TV shows that burned hot, then burned out almost as fast

[X-Ray]

Prison Break. Great 1st season. Not so much after that. They tried to recapture it in a later season by having them back in prison.

And I disagree with X-Files for the exact same reason posted by Evil Twin.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Another good example: Almost every Showtime Show that last more than 3, 4 seasons (Weeds, Dexter, L Word to a lesser extent).

 

[Tanin]

6 Feet Under?

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

To a show that burned out or in response to being a Showtime show (because it's HBO)?

 

[Tanin]

To a show that's burned out. Just wanted opinions and I'm tired. I should have used a complete sentence lol.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Ah. I never watched Six Feet Under, so I wouldn't know.

 

[Charlie Boy]

The O.C., I definitely agree . While I did enjoy the second season, you could tell the show was coasting on the buzz it got during season 1. People were excited for the rebirth of the teen soap genre, even going as far as calling The O.C. the new Beverly Hills, 90210.

The show tried too hard to come up with a jaw dropping moment week after week. If you think about all of the stories they did in season 1, they could have either been explored further or saved for later seasons. Also, the revolving door or guest stars didn't help either. Love interest pops up, and unless they're in the title credits, you know they'll be gone in 6-10 episodes.

I loved that show so damn much.

 

[Lord]

C.S.I. anyone? I remember the first seasons being great and serious, latelly i'm not sure anybody else is still watching it.

 

[Raiden]

I think Heroes and Twin Peaks are two of the best examples of shows that started strong then they begin to flame out just as quickly.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Friday Night Lights almost went down that path, with a very inconsistent season 2 (like the Landry "murder" story), but it pulled itself together and came back strong. Besides a few misses in season 2, that was one of the most consistently great shows on TV for five seasons.

 

[Lord]

It hasn't ended yet, but The Walking Dead started very strong, but its quality seemed to drop with Season 2. I second Glee's nomination, first Season was amazing, the 2nd wasn't as good, but the 3rd season was just aweful.

 

[Donnie Darko]

It hasn't ended yet, but The Walking Dead started very strong, but its quality seemed to drop with Season 2. I second Glee's nomination, first Season was amazing, the 2nd wasn't as good, but the 3rd season was just aweful.

Agree on Walking Dead. Season 1 was great. Season 2 was a noticeable drop. Season 3 picked up some, but not to season 1 levels. Season 4 has been an absolute chore to watch.

 

[Crockett]

To a show that's burned out. Just wanted opinions and I'm tired. I should have used a complete sentence lol.

I wouldn't not consider it as a show that burned out fast, it has its fair share of accolades and acclaims, a perfect show from beginning to the conclusion (does what Dexter can't).

 

[chamber-music]

I'm going to say 24 and Lost. I didn't care for the latter seasons of both of those shows.

Misfits, I think was incredibly good for the first two seasons and was an clever take on the superhero genre. Come season 3 and it turned into a real **** show.

I still enjoyed Misfits after the first two seasons, but yeah the last 3 weren't all that great in comparison.

Agreed. After you have seen the first couple of seasons of Misfits you don't need to see the rest as its the same thing with different characters. There was a point at the end of season two in which you thought this show was going places and then it just decided to stick with what they were doing but without adding any new ideas.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Dexter? It seemed to be a critical darling and a show everyone was talking about for like one or maybe two seasons. After that it seemed to me like no one really cared.

I've never seen it, so I don't know if it was because of a dip in quality or if other shows came along and ate its lunch, but one definitely seemed to fall off the radar pretty quick and it was the first (besides Heroes lol) that came to mind.

It was really well liked up until season 4, even afterward it still had decent fandom. Ratings wise I think it was constantly Showtime's highest until it's end, and the finale was the highest ratings they've ever had for a TV series. I don't think it fits this at all.

6 Feet Under?

Not even close.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Technically, it did burn out (last 4 seasons) as fast as it was hot (first 4 seasons).

 

[Dark Raven]

Commander in Chief doesn't really belong on that list. It only went one season, and even half way through its season it was already being retooled because it wasn't meeting expectations. I think it went through a change either in producer or executive producer. I don't remember exactly. But it was simply cancelled after one series. So it's not like it could've really burned anymore brightly than any other show that has gone for 1 season.

I did enjoy the show though.

 

[ThePhantasm]

the show got really ****** when Agents Doggett and Reyes came on board...

At like... season 7...

But that's not burning out fast... that's late in the game...

 

[Tron Bonne]

Technically, it did burn out (last 4 seasons) as fast as it was hot (first 4 seasons).

I think there's a lot of good stuff in the later seasons actually. The seventh season, especially, I found strong. The first four seasons are sort of the prime of the series, but the rest isn't that bad. I found it weird, honestly, how so many people seemed to turn on the series as a whole just because the last season crashed and exploded halfway through. I found the good of the series to outweigh the bad.

 

[SpideyFan866]

It hasn't ended yet, but The Walking Dead started very strong, but its quality seemed to drop with Season 2. I second Glee's nomination, first Season was amazing, the 2nd wasn't as good, but the 3rd season was just aweful.

Eh. I'm not so sure I'd include The Walking Dead.

While it did slump in Season 2 and 3 (3 considerably moreso than 2), Season 4 has been fantastic so far.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

I think there's a lot of good stuff in the later seasons actually. The seventh season, especially, I found strong. The first four seasons are sort of the prime of the series, but the rest isn't that bad. I found it weird, honestly, how so many people seemed to turn on the series as a whole just because the last season crashed and exploded halfway through. I found the good of the series to outweigh the bad.

I find the 7th season to be stronger than the 3rd season, but I think 5, 6, and 8th seasons were awful. Though I don't think it completely burned out like the others, I think the best days of Dexter were behind after the 4th season.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I'll agree on 6 and half of 8, but I never got the hate for 5. My main issue was that it felt too much like a retread of 3, just with a romantic context as opposed to a friendship one.

I will agree the better days were behind it after 4, but I don't think it ever got horrible enough to fizzle out completely. Even the first half of the last season had good stuff, it just ate itself alive from the other half.

 

[Crockett]

Dexter got really problematic as it had different writers and the showrunners changes, it's hard to keep a consistent vision of what to achieve with the show, a shame with what it could've been.

I think the problem I have with S5 was it never feel like the right direction to where it should go after the S4's ending, at least using the potential of what happened in S4 to its full extent, plus it had that nicely wrapped season ending thing, which it's a problem because treating every season as its own could work individually but when viewing the whole picture, not so much. I do like the bad guy of the season and with that said I don't hate it but the decent stuff got overshadowed of the bad stuff for me, some of which should've been signs of what's in store for the upcoming seasons.

 

[james-in-cali]

Dexter was great for 3 or 4 seasons then it was so bad it was almost a different show. Six feet under should be no where even close to this list! It was very good to great its whole run with a few stinker episodes here and there. I challenge anyone to find a better series finale than 6 feet under , that is how a show should end.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Eh. I'm not so sure I'd include The Walking Dead.

While it did slump in Season 2 and 3 (3 considerably moreso than 2), Season 4 has been fantastic so far.

I think you're the first person I've heard say season four is a step up from anything before. Most people I have talked to have said that they might drop the show if it doesn't pick up. Even the stuff with the Governor didn't give the show the boost it really needed.

Granted, my small sample of late 20s/early 30s people in North Carolina may not be the perfect cross section of the show's fandom.