Longest Running Shows And Videos - Books too, if you want.

[Judge Dredd]

This image from the funny pictures thread started a bit of a discussion with my internet friends that I thought I'd bring back here.


What are the longest movies, videos, and TV shows? There is one obvious caveat. They have to be worth watching, or at least not filler. eg. Vinesauce has over 5000 hours of content, but the edited content from those livestreams is a tenth of that. 500 hours is still a lot of content though.


By raw episode count, Star Trek is up there with 937 episodes. The number of Dr Who episodes varies based on source, some listing just short of 700, while some list almost 900. Though some are lost media, and I don't know if that includes other media like radio. Dragon Ball is also up there, with numbers ranging from 150 to over 800 depending on which source you believe.

The longest running in terms of time. I remember hearing that WWE wrestling and Law and Order are up there (though Law and Order first aired in the 90s), but I think Dr Who takes the crown again airing in the 1960s. Star Trek started in the 60s. WWE might be disqualified though due to being arguably sports and thus having filler? The Simpsons is another one that started in the 90s and is still going, though it's been known as "zombie Simpsons" for years, if not decades, which doesn't bode well for it's quality.


Then there's YouTube. Two I've heard of recently are autistic documentries. Ben Saints recap of Bionicle lore (yes, the lego toys from the 2000s) clocking in at 13 hours. I've only seen the first 90 minutes, but it seems quite dense so far.

And the A Button Challenge. A documentary about a Mario 64 speed run category where you never jump. I've not watched this one. It's over 5 hours.

Then there's this review of every episode of Big Bang Theory. It's just a guy standing in front of a bland background so it makes for good background noise. Almost 4 hours for this.

As for longest running show in terms of time, got to be AVGN. That show has had new episodes since the early days of YouTube. It might even pre-date it.


As for movies. I don't know. Many modern movies are over 2 hours, and some are up to 3. Which is funny to me because I like Aliens, which the theatrical cut was trimmed from 137 minutes down to under 2 hours. I know Lord of the Rings extended trilogy is considered the ultimate in terms of length.

In terms on entries. I expected James Bond, MCU, or some horror movie to have the most sequels, but supposedly it's Godzilla with 38 movies, at least according to google. Meanwhile, James Bond has 26, though the exact number seems up for debate, I'm going by the number of MGM movies. I haven't seen all the James Bond movies so I can't give an opinion on them, but I like the ones I have seen.

And of course, you can't really talk about movies with many sequels without mentioning the Fast movies. I haven't seen all of them, but I don't get the hate. Memes about "family" and the lack of realism in the cars, but they are fun action movies. Even people who hate them seem to remember all the big moments like the car chase with the safe, the tank battle on the bridge, or that car that flips other cars.

As for the MCU, there's 30 something movies, and 11 TV shows, but if we're counting just until Endgame, there's 21 movies. I thought it'd be more than that. I don't know if the original Blade is counted in that number. I'm way behind on my super hero movies, and MCU gets a lot of hate these days as consoomer slop, but I remember liking Captain America.


Got anything to add? Have an opinion on any of the shows/videos?

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

Didn't the original Pokemon just recently end? Not sure how many episodes, but I remember how old I was when it started and it's been like 25 years.

 

[Haunted Dishwasher]

Soap operas are the tapeworms of the TV as they have absurd amount of episodes (The Bold and the Beautiful comes to mind with 9000+ episodes).

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Dr. Who has been running since the 1960s, and it seems to be a "woke" disaster now.

The Simpsons is another one that started in the 90s and is still going, though it's been known as "zombie Simpsons" for years, if not decades, which doesn't bode well for it's quality.

The Simpsons has been running since the late '80s, and should've ended around 2000.

I remember how old I was when it started and it's been like 25 years.

I stopped keeping up with that animu when Ash and pals got stuck at Orange Islands.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Soap operas are the tapeworms of the TV as they have absurd amount of episodes (The Bold and the Beautiful comes to mind with 9000+ episodes).

I didn't think of that. I asked Google how episodes of Coronation Street there are, and it's 10,230 episodes since December 1960. There's no way they're all good. I wonder how new people get into them.

The Archers (a British radio soap opera) has over 20,000 episodes.

Dr. Who has been running since the 1960s, and it seems to be a "woke" disaster now.

There was also a long break where it ended in the 80s I think, before being revived in 2005.

