In 2019, fans said goodbye to some of the best dramas and comedies to ever hit the small screen. Thrones were claimed, Nobel Peace Prizes were won, football players got medical care, and two best friends found the power of FaceTime in long distance relationships.
Goodbyes are never easy, but at least TV goodbyes in 2019 leave fans with the hope for a reboot.
‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Big Bang Theory’ and more shows we said goodbye to in 2019
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Game of Thrones
Series Total: 8 Seasons, 73 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: Game of Thrones has the most Primetime Emmy wins (37) for a scripted series and the most nominations for a drama (161). Multiple prequels are currently in the works at HBO.
Fans will debate the ending of Game of Thrones for years to come, but one part of the final season that appeared to receive unanimous praise was the (very dark) episode The Long Night. Game of Thrones will be remembered for stunning battles scenes, beautiful wordplay, lots of sex (with a bit of incest), and dragons, but no scene better encapsulated the brilliance of eight seasons of lead up more than Arya killing the Night King.
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The Affair
Series Total: 5 Seasons, 53 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: The series won Best Drama at the 2015 Golden Globes and Ruth Wilson and Maura Tierney both took home Globes for acting.
The Affair established itself as a must-see drama in season one, with the dual point-of-view mode of filming quickly differentiating the series from any other show on television. Fans watched as leads Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, Dominic West and Joshua Jackson continually made self-sabotaging decisions and showed how trauma and loss can send a ripple effect through families. Wilson and Jackson didn’t return for the final season, but the show still managed to give viewers a satisfying and time-hopping conclusion.
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The Big Bang Theory
Series Total: 12 Seasons, 279 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: TBBT passed Cheers as the longest-running American multi-cam series and spawned the spin-off series Young Sheldon.
After Jim Parsons announced he wouldn’t be returning to TBBT after Season 12, creator Chuck Lorre decided to end the series. Fans of the beloved sitcom said goodbye to the cast in May, with Sheldon and Amy winning a Nobel Prize and Penny and Leonard announcing their pregnancy. The emotional sendoff included takeout food, a fixed elevator, and a fitting remix of the iconic theme song by Barenaked Ladies. Sob*Bazinga*sob.
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BALLERS
Series Total: 5 Seasons, 47 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: Ballers introduced audiences to Golden Globe and SAG nominee John David Washington, who drew from his real-life experience in the NFL to play Ricky Jerret.
Inspired by the high stakes and big money world of the NFL, former CFL-player Dwayne Johnson slipped easily into the role of ex-football player Spencer Strasmore on Ballers. Finding a natural chemistry with co-star Rob Corddry, the men played financial advisors who gave an inside look at the luxuries and struggles of players, with many real-life athletes featured in each episode. The series ended on a high note for all the main characters while still highlighting the physical and mental dangers of sports injuries.
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Broad City
Series Total: 5 Seasons, 50 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: The pop culture phenomenon began as a web series and made the move to Comedy Central after producer Amy Poehler expressed interest.
Playing hyper-realized versions of themselves, creators and stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer crafted Broad City as a safe space for viewers to find their newest best friends and see that it was cool to be yourself. Feminist, inclusive, pro-sex, pro-weed, and pro-trying to figure out your sh*t in your 20s, the characters Abbi and Ilana were unabashedly themselves and created a cult following of viewers who will be their fronds to the ond. In the Broad City club, we all fam.
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SILICON VALLEY
Series Total: 6 Seasons, 53 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: The series has a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and possibly holds the record for the longest penis joke ever told on screen with a three-minute running time.
Making tech funny and understandable (almost), Silicon Valley took a group of developers played by Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods and Martin Starr and gave viewers an inside look at the rapid pace of Silicon Valley. And by rapid pace we mean that Apps move fast, but programmers don’t. There’s a lot of soft drinks being consumed.
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SUITS
Series Total: 9 Seasons, 134 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: Nominated for SAG and People’s Choice Awards, Suits was the longest-running drama on the USA Network, inspired South Korean and Japanese adaptions, and turned an actor into a real-life Duchess.
When Suits wrapped its ninth and final season in September, the series about a college dropout turned lawyer said goodbye to its millions of devoted fans around the world. Shot in Toronto, Suits starred Meghan Markle a.k.a. the Duchess of Sussex, who left in Season 7. Katherine Heigl later joined the cast and helped give the show a dramatic conclusion with two weddings, a baby, and a new, really long law firm name. Case closed.
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Veep
Series Total: 7 Seasons, 65 Episodes
Biggest Accolade: Julia Louis-Dreyfus won six-consecutive Primetime Emmys for her role as Selina Meyer, Tony Hale took home two of his six nominations and the series won Emmys for Best Comedy for its fourth, fifth and sixth seasons.
Imagine if the president was a brash, egotistical, self-important politician who cared more about themselves than the people they represented? Okay, but in this case they’re also very smart and hilarious. On purpose. Considered one of the greatest comedies of all time, Veep’s final season was delayed while Louis-Dreyfus was treated for breast cancer, with the actor returning in fighting form for a final season that was as absurd, hilarious, and fast-paced as ever.
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Exclusive: Tour ‘The Big Bang Theory’ set
