P.S. I suspect that “became worse as it became popular” is really this:
A show appeals strongly to a small group of people - but since that’s not enough to make the show really popular, it’s retooled to appeal to more people, which makes it appeal less to the original small audience. Thus it “becomes worse” to them, at the same time that it “becomes popular.”
A small example - I liked the first season of Family Ties, about ex-hippie parents dealing with their three kids who don’t share those values. There were episodes about Alex, episodes about Mallory and episodes about Jennifer, fairly equally. Then Michael J. Fox became (deservedly) very popular, and the show became about Alex, with all the other characters as supporting ones. I thought it was still good - but it wasn’t quite the same show, and I can easily imagine people who liked the first season but not the later ones, even though they were very popular.
Yes, but in no way did it get worse as Michael J. Fox was the best comedic/actor on the show. Same with Alan Alda. The writers are going to give them the best lines.
Although, with Family Ties, it could have become the Leonardo DiCaprio show, yet they didn’t give him enough storylines.
I thought the first season of TWD was fantastic with it’s pilot episode being one of the best in television history. I don’t think the series really fits the description of the OP. The ratings for the show peaked around season 5 and the show continued for a total of 11 seasons. If anything the ratings went down as the show got worse.
… the skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star and (one of) the lead singers of the Pure Prairie League and the rest are here on Gilligan’s Isle
What are you talking about? Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t appear on Family Ties. He was too young then. Family Ties went off the air in 1989. The IMDb entry for DiCaprio says that he only appeared in one movie or television show in that year or any previous year. He appeared on Romper Room in 1979, when he was about five years old.
Now, there’s a show that didn’t get the chance to get worse, or get popular. Cancelled after one season. Never had Vince Gill, though it did have Devo.
(Square Pegs, for those who didn’t get the reference.)
Dagnabit. The show was “Growing Pains”. I’m pretty sure the show was never good enough to get worse.
DiCaprio played Luke Brower, a homeless teenager taken in by the Seaver family in the show’s final seasons.
Yet he was not the star he’d become. I remember going with a GF to see him at some bookstore event in NYC related to “Basketball Diaries” in 1995 and I had no idea who he was. I believe Jim Carroll, the author of the book (and the character Leo plays) was there, yet everyone outside was there to see DiCaprio.
ETA: I suppose as per wiki,
This Boy’s Life was the first film that gained him recognition.
Being in a film with Robert Deniro helps, and he was good in “Basketball Diaries” yet the first time I realised he had star-potential was opposite Harrison Ford in “The Mosquito Coast.”
Argh. And that was River Phoenix whom I first thought I’d mistaken for “Family Ties” which was “Growing Pains”. Dunno when I realised DiCaprio was a good actor, yet not that day I was in his presence in NYC in 1995.
ETA: And “Mosquito Coast” came out just after “Stand By Me” (both late 1986) and that film was when I knew River Phoenix was going to be a star.
ETA2: Donald Sutherland’s son, Kiefer, was in “Stand By Me” and I think he too has had a pretty good career.
When Not Going Out started it was mainly an excuse for a barrage of clever jokes and the plot was secondary. I don’t think it was popular in the early years. Now it’s the most popular current British sitcom, the jokes have all but disappeared in favour of outlandish plots, in my opinion much worse.
I have mixed feelings about NCIS. I feel vested in the characters, but feel like a lot of the storylines are a little–comic-book-y? I feel like if the show had ended when Jenny died or when Ziva left or when Abby exposed Gibbs (Homicide: Life on the Streets ended on a similar note), it would be remembered as one of the great police procedurals. Then they dragged in ghosts and psychics and Abby’s twin. The low point was when they hunted fake pharmaceuticals from Canada, servicing their advertisers, American pharma! It still has some endearing qualities, and I’m really liking the prequel series, but it is past time to pull the plug on this one.
My wife and I discussed this recently and we concluded that once you make a show about nihilism where nothing matters eventually you get to a “what’s the point” moment, or you start selling out. There’s only so far a show about infinite universes where nothing matters can go.
Northern Exposure. I don’t know what season, but Maggie lost all of her toughness and sarcasm. I think this was during a writers strike. I was very much - “Who are these people”?
Speaking of great pilots, I think This is Us had one of the best pilots of all time. It started off great then got bogged down by an unending parade of misery every week. I just couldn’t take it.
The latest series has just started airing. They’ve finally sent the annoying kids to the cornfield. But they’ve also lost all the supporting characters like Hugh Dennis and the various grandparents. Not entirely sure why. Budget issues? Ego issues? (Bobby Ball does have a good excuse for not being in it anymore.)
Not Going Out is or was available on one of the American streaming services (Peacock? Hulu?) so I started to watch it, I think from the beginning when I couldn’t find much else. It may have gotten worse, but to be honest, it was really never a great show.
My wife and I stopped watching when Ziva was still part of the show. I caught a rerun of a late-season episode while flipping channels yesterday-- Gibbs, Abby, DiNozzo all gone, replaced by Gary Cole and…freakin’ Wilmer Valderrama from That '70s Show. I felt like I was watching some weird alternate universe version of the show.
What was the ‘Abby exposed Gibbs’ storyline? I know there were IRL problems between Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon on set. Did they write a version of that into the storyline of the show?
the skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star and (one of) the lead singers of the Pure Prairie League and the rest are here on Gilligan’s Isle 