We all have those shows that we live and breathe for…until they end. Then it feels as if your very essence has been sucked out of you and destroyed in front of your eyes. (Or is that just me?) Regardless, anyone who has ever watched and loved a show probably also knows the pain that comes with the cancellation of said show. Because no one wants their favorite show to end, and there’s always that hope that, someday, it will be brought back.

The end of a long-running TV show is always the most painful because it’s been a part of your life for so long. The only thing that could make it more distressing is when the finale is an epic disappointment. For example: How I Met Your Mother. (Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen it, you may want to avert your eyes here.) The very last episode caused an uproar among fans when it was revealed that Ted–who spent nine seasons telling his kids the long-winded story of how he met their mother (duh, it’s in the title)–is not reminiscing about the love of his life, but asking his children for permission to pursue another woman. Their mother has apparently been dead for six years, and his daughter tells him that it’s okay to move on. So much happened in the last episode and there were so many time skips that it all seemed pretty confusing and random. Therefore, I concluded that a tenth season should happen, if not to give us closure on what happens with Ted and Robin (the woman that he ends up pursuing), then to explain more about what happened to everyone in the time that was skimmed over.

Continuing the trend of long-running TV shows, Smallville went on for ten seasons before its cancellation. At first, it was about Superman before he was Superman. The show followed Clark Kent’s discovery of his powers and the drama he had to deal with in high school. In later seasons, he moved to Metropolis and became the Superman we all know and love (with the news reporter gig and frequent heroics). This show was so great in that we were able to see the more human side of Superman – the side that grew up on a farm in a small town and went through all of the awkward situations we go through in high school. However, with the added confusion created by his superpowers, Clark’s problems were always a bit more complex than they seemed. Humor, adventure, fantasy – this show had it all. Asking for more may seem a bit ungrateful after ten seasons, but who can blame me? Smallville will always hold a special place in my heart.

Last but certainly not least, Buffy the Vampire Slayer definitely deserves a spot in this article. The show is iconic, at least by my standards, and if you haven’t watched it, you’ve at least heard of it. The show is about a bold young girl in high school who has the weight of the world on her shoulders. She, out of all the girls in the world, was chosen to protect the world against the evil creatures that go bump in the night. The Slayer is meant to be the guardian of humanity, the epitome of authority and power. Instead, she turns out to be a teenage girl that just wants a normal life. Buffy Summers moves to Sunnydale after being expelled from her old school in LA (she may have been the cause of an explosion in the school’s gymnasium. But to be fair, it was overrun with vampires). All she’s looking for is a fresh start, but she finds herself at the Hellmouth – a paranormal beacon for all beasts and creatures that just so happen to want to kill her. Buffy’s quirky best friends, Willow and Xander, keep the show light when the going gets tough. So maybe the show did have a fantastic ending so that there wasn’t much else left to elaborate on, but I’m sure the writers could find something, right?

Survival of the fittest may be how things work in nature, but who’s to say that revival of the fittest can’t be how things work in the TV industry? If a show is as fantastic as any of these three, it should be allowed to continue. At this point, I’d even settle for a spin-off.