TV Shows that started out good and toward the end it changed totally

[roadman65]

I was going through some old Dallas stuff on the internet and started watching old 3rd season episodes particularly A House Divided (the season finale where JR pulled that one big swindle causing all of Dallas to hate him and one to actually shoot him created the biggest whodunit ever for a soap opera) as it had Jim Davis on it playing the Ewing Matriarch along with other great story lines and character connections.  Dallas was at its prime and had the best story lines the first four seasons.

Many say it was Patrick Duffy leaving in the 1985 season that killed the show as the ratings never returned even when Duffy appeared that one season finale in Pam's shower to stay on until the saga ended in 2012.  I say it went dead after the incident when JR and Bobby both had the contest given to them to see who gets Jock's inherritence.  That and with Barbara Bel Geddes appearing in fewer episodes in the latter seasons as her health was bad caused the show to lose out.

Then when JR went to prison in the Hillbilly State (although writers never specified which state it was, we all can guess clearly which one it was)  just for sleeping with that girl Calle (whom he later married) was real bogus. I mean he did not even do anything mistameanor and it was just an act people do every day, and yet he went to prison without even a proper trial and reprensentation. Despite there are some ultra conservative cops and counties in our nation, that still was real dumb even for TV writers of a bizarre drama show.   Then JR busted out and forced to be a slave like it was the old old old south, even for a criminal like JR that was way too much.

All In The Family was another that was better in the first five seasons than those following.  When Mike and Gloria moved out the show, although still all right, was not the same as when they all lived together under one roof.

Hunter, was one where once actress Stefanie Kramer left, the show took a nose dive, which maybe why it lasted only one season after her departure.

The A Team, was even a big disappointment in its final season after the CIA caught them and forced them into doing spy work in other countries over the show's original premise of being mercinaries helping typical folks with problems the cops could not handle.  That was the worst turning that show around the way they did as it was best when they were working for just plain people fighting domestic crime.

[Takumi]

Family Matters went off the rails after awhile (very much NSFW)
https://youtu.be/A5Zdp1RfoyI

[Big John]

Scooby Doo was good until they added Scrappy.

[kevinb1994]

Scooby Doo was good until they added Scrappy.

Nah I disagree with that, I loved Scrappy as a kid.

[Max Rockatansky]

The Real Ghostbusters when it became about Slimer. 

[1995hoo]

Scrubs fell apart completely in its final season on a different network at a different hospital with a largely different cast. I think I watched three episodes that season and then stopped watching. I had liked the original show.

[abefroman329]

Changed totally for better or worse?

Weeds took a nosedive after the season where they burned down Agrestic and got steadily worse after that.

A number of shows got worse once one character got really popular and became the focus of the show (the aforementioned Family Matters, Good Times, Welcome Back Kotter).  The TV show I'm Dying Up Here explored this phenomenon in its second (and, unfortunately, final) season.

[hbelkins]

I'd love to go back and watch some of the old "Dallas" episodes to reacquaint myself with the franchise. I didn't start watching it when it was in its first run until the series was well into its tenure. I missed the whole "Who shot JR?" drama. I was thrilled to see the TNT reboot and had hoped it would continue, even after Larry Hagman's death. Are they all on YouTube somewhere (copyright, what copyright?) or would I have to go out and buy a bunch of DVD box sets? (Wish I could find the sets I bought for the original "Star Trek" and also "24.")

"Falcon Crest" was another show I got into well into its run. It and "Dallas" ran back-to-back.

[abefroman329]

Are they all on YouTube somewhere (copyright, what copyright?) or would I have to go out and buy a bunch of DVD box sets?

Looks like you can acquire them legally from iTunes or Google Play, although I'd wager buying DVDs would be much cheaper (looks like iTunes wants $20/season).

[hbelkins]

Are they all on YouTube somewhere (copyright, what copyright?) or would I have to go out and buy a bunch of DVD box sets?

Looks like you can acquire them legally from iTunes or Google Play, although I'd wager buying DVDs would be much cheaper (looks like iTunes wants $20/season).

I prefer physical media anyway.

[KeithE4Phx]

M*A*S*H went downhill after about Season 6, when it became The Alan Alda Show for all intents and purposes.  Were it not for Harry Morgan's great performance as Col. Potter, I really don't think it would have lasted more than another year or two.  He was the somewhat poltiically-incorrect anchor that held it together.

[Rothman]

M*A*S*H went downhill after about Season 6, when it became The Alan Alda Show for all intents and purposes.  Were it not for Harry Morgan's great performance as Col. Potter, I really don't think it would have lasted more than another year or two.  He was the somewhat poltiically-incorrect anchor that held it together.

But the final episode had the famous "chicken on the bus" scene.

[abefroman329]

M*A*S*H went downhill after about Season 6, when it became The Alan Alda Show for all intents and purposes.  Were it not for Harry Morgan's great performance as Col. Potter, I really don't think it would have lasted more than another year or two.  He was the somewhat poltiically-incorrect anchor that held it together.

I found the show to be insufferably preachy even prior to S6 and I'm surprised to see so many people that don't agree with Alda's politics were nevertheless fans of the show.  I understand the author of the novel was a hawk and didn't care for the fact that the movie was anti-war, he must have been apoplectic at the TV show.

[LM117]

Those that I can think of at the moment:

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch-It went downhill after Season 4 and even then, S4 was bordeline. Seasons 5, 6, & 7 sucked, especially S7. The ending is the only saving grace in S7. The first three seasons were the best.

Two and a Half Men-It went to shit after Charlie Sheen got fired during Season 8.

Star Trek: The Next Generation-The reverse happened here. The first two seasons were shit, but was great from Season 3 onwards.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Star Trek: The Next Generation-The reverse happened here. The first two seasons were shit, but was great from Season 3 onwards.

