Still trawling through old posts I found one where The Sopranos was described as a short series. It lasted for six seasons and eighty six episodes. What would a long series be? The Closer (which I had to look up) was also described as a short series - seven seasons with a hundred and nine episodes. Similarly Rescue Me, the other series mentioned in the post (and another I had never heard of) was seven seasons with ninety three episodes.

Of course at the time of the post they were all in their first season.