It's a funereal TV period in the UK, as two veteran shows aired their last ever episodes this week. BBC1's Last Of The Summer Wine (the world's longest-running sitcom) came to an end after 37 years and 295 episodes last Sunday (attracting a surprising 5.5m viewers!), and Tuesday night brought the final episode of ITV's 27-year-old police drama The Bill (luring 4.4m to say a fond farewell).
Both shows outstayed their welcome: Summer Wine started to decline in the mid-'80s but persevered for another 25 years despite numerous deaths in its elderly cast; and The Bill began to go downhill in the mid-'90s, where no amount of '00s-era revamps could revive mass interest. Both have been around so long they're part of the furniture. British TV institutions. You may never have watched them, but you always knew they existed. When didn't they exist? For many people under-40, they've been constants throughout most of our lives!
My question today is simple: are there any long-running shows you'd actually like to see axed? And by long-running I mean over 15 years old. Or are there some "classic" shows you hope never leave the airwaves (even if you're not watching them) because it's just reassuring to know they're on?
Thursday, 2 September 2010
