I’d hazard that most TV shows decline in quality over time, but the Royle Family thread has reminded me of the gulf in quality between the first series and the specials - just like the people who made them had total lobotomies in between and had no idea of what made it good in the first place.
I reckon Jonathan Creek is a good example - the first series is charming, clever, atmospheric - by the time you get to the most recent specials where he’s married to Sarah Alexander, it’s barely the same show, there’s hardly any mystery involved. How did it reach that point?
Yeah. I guess with the Simpsons though, it is at least a gradual decline - it’s hard to look to a specific point (like, I think Homer’s Enemy and The Principal and the Pauper are both funny episodes) and say where it went wrong, it was just a slow erosion of quality over time as writers became more self-referential, ran out of fresh ideas, and became more reliant on celebrity cameos.
Teachers: wonderful first two series, a weaker but funnier third series, and then… well.
Frasier: Once Daphne and Niles get together it nosedives, it’s still watchable but a mere patch on what came before.
Red Dwarf: nuff said
The Office US: After Michael leaves
Arrested Development: Jesus christ
Twin Peaks: but thankfully The Return saved its legacy
I agree there’s a general shift after this, BUT the ensemble is so strong that it remains a good, funny show, AND two of my favourites things come at this point (the entire Robert California run, and Kathy Bates’ performance). The real weakness is what they do with Andy’s character.
I think this appplicable for any tv series where the initial couple of seasons hinge around the will they/won’t they dynamic of two of the leads (Friends, New Girl, TBBT etc)
Yeah, that is absolutely a bilge episode. But was that the turning point? The rot must have begun to set in well before.
I listen to the Talking Simpsons podcast and I think they’re currently approaching Season 10, will be interesting to see how long they can hold out, when they openly admit to not even watching new releases and criticising everything they hear about it.
