The original post: /r/television by /u/Born-Captain7056 on 2025-07-23 17:49:56.
Original Title: In the Classic series of Doctor Who (1963-1989), according to fan polls, the often voted best Story (The Caves of Androzani) is followed by the often voted worst Story (The Twin Dilemma). Is there another TV show where the best episode is followed by the worst episode?
(For context Classic Doctor Who does have episodes, but fans and polls generally count all the episodes of a story/serial, usually 4 or 6 episodes in length, as one and the entire story is more comparable to an episode of modern TV so I think the comparison of a classic Who story to the an episode of other TV shows is more apt than say a run of episodes or season).
Doctor Who fans can never agree on anything so there is no universal consensus on what is the best and worst story of Doctor Who, however The Caves of Androzani and The Twin Dilemma, which are both part of the same season and TTD directly follows TCoA, these stories are often thought of and voted as the best and worst stories of the classic show’s entire run. Whilst there are a few contenders for best ever story of classic Who, TTD is almost always voted as the worst story; this is in fact similar to own a opionion as TCoA is not quite my favourite but I believe it to be one of the very best stories of the show and, whilst I hold a deep love for (almost) all things Classic Who, I loathe The Twin Dilemma and it is certainly my least favourite story.
This got me to thinking; are there any other TV shows where the highest rated episode is directly followed by the lowest rated episode or is this something unique to Classic Who.
Obviously there are episodes in an otherwise popular season that misses the mark, takes a nosedive in quality, is controversial or even just plain hated by the fans/critics. However I can’t think of a single other show, outside of Classic Who, where the best episode is directly followed by the worst episode.
However I have obviously not seen every show, so I brought this question to this sub who have collectively watched more TV shows that I could watch in my entire life; can you think of any other show where this has happened? Extra points if the episodes are part of the same season.
TLDR; with the exception of classic Who, can you think of any other show where the best episode is directly followed by the worst episode.