From "First to Worst"-When good TV shows go bad.*

'My Name is Earl'. Great first season and then it lost its mojo either in Season 2 or 3 (can't remember which - my memory is that when Earl went to prison signalled the start of its demise). I thought Season 4 was a return to form.

 

The Simpsons, starting around season 10 or so.

 

According to IMDB (which, admittedly, isn't always accurate), there was an offer for a tenth season as a syndicated show, not on NBC, with salary increases. I loved Night Court, but its best seasons were the middle ones, and by season 9 the show was a sad self-parody.

 

The most striking example I noticed recently is the old "Bewitched" sitcom. I used to think it was an all-around classic series, or for most of the seasons at least. But first season only had it all; it was funny, deep (yes, even philosophically), sexy (sometimes very much so for its day!)... The writing didn't rely basically on acts of witchcraft but on lots of other stuff, interactions with many well-shaped characters, namely Darrin and his boss, as well as Tate's wife, the great and funny first actress who portrayed her. Some very interesting and amusing parts played by neighbor Mr. Kravitz, before he turned into a permanent couch potato... So lots of writing and many elaborate settings, instead of mere magic tricks and stereotypes... This all went out the window with season 2, where first off they didn't really know how to deal with the new baby problem, casting included... Sometimes it seemed Tabitha was left during entire episodes upstairs, laying in her crib of playpen by herself!.. And, sadly, with Dick York being written out of the script from time to time because of his health issues.

So for me it dropped radically in quality with season 2 and was never the same after that. Season 1 rules big time!

 

The '90s version, or the new one? The '90s Twin Peaks (for better or for worse) was totally unique at the time.

 

Well, I still maintain that the ideal run for a series is 3-5 years. Anything beyond that, shows inevitably go off the rails. But, off the top of my head, shows which really started out well but nose-dived:

Man from UNCLE - the first season was a superior spy show with some light touches. Not my favorite as I liked Illya and he is only in around half the episodes. The second season was my favorite (and also the highest rated), although some corny episodes were starting to occasionally slip in. The third season, the show really tanked. NBC wanted the show to be more like Batman, which was all the rage. It went from being light parody to silly and foolish. Unfortunately, this was also the year in which Girl from UNCLE was produced and done in the same vein, so that show had no good episodes.

Joan of Arcadia - first season was great, second weak.

Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - both had good first seasons in black and white, silly after going to color.

Chico and the Man - last season after the death of Freddie Prinze.

Sanford Arms - feeble attempt to keep Sanford and Son going, without Sanford or Son.

 

90s

 

Dexter after season 4.
Twin Peaks part way through season 2, although I have't watched any of season 3 yet.
X-Files - not sure of the exact time, but when it became more government conspiracies and less twilight zone, I checked out.
Ren and Stimpy - post John Kricfalusi.
The Boondocks - post Aaron McGruder.

 

Empty Nest's last season was awful.

 

Parker Lewis Can't Lose. The first season ruled. The second and third not so much.

 

Agree with you about 3-5 seasons for the most part. Simpsons had 7 good ones IMO. What tends to happen is that the characters become too broad and much of the nuance necessary for true quality is lost.

 

At the time of the dumpster episode, I recall reading the suggestion that "crawled under the dumpster" should replace "jumped the shark" as the expression to use to identify the point where a formerly good show went bad.

 

The period of Twin Peaks of between the reveal of Laura's killer & the season finale was spectacularly awful. The season 2 finale directed by Lynch almost made up for the previous episodes though. That was a pretty creepy episode.

 

Big. Bang. Theory.

The early seasons were great. The latter seasons, especially the last few have been virtually unwatchable. Without Jim Parson's humor and the eye candy, it would be 100% unwatchable.

This show has become friends v2. Absolutely hackish and terrible.

