Shows that have maintained quality through all seasons...
OK, I definitely agree that seasons 1-3 of Rescue Me were the best. But I was thinking back on other shows that I've enjoyed that have come and gone, and a lot of the shows I've watched have also suffered quality loss after the first few seasons.
Can anybody think of any shows that have generally maintained the same quality, or even got better, as the seasons went on? I'm just curious, I'm not necessarily looking for shows to watch.
Also, realizing good vs bad seasons is always relative. Whenever you end a show, there will always be comparison between the seasons. If Rescue Me had ended after season 3, then we would have said that season 1 was the best, and 3 would have been crap comparatively. Now that there's been 7 seasons, it's easy to see which were the best. But what if there had only been 3? Would we say that seasons 1-3 were great, which theoretically would be the entire running of the show? Probably not.
To end a show at its height seems like a really hard thing to do. Between the network, the money, and the people involved, who wants to end a show when it's doing really well. Talk about annoying the viewers. It's a catch 22. End a show at its height, and the viewers are mad. Continue making a show despite a drop in quality, and the viewers are mad. It's a lose/lose situation...except for the money, which is why shows usually continue beyond their "natural" lifespan.