Television - Good Shows Gone Bad: Name'em and Vent!

Ruby_Slippers · 08-17-2004, 09:51 PM

I don’t know if there has been a thread like this but I figure I would start one. Nothing is worse than a show that is cancelled before its prime (i.e. My so- called life, Freaks and Geeks, ect) EXCEPT a really great show that gets bad. It’s sad, horrible, and almost tragic! Well not really- but here are a few, that I thought of, that fit this description.

90210- We have been discussing this on the 90210 thread but the show definitely peaked during the Doherty years: seasons 1-4. And went completly downhill after Jason left.

Moesha- Really great show when it started out (in my humble opinion) But after she graduated from high school things just when down hill. I stopped watching when she finds out Dorien is her half brother.

7th Heaven- This is a show that I love to hate but I really did watch this show in the early years. I half to say, it isn’t the same show without all the cast members. So I officially stopped watching after Simon left.

Dawson’s Creek- Another show that suffered after they graduated. It just wasn’t the same show once they left Cape Side. As much as I loved Audrey, Dawson’s Creek in Boston was kind of lame. I loved the first 2 seasons.

Gilmore Girls- I might get some flack for this but this show is definitely running out of steam. After, Chad Michael Murray left, I personally didn’t think the show was as good. But I have to say as a whole the first 3 seasons are really great. After Rory graduates the show lost something. I haven’t watched since.

Alright- thats all I can think of at the moment. Got any others?

Here is the list. Once someone seconds the opinion then I add the show.
The List:

1. Rosewell (11 votes)
2. Dawson's Creek (9 votes)
3.Buffy the Vampire Slayer (8 votes)
4. Friends (4 votes)
5. 7th Heaven(3 votes)
Gilmore Girls (3 votes)
Angel (3 votes)
The X-Files (3 votes)
Ally McBeal (3 Votes)
6. Beverly Hills, 90210 (2 votes)
Daria (2 votes)
Charmed(2 votes)
Roseanne (2 votes)

Honorable Mentions:
The Simpsons
Moesha
Felicity
Lost
Highlander
Ed
The Real World
Smallville
Third Watch
Mad About You
Will and Grace
Alias
24
One Tree Hill
The O.C.
Grey's Anatomy

~*SweetiePie*~ · 08-18-2004, 01:39 AM

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - My favorite years were when they were in high school (seasons 1-3). Season 4 had a few good episodes as well as season 5 but it just couldn't keep my interest during seasons 6 & 7, it lost something......I missed the old scooby gang

08-18-2004, 01:49 AM

I've always had a problem with Seasons 3 and on of 7th Heaven and Dawson's Creek. Those shows "jumped the shark" big time and the quality continually diminished season after season.

However, I'll always treasure the originality and magic that the first couple of seasons of each show had to offer

~*SweetiePie*~ · 08-18-2004, 02:21 AM

How long has 7th Heaven been on anyway? I've just started watching it on ABC Family.

08-18-2004, 02:23 AM

It's been on for eight seasons already.

**angelface211** · 08-18-2004, 03:05 AM

90210-After they graduated from high school, the show really started to suck. The only thing that kept it going for me was the Donna/David storyline.
Alias-This last season wasn't that great. It had too much focus on the triangle than on the real aspects of the show and it wasn't intersting to watch.

TheCheshireKitten · 08-18-2004, 04:52 AM

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Like someone else said above, I adored the high school years to pieces. I didn't care as much for season four and my Buffy interest waned quite a bit, but I did watch and enjoy it through season five. Seasons six and seven they can keep. Every time I watched an episode, I kept wondering what had happened to my show...

Angel - I know there's a lot of people out there that won't agree with me, but to me, Angel just lost it by the end of the season three. I seriously thought season four was some of the crapiest hours of television of I've ever watched, and season five did nothing to win back my affection.

