TV Shows that had perfect first seasons and then turned to trash
Empire - amazing, fun, compelling first season. I gave up on it halfway through season 2.
Revenge - PERFECT, gripping first season. I gave up on it after the beginning of the second season, when the long lost mother turned up alive. Oh and later the father too? Trash.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | September 28, 2021 7:00 AM
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Desperate Housewives. The following seasons weren't great, but it didn't turn to trash until season 5.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | June 9, 2021 4:11 PM
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Maybe if those white supremicists hadn't tried to murder poor Jussie, he could have improved the show.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | June 9, 2021 4:11 PM
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1) Charlie's Angels: the magic just wasn't there anymore without the ORIGINAL trio....
2) Buck Rogers: ONLY on for 2 seasons, the first season was fun, campy, sexy, homoerotic big time. The second season did a complete reversal of all of this, kept Gil Gerard covered up, his character way more serious, the storylines more serious, got rid of the fun characters (princess ardala), added new annoying characters and became a boring poor man's second rate Star Trek...
by Anonymous | reply 4 | June 9, 2021 4:17 PM
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Pretty Little Liars. I couldn't turn away from Season One. Season Two was a struggle to get through, and I gave up halfway through Season Three.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | June 9, 2021 4:22 PM
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Revenge was my first thought. They should've just turned it into an anthology series like AHS
by Anonymous | reply 7 | June 9, 2021 4:24 PM
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I'll probably get ff'd to the moon and back for this, but Girls' first season was outstanding. I knew about halfway through the first episode of season 2 that the rest of the show's run wasn't going to match up.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | June 9, 2021 4:25 PM
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Those are literally my first choices as well OP lol
by Anonymous | reply 11 | June 9, 2021 4:25 PM
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Orange is the New Black comes to mind.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | June 9, 2021 4:26 PM
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The L Word. Ilene Chaiken ran characters into the ground in later seasons and changed their personalities somewhat—very inconsistent writing. The first season was groundbreaking, however.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | June 9, 2021 4:27 PM
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Black Monday on Showtime. The first season was a wild ride, and while the second had its merits, that should have been the end. They now have a third season and a bigger budget, so they’re shoehorning in 80s songs they couldn’t afford before and stretching out the arcs beyond plausibility (which considering how crazy it was when it started is saying something). It’s not as smart as it thinks it is.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | June 9, 2021 4:29 PM
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[quote] "Square Pegs"
Square Pegs only had a single season.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | June 9, 2021 4:32 PM
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^^^ better than too much Molly Ringwald
by Anonymous | reply 21 | June 9, 2021 4:49 PM
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Definitely Mr. Robot. It never eclipsed its first episode. The second season was meh, I’m not sure I finished the series.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | June 9, 2021 4:49 PM
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The reboot of Dragnet with Ed O'Neill.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | June 9, 2021 4:57 PM
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Couldn’t find the actual Revenge thread but thought this one might suffice:
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 24 | September 21, 2021 8:27 PM
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Lost In Space. First season.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | September 21, 2021 8:37 PM
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R13, while I enjoyed the show as a whole, you are right. The first season was fantastic.
