Can a sci-fi/fantasy series we love go on too long?

So many great series get cut off in their prime when they are still great and still have so much to say and so many directions they could go. Robin Hood, Roswell, The Almighty Johnsons, The 4400. I could go on.










But last night I watched the first episode of Season 11 of Supernatural. (I know I'm behind the times. I don't have television and only watch shows when they make it to Netflix.) But watching it last night got me thinking that some series have the opposite problem. They go on so long they almost become parodies of themselves.



I must admit I was hooked from the time I watched the first episode of Supernatural. I'm a sucker for the tortured soul, and Dean and Sam are the ultimate in tortured souls. They are also damned sexy, which doesn't hurt. In addition to the Winchesters, the series some great minor characters: Castiel, Kevin, Sheriff Mills, Crowley. I absolutely adore Charlie. The series also has great story lines and asks important psychological questions about religion, morality, and what it means to be human. I binge watched it after I first discovered it. (I think eight season were out at the time.) I binge watch whenever a new season becomes available.

But the series seems to believe it has to keep topping itself. For awhile this was fantastic, but after

you've been to hell and back a few times, topping yourself can start getting a little ridiculous and increasingly far-fetched. Killing Death and bringing The Darkness into the world at the end of Season 10 really started pushing the boundaries of being over the top. But when I watched, the first episode of Season 11 last night and found out The Darkness has been incarnated in a sweet little newborn baby, I really started thinking enough might well be enough. What are Sam and Dean going to do now? Kill a baby? Allow the Darkness to destroy the world because they can't kill a baby? And it took God to lock the Darkness up at the beginning of time. Just how are two humans supposed to defeat it?

I hate to say it because I have loved the series, but it seems like it's time to stop making new episodes. I'm unsure if I'll watch the rest of the season. What are your thoughts? Any series you think went on too long?