The original post: /r/television by /u/Mister_BovineJoni on 2024-06-23 13:36:59.
Original Title: What TV shows were undoubtedly at their weakest in the initial season? I can think of Buffy, Breaking Bad, P&R and Seinfeld. Many other shows improve after the 1st season, but they dip in quality later in their run (The Office (US), IASiP etc.), so the 1st season doesn’t seem to be their weakest…
The general question about TV shows that improved after the initial season was brought up many times already, but here’s a different take - in what shows their initial season was without a doubt their weakest one?
There are countless examples of TV shows that vastly improved after the 1st season, but most of them still drop in quality later in their run, IMO below their weaker 1st season. The Office (US) and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia had a rough starts, but they were still better in the initial season than in some of the more recent ones, Justified’s Rapaport’s season (5) was arguably way weaker than the initial one etc…
The best example of a show that improved after the first season and never really dipped below that initial level is Buffy the Vampire Slayer IMO. Same with Parks & Recreation. Breaking Bad wasn’t weak at all, but the show was gradually improving and the 1st season was at least slightly weaker than subsequent seasons. I wasn’t sure about Seinfeld, I’m not a fan of the outlandish situations in the shows’s final years (after Larry David left), but it was still overall better than its rough first season.
What other shows do you think were at their all-time weakest in their initial season?