I think Law and Order was similar in that it had a long hiatus. Now that I think about it, Law and Order was ended so it wouldn't overtake Gunsmoke as the longest running show in America, only to be beaten by WWE shortly after.

Supposedly Gunsmoke had 625 episodes, but again, I don't know if that includes the radio dramas people like.


Sadly, a lot of these long running shows are woke disasters now. Dr Who you mentioned. Star Trek went woke as well, though that show has had issues since Voyager in the 90s. I think part of what makes the anime and manga impressive is they're usually written by one guy, and animation is way more time consuming to make.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

As for longest running show in terms of time, got to be AVGN.

What about Homestar Runner?

Star Trek went woke as well

The new Star Trek and Star Wars turned into Current Year crap after JJ Abrams came along. And of course, SW was crapped up by Di$ney.

 

[Brain Power]

General Hospital with its 62 seasons and 15000+ episodes (since 1963) says hi. And that doesn't count the spinoffs.

 

[Judge Dredd]

What about Homestar Runner?

Is it still going?

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Is it still going?

Last time I checked, yep. Though maybe not as much as back in the '00s.

Also the Bleach anime ran for awhile. Not as long as the comics though.

Because the manga creator of Bleach is the best troll on the planet.

 

[Preferred Penne]

Is it still going?

There was a long hiatus in the early 2010s, around five years or so. Nowadays you'll get maybe two cartoons per year.

 

[Whatevermancer]

Where I'm from, Santa Barbara, an american soap opera has become synonymous with every tv show that seems to go on forever. And it only has 2137 episodes.

 

[Soi Woh Jak]

Idk about shows since I dont watch them but when it comes to movies I have a few
Shoah from 1985 is the seminal holocaust documentary by a bunch of soviets and polish communists who were paid by the Israeli government in the 70s to make it. It is about 9 hours long consisting of interviews, location shots, newspaper/newsreel stuff.
Napoleon from 1927 by Abel Gance which was a commerical film at the time standing at around 5 and a half hours. Recently had another rerelease and probably contends for the film with the most versions award with several different restorations of it spanning from the 70s to now.
Dekalog from 1989 which is a polish miniseries, considered by film enthusiasts to be a film, spans around 9 hours long. Idk what its about though.
Finally, Ten Commandments from 1955, not the longest film by any stretch but I would say longest commercially released American film to be a massive success, clocking in at just around 4 hours or somewhere around 3:45.
Also maybe Kill Bill the Whole Bloody Affair counts as well, its a stitched up version of 1 and 2 with deleted scenes added in, I think its around 4 hours if I remember right. Idk how much the Hateful Eight Netflix version is also, that might also be somewhere close to 4 hours.

 

[2mm and 99 others]

Days of our lives, over 14 950 episodes, 1965 to present. Seeing this fucking hougrlass always made me envy Austrian and German children, because they had cartoon series in German aired in the time kids come back from school, while we had, well, this.

As for the long movies, there is Sátantangó (1994, Hungary), 439min, that is almost 7.5 hours. I was never eager to see it. What I heard, it consists of many very long scenes, where nothing much happens, like 15min of cows crossing a muddy plain like the one on the picture, or something like that.

 

[Judge Dredd]

As for the long movies, there is Sátantangó (1994, Hungary), 439min, that is almost 7.5 hours. I was never eager to see it. What I heard, it consists of many very long scenes, where nothing much happens, like 15min of cows crossing a muddy plain like the one on the picture, or something like that.

Films like that seem to be long just for the sake of being long. I vaguely remember when YouTube lifted it's length restriction (it used to be 10 mins, then 15 mins) there was some video that was hours long. From what I gather it was nothing anyone would actually want to watch.

Dekalog from 1989 which is a polish miniseries, considered by film enthusiasts to be a film, spans around 9 hours long. Idk what its about though.

I've heard that about some Netflix series. Where it's just an 8 hour long film with breaks.

Finally, Ten Commandments from 1955, not the longest film by any stretch but I would say longest commercially released American film to be a massive success, clocking in at just around 4 hours or somewhere around 3:45.

I've heard of that film. I had no idea it was so long. I mentioned Aliens in the OP, and the reason I heard that was cut was it was believed an audience wouldn't sit through a film more than 2 hours long.

It reminds me of this comedy sketch where he talks about a movie that's the entire bible.

There was a long hiatus in the early 2010s, around five years or so. Nowadays you'll get maybe two cartoons per year.

How do they do the easter eggs and secrets like the flash cartoons?

