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Which TV Show Fell Off the Hardest?


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11 minutes ago, FeniXMS said:

Heroes definitely gets my vote.

During Season One I was obsessed. The writer's strike in 2007 was the cause of the downfall. Also, the characters got too popular to kill off, like they initially planned. 

Sylar became too important to the show (Lets make a villain the focus of a show called Heroes!) and should really have been killed off at the end of season two, Adam (the immortal guy) had some potential left but they decided to waste it by having Nathan and Peter's father kill him by absorbing his power, and Al Larter turning out to be triplets, not twins, was beyond dumb.

The show focused too damned much on Sylar when it should have been focusing on Hiro, Noah and a few other characters more, and I agree the strike hurt it bad. But there were bad decisions made all around. Mohinder gaining powers was another thing that shouldn't have happened. 

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Season 4 was the terrible one that dipped. They took some focus off Green Arrow, forced a side character into the forefront and ruined her, killed off a beloved character instead and had a lame villain. 

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Okay, I don't think this graph thing is accurate, or maybe iMDB ratings are stupid, becaue:

chart.jpeg

That really low episode in season 3? That's the crossover episode with Supergirl, which has to be the best episode period of season 3. So basically, this iMDB rating thing is pretty nonsense, because nothing on TV was as fun as that.

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True Blood

 

That score for the final episode is bloody generous too.

 

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4 hours ago, DennisStamp said:

Raw <_<

 

 

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1 hour ago, Benjamin said:

Okay, I don't think this graph thing is accurate, or maybe iMDB ratings are stupid, becaue:

chart.jpeg

That really low episode in season 3? That's the crossover episode with Supergirl, which has to be the best episode period of season 3. So basically, this iMDB rating thing is pretty nonsense, because nothing on TV was as fun as that.

Was that the musical? If so that's the first DCTVU thing I've skipped with no intention of going back. I dipped out on Arrow to wait for reviews but I know I'm not watching The Flash for a musical.

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7 hours ago, Owen said:

I'd say Red Dwarf, personally. Can't say anything about Dexter because I've never seen it but god damn the last couple series of Red Dwarf were a completely different show from the start and its humour changed to a lot more slapstick, family-oriented stuff? Eh, it was bad.

EDIT: I'm referring to before they brought it back for Dave. Completely forgot about that.

This was my first thought too. Should have just killed it after series 6 when one of the two creators (presumably the funny one) left, because everything since is utterly unwatchable.

Echoing Heroes too.

Oh, and that final season of Fringe, when they got a bit of a reprieve to finish it properly but then decided to set it in the future with about half the cast and a rubbish sub-Sliders storyline with the bald lads. Just awful, and left a bad taste after years of decent stuff with the parallel worlds angle.

Edited by Colly
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45 minutes ago, =BK= said:

Was that the musical? If so that's the first DCTVU thing I've skipped with no intention of going back. I dipped out on Arrow to wait for reviews but I know I'm not watching The Flash for a musical.

It's a good, fairly original episode. You should watch it.

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It was the only good episode in the second half of the season, which was basically just broody, dark bullshit that made zero sense most of the time because they were trying way too hard to go into stupid dark mode. The whole appeal of The Flash at the beginning was it's colorful cast of characters and it's campiness, not the bullshit "we are all sad" and the fucking millions upon millions upon millions of times that a character utters the words "I'll talk him / her / them". 

The Duet was so fresh and vibrant and fun in comparison, even the parts that didn't take place in the musical aspect of the episode was blasting with excitement, humor and camp.

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A couple of my answers have already been mentioned, so I'll toss in OITNB and The 100 too. Both first seasons seemed like a breath of fresh air at the time, but I've gradually become less interested in both as time has gone on. I tapped out of The 100 midway through the latest season and haven't gone back to it, and I just don't care that new OITNB is out.

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Spoilers ahoy, but I assume this thread will be rife anyway, so I'll bold the show before I go into spoilers.

Dexter. Not even a competition. Other unmissable shows fell off to the point that they were bad, Dexter fell off to the point it was pretty much unwatchable. It was the show that inspired me to start dropping shows I'm no longer enjoying. Up until the end of that, I would see every show I watched out to the end, but I refused to get there again and be lumberjacked.

I maintain that The Trinity Killer story is one of my absolute favourite TV arcs ever, probably only second to the character arc of one character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the majority of the final three seasons (and to some people all four of the final seasons) of Dexter were the worst TV I have ever watched, with that final episode taking the cake as the worst and most unsatisfying finale also.

Removing Dexter from the cut:

Heroes got really bad at points but generally had something redeeming throughout it's run (generally David Anders, Jack Coleman, or Adrian Pasdar).

Scrubs gets frustratingly bad around the time Kim gets introduced, which is no comment on Elizabeth Banks because I adore her in everything else. It was the writing overall (but especially her character) that made it bad. It managed to find its funk again before the end though. I also maintain that Julie was JD's best girlfriend and was gutted that she didn't even make the finale.

Arrow was a really good show at one point, and before Daredevil was the pinnacle of superhero TV shows, but season four I had given up on midway through. Just an awful dip. I've yet to come back to find out if it improved as I lumberjacked this one, but I'm hearing good things.

True Blood got a bit silly writing-wise, but was redeemed by good characters throughout (I'll be honest, it's pretty much just my massive crush on Alexander Skarsgård). Their refusal to kill off Tara was an endless source of annoyance.

Glee season one was a delight, but I see "My Headband" in season two as the shark jump, and it only got worse from there. It took a while to jump off, but season five's "The Quarterback" was the finale for me. My favourite character (and his actor) was dead, and I had no other investment left for the show.

