TV shows with only one great season

[caj]

Some tv shows like Mary Tyler Moore and Cheers are high quality through most of their runs.

But some shows have that one great season and then the quality drops from that point on.

What IYO are some examples of this?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Terriers (2010)

[DjMichael691]

Terriers (2010)

100% Agree with this. I also loved Roadies and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I have watched all 3 of these multiple times. And of course... Firefly but should go without saying

[CaptCleghorn]

I followed it through, but in reality, there was the first season and then a downhill path.

[Grapeweasel]

Wiseguy.

Season 1 had Ray Starkey and Kevin Spacey as amazing villains. The following seasons didn't.

[useridgoeshere]

Reven8e. I actually think it was an awesome one-season premise (based on The Count of Monte Cristo), but when it became a hit, they stretched it out way too much.

I followed it through, but in reality, there was the first season and then a downhill path.

This reminds me of Sheldon’s line on Big Bang Theory … “ They can't just cancel a show like Alphas. You know? They have to help the viewers let go. Firefly did a movie to wrap things up. Buffy the Vampire Slayer continued on as a comic book. Heroes lowered the quality season by season till we were grateful it ended.”

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Show me a hero

[Kirby101]

Heroes is the first one to come to mind. From great show to truly awful. Lost had two good seasons (it should have been a limited series and wrapped it up then) after which it dissolved in to an incoherent mess.

[Guy_McNichts]

Westworld

10 char

[Jokerz79]

Probably unpopular opinion but Umbrella Academy.

There are tons of shows though I feel had a great run but went on too long and it felt like a mercy killing when they finally ended. Case in point Supernatural Season 1-6 were great afterwards the show went on for 9 more seasons and was lucky to have enough good episodes in those seasons to maybe make one season at best.

[Matt Rat]

Lois and Clark
Adam West Batman (they even admit the 'joke' was over with the public after the movie)
Sliders (season two isn't bad, but it introduces the Kromaggs)
Earth: Final Conflict
Star Trek: Voyager
Digimon Adventure (the original continuity)
Supergirl
The Flash (CW)
Legends of Tomorrow
Superman and Lois
Transformers: Generation One

[DrNewGod]

The Man From Uncle. Intriguing until it went camp.

Alias felt like JJA lost its way as he painted himself into plot corners and ran out of room for Bristow's cover life.

Remington Steele cut a lot of its heart out by limiting the personalities Brosnans character had to negotiate in keeping up his ruse.

It's an oldie, and only got one season, but Yancy Derringer was a fantastic crime/political-intrigue adventure sent in Union Occupied New Orleans following the Civil War.

[phonogram12]

I'm not sure how controversial this is going to be, but I'm going to go with Arrow. That first season was pretty amazing and I'm still stunned with what they managed to do on the CW back then. But while the next season was hardly bad (I loved the inclusion of Sara Lance and that final fight with Slade was pretty great), it def dropped in quality a bit for me from that point on.

[numberthirty]

Reven8e. I actually think it was an awesome one-season premise (based on The Count of Monte Cristo), but when it became a hit, they stretched it out way too much.

...


This reminds me of Sheldon’s line on Big Bang Theory … “ They can't just cancel a show like Alphas. You know? They have to help the viewers let go. Firefly did a movie to wrap things
up. Buffy the Vampire Slayer continued on as a comic book. Heroes lowered the quality season by season till we were grateful it ended.”

Along that line...

Preacher

While I was never all that impressed with the first season as I was watching it during it's initial run?

I kept thinking "Man, that first season was brilliant stacked up against this..." watching each of the seasons that came after it.

[CellarDweller]

I remember watching a great series called Nothing Sacred, that got cancelled due to low ratings because of protests against it by Catholic groups.

From Wikipedia.


Nothing Sacred is an American drama series that aired from 1997 to 1998 on ABC. The series was created by a Jesuit priest named Bill Cain and producer David Manson.

The series centered on the daily goings-on at a parish in an inner-city neighborhood. The show drew criticism from some Catholic organizations for its frank treatment of sensitive issues such as AIDS, racism, and abortion, as well as its portrayal of church issues in the post-Second Vatican Council era, which some saw as favoring those with more liberal views of the Council. The show and its sponsors were targeted for boycotts by the Catholic League. The series faced low ratings and ABC canceled its order for the final four episodes, eventually canceling the series entirely after the March 14, 1998 episode (with five completed episodes left unaired).

The series did win critical acclaim, including a Peabody Award for its "honest portrayal of the complexity of faith in the modern era" and a Humanitas Prize. It also received nominations for Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award nomination for actor Kevin Anderson.

Premise

Father Francis Xavier "Ray" Reyneaux is the head priest of St. Thomas Catholic Church, which is located in a low-income neighborhood of an unnamed city. Father Ray deals with his own personal crises of faith in addition to the challenges of serving the needs of his community. Besides Father Ray, the series also follows the predicaments of the parish staff, which includes feminist nun Sister Maureen "Mo" Brody, the inexperienced Father Eric, and church secretary Rachel.

The series included plot lines ranging from "the homeless and local opposition to their presence, the church’s soup kitchen, [Sister Mo's] insistence that God be addressed as both Mother and Father, Ray’s temptation to rekindle a romance with an old flame, the desire of his assistant priest to escape the turmoil of the city to a quiet monastery, the dissatisfaction of a pregnant parishioner at Ray’s refusal to answer her directly about abortion, and a broken father-son relationship."