The original post: /r/television by /u/khroshan on 2025-09-29 14:13:52+00:00.

Hi guys, I’ve noticed a trend that so many shows that were supposed to be miniseries ended up becoming too successful for their own good, and unfortunately getting milked for further seasons that turned out to be disasters. Here’s some shows that I wish stayed as miniseries, since the follow up seasons pretty much ruined their reputations:

  1. The Terror - The first season, about an Arctic expedition that gets trapped in ice and stalked by a supernatural horror, the title got milked and applied to a wholly different show about Japanese prisoners in a WW2 concentration camp, this “second season” had a completely different creative team and also terrible writing and acting.
  2. True Detective - A classic example, a terrific first season that got very mediocre follow ups.
  3. The Flight Attendant - The first season was tight, comedic, thrilling and I couldn’t stop watching it. Great entertainment! Unfortunately, unlike the first season, the second season was not based on a book, and had a different creative team - it turned out to be silly, dumb and completely illogical and random.

I’m really worried that the follow ups to Shogun and Drops of God will also not live up to the original seasons but there’s also miniseries such as White Lotus, Fargo and Big Little Lies that got great follow up seasons.

What are miniseries that you wish had never gotten turned into shows?