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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 Anonymousreply 82September 28, 2021 7:00 AM

Desperate Housewives. The following seasons weren't great, but it didn't turn to trash until season 5.

by Anonymousreply 1June 9, 2021 4:11 PM

Maybe if those white supremicists hadn't tried to murder poor Jussie, he could have improved the show.

by Anonymousreply 2June 9, 2021 4:11 PM

Lost? Heroes?

by Anonymousreply 3June 9, 2021 4:13 PM

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 Anonymousreply 4June 9, 2021 4:17 PM

The Walking Dead

by Anonymousreply 5June 9, 2021 4:21 PM

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 Anonymousreply 6June 9, 2021 4:22 PM

Revenge was my first thought. They should've just turned it into an anthology series like AHS

by Anonymousreply 7June 9, 2021 4:24 PM

Bloodline.

by Anonymousreply 8June 9, 2021 4:25 PM

Angie

by Anonymousreply 9June 9, 2021 4:25 PM

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 Anonymousreply 10June 9, 2021 4:25 PM

Those are literally my first choices as well OP lol

by Anonymousreply 11June 9, 2021 4:25 PM

Orange is the New Black comes to mind.

by Anonymousreply 12June 9, 2021 4:26 PM

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 Anonymousreply 13June 9, 2021 4:27 PM

The Golden Girls.

by Anonymousreply 14June 9, 2021 4:29 PM

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 Anonymousreply 15June 9, 2021 4:29 PM

"Square Pegs"

by Anonymousreply 16June 9, 2021 4:30 PM

[quote] "Square Pegs"

Square Pegs only had a single season.

by Anonymousreply 17June 9, 2021 4:32 PM

"My So-Called Life"

by Anonymousreply 18June 9, 2021 4:41 PM

True Blood; Enlightened

by Anonymousreply 19June 9, 2021 4:44 PM

The Facts of Life .

by Anonymousreply 20June 9, 2021 4:47 PM

^^^ better than too much Molly Ringwald

by Anonymousreply 21June 9, 2021 4:49 PM

Definitely Mr. Robot. It never eclipsed its first episode. The second season was meh, I’m not sure I finished the series.

by Anonymousreply 22June 9, 2021 4:49 PM

The reboot of Dragnet with Ed O'Neill.

by Anonymousreply 23June 9, 2021 4:57 PM

Couldn’t find the actual Revenge thread but thought this one might suffice:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 24September 21, 2021 8:27 PM

Lost In Space. First season.

by Anonymousreply 25September 21, 2021 8:37 PM

Westworld

by Anonymousreply 26September 21, 2021 8:39 PM

[quote]Heroes?

Definitely.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 27September 21, 2021 8:40 PM

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 Anonymousreply 28September 21, 2021 8:49 PM

Popular

Glee

AHS...I'm noticing a theme here.

by Anonymousreply 29September 21, 2021 9:19 PM

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 Anonymousreply 30September 21, 2021 9:22 PM

The Lucy Show

by Anonymousreply 31September 21, 2021 9:26 PM

Not to trash but really downhill

Twin Peaks

Friday Night Lights

by Anonymousreply 32September 21, 2021 9:27 PM

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 Anonymousreply 33September 21, 2021 9:27 PM

The OC

by Anonymousreply 34September 21, 2021 9:28 PM

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 Anonymousreply 35September 21, 2021 9:29 PM

I disagree with r4

Charlie’s Angels was fine after season 1

by Anonymousreply 36September 21, 2021 9:31 PM

Shameless

by Anonymousreply 37September 21, 2021 9:35 PM

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 Anonymousreply 38September 21, 2021 9:35 PM

Masters of Sex. Brilliant first season but it went straight downhill after that.

by Anonymousreply 39September 22, 2021 2:08 AM

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 Anonymousreply 40September 22, 2021 2:11 AM

R11 Literally

"Those are literally my first choices as well OP lol"

Those are my first choices as well OP lol

by Anonymousreply 41September 22, 2021 2:12 AM

Jane The Virgin

by Anonymousreply 42September 22, 2021 2:15 AM

Sopranos

by Anonymousreply 43September 22, 2021 2:19 AM

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 Anonymousreply 44September 22, 2021 2:50 AM

Six Feet Under. The series finale was great, but the two years before it had been in serious decline.

by Anonymousreply 45September 22, 2021 2:52 AM

Weeds

Nashville

by Anonymousreply 46September 22, 2021 3:06 AM

Twin Peaks

by Anonymousreply 47September 22, 2021 3:07 AM

True Blood

by Anonymousreply 48September 22, 2021 3:08 AM

Never heard of them!

by Anonymousreply 49September 22, 2021 4:31 PM

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 Anonymousreply 50September 22, 2021 5:22 PM

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 Anonymousreply 51September 22, 2021 5:37 PM

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 Anonymousreply 52September 22, 2021 6:01 PM

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 Anonymousreply 53September 22, 2021 6:03 PM

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 Anonymousreply 54September 22, 2021 6:05 PM

Alf

by Anonymousreply 55September 22, 2021 6:09 PM

How to Get Away With Murder

by Anonymousreply 56September 22, 2021 6:11 PM

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 Anonymousreply 57September 22, 2021 7:58 PM

"My Mother the Car"

After the first season, the show became silly.

by Anonymousreply 58September 22, 2021 8:04 PM

^^Meant to say "It WAS still fun ..."

by Anonymousreply 59September 22, 2021 8:20 PM

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The declined in writing was shocking - like it was a different show.

by Anonymousreply 60September 22, 2021 9:00 PM

More recently, Haunting of Hill House, Man in the High Castle and GLOW all come to mind.

by Anonymousreply 61September 22, 2021 9:27 PM

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 Anonymousreply 62September 22, 2021 11:32 PM

Boomtown

by Anonymousreply 63September 22, 2021 11:39 PM

Family

by Anonymousreply 64September 22, 2021 11:49 PM

Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Supernatural

by Anonymousreply 65September 22, 2021 11:52 PM

[Lost]

Too bad they didn't stick with the original "only three-seasons" plan.

by Anonymousreply 66September 22, 2021 11:53 PM

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 Anonymousreply 67September 23, 2021 5:31 AM

Ted Lasso is almost there.

by Anonymousreply 68September 23, 2021 7:33 AM

Big Little Lies

by Anonymousreply 69September 23, 2021 9:59 AM

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 Anonymousreply 70September 23, 2021 10:08 AM

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 Anonymousreply 71September 23, 2021 11:57 AM

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 Anonymousreply 72September 23, 2021 12:20 PM

Damages

by Anonymousreply 73September 23, 2021 12:27 PM

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 Anonymousreply 74September 23, 2021 12:30 PM

Outlander

by Anonymousreply 75September 23, 2021 12:38 PM

Downton Abbey. Even though ratings went up during the 2nd season, the show became increasingly ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 76September 23, 2021 1:17 PM

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 Anonymousreply 77September 23, 2021 1:43 PM

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 Anonymousreply 78September 23, 2021 2:22 PM

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 Anonymousreply 79September 23, 2021 11:48 PM

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 Anonymousreply 80September 24, 2021 1:12 AM

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 Anonymousreply 81September 24, 2021 7:14 PM

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 Anonymousreply 82September 28, 2021 7:00 AM
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