Something I Noticed with Most Sitcoms Nowadays

Most, not all

If left to run for however long the creators see fit (something networks like Disney Channel do well and NOT Nickelodeon), there are typically about three or four seasons because they seem to usually run as long as the main characters are in high school and sometimes a bit past, which is approximately from ages 14 or 15 to ages 17 or 18. Now, I say usually because there are cases where it's not like that for some of the main characters. For example, David Henrie was 22 when Wizards of Waverly place ended and Bradley Steven Perry was 15 when Good Luck Charlie ended.

Okay, so let's take iCarly (which I'm still unsure on if it was canceled of if it actually ended), for example. It had seven seasons, but if you take a look here and see the smaller number of episodes on some of the reasons, it's because they were split. Anyway, Nathan Kress (21), who played Freddie Benson, was 13 when iCarly first aired on September 8, 2007 and was 19 when it ended on November 23, 2012.

To make it simpler, main characters are typically 14 when a show starts and are typically 18 when a show ends.

 

ICarly wasn't canceled, it ended. There was an hour long special. Carly went to Italy.

 

Yeah, I know. Even though it had a proper ending, I wasn't sure if it was canceled or actually ended because the creators had decided it was time to end it.

Proper endings could still mean canceled. However, I'd rather have that compared to something like the cancellation of The Amanda Show, where Nick just left Moody's Point on a cliffhanger.

 

It ended.

 

more often than not shows end when the network decides its no longer profitable, which is why some shows get cut short and why others get dragged out, not when the "creators" see fit to end.

 

Something Nick is notorious for.

Disney Channel and Disney XD don't really cancel anything. The only thing I know that Disney Channel has ever canceled -- at least from more modern sitcoms -- was Cory in the House. That's ONE show compared to Nick's how many?

 

They are a business and they are allowed to make their own choices lol.

 

Although they're bad decisions going by the majority of the active users here.

 

Why are we assuming kids sitcoms are the only sitcoms here?

 

Sitcoms more aimed at kids and teens, then.

 

I'm using logic that I heard people discuss when it comes to animated superhero shows. The audience that watches the show is going to get older, but lucky for the network, there are always new people to fill that demographic. Instead of expanding and write more mature stories, they end it and move on to something that will pander to that new crowd. That's why there's a new Spider-man show every three years; the quality of the series doesn't matter to the network at all. It's all about what looks profitable.

The only sitcoms I've seen go on more than that time successfully is Boy Meets World and Scrubs.

And to defend the quality argument, I read that the opening but to the season 2 opening, "My Overkill" was almost cut because the network absolutely hated it. They thought it was too artsy. Around the time the DVD commentaries were recorded for that season (which sounds like they were in season 3 or 4), that was the most popular episode amongst fans because of the opening. Hell, it's still a good and clever season opener.

 

It's not really a sitcom (more of a drama), but Degrassi's another one.

 

Actually, I think that might be considered a Soap Opera. I remember it being mentioned amongst other Soaps. Those usually run for years by principle.

 

This generation has been running since 2001: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrassi:_The_Next_Generation

However, it looks like it goes back as far as 1979: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrassi

 

I just remember someone saying that it's a Soap, but I can be wrong.

And Dramas can last for a long time because that's what people are impulsively attracted towards. Well, certain dramas, ones that are obviously ran by network executives who want it to be as profitable as possible. 24, Grey's Anatomy, even House. They don't need to rely on a series length narrative because it would probably draw people away.

The only drama series I know that ended on it's own is Breaking Bad. Vince Gilligan said that he would end the series when it peaks in it's popularity. Their fourth season was what really brought them out to the main stream, so he decided that the fifth seasin would be the last one.

 

don't watch those shows

 

You know what I noticed

Sitcoms are meant to be funny and clever

So why are these shows being called sitcoms

 

Because they're funny and clever to some people?

 

I hate to be a broken record but this gem got canceled two seasons in on the worst possible cliffhanger they could've had. More often than not, the networks decide the fate of shows, not the creators. If a show doesn't fit the "tone" that the network is going for they can just cut it off without giving it a proper ending, and sitcom or not Disney has canceled its fair share of shows.

 

Not saying it hasn't (that's why I said doesn't "really"), but it seems Nick is really notorious for it.