# What TV show's last season is stronger than the show began? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549 "2011-12-08T19:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/1 "2011-12-08T19:45:14Z")
As an alternative to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634175), which asks the question, for which shows should one skip the last season? My question is, for which shows is that last season simply terrific and definitely unskippable? My nomination is _Angel_, whose fifth and last season is widely regarded to be the best. We should probably restrict this to shows with more than two seasons. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/2 "2011-12-08T19:46:56Z")
Dead Like Me. Of course, there were only 2 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/3 "2011-12-08T19:56:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Dead Like Me. Of course, there were only 2 seasons. I enjoyed that show very much! Pity it only had the two seasons. It starts strong, but ends even stronger, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/4 "2011-12-08T20:00:43Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > As an alternative to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634175), which asks the question, for which shows should one skip the last season? My question is, for which shows is that last season simply terrific and definitely unskippable? > > My nomination is _Angel_, whose fifth and last season is widely regarded to be the best. > > We should probably restrict this to shows with more than two seasons. While I don’t agree that Angel’s fifth season was its best (that’s the fourth), I will agree that it was superior in most ways to the first; its main fault was the lack of Charisma Carpenter. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/5 "2011-12-08T20:01:28Z")
_Parks & Recreation_, by far. The first season was terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/6 "2011-12-08T20:05:27Z")
Seinfeld! I could rewatch pretty much any episode from any season except the first. Not that it was =horrible=, just that it was the weakest, by comparison, with season 2 coming a close second. The writing for the show generally improved throughout its run, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/7 "2011-12-08T20:26:23Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > While I don’t agree that Angel’s fifth season was its best (that’s the fourth), I will agree that it was superior in most ways to the first; its main fault was the lack of Charisma Carpenter. I’m surprised you consider this a fault. David Boreanas eventually learned to act; Charisma Carpenter, for all that she was lovely, never did. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/8 "2011-12-08T21:07:22Z")
**Star Trek: Deep Space Nine** - The first season was mediocre; the next few seasons showed promise, but were too hesitant to commit to a longer arc, always setting up something interesting during one sweeps period, then spending two months on half-assed technobabble-laden alien-of-the-week episodes, then neatly resolving the previous setup with a two-parter in the next sweeps month. Supposedly Paramount didn’t want long arcs because they make a show less valuable to second-run syndication. For the final two seasons, the producers said screw being a half-assed sci-fi show, let’s just turn it into a soap opera in space. The final two seasons were amazing, and probably my favorite seasons of any Trek incarnation, even beating out the first 2 years of the original show. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/9 "2011-12-08T21:07:56Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I’m surprised you consider this a fault. David Boreanas eventually learned to act; Charisma Carpenter, for all that she was lovely, never did. But she is very, very nice to look at. > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > _Parks & Recreation_, by far. The first season was terrible. Kind of glad to hear this. I tried season 1 and it did nothing for me. Perhaps I need to stick with it for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/10 "2011-12-08T21:09:04Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I’m surprised you consider this a fault. David Boreanas eventually learned to act; Charisma Carpenter, for all that she was lovely, never did. I don’t think Charisma Carpenter is all that good looking, actually. I don’t find her face pleasing, and while she has nice legs (or did back then; I haven’t a clue what she looks like now), her breasts are too big for my taste. Yes, I know I’m a freak. Anyway, perhaps I should have said the show was lacking Cordelia Chase rather than the actress. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/11 "2011-12-08T23:00:47Z")
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/12 "2011-12-08T23:09:17Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles Nah, every single episode of that show was perfect. It’s a shame it got canceled. ☹ ---
**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:** [December 8, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/13 "2011-12-08T23:30:21Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > _Parks & Recreation_, by far. The first season was terrible. Isn’t it still ongoing? I didn’t think it’d had its last season, yet. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/14 "2011-12-08T23:35:12Z")
I haven’t seen that last season since it originally aired, but I seem to recall **Cheers** staying good until the end. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/15 "2011-12-08T23:43:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Dead Like Me. Of course, there were only 2 seasons. > [@Knorf](#): > > I enjoyed that show very much! Pity it only had the two seasons. It starts strong, but ends even stronger, I agree. I dunno, it was a spectacularly good show while it lasted – but perhaps it was better to go out on a high note. It even wrapped up the second season in a pretty good place; it didn’t leave any outstanding story lines hanging. If the third season would have been anything like the movie, I’m glad that’s as far as it went. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/16 "2011-12-08T23:43:53Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I enjoyed that show very much! Pity it only had the two seasons. It starts strong, but ends even stronger, I agree. I agree. However, the follow up movie sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/17 "2011-12-08T23:45:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Isn’t it still ongoing? I didn’t think it’d had its last season, yet. I was taking “last” to mean “most recent,” not “ultimate.” I guess I posted too fast. And **Knorf** , please do. I think you will be rewarded. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/18 "2011-12-09T00:17:30Z")
I think _Law & Order_ with McCoy/Cutter/Ruberosa was better than Schiff/Stone/Robinette. Cops were probably a wash. I liked Van Buren better than Cragen, but the cops Logan/Greevy were better than Lupo/Bernard. L&O had some lean years in between with Farina and Bratt and Sutherland and Thompson. Orbach and Martin helped the average during many of those lean year. Van Buren\*/Briscoe\*/Green/McCoy/Cutter/Ruberosa\* would be my all star lineup with the \* going to the all stars. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/19 "2011-12-09T00:21:18Z")
the shield. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549/20 "2011-12-09T00:40:09Z")
South Park, especially in terms of artistic style and political messages. The early plots are classic and memorable, but not nearly as intricate or well-developed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-last-season-is-stronger-than-the-show-began/605549.md?page=2)