Season 2's problem was that the great episodes ("Q Who" , "Measure of a Man" , "Peak performance" ) were great, but the shitty episodes were beyond horrendous.

[abefroman329]

- Roseanne.  Originally a part of that era's trend of making a show out of a stand up comic's act (Drew Carey, Tim Allen, etc) it devolved into a strident outlet for political invective.

The show was always "Roseanne demolishes poorly-constructed strawmen."  Go back and watch the pilot if you don't believe me.

(BTW, NYC last voted Republican in 1928, Queens in 1908, so where exactly was this Bunker character to be found? )

Seriously?  All over the Outer Boroughs.  They were crawling with Archie Bunkers when I lived there from 2006 to 2008, I have no trouble at all believing they were there 25-30 years ago.

[LM117]

- Big Bang Theory.  Originally about a group of socially awkward geniuses and a dumb blonde girl who helps them in the "real world", it devolved into just another Friends replica, about getting each character into a sexual combination.

I can barely tolerate that show now, especially since the writers turned Bernadette into a total bitch. She's easily the most dislikeable character on the show these days. The first 3 seasons were definitely the best.

[abefroman329]

Star Trek: The Next Generation-The reverse happened here. The first two seasons were shit, but was great from Season 3 onwards.

Yeah, my wife and I were going to re-watch the series a few years ago, but we started watching Encounter at Farpoint and went "holy hell this is terrible."  The show is just so damned nineties in its aesthetics, it's hard to see beyond that (in fairness, I feel the same about TOS and its sixties aesthetics).

[kevinb1994]

Star Trek: The Next Generation-The reverse happened here. The first two seasons were shit, but was great from Season 3 onwards.

Yeah, my wife and I were going to re-watch the series a few years ago, but we started watching Encounter at Farpoint and went "holy hell this is terrible."  The show is just so damned nineties in its aesthetics, it's hard to see beyond that (in fairness, I feel the same about TOS and its sixties aesthetics).

TNG is actually more like both 80s and 90s in its aesthetics.

[nexus73]

"The Last Ship" got me roped in for three seasons.  After that it seemed to be less of a story with an end and more of a fictional world to explore.

"Gotham" began with enough canon and style to keep in watching but as more non-canonical stuff like the Owls became prominent, I gave up on them.

ST:TNG got the first two seasons criticized by some posts here.  There were episodes of value that I enjoyed.  "The Neutral Zone" in Season 1 sets the table for the revelation of the Borg in Season 2's "Q Who".  Season 1 offered another arc that was never developed but it had promise when the episode "Conspiracy" came out. 

"Sliders" went from one kind of focus to another when the Kromaggs were introduced and the broadcasts were shifted from Fox to the Sci-Fi Channel as I recall.  Killing off the Professor did the series no favor in my eyes.  I liked the earlier episodes better.  YMMV.

Rick

[abefroman329]

"The Neutral Zone" in Season 1 sets the table for the revelation of the Borg in Season 2's "Q Who".  Season 1 offered another arc that was never developed but it had promise when the episode "Conspiracy" came out.

S1 also included an ep where the ship's crew were infected by a virus that made them want to have sex with each other.

[kevinb1994]

- Big Bang Theory.  Originally about a group of socially awkward geniuses and a dumb blonde girl who helps them in the "real world", it devolved into just another Friends replica, about getting each character into a sexual combination.

I can barely tolerate that show now, especially since the writers turned Bernadette into a total bitch. She's easily the most dislikeable character on the show these days. The first 3 seasons were definitely the best.

I'm glad that the show is finally coming to an end this year (Jim Parsons would agree as he initiated the show's sudden cancellation due to not wanting a pay raise as part of a new contract), but we are all wondering what would replace the show on Thursday nights at 8:00 P.M. ET. It used to air at 9:30 P.M. ET on Monday nights after Two and a Half Men but that didn't last long after only three consecutive seasons.

[abefroman329]

- Big Bang Theory.  Originally about a group of socially awkward geniuses and a dumb blonde girl who helps them in the "real world", it devolved into just another Friends replica, about getting each character into a sexual combination.

I can barely tolerate that show now, especially since the writers turned Bernadette into a total bitch. She's easily the most dislikeable character on the show these days. The first 3 seasons were definitely the best.

I'm glad that the show is finally coming to an end this year (Jim Parsons would agree as he initiated the show's sudden cancellation due to not wanting a pay raise as part of a new contract), but we are all wondering what would replace the show on Thursday nights at 8:00 P.M. ET. It used to air at 9:30 P.M. ET on Monday nights after Two and a Half Men but that didn't last long after only three consecutive seasons.

Either Young Sheldon or that new Cedric the Entertainer show, maybe something new?

[kevinb1994]

- Big Bang Theory.  Originally about a group of socially awkward geniuses and a dumb blonde girl who helps them in the "real world", it devolved into just another Friends replica, about getting each character into a sexual combination.

I can barely tolerate that show now, especially since the writers turned Bernadette into a total bitch. She's easily the most dislikeable character on the show these days. The first 3 seasons were definitely the best.

I'm glad that the show is finally coming to an end this year (Jim Parsons would agree as he initiated the show's sudden cancellation due to not wanting a pay raise as part of a new contract), but we are all wondering what would replace the show on Thursday nights at 8:00 P.M. ET. It used to air at 9:30 P.M. ET on Monday nights after Two and a Half Men but that didn't last long after only three consecutive seasons.

Either Young Sheldon or that new Cedric the Entertainer show, maybe something new?

We will have to wait until the next fall schedule is published by CBS.

[KeithE4Phx]

Spin City jumped the shark when Michael J. Fox had to leave due to his Parkinson's Disease.  Unfortunately, they replaced him with Charlie Sheen and the show went downhill from there.