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Depends on the show but most times 3-5 seasons is usually my preference. Tell your story and be done with it, no need to stretch it out.

I think fewer is better. Imho 5 would be about ideal, and 10 should be about the maximum. In real life people change and move on. Also, you kinda run out of plots at some point. It's surreal to know some shows like The Simpsons are still on the air after so many years.

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If it's a sitcom or a network drama that focuses on a case of the week sort of thing, they can usually last forever. But if it's a show focused on a specific story-line, then I prefer fewer seasons. The Good Place only had 4, Breaking Bad had 5, and Fleabag famously only has 2 after Phoebe Waller-Bridge had to be convinced to have a second season, which ended up being better than the first, and nicely closed the story. The perfect amount of seasons are when the show runners know when to end a story.

Less seasons is always better, if you ask me. I don't believe any TV series actually benefits from having 10+ seasons. You see shows like Grey's Anatomy that just seem to never end and you question why it's still on the air because the quality of the show has drastically decreased.

I think the actual perfect amount of seasons a show can have is 4 seasons. I think you can tell a complete story that doesn't falter and doesn't get too bloated in a good 4 seasons. Hell, if you want to extend it, I can be okay with maybe 6 seasons. But once a show starts hitting 8+ seasons, I'll most likely check out. By that point, most shows are repeating storylines and aren't doing anything narratively creative or worthwhile, especially if they are network dramas that are hitting 22 episodes a season.

I generally don’t start a show if it has more than a few seasons, with the exceptions of Breaking Bad and Dexter.

if the show is serial, 3 is usually all it needs and it will go downhill beyond it. 5 is like the max for REALLY great shows. I know some stretch longer and they're fine, but if you want true wire to wire masterpiece, going longer than 5 is likely to result in something short of that

the MAJORITY of shows would probably just be better served as limited series for the sake of their story that don't really have much legs and will end up wasting a lot of time with side quests that get in the way of the overarching narratives, but the economics of it all say "popular show -> make more seasons" and creatives say "more seasons -> more money for me"

If it's like a sitcom or police procedural or whatever else is purely episodic without much in the way of overarching narrative, then sure, go nuts, do whatever you want.

Any show that is truly successful will likely never end the way you want it.

Just imagine Lost if they had 3 seasons tops and knew where the story was going. That show was so good for the first couple seasons then they had to stretch it out to milk it for ratings and money.

I’m fine with no more than three unless it’s based on a story requiring more than three.

I tend to like limited series overall.

For me personally not a single show needs to be longer than 5 seasons

The good Place enters the chat

I think 4-6 seasons is the sweet spot. Most shows seem to run out of ideas or get repetitive and feel like they're trying to milk it for all its worth if they go much further than that. Less than that and probably got cancelled too early, or there just wasn't enough story there to begin with. But also of course the number of episodes per season factors in to this a little too - Most network shows in the past were 20-24 episodes per season, but a lot of cable/netflix stuff these days is 8-12 episodes per season.

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If a show continues to tell good stories and be entertaining, I see no reason for there to be a limit on the number of seasons.