How I Met Your Mother was eternally held back from "the worst" by Marshall (and to a lesser degree Robyn and Barney's relationship), but damn if Moseby and Lily didn't try their damndest to make it the worst.

Doctor Who had a massive fall off in quality when Clara joined, and noticeably improved just before she left. It's improved massively this season in her absence.

Big Bang Theory was never the greatest show (I know, some folks around here hate it, full stop, I don't care), but them almost all winding up in relationships killed the show for me. They're no longer charming, more good looking than real life, but socially stupid nerds, they're just dumb sitcom husbands with the cliche whining wives (both tropes I find utterly insulting) who all make comic book references once in a while.

True Detective Season 2 was an utter waste of time after the terrific first season.

Community fell off after Dan Harmon left the first time and never really found its footing again, despite minor improvements.

Castle went from charming procedural cop show with a "will they won't they" dynamic that somehow worked despite being two of my least favourite tropes, into an utterly dross waste of time when Beckett and Castle finally got together (which they needed to do at that time, as it was getting tired, but the show should have ended at that time too).

Supernatural's "Leviathan" season was horrendous. The show has gone up and down and back several times over the years, but that was by far the lowest point.

Archer's season where the agency is closed is awful, it got better again, but is still not very good. I've yet to bother with the new season because the opener once again changed the premise and I hated it. I don't know why they insist on changing a formula that worked.

But the biggest villain of the piece for me, and possibly the only one that can challenge Dexter - The Simpsons. Without question for me the greatest comedy of all-time at its peak, and for the last decade and a half with very few exceptions probably the least funny waste of a half hour on TV.

Special mention to Lost, which I adored throughout, but entirely understand people giving up on or getting frustrated with, cause some of it was utterly ridiculous.

On the flip side - TV Shows that maintained quality or got better, there's plenty I thought of, but the main one for me is Frasier. From start to finish it maintains great quality, never betrays the characters, but tweaks their dynamics just enough to keep it fresh. Retrospectively I would honestly have expected Daphne and Niles finally getting together to ruin the show, but they keep Niles as utterly doting on her, but never make Daphne that horrid cliche TV wife. They're just a lovely couple, and if anything them getting together only improves the show.

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27 minutes ago, Benji said:

On the flip side - TV Shows that maintained quality or got better, there's plenty I thought of, but the main one for me is Frasier. From start to finish it maintains great quality, never betrays the characters, but tweaks their dynamics just enough to keep it fresh. Retrospectively I would honestly have expected Daphne and Niles finally getting together to ruin the show, but they keep Niles as utterly doting on her, but never make Daphne that horrid cliche TV wife. They're just a lovely couple, and if anything them getting together only improves the show.

Frasier is one of the best shows of all time. Upstaged at the time by Friends, I think. 

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45 minutes ago, Benji said:
But the biggest villain of the piece for me, and possibly the only one that can challenge Dexter - The Simpsons. Without question for me the greatest comedy of all-time at its peak, and for the last decade and a half with very few exceptions probably the least funny waste of a half hour on TV.
 

This is absolutely the correct answer to the topic title. It's hard to imagine there was a time where we made 6 o'clock on a Sunday an essential part of the week for new episodes, and I probably still quote it on a daily basis. I then have to double take when I realise all of those quotes are from the 20th century, and I have absolutely no interest in any episode post that period. I still watch the repeats, and occasionally catch a 'new' one (that's actually 12 years old) but I'm always disappointed by how bad it's become.

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1 hour ago, GA! said:

Can't believe I'm the first person to answer with Twin Peaks. The show takes a massive dive the moment the Laura Palmer mystery ends. As in, you notice the sudden shift in tone.

Yep. Nobody cares who fathered Lucy's baby or what happens with Nadine.

I think some of the issues surrounding shows like HIMYM and The Big Bang Theory is that they end up running for far too long and, certainly with BBT you end up with flanderized versions of the original characters.

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2 minutes ago, Hobo said:

Yep. Nobody cares who fathered Lucy's baby or what happens with Nadine.

Or Ben Horne re-enacting the American Civil War in an act of insanity and then just shrugging it off when the Donna storyline kicks in.

1 minute ago, Bobfoc said:

I think the thing that's changed with The Simpsons is that they used to write a story and let the jokes develop around it. They now seem to have a list of gags that they crowbar in whichever way they can, Family Guy style.

I'd say it's gone the other way. Classic Simpsons was essentially sketch comedy weaved around a plot - but as you say, I imagine the plot came first, jokes later. Later series of The Simpsons, despite most of the first act being a Macguffin or just downright irrelevant, are focused on the plot to the extent they have no idea how to spin gags from it. I mean, The Great Phatsby recently, fucking hell - plot heavy; about as funny as.. uh.. Family Guy.

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I don't disagree about The Simpsons falling off, but I do have to say that recent seasons have seen their share of better and some even downright good episodes. I don't think it's ever going to re-capture the magic it had and that the reputation's been too tarnished by some real shit shows, but episodes like Brick Like MeMoHo HouseThere Will Be Buds, etc. show that not all hope is lost. It's not the appointment television it may have been in the past, but it works better in a vacuum - typically if I hear or read good reviews of an episode, I'll check it out, and rarely am I ever let down. I imagine I'd feel differently if I was watching every episode as it aired, though.

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Galactica deserves a shout out. First three season were pretty damn good, arguably the best sci fi on TV at the time. Studio dropped one season and forced the writers to condense the series into a fourth final season. And the fourth season is just so damn dissapointing, and the way the finale ends really just put a damper on a great show.

I'd say Season 4 was still good, but it could've been much much better.

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