Also maybe Kill Bill the Whole Bloody Affair counts as well, its a stitched up version of 1 and 2 with deleted scenes added in

I remember James Rolfe talking about his home made edit of the film that cut all of the boring filler scenes, changed the order of some scenes, and condensed it into a single movie.

 

[2mm and 99 others]

I vaguely remember when YouTube lifted it's length restriction (it used to be 10 mins, then 15 mins) there was some video that was hours long. From what I gather it was nothing anyone would actually want to watch.

Yes apart from 10 hour loops of anything, there are cab views, like this one from Norway, almost 10 hours long, also it has a summer and spring edition somewhere there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pVWfzsgLoQ

One of my favourite parts is (don't know if this particular one), when there is, like, 10 minutes of complete dark, then there appears one light pixel that slowly grows for another 10 minutes until the train leaves the tunnel.

 

[Uncle Sid]

Antiques Roadshow has 866 episodes and you can drop in at any point without context for enjoyable background TV if you like that kind of thing.

 

[Soi Woh Jak]

I've heard of that film. I had no idea it was so long. I mentioned Aliens in the OP, and the reason I heard that was cut was it was believed an audience wouldn't sit through a film more than 2 hours long.

It reminds me of this comedy sketch where he talks about a movie that's the entire bible.

I watched it over a weekend, half on Saturday half on Sunday. I can sit through long movies if I'm engaged enough. It just wasn't that engaging. It's good though, it's like an opera or a stage play basically, the actors feel like theyre performing characters like Shakespeare instead of being the characters and engaging with onscreen events. Very good visual design as well, very good color grading and cinematography. But I still prefer prince of Egypt honestly, it's a better movie. Idk if it's a movie or a miniseries but there was an Italian production from the 70s about the life and times of Christ which was around 5 or 6 hours long, starring ian mcshane, that guy who played Bilbo in lotr and couple other actors/actresses. I would also consider that a movie cause its one continuous thing although I havent seen it.

remember James Rolfe talking about his home made edit of the film that cut all of the boring filler scenes, changed the order of some scenes, and condensed it into a single movie.

Idk about Rolfe but the whole bloody affair is an unofficial fan cut of the two movies. A bit like harmys despecialized for star wars.

 

[Cat tit bingo]

Yes apart from 10 hour loops of anything, there are cab views, like this one from Norway, almost 10 hours long, also it has a summer and spring edition somewhere there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pVWfzsgLoQ

There's an "art" ""film"' that takes that takes this to the extreme called logistics that just the journey and production of a pedometer in reverse, it's 857 hours. 99% of it is just a view from the top of a cargo ship.
Here's part 1 of 107

Dr. Who has been running since the 1960s, and it seems to be a "woke" disaster now.

Dr who originally ran from 1963-1989 in a half hour format, had a failed revival movie in 1996 and returned in 2005 in a hour long format. It is basically standing one leg off the cliff right now, the only reason it's still airing is funding from Disney and while a new season is being filmed with gay Blackman it still hasn't been renewed. The new show had 3 show runner Russell t Davis(05-10, eccleston and Tennant), Steven Moffett(11-17,smith and capaldi) and Chris Chibnall(18-22,whittaker). The end of the Moffett run started the wokery but was basically just groan worthy chibnall is when they committed to it and essentially crashed the show into flames but it was more just the fact the show was absolute shit. To keep the show going they had to break the emergency Bring back Tennant glass while also bring back Davis as show runner and with Tennant having a trans kid the show has somehow gone even woker than anyone thought possible. Basically shows shit expect it to end soon.

 

[Preacher ✝]

M*A*S*H ran for 11 seasons and I've watched every episode at least twice.


Gunsmoke ran for like 20 seasons.


Bonanza ran for 14 seasons.


EDIT:
I almost forgot about YouTube as an option.
Sorcerer Dave did a Morrowind LP that took almost a decade to complete.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 3.5 (Bloodmoon)
Volume 4
Volume 5

 

[Colon capital V]

In terms of YouTube Gaming? Lets Plays by Chuggaaconroy have got to be up there. Been making informative gaming videos since 2008 and still doing quite good in terms of retaining viewership.

https://youtube.com/@chugga

Whoisthisgit is also a good contender, been uploading on the site since 2007 and now makes little autistic gaming analysis videos about bosses and bad endings. Fair warning he is a Br*t, but thankfully he prefers to use text on screen for commentary.

https://youtube.com/@whoisthisgit