9 "Bad" TV Shows That Really Should Have Been Canceled, And 9 Good Shows That Deserved Wayyyy More Seasons
A little while ago, Reddit user u/SourceOfAnge asked about shows that got worse over time, and Reddit user u/bluebunny20 asked about shows that improved through the seasons.
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And there were so many great responses! Here are some of the top-voted answers:
1.Got better: Breaking Bad
"It not only stayed great throughout its entire run; it got better and better every season, and then ended with a perfect final episode."
"To this day, I think it's still the most satisfying finale to a show I've ever seen."
2.Got worse: Weeds
"Fuck that fucking show."
"It’s a great concept to have a suburban soccer mom selling weed, but I didn’t sign up for a cartel show. And after that, it never found a good storyline again."
3.Got better: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"The whole show is supposed to be an analogy about growing up. This is reflected in a lot of the plot lines of the show but maybe also in how the show is written. The first season has fairly simple writing. Good is good, bad is bad, and everyone knows what side they are on (which is how somebody who's 16 would tend to view things). As the show progresses, more complexity starts being added. There are demons who aren't evil and out to destroy the world, and there are humans who are. Previously good characters do bad things and can be forgiven for them. The tone and writing of the show changed to reflect the age and understanding of the protagonist."
4.Got worse: How to Get Away With Murder
"So much potential initially, but it all dissolved into nonsense, and [the series was elongated] for absolutely no reason. Such a shame."
"It was very clearly a show with a formula that they stuck with WAY too hard. It's one thing to have a similar plot; it's another thing to literally copy and paste every plot point in each season, five times in a row."
5.Got better: Mad Men
"They were so insightful about the way women were treated in the workplace back then. Peggy was a character with a lot of depth, and it was fascinating to watch her change and grow over the years."
"And that ending? Good lord. I orgasmed, and that was the last time I saw Don."
–[deleted]
6.Got worse: Riverdale
"A show about teenagers growing up in small-town America. Except, there are gang turf wars, mafia, suicide pacts, people faking their deaths, illegal fight clubs, serial killers, children with way more money and influence than they should realistically have, secret societies, underground bunkers, and Dungeons and Dragons. Every episode, you're surprised with something new that still somehow manages to be even more moronic than what came before."
"That shit went absolute bonkers."
7.Got better: Black Sails
"Early on, it had some annoying side stories with relationship melodrama, but the final season was amazing."
"Yes! I felt the same thing about Season 1. By Season 3, it was my favorite show on TV! It has amazing writing, acting, and production value. It's great!"
"It's also one of those shows that ends in a fantastic way, not like other shows that keep going on too long or end in a way that feels like all the preceding events were pointless. Black Sails is like a constant build-up to an awesome final story."
8.Got worse: How I Met Your Mother
9.Got better: Avatar the Last Airbender
"Book One: Water was a good start. Sure, the first few episodes were a bit silly at times, but always keep in mind that it is a Nickelodeon show. And it has the most filler episodes that are obviously filler and nothing else. It only gets better from here.
Book Two: Earth took everything good about Book One and injected it with cactus juice. It had more episodes that focused on the characters, their relationships, personalities, strengths, weaknesses, etc. It always felt like a more personal season to me. Very few shows end a season on such a depressing note; I love it.
Book Three: Fire was definitely the best season. I liked that it had more one-off, filler episodes that focused on the characters rather than big arcs before the mid-season special. But my god, the mid-season special was amazing, especially at the end when it was all a trap, and Zuko betrayed his father to join Team Avatar. Then, the finale. No words to describe how incredible the finale was."
10.Got worse: The Flash
"It used to be a fun sci-fi comic book show that dissolved into 'Barry needs to be faster!' every single episode. Really a shame."
11.Got better: Parks and Rec
"Once Mark left Pawnee and Ben and Chris showed up, the show got awesome!"
"This is absolutely the best answer. The character development over the course of that show was fucking phenomenal. Whenever I recommend it to people, I just tell them to skip to the second season and start from there."
12.Got worse: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
"I loved everyone in it; Aunt Hilda has my heart. But then, it just started getting bad. Almost like Riverdale. It could’ve been a lot better. I stopped watching halfway through Season 2."
13.Got better: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
"It just got darker and darker. It was glorious."
"I loved the progression. It helped that I was growing up as the seasons were progressing, so to me, it felt almost as if the content matured as I did, and it was kinda cool. But even now, I'll go back and watch some episodes and be like, 'Oh my god, I never realized/noticed that before as a kid.'"
"It's all over the place in terms of quality for the first two seasons: Some episodes are incredible; some are awful. The series starts to get tighter and smarter in Season 3, and the last two seasons are almost exclusively fantastic, with a wealth of multiple-episode arcs and a focus on building both individual characters and the greater world. It's particularly noteworthy for actually managing to successfully redeem a lot of the characters and ideas from the prequels."
14.Got worse: Once Upon a Time
"I can't get over the fact that characters kept switching sides, as though all the work they'd done to build trust and establish relationships was suddenly meaningless. Or suddenly the betrayal that the character made a few episodes before didn't matter; they were redeemed by virtue of the fact that they simply wanted to come back to the good guys again. That level of relationship fluidity was so unrealistic that it broke the immersion of the show for me."
15.Got better: The Sopranos
"I rewatched the entire series from start to finish. You can really get a sense of the characters growing on one another and the show's environment becoming more fluid and realistic. You truly feel like you can connect with them as the show progresses. Don't get me wrong though; Season 1 was amazing as well."
16.Got worse: The Walking Dead
"It started off as a great show and then just became a rinse and repeat of 'Oh, there is another group of human survivors. We'll clash and then kill each other.'"
17.Got better: Person of Interest
"As time went on, it evolved from your run-of-the-mill episodic drama to a show that explored the depths of raw human emotion and the consequences of artificial intelligence."
"One of the best things I've ever watched. Michael Emerson is a fine actor. The dynamic among the team was amazing. It had everything: tech, action, human interest. Brilliant show."
–[deleted]
18.Got worse: Game of Thrones
"Really enjoyed it for the most part, but unfortunately that last season killed any desire I have to ever watch the show again. Knowing how the story and character arcs end...such a waste."
"Same for me. I don't care about how long ago it was or if it's the only terrible season. GoT is forever tainted for me, and I will keep hating the last season. It's not even mediocre or sloppily written (I could live with that). No, it's 100% garbage. The writers deserve 100% of the hate and flak they are getting for ruining such a great series, even after all this time."
Can you think of a show that got way better or way worse over time? Sound off in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
