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Shows that got better later on

C

cd637299

Guest
Hi

On the heels of the "overstayed their welcome" thread, I'd like to flip it around....

Can you give me any shows that actually improved over time? I myself, only being a sitcom or cartoon fan for the most part, offer the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons (as the 4th wall got broken much more as time went on, and the banter was funnier) and, as was mentioned in the other thread, Green Acres. GA was a homey warm sitcom at first, and then got downright bizarre (anyone who has seen the episode "The Beeping Rock" would agree with me)! Even Nick at Nite called it "surreal"!

Any others?

cd
 
Star Trek: The Next Generation. The first couple of seasons were boring, with story lines that really dragged.
Then when Gene Roddenberry passed away, and the producers were free to confront the truth that his vision
of a Non-Violent Action Adventure series was unworkable, the show got much, much better.
 
The Red Green Show. The program really turned the corner beginning with its fourth season (its first as The New Red Green Show) - and the point where it became an institution in its native Canada. It was through that season that I was first exposed to the program - and having seen snippets of the first three seasons, that it "improved" with its fourth season became ever more evident.
 
To add to the point about Red Green: However, in its final years, it overstayed its welcome, so this program actually qualifies in both categories - that, plus the one on this thread.
 
...it is my firm belief that the second season of The Monkees was vastly superior to the first ;D ...
 
Seinfeld.

Showed promise in its first abbreviated season, but really hit its stride in the second (1991) season, built further in seasons three through seven, and stayed at its peak through at least season eight. It became a little more inconsistent in its last year but was still funny beyond anything else on the air right to the end. The GE brass offered Jerry and Larry David $125 million each and seats on the GE corporate board to do a full 26 episode 10th season in 1998-99. But they passed, saying they had at the most 10 to 13 weeks worth of good ideas left and wanted to leave before the creative tank was dry. Remember that episode in which a running theme was leaving on a high note? They meant it. Who else ever said no to a nine figure paycheck from a network for reasons of artistic integrity?
 
As to the above, then I will add:

The Dick Van Dyke Show. They left the same way....they wanted to go out on top, and I don't think they were too keen on being in color, which likely would have been mandatory in fall '66.

The first season of the show seemed very run-of-the-mill, and was almost a musical, which wasn't really getting the most out of that cast, IMO.

"It may Look Like a Walnut," "That's My Boy???" & the skiing episode in seasons 2 & 3 are classics.

cd
 
All in the Family - 1st season is good, though it hasn't aged very well, and the characters weren't developed yet. Archie is too harsh and Edith is too cynical. 2nd season is very good, and seasons 3-5 are near-brilliant once they tone down the political rhetoric and go for the character comedy.
 
therealjm12 said:
The Odd couple. Definitely improved in season two.
Click to expand...

Ditto....the live audience made the writers seem to beef up the action.

cd
 
The Brady Bunch, although I should probably duck because of all the rocks y'all are about to throw at me! ;D They were much more of a blended family in the later seasons than they had been during that first season.

Although Brady Bunch was also a show that overstayed its welcome.
 
What about "Barney Miller"? I don't recall the first season's shows, but when I used to watch it during primetime in '76-78, it seemed that it vastly improved with every episode. You never knew what to expect, but the themes were always delivered intelligently, with discretion, respect and without vulgarity. Its too bad our families don't have anything like that available in our modern electro-convenience laden world of the future.
 
Ultimajock said:
...it is my firm belief that the second season of The Monkees was vastly superior to the first ;D ...
Click to expand...
Absolute agreement. The guys got far more creative control and they dumped the lame laugh track.

Another show: Enterprise. After three weak seasons the fourth would have been the one to save the series, but as it turned out it just gave us an excuse to only buy the season 4 DVD. Also, wasn't this the season that explained why the Kirk era Klingons didn't have head ridges? As a trekker I appreciated it.
 
1st of 5 said:
What about "Barney Miller"? I don't recall the first season's shows, but when I used to watch it during primetime in '76-78, it seemed that it vastly improved with every episode. You never knew what to expect, but the themes were always delivered intelligently, with discretion, respect and without vulgarity. Its too bad our families don't have anything like that available in our modern electro-convenience laden world of the future.
Click to expand...

1976-1980...not great years for Jimmy Carter, but great for Barney Miller. ;D
 
ajc_trw said:
Enterprise. After three weak seasons the fourth would have been the one to save the series, but as it turned out it just gave us an excuse to only buy the season 4 DVD. Also, wasn't this the season that explained why the Kirk era Klingons didn't have head ridges? As a trekker I appreciated it.
Click to expand...

Enterprise might have stayed on longer had it been featured on a cable network people actually watched. STTNG was horrible the first few seasons then it got better. If Enterprise has been given more time, the series could have had the traditional 7 year run.
After all Voyager was the worst of the Star Trek series and it lasted for seven years. Deep Space Nine only improved after the first two seasons.

On another topic....I am glad to read that this will be Smallville's last season. Talk about long-in-the tooth, this show should have ended five years ago. Instead it managed to hang on for ten years. Kudos for Allison Mack's decision not to return on a full time basis. Maybe she, like the rest of us, finally tired of poor scripts and bad acting. Tom Welling must have stayed on to earn a paycheck because for the past few seasons he's been "calling it in" when it comes to his role as Clark Kent.
 
What about "Barney Miller"? I don't recall the first season's shows, but when I used to watch it during primetime in '76-78, it seemed that it vastly improved with every episode. You never knew what to expect, but the themes were always delivered intelligently, with discretion, respect and without vulgarity. Its too bad our families don't have anything like that available in our modern electro-convenience laden world of the future.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the first season dealt a lot more with Barney's home life, and when that element of the show was phased out, it got a lot better.
 
Nothing against Barbara Barrie as Liz, but some of her scenes at home with Barney really dragged.(She was used better on the show after she was dropped from the opening credits, but still occasionally visited her husband at work).
Dropping Gregory Sierra(Chano)and eventually bringing in Steve Landesburg(Dietrich) was a stroke of genius. He and Abe Vigoda(Fish) had some great scenes in the few episodes they appeared in together; in fact, Dietrich's first episode is based on his almost hero-worship of Fish, hanging around with him even on a day off, not wanting to leave Fish's apartment(the only episode where someone other than Florence Stanley played Berniece!)...and of course, their never-before-or-again seen daughter Beverley, whom Dietrich protects from an unwanted admirer...by doing a hilarious Gregory Peck impersonation: 'BEVERLEY...is BUSY! Please GO...AWAY!' ;D
 
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