To be honest, most shows from the US seem to fit this mold of first great season, then rapidly dropping off. I assume it's because the studio keeps pushing - seasons end up 24 episodes long with no real direction.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | September 21, 2021 8:49 PM
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Popular
Glee
AHS...I'm noticing a theme here.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | September 21, 2021 9:19 PM
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Hahaha R29! I've noticed that theme before too. Though sometimes they are shows that have a perfect 3 episodes before turning to trash haha.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | September 21, 2021 9:22 PM
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Not to trash but really downhill
Twin Peaks
Friday Night Lights
by Anonymous | reply 32 | September 21, 2021 9:27 PM
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HBO's Rome. The network ruined the second season with budget cuts and a compressed timeline for the story. Season 1 is like a perfect miniseries about the fall of Julius Caesar.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | September 21, 2021 9:27 PM
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Dead To Me is guilty of this.First season was so well done. Season 2 was all over the place, including previously straight main characters interracial lesbian love scenes. Not even going to watch season 3.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | September 21, 2021 9:29 PM
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I disagree with r4
Charlie’s Angels was fine after season 1
by Anonymous | reply 36 | September 21, 2021 9:31 PM
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Carnival. It had such an amazing ensemble cast. But the second season got really gruesome. I don't like gore so watched to the end but was glad there was no third season.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | September 21, 2021 9:35 PM
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Masters of Sex. Brilliant first season but it went straight downhill after that.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | September 22, 2021 2:08 AM
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Arrested Development. Most of the first season was so funny, then the last few episodes of the first season tanked, and no other season was funny at all.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | September 22, 2021 2:11 AM
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R11 Literally
"Those are literally my first choices as well OP lol"
Those are my first choices as well OP lol
by Anonymous | reply 41 | September 22, 2021 2:12 AM
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It didn't turn to trash, but the first season of Star Trek (TOS) is much better than the 2nd or (especially) the 3rd.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | September 22, 2021 2:50 AM
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Six Feet Under. The series finale was great, but the two years before it had been in serious decline.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | September 22, 2021 2:52 AM
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Queer as Folk (US). The first season wasn't exactly great but it was something new and exciting for TV. It quickly went to shit. I hate watched the second season then said fuck it shortly into the third season.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | September 22, 2021 5:22 PM
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Handmaid's.
Tale.
Season 1 is the book with some diversions, and is spare and flawless. Somewhere in S.2 things started getting seriously soapy. And there's only so much scripted torture of Elizabeth Moss I can handle.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | September 22, 2021 5:37 PM
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Twin Peaks. Subsequent season/movie law of diminishing returns exemplified. Reboot suffered similar but different issues.
and Six Feet Under had the life sucked out of it in the later part of S3 and most of S4 by the most soul sucking character in episodic television this century, the usually great Lili Taylor as Lisa.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | September 22, 2021 6:01 PM
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All Ryan Murphy shows - Popular, Glee.
Most Jar Jar Abrams shows - Lost, Alias
It comes down to having a good premise, but no idea where you're going or how to stick the landing.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | September 22, 2021 6:03 PM
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Ugly Betty. Season 1 was fantastic, Season 2 was right up there, but then as so often happens the original showrunner left and Seasons 3 and 4 were horrible.
Same with Revenge.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | September 22, 2021 6:05 PM
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How to Get Away With Murder
by Anonymous | reply 56 | September 22, 2021 6:11 PM
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Like Queer as Folk, I also think Noah's Arc had a great first season but faltered a bit in the second. It will still fun, just not as good as before.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | September 22, 2021 7:58 PM
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"My Mother the Car"
After the first season, the show became silly.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | September 22, 2021 8:04 PM
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^^Meant to say "It WAS still fun ..."
by Anonymous | reply 59 | September 22, 2021 8:20 PM
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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The declined in writing was shocking - like it was a different show.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | September 22, 2021 9:00 PM
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More recently, Haunting of Hill House, Man in the High Castle and GLOW all come to mind.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | September 22, 2021 9:27 PM
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Counting first one or two seasons...
Happy Days
Moonlighting
Pushing Daisies
Desperate Housewives
Thirtysomething
Lost
Soap
Twin Peaks
Honorable mention: Life on Mars. Amazing start and then fell to shit before the end of the first season.
Oh dear, lookey here. They're all ABC shows. What a coincidence.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | September 22, 2021 11:32 PM
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Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Supernatural
by Anonymous | reply 65 | September 22, 2021 11:52 PM
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[Lost]
Too bad they didn't stick with the original "only three-seasons" plan.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | September 22, 2021 11:53 PM
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r52 Lisa was supposed to be a manipulative, underhanded, soul-sucking little weasel. I don't think she tanked the show. All the main characters were extremely flawed people (except for Ruth).
by Anonymous | reply 67 | September 23, 2021 5:31 AM
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Ted Lasso is almost there.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | September 23, 2021 7:33 AM
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I will also nominate Ugly Betty.