 

Ally McBeal
I enjoyed most of the run of the series. However, there was one point (in Season 3) where the series took a downward turn that it never recovered from: Billy and Georgia get into a heated argument in the Unisex and Georgia slugs Billy so hard that he flies across the room and lays on the ground unconscious, and Georgia just walks out with no concern for her husband (then Elaine comes in and kisses the unconscious Billy).

The scene came across so mean that I could never enjoy the series the same way again. While there were some good episodes (I enjoyed the Robert Downey, Jr. episodes), it didn't overcome the above moment.

 

I bailed on Dexter right at the beginning of the season with Edward James Olmos. I think they just didn't know where to go after the Trinity Killer season.

I'll nominate another one from Showtime: Weeds. I can't even remember if I watched the final season or not.

 

Around the sixth season, I'm betting; after the Fight The Future theatrical movie and the shift in filming location from British Columbia to California. That's when I stopped watching too initially... there are some terrific episodes in Seasons 6-8, and the show was still very watchable, but the mythology had become so unwieldy at that point, it was incomprehensible gibberish and collapsing under it's own weight, and frankly that show never suited being shot in California, but I understand the reason for the move... although ironically, the California era of that show was a veritable masterpiece (and still looked a million times better) in comparison to the recent limited series, which was shot in British Columbia!!!

 

I loved (past tense) Dexter. There were many, many great seasons, especially the season with John Lithgow. However, the last season, and specifically the LAST EPISODE, was the worst 'hour' of scripted television I have ever seen.

Since the final episode's airing, I have not re-watched any Dexter. I may watch season 1, 2, or 4 again in the future, but never the last season. I wish I had those hours of my life back. I would have felt better watching paint dry or grass grow than that garbage.

Steve Shill, Scott Buck & Manny Coto should NEVER be allowed near a TV or Movie studio ever again.

 

I'll just say it. South Park after season 11 went down hill. Now I do think there are some hilarious episodes after that season, especially season 13, but it just wasn't the same to me. I did enjoy the last two seasons that had a continuing story arc throughout the whole season, but haven't felt the need to re-watch them at all.

As some of you can tell I'm a big Always Sunny fan. I will admit that there have been some real bad episodes over these last few seasons. Fortunately there have been some amazing ones as well.

 

Wonder if that information is actually true or not.

 

All in the Family ... when Mike and Gloria moved out to next door the show just lost something. Then when they moved to California the series should have ended then.

The Lucy Show ... after a strong first season and a pretty good second season, Lucy fired the writers and never had a consistent writing team again. Season three was still, for the most part, pretty good but in season four Vivian Vance left and the series moved from Connecticut to California. It was never the same again, and turned more into a "skitcom" like Jack Benny's show.

The Golden Girls ... there is an episode where President Bush is coming to the neighborhood. From that point on the show was never the same. If you look at the production credits writers and the directors changed and it showed.

Seinfeld ... while still good it never felt like it had the same spark after Larry David left/Susan died.

The Cosby Show ... when Denise returned married with a new step-child and Claire and Cliff become grandparents.

Sanford and Son ... it was never the same after Redd Foxx returned from his strike and Aaron Reuben was replaced as the producer.

Cheers ... it came close with the Sam/Rebecca want to be parents story but they dropped it and the show never really went bad.

Mary Tyler Moore Show ... people say when Mary changed apartments the show started to go downhill. The show never lost its mojo in my opinion, it just kept getting stronger and stronger then near the end of the last season the production did some wild stories for the fun of it.

 

you should know!


Bob Newhart was great but last season bob didn't even show up for some of the episodes and you'd have the Emily-centric storylines, meh
Rockford Files last season had some pretty weak stories

 

David Soul grew a mustache in the last season of Starsky and Hutch. That was horrifying.

 

Red Dwarf - Season 7

 

Shows run out of gas. I was disappointed in the final season of The Sopranos which I consider the finest TV drama ever. But that is not quite the same as a show that went from really good to really bad. I consider this The Blacklist standard.