Michelle Tanner is a Dick

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, or if I am venturing into new territory in the field of television studies, but I have discovered a trend in shows that have been on too long. It occurs in the final season, or seasons, of  most sitcoms and is a sure sign that everyone involved is ready to move on. Many people have written about shows "jumping the shark," but I am writing about what occurs after the shark has been jumped, when a network is just bleeding a show dry. 

Now there are many obvious things like fantasy episodes or dramatic departures of leading characters that point to the end of a network comedy, but there are two things that I've picked up on recently. 

1) Every single person in the cast is in almost every scene in every episode. There are very few individual character arcs because a) almost everything has been done with these characters in 7-9 years and b) every cast member wants plenty of screen time so that they're not forgotten before the show is even over. This is evident in later seasons of MASH, Full House, and now Scrubs. Even supporting characters like Radar(MASH) and Kimmy Gibler(Full House) manage to become as important as the main cast. 

2) Everyone becomes a vicious dick. Since, as stated above, most plots have been used up on the show, and almost every scene is populated with every character, many scenes are overstuffed with mean spirited zingers. I'm pretty sure every episode in the last season of Full House has 2-3 scenes where the Tanner family just makes fun of Kimmy Gibler and tells her she's a dumb bitch. I even think there was one scene where Michelle Tanner pricked her with an AIDS infected needle.*

So, we have shows that still manage to pull in ratings because of either nostalgia for seasons past or because people just want to see how it ends(although with most sitcoms everything ends with something similar to the status quo) and cast and crew on autopilot. This is the future I fear for some of my favorite shows like The Office and 30 Rock. A future of repeated jokes and unfunny dickery. I wish networks could focus on consistently making new quality shows rather than sucking the life out of every show that makes any money. Bascially, I wish Britain would take over Hollywood and make sure every show was screened by the Queen of England before it was allowed to air,  just like the BBC.***

*This may have been on OZ**

**Regardless of that, Michelle Tanner remains a dick. 

***Not sure that this actually happens, but I'd like to believe it does. And when the Queen doesn't like a show, she hits a button that drops the cast & crew into a pit of alligators.