First season was perfection.
Second season struggled because the writer's strike hit mid season and when it came back from the writers strike, it lost a lot of its humor.
Third season was it was struggling to find a direction.
Fourth season seemed to be more stable, but by then the network had given up on it and canceled it.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | September 23, 2021 10:08 AM
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Ugly Betty would've been more successful if it would've stuck to the telanovela formula in spite of its successful first season. It's my understanding telanovelas don't drag on season after season...they last several weeks and when they're done, they're done. Rather than renewing Ugly Betty, ABC should've committed to a 22 episode run...offering deals for other projects to the cast if everything worked out.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | September 23, 2021 11:57 AM
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R71 - That sounds a lot like what Netflix does with it's one-season series (5-13 episodes). It's like they revived the mini-series of the 70s. I'd say Halston is the latest example of many.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | September 23, 2021 12:20 PM
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R71 Most Spanish language telenovelas last between six to nine months in a five-episode per week format (Monday-Friday), so figure an average of 125-175 episodes total. I've watched some that are 90, others that were around 200. .. The very popular Columbian telenovela that Ugly Betty was based on (Yo soy Betty, la fea) was 169 episode when it aired on Telemundo/NBC.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | September 23, 2021 12:30 PM
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Downton Abbey. Even though ratings went up during the 2nd season, the show became increasingly ridiculous.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | September 23, 2021 1:17 PM
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Funny, I was watching Downton again for lack of anything to do and series one is terrific. It starts to wobble in series two and falls over about the middle of three.
I'd argue something similar for Dynasty. A great first season followed by a great second second season - as a version of what the show became. Falls over in season 3.
A theory of mine, generally is that the death knell for almost any show is the replacement of the original show running team + time. The original vision is gone, the incoming team fucks it up making their mark, and there's a brief sweet spot where the show is a massive hit but very costly... then the broadcaster tries to extend the profits while cutting production costs. Sex and the City is a possible example of this... it was a different show before MPK showed up and the consignment shop nightmare of fashion took off without restraint.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | September 23, 2021 1:43 PM
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House and Homeland own this thread. David Shore didn't have the talent to carry off House's contradictions believably for more than a season, and the originality of S1 of Homeland was that the audience could trust the POV of neither of the main characters. Once that was gone it could never be as good again.
R50, what happened to Queer as Folk (US) was that the good writers simply left after Season 1. They included Jonathon Tolins, who most recently wrote for and was an EP on The Good Fight. The showrunners also wrote for the show and it was rumored their dominance made the others flee. Judging from the way the show panned out afterwards it looks like the rumor could have been true. R77, that was one instance of where the failure to replace the original showrunners was the problem!
by Anonymous | reply 78 | September 23, 2021 2:22 PM
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First season of Supergirl was great with Calista Flockhart playing Cat Grant, the bass and frenemy of Kara/Supergirl.
Second season moved production from LA to Vancouver. Calista wasn't interested in relocating and left the series, which lost its rudder without her.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | September 23, 2021 11:48 PM
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WEEDS - Follows a suburban mom from being widowed to becoming a successful pot dealer to maintain the family lifestyle. You can bail after the end of season one or stick around until the end of season 3.
The rest of the seasons are mildly entertaining, sometimes frustrating, but blow up the formula and take the family away from the suburbs after season 3. The housewife to drug dealer arc is all there in the first season.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | September 24, 2021 1:12 AM
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R79 so true. I'm not her biggest fan but there's no question she elevated that show and losing her really relegated it to something no longer special until they introduced Katie McGrath.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | September 24, 2021 7:14 PM
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R81 no, not even Katie could save Supergirl after moving to the CW. Not when you have shitty writers at the helm. I hope the new one with Sasha is a massive improvement.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | September 28, 2021 7:00 AM
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