TV Show With the Biggest Decline?

[MadVillainy]

Oh Empire is a big one for me.

That first season was some great trash TV. But after s1 it fell off a cliff

 

[MadVillainy]

I've seen Sherlock and I think that dipped a bit too. But not terribly

 

[Batmannerism]

Oh Empire is a big one for me.

That first season was some great trash TV. But after s1 it fell off a cliff

Did it ever. I'm not the target demographic but I was fascinated by it. Season 2 it really took a dive, I mean who kills Chris Rock ? Really ?

I've seen Sherlock and I think that dipped a bit too. But not terribly

Yeah seasons 1 and 2 are mesmerizing, Holmes return and Watson's wedding aren't bad in season 3, but once it turned out that Mary was a retired assassin then the shark was truly jumped.
The season 4 finale was complete science fiction, and not in a good way

I never liked the way Gatiss elevated Mycroft's role, to satisfy his ego more than the stories I assume. Not that he was bad in the part or that Spymaster Mycroft is a bad character, but there was wayyyyyy too much of him.

What's really interesting is that Cumberbatch and Freeman aren't very close at all ( rumour is about Cumberbatch loving the fame and playing up for fans, while Freeman is a serious actor)- shows how good they are at acting, because they're convincing as bffs.

 

[Persona]

While it was never great TV, I really enjoyed the first couple seasons of SLIDERS. At some point I stopped watching it but a couple years ago I looked up the final seasons and my goodness, they are absolutely atrocious.

 

[Batmannerism]

While it was never great TV, I really enjoyed the first couple seasons of SLIDERS. At some point I stopped watching it but a couple years ago I looked up the final seasons and my goodness, they are absolutely atrocious.

Yeah, really strong concept- but didn't need to go on as long.

 

[NotNickFury]

Of the shows I've watched, I'd have to go with Dexter. That and, to a lesser extent, Game of Thrones because once it entered non-book territory, it felt like there was this noticeable shift in tone.

I would say The Walking Dead, and while I do think the show has passed its prime, I feel there's been a noticeable uptick in quality since Angela Kang became the showrunner. Seasons 9 and 10 were a marked improvement over Seasons 7-8.

 

[Steyin]

Many ups and downs, but still, American Horror Story.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

To Heroes defense, it suffered the writer strike and if I'm not mistaken the original plan was to have new characters each season but because the first cast was loved the plan changed.

 

[metaphysician]

To Heroes defense, it suffered the writer strike and if I'm not mistaken the original plan was to have new characters each season but because the first cast was loved the plan changed.

Thing is, that struck me as a weirdly terrible idea even from the getgo. Did they think their Artistic Vision ( TM ) was so brilliant that this is why people would show up, and not for the characters themselves and the actors performing them? Sure, you could have the story shift around the world and focus on different things, but their plan seemed to specifically reject the idea of meaningful recurring cast.

It may have been one of the ways their plan was disrupted, but if so it was a bad plan that probably needed to be disrupted.

 

[henzINNIT]

Sherlock is a great pick. Series 4 was so utterly terrible it ruined the whole show for me. I think it might have been secretly crap all along though, so no great loss.

Lost is another for me. It got really rough in the last couple of seasons. The Jacob flashback episode was insulting in its badness.

The Walking Dead is an obvious choice but for me it sucked after episode one ha.

Hard disagree on South Park though. The show is not at its peak, and has had some rough patches, but it is still good, occasionally great. The games were great too. I think Matt and Trey's continued involvement has given the show a consistency most shows do not get.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

There seems to be a trend with most series going downhill around the 4th or 5th season

I really wish networks and writers can go into a series with a set story & ending in mind rather than just drag on aimlessly

 

[metaphysician]

There seems to be a trend with most series going downhill around the 4th or 5th season

I really wish networks and writers can go into a series with a set story & ending in mind rather than just drag on aimlessly

I'd say that very much depends on the intended function of the series. A procedural show or soap opera can continue indefinitely, and probably should aim for continuing indefinitely. . . but you have to accept the consequences this has on its design. IOW, you have to have a status quo that largely remains in place, even if there are micro variations. . . and you have to make this status quo such that its continuation is *desirable*.

This was part of the problem with the X-Files, IMO: the writers created a premise and theme whereby a permanent procedural status quo would by definition constitute the heroes failing utterly. Thus, they could either keep the status quo and make Mulder and Scully failures, or else they could advance the series arc. Which would require actually *having* an arc, something they did not. OTOH, a show like Law & Order? You can have cops and DAs come and go, but as long as there is crime in NYC, the foundation is still solid.