Shameless Fans Agree The Show Started Going Downhill After This Season

How many seasons should a TV show last? The answer inevitably varies depending on the specific show. Naturally, if a show can maintain a consistently high-quality ad nauseam, then there's no reason why it should end any time soon. If anything, a series should end before it starts to decline in quality so that fans are eager to watch more. However, more times than not, the opposite is what ends up happening.

There have been countless examples over the years of series overstaying their welcome rather than bowing out gracefully. This usually means shows go out with a whimper rather than a bang, and based on a ton of online chatter, it seems fans think that's the case with "Shameless." The comedy-drama series ran for 11 seasons from 2011 to 2021. It was generally well-received throughout its run, earning numerous awards throughout its time on the air, particularly when it came to William H. Macy's performance as Frank Gallagher.

However, fans apparently had enough at one point, and many seem to believe there's a certain spot where the show started going downhill. 

"Shameless" had a pretty good run, and plenty of people online frequently discuss how they'll go back and rewatch the golden era. However, that period of time seems to stop when the show reaches Season 8 or so. In a Reddit thread kicked off by u/NavySeal540, the user wrote, "I remember not loving season 8 very much and even being bored of the show for once. I also remember (Correct me if I'm wrong) that the characters weren't together very often."

Redditor u/fizzywhizbee agreed, stating, "8 & 9 are neck and neck for me. I was bored by just about every plotline ... [I] can rewatch seasons 1-5 over and over but the thought of sitting through 8 & 9 more than once bums me out." Critics seem to be of the same mindset that the final few seasons of the show weren't up to par with the show's usual quality. On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 8 has earned a critics' consensus of 100%, but Season 9 has a noticeable drop to 73%. This dips even lower for Season 10, standing at 20%, while Season 11 comes back around somewhat to land at 70%.

Still, for a show to remain as good as it was for seven seasons (give or take) remains an impressive feat.