We all know that a the longer a series goes on,the more it is likely to lose its quality. It can also be said that if a show lasts an unbelivable amount of time, like Last of the Summer Wine, the more episodes we simply cannot remember.
Who, for example, remembers Mr Wainright and Mrs Partridge and their far from secret 'afair' from the first three series of Summer Wine? Or when Seymour taught his sister Edina (Thora Hird) how to drive?
The same could be said for Only Fools and Horses.It is likely many people perhaps cannot recall the episodes when Del witnesses a statute of the Virgin Mary weeping and turns the church into a media frenzy, or when Rodney goes on the run after accidentally frightening a drunken woman.
We could even bring My Family into this, and try to remember the one where Susan gets her revenge on a bloke who dumped her 28 years ago, or the episode where Ben and Roger attend a dentistry seminar.
Is it best to keep a show within three or four series just so we can remember them all? Or is it all right to continue a show for series after series and assume the audience will remember the best bits but diregard the rest?