The X-files - This one was good the longest, IMO. I loved it through season six. My problem with it came when Duchovny wanted out, and they decided to go on without him and do the abduction/William storyline. Carter didn't know when to quit.

I realize that most of the shows I've watched, have left me unsatisfied by the end, or I end up tuning out in disappointment or disgust...

The only show so far that's remained steady is Smallville, and it's still early....

*Krissy* · 08-18-2004, 01:56 PM

TheCheshireKitten - I agree with you that Angel season 4 was terrible (except for the few eps with Faith), but I thought season 5 was excellent.

I think the biggest disappointment to me was Dawson's Creek. I loved the first few seasons, but I stopped watching soon after Joey and Pacey broke up. It just all turned to crap and Joey became the whiniest, most annoying character on television. I did watch the finale though, which was aweful.

MTVVJ08 · 08-18-2004, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by *Krissy*
TheCheshireKitten - I agree with you that Angel season 4 was terrible (except for the few eps with Faith), but I thought season 5 was excellent.

I think the biggest disappointment to me was Dawson's Creek. I loved the first few seasons, but I stopped watching soon after Joey and Pacey broke up. It just all turned to crap and Joey became the whiniest, most annoying character on television. I did watch the finale though, which was aweful.

Yeah I really stopped watching after Pacey and Joey as well!!!
That is the one show that really dissapointed me!!!

**Colie**

AlexEvans · 08-21-2004, 10:45 PM

ROSWELL! :MAD::MAD::MAD:

No show has ever disappointed me so much. The first season of Roswell is perhaps the best TV I've ever seen. The third season is definitely the worst. Other shows have gone bad, but I've never seen remotely the same contempt for the characters, contempt for continuity, and above all, the utter contempt displayed towards the fans.

I was also hugely disappointed in Buffy S6.

Both aired the same year... that was a bad year for television.

Lorelai19 · 08-22-2004, 01:07 AM

WORD regarding Roswell. What a pathetic ending to a show with such an intriguing start.

But to be honest, most, if not all shows go bad. I think that writers simply run out of ideas, and things get stretched out too far, or go totally off track like Roswell did.

Other favorites of mine that went bad:

Highlander (This one went severly bad... ugh!)

Buffy (Not as bad as Highlander of Roswell, but it definetly lost steam)
X-Files (I wasn't that big a fan, but even as a casual viewer, it jumped the shark.)

TheCheshireKitten · 08-22-2004, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lorelai19
But to be honest, most, if not all shows go bad. I think that writers simply run out of ideas, and things get stretched out too far, or go totally off track like Roswell did.

It really does seem like it. I haven't been a fan of a single show yet that I felt didn't end poorly or lose quality over a period of seasons. It appears to be not a matter of 'if', but a matter of 'when' and 'how'. Some shows seem to keep up longer than others.....

Ruby_Slippers · 08-24-2004, 09:26 PM

I disagree; I think that some shows know how to quit while they are ahead.(Seinfeld, The Wonder Years,ect) Not that many, of course. But this list could also be about when the show got bad.

AlexEvans · 08-25-2004, 02:25 AM

It's a very common pattern.

A few shows have their weaknesses elsewhere... some of the Star Treks have been weak early on, strongest at the end. Voyager I thought sucked around the middle, end was okay. X-Files also was worst in the middle, the end didn't match the early seasons but they were something of a redemption. I think those are all exceptions, though.

Still miffed most about Roswell, then Buffy.

Lorelai19 · 08-25-2004, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ruby_Slippers
I disagree; I think that some shows know how to quit while they are ahead.(Seinfeld, The Wonder Years,ect) Not that many, of course. But this list could also be about when the show got bad.

Acutally, I partially agree. I think Star Trek TNG went out just fine. (However, the Star Trek Universe has since been drained dry by all the successor shows.) (And of course the original Star Trek went out well before it's time!

)

Farscape is another case. Creatively, it held up fairly well, but the network had to go and screw with it. Grrrrrr.