TV Shows With Great Ratings That Dropped

[roadman65]

Was going through old articles about I Dream of Jeannie ( NBC sitcom from 1965-1970) and noticed a few interesting things about the program. Not only was it a vehicle for launching the careers of some actors such as Larry Hagman who later became iconic Oil Barron JR Ewing eight years later, it had a big turning when they decided to have both the male and female leads tie the knot.

Apparently ratings did fall after that move as it took away the shows edge that was keeping the Character of Jeannie a secret from the outside world especially the nosy Dr.Bellows who was out to expose him for all the supernatural and unexplained with logic things Tony Nelson was demonstrating from the never seen Genie he had. In fact the top man at NBC insisted that the show were to feature both Jeannie and Tony marrying if the fifth season were to be renewed.  So Sidney Sheldon and both stars Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman reluctantly went along with the demand to save their careers.  Even Hagman was against the change in storylines as he felt it was taking something good and making it bad, in which he was right. The show fell in popularity after the wedding took place and got eventually cancelled.

People did watch that show because of tensions built between Tony and Jeannie from their desire for each other romantically.  The plots of the show were driven from the will they or Won't they premise similar to The Nanny and Who's The Boss leads.  Now with the two married and Jeannie no longer hidden kept them from the drama of Dr. Bellows  trying not being able to discover her and removed the romantic tensions that drove the show' s storylines.  So people lost interest.

What other shows that were popular were no longer popular after the show MO changed.

[Big John]

Scooby-Doo after adding Scrappy-Doo. Not only was the character annoying, but they changed the show to be Scrappy-centric.

[Rothman]

Twin Peaks after the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer was solved halfway through Season 2.  David Lynch also cut back his involvement and the show was inconsistent from that point forward due to different directors, writers and plots not fully thought out.

Not sure how Season 3 turned out ratings-wise.  That was one where they gave Lynch too much freedom...

[ZLoth]

Heroes (2006) has a fantastic first season but had a strike-shortened second season that it really didn't recover from. Also, SeaQuest DSV (1993).

[Rothman]

Heroes (2006) has a fantastic first season but had a strike-shortened second season that it really didn't recover from. Also, SeaQuest DSV (1993).

Heroes also went haywire after the finale of season 1.  Writing sucked.

[texaskdog]

The A-Team.  They began working for the government and declared Murdock sane.  Watching it it was actually still a good show and that premise had promise, but it got cancelled mid-season.

Beavis & Butthead after toning it down.

All in the Family when Mike & Gloria left.  All the tension between Mike & Archie is what made the show.

[KeithE4Phx]

What other shows that were popular were no longer popular after the show MO changed.

I take it that you're describing what was later called a show's "Jump the Shark" moment.  I can think of a few (in no particular order).

Bewitched:  When Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darrin in 1969, due to the latter's medical issues.  The show lasted another 3 seasons, but it was never the same.

The Andy Griffith Show:  A combination of Don Knotts leaving and the show being filmed in color, both in 1965.  The beginning of the end because it stopped being funny.

Dennis the Menace:  Joe Kearns (Mr. Wilson) died in 1962, and was replaced by Gale Gordon as his brother.  Gordon basically phoned it in, as he was waiting for a call from Lucille Ball to join The Lucy Show.

The Drew Carey Show:  This one jumped the shark when the department store he worked at was taken over by some Internet start-up in 2002.  Two seasons of that were two seasons too many.

Happy Days:  When Fonzie jumped the shark (literally) in 1977, so did the show.  But a phrase was coined. 

Laverne and Shirley:  They (and the rest of the cast) moved from Milwaukee to LA in 1980.  'Nuff said.

All in the Family:  The Jeffersons had moved on up to that dee-luxe apartment in the sky.  Gloria and the Meathead moved to California.  Jean Stapleton was tired of the Edith role and wanted out.  Archie began to mellow with age, and had almost nobody to fight with anymore.  Changing it to Archie Bunker's Place for 4 seasons was putting lipstick on a pig.

M*A*S*H:  Two words:  Alan Alda.  His ham-fisted takeover of the show almost destroyed it.  Were it not for Harry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers, it wouldn't have made it as long as it did.  They saved the show.

Good Times:  John Amos (R.I.P.) was fired after 3 seasons, and Jimmie Walker was made the star.  Unfortunately, the J.J. character made Stepin Fetchit look dignified (even Walker himself complained), and Esther Rolle left for awhile because of it.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I think the 1960s Batman went from being #1 on TV to off the air in about two years.

[Scott5114]

Scooby-Doo after adding Scrappy-Doo. Not only was the character annoying, but they changed the show to be Scrappy-centric.

That's one of the good things about Internet fandoms existing now—producers are less likely to double down on a horribly unpopular idea like this now since they can get all the feedback they'd ever want off the Internet.

[LilianaUwU]

That's one of the good things about Internet fandoms existing now—producers are less likely to double down on a horribly unpopular idea like this now since they can get all the feedback they'd ever want off the Internet.

Counterpoint, and one even involving Scooby-Doo: the recent series about Velma.

[roadman65]

The A-Team.  They began working for the government and declared Murdock sane.  Watching it it was actually still a good show and that premise had promise, but it got cancelled mid-season.

Beavis & Butthead after toning it down.

All in the Family when Mike & Gloria left.  All the tension between Mike & Archie is what made the show.

However the show lasted even after Mike, Gloria, and Edith left under the Archie Bunker's Place Banner.




Archie Bunker's Place lasted four seasons and one year short of I Dream Jeannie that lasted five full seasons.
 
Both Mike and Gloria moved out in Season 6, but left after Season 8.  So eight seasons lasted till the end of Archie Bunker that was as long as the complete run of Andy Griffith.

Even with Andy Griffith, it held after both Don Knotts and Jim Nabors left.  It didn't get cancelled until Griffith got tired of the role of Andy Taylor.  It even spun Mayberry RFD that lasted three seasons and only got cancelled after CBS did the Rural Purge dropping all rural sitcoms including the Beverly Hillbillies to make room for shows like All In The Family.