# TV Series that only had a great first season (closed spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 12, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879 "2025-01-12T18:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/41 "2025-01-18T00:53:17Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **The Americans** may have been ok after the first season but stop watching when the pastor becomes a big deal, and I think that’s middle of season 2. Interesting. I think the consensus, which I agree with, is that it was excellent throughout the entire run. Apparently the first season is the lowest rated on RT and metacritic. Agree on 24. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/42 "2025-01-18T01:18:18Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I believe **Fargo** had the same fate, except that the most recent season is supposed to be good. > [@Loach](#): > > I think the second season of _Fargo_ is the superior one. I also like S3 & 5. 4 is the only week one, IMHO. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > _Heroes_ is the first thing that comes to mind. Oh gawd yes. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Completely agree about True Detective. I only liked season 2. S1 was too impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/43 "2025-01-18T01:31:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It probably also should have had good scripts instead of feeding Robin Williams some Coke, and then letting him ad lib for a few hours, and trying to edit it into something coherent. Basically, the first episode was the only one with a real script. Well, but Robin Williams Robin-Williamsing was the only reason to watch the show. I liked the show as a kid, so I went back and watched a few episodes (from season 1) as an adult, and I found that I enjoyed Robin Williams’s shtick, but any time Williams wasn’t on screen, it was a mediocre, conventional, forgettable sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/44 "2025-01-18T08:40:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > it was a mediocre, conventional, forgettable sitcom. Yes, it was. It didn’t have to be, though. Compare it to _3rd Rock from the Sun_, which is essentially the same premise, but _3rd Rock_ had tighter scripts, better directors, and a great ensemble cast. No one in production thought it was a good idea to put all their eggs in Robin Williams’ basket. Williams isn’t everybody’s taste-- he’s not mine-- and no one else on the show could ever get a moment in the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/45 "2025-01-18T10:48:46Z")
I just watched an episode of mork and Mindy to see how it holds up and…not well. I think I smiled at one joke, no actual laughs. Still, as dated as the humour was, I could see how talented robin was, and indeed when he’s not on screen I was just waiting for him to come back. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/46 "2025-01-18T13:23:01Z")
When I first saw the Mork episode of Happy Days, with no warning of what was going to happen, I was so impressed that I said “ya gotta give this guy his own show!” Unfortunately, they listened. I didn’t understand coke and it’s usage back then. I lived on a farm. I thought he was just naturally funny. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/47 "2025-01-18T15:10:32Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Homeland should have ended after season one. The first season was definitely the best one. And it told a complete story, with a beginning, middle and end. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/48 "2025-01-18T15:30:45Z")
Bones I’m still watching, but season 1 was fantastic. Season 2 they invent a romance between two characters on the team. There’s zero chemistry between the two actors. They turn a very likeable character into a serial killer in season 3. WTH? That’s a betrayal of everything this criminal forensics team represents. Thankfully, he’s gone. I did like the season 2 story about Bones’ evil father. Just started season 4. It’ll be interesting what the writers throw at us next. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/49 "2025-01-18T16:44:14Z")
It’s been a long time, so my memory might not be completely accurate, but I think the sci-fi show _Sliders_ would fit the bill. It was about a young amateur scientist who discovers a way to go to alternate universes. Something goes wrong, and he and a motley assortment of acquaintances are accidentally sucked into the dimensional portal thingy and have to randomly go to different universes at certain times or get trapped permanently in their current universe. Each episode was an adventure in a different alternate universe. It was far from hard sci-fi, but at first, it was a fun show, and the alternate universes were mostly interesting and believable. For example, in a season one ep they land in a universe where the British won the Revolutionary War, and America was part of the still-existing British Empire. One of the characters finds a history book and reads that Washington had been hanged as a traitor to Great Britain. But after season one the plot lines got increasingly ridiculous and unbelievable, probably in an effort to gin up ratings. For example, an alternate universe in which magic existed. That’s probably a mild example of how stupid the show became. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/50 "2025-01-18T17:05:13Z")
> [@solost](#): > > It’s been a long time, so my memory might not be completely accurate, but I think the sci-fi show _Sliders_ would fit the bill. Most certainly, with a lot of character derailment and Wade and the (real, then the fake) Professor Arturo being put on a bus or killed off, with new characters brought in which didn’t mesh well with the remaining ones, along with the issues you raised. The entrance of the Kromaggs represents the approximate point where it jumped the shark. Ample helpings of Executive Meddling, IOW. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/51 "2025-01-18T17:06:55Z")
I remember enjoying season 1 of Sliders. Then it got confusing and I lost interest. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/52 "2025-01-18T17:38:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Yes, it was. It didn’t have to be, though. Compare it to _3rd Rock from the Sun_, which is essentially the same premise, but _3rd Rock_ had tighter scripts, better directors, and a great ensemble cast. No one in production thought it was a good idea to put all their eggs in Robin Williams’ basket. Having recently rewatched both, I think the lesser-known _[The Neighbors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neighbors_(2012_TV_series))_ was even better-written than _3RftS_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/53 "2025-01-18T19:10:39Z")
I was intrigued by _Snowpiercer_ when it started, but then it turned into a never-ending series of conflicts between the characters in the front and the back of the train. Season 2 started with more of the same, so I stopped watching. As implausible the concept is, I thought they’d have a decent explanation of how the hell they kept that train from getting derailed by a blizzard. At least the movie had an ending. I’m afraid _Silo_ will turn out the same, but I find it more believable somehow. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879/54 "2025-01-18T19:39:17Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I was intrigued by _Snowpiercer_ when it started, but then it turned into a never-ending series of conflicts between the characters in the front and the back of the train. Season 2 started with more of the same, so I stopped watching. I thought about mentioning Snowpiercer, but (a) I wouldn’t call the first season “great” and (b) I didn’t think the second season was that bad. (The third season kind of sucked and I haven’t watched the fourth season.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-only-had-a-great-first-season-closed-spoilers/1012879.md?page=2)