There are a handful of TV shows that I have started to watch over the past few years that have never been able to top their first season. I loved the first seasons of the following shows but after that it was never the same or as good. The following five shows put too much into their first season and didn’t leave enough room for an excellent second or third season. For me they either pulled out all the stops too early or they forgot to let their characters grow and evolve.
Glee was a show that I hesitated to check out because of all of the hype surrounding it but when I finally did watch, I was hooked. I thought it was fun and quirky but also dealt with some pretty real issues. The problem for me was that in the seasons to follow the campy and gimmicky style of the show got tired and the excitement of the first season never returned. In the first season the musical numbers gave me goose bumps and now I just find myself wanting to fast forward through them. I think the story lines are too repetitive and I find myself caring less about the characters. Glee was once cute and colorful, it was new and exciting but now it lacks a certain something that I can’t quite figure out but I find myself wanting something more that the show is no longer giving me. Glee is available from Amazon.com
Now I am almost certain that 99% of people will disagree with me on this one but Modern Family is just not doing it for me anymore. I sat and watched the first season in a couple of days and I thought it was hilarious, it was familiar and honest, while also being completely ridiculous. When season two started I felt like I had already seen it all, it was too much of the same thing over and over. Every week Cameron and Mitchell have the same argument with the same outcome. Gloria is always getting mad at Jay and then he redeems himself. Claire is always right about everything and Phil is always going to screw something up. I guess you could say that it resembles real life but I am bored with it. I rarely laugh anymore and I don’t think I actually care what happens to these people. I know they are just going to keep doing the same things again and again and with each time it will get less and less funny. There are far better comedies on TV now that deserve my time more than Modern Family. Modern Family is available from Amazon.com
I don’t know what happened to Heroes but when it started I thought it was extremely fun and entertaining but after the first season watching became more like work than entertainment. The shows pace slowed to an unforgiving drag and it lacked the energy and focus of the first season. The stories seemed scattered and there were too many to keep track of, there was a disconnect that never really resolved itself. I know it wasn’t just me that felt this way as the ratings continually dropped after the first season and lead to the shows cancellation. The first season of Heroes was thrilling, it was an energetic superhero show about average people with amazing abilities. Tim Kring the creator of the show has admitted to making some major mistakes with Heroes which is unfortunate because if handled correctly it could have been a really great show. If you haven’t checked it out, you can stop after the first season. Heroes is available from Amazon.com
One night I was flicking through my channels and saw that True Blood was available on Demand, I decided to check out the pilot episode and within 24 hours I had watched all 12 episode of the first season. I was in love with True Blood, the sex and violence as well as the murder mystery drew me right in, I couldn’t wait for the second season. True Blood was the kind of vampire show that I wanted to watch, there were no sparkling vampires and the cast was over the age of 20. Unfortunately the highlight of the second season for me was when Eric cut his hair. The show still had its sex and violence but the actual story didn’t have me hooked like the first season. I loved how each episode of the firsts season left me on a cliff hanger, it made it so easy to watch the next episode. Season two and onward have been entertaining but they haven’t been thrilling, there has been something missing from these seasons that was there in the first. I still watch the show but I find that I feel like the stories have gone off in these weird directions, sometimes lacking focus or purpose and other times just boring. True Blood is available from Amazon.com
I was in love with Californication when it first came out, it was quite unlike most of the shows I was watching at the time and I thought it was wildly entertaining. Hank Moody was such a bad ass and he sucked me into his world and made me want to be a part of it. The dynamic between Hank and his family was bizarre and watching him screw things up and try to redeem himself was fun. When the first season ended I felt like it wrapped up very neatly and it was almost as if they weren’t expecting another season. Hank had what he wanted and everything was perfect. The journey that he went on in the first season would have been better if it had lasted longer, instead he got what he wanted and therefore in the second season it had to be taken away from him. I feel like if it had of taken him longer to get Karen back, maybe the length of the second season, then it wouldn’t drive me so crazy that now in the 5th season we are still playing the back and forth game with her. I still enjoy watching Californication but I don’t think it has ever been as good as it was in its first season, I know I definitely haven’t enjoyed it the same way I originally did. Californication is available from Amazon.com
These were the most prominent five shows that I could think of that I have not enjoyed nearly as much as I did their first season but maybe I am missing a show that you would have put on the list. Let me know if you agree or disagree or if I have overlooked a show that should be on here. There is always room for more. Share in the comments below.
