
27. Stargate SG-1 (10 years)
28. Murphy Brown (10 years)
29. Friends (10 years)
30. Law & Order:Special Victims Unit (10 years)
31. JAG (10 years)
32. Beverly Hills 90210 (10 years)
As you can see, it's a very small group of shows that last this long.
The real question I guess is, how does a show just kinda slide under the radar for so many years? The facts are that shows are given the chance to grow like they used to. I mean if you look at this list, excluding Hawaii Five-0 which is returning this fall, only EIGHT shows are still on the air right now, and three of them are reality show who don't go by years, but by seasons. So brings the list down to six. South Park is on cable, and is like Comedy Central's lifeline so that is why that lasted so long. So that brings us to FIVE shows on broadcast television
Now with the news that Law & Order is getting the heave without the big hurrah it truly deserves, do networks even care about the history of their shows?
I mean did anyone even know that AFHV was even on or that it has lasted as long as it has? Of course not because ABC doesn't EVER take advantage of it and even advertise it. Somehow that show survives,
FOX at least takes the time to brag about how long The Simpsons has been on and you know when the creators decide to hang it up, they will get the big finale it deserves, unlike another FOX legendry show Married...with Children. That's a show that just ended with no big deal at all, despite it being the first show that brought attention to the network.
Even the WB recognized 7th Heaven when it went off the air the first time as it's first big show and the one show that lasted the entire run of the network, CW not so much when it ended the second time.
Now we have Smallville, a major cult favorite. A show that really in my opinion has flown under the radar because of being on the CW. Next year is it's big final year, I hope upon hope that it gets the farewell it deserves. I mean it started as "yet another Superman show" and lasted this long, it deserves a big hurrah. I hope it gets it, or it will further prove my point that I don't think network truly care about shows that last to this historic of a level.
NOTE:
When I began this article it was before it was announced that another show will hit the 10 year mark next year. American Idol. But without Simon Cowell, I don't know if the show will be the same. But next year, the show that changed the music scene, will make history like no other reality ever has before.
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