TV shows usually decline in quality as the seasons go by.

[raccoon]

Anybody know of any show that you think DIDN'T do this?

[HopeHoops]

1. Shit - how do you go into negative quality territory?

Most shows START at zero!

[Spacemom]

2. I think Bones is still a good show

But it's reaching the same place the X-Files did. You wish the main characters would just go ahead and get it on, but as soon as that happens, the show does go downhill. ;)

It's a catch-22.

[LoveMyCali]

27. Really?

I used to love that show but I find it unwatchable now. There's more focus on who will or will not sleep with each other than the cases which also used to be interesting but now are just gross. Haven't made it through a whole episode yet this year.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

3. Frasier

Frasier, like it or not, was pretty remarkably consistent from its first season through its eleventh.

There was a slight dip in quality around S8 or S9, but it bounced back. (One of the actresses got pregnant IRL or something and they had to write around it, but once she was back, the show resumed at its earlier level of quality -- or very close to it.)

[Mojambo]

5. Good call.

That show was solid beginning to end.

[LeftyMom]

4. DS9 was much better in the last few seasons than the early ones. nt

[petronius]

39. That was my first thought as well. TNG also went up hill... (nt)

[Angleae]

44. Both went uphill after the first couple of seasons.

Then back down in the later seasons.

[graywarrior]

6. L O S T

[fishwax]

7. The Wire got better with almost every season

and it was pretty damn amazing to begin with. Also, I just got done watching the third season of Big Love on DVD, and I think it was the best season of the three.

[muffin1]

20. Good call.

Too bad it didn't get the audience or awards it deserved.:-(

[fishwax]

24. yeah, that really is a shame (and in the case of awards, a travesty)

I'm very glad that HBO gave them the space and creative freedom in spite of the fairly low ratings, because it certainly paid off in terms of the quality.

[Auggie]

8. The Sopranos

[Quantess]

32. Agreed.

Although the last scene was underwhelming. What was the Journey song about?

I wonder if they will continue with season 7 someday.

[MissMillie]

9. I really liked the last season of the West Wing

I know the writing wasn't as good as it was when Sorkin was around, but the additions of Alan Alda, Jimmy Smits, and Jeaneanne Garofolo to the cast made the chemistry quite good.

[jobycom]

10. Barney Miller, if you want to go way back.

I haven't watched TV much in a long time. :)

[Thirtieschild]

14. Loved Barney Miller, which got better every season.

[Capn Sunshine]

28. what was remarkable about Barney Miller

each episode could stand on it's own as a play.

[LiberalFighter]

11. MASH?

[BOSSHOG]

21. MASH just kept getting better

even after the cast changes.

[Bucky]

56. Not those last couple of seasons

Having Hawkeye and Hotlips hook up was a real shark jump. They'd run out of things to do with their set up and were scratching for watchable material. Most of the episodes after Radar left were pretty blah. From a history buff's point of view, the show got increasingly aggravating.

[rcrush]

12. Several Star Trek series, Buffy TVS, Angel, Babylon 5, Stargate SG1

Stargate Atlantis, Highlander (except for that last season), Forever Knight, Entourage, Smallville, Futurama, South Park, X-Files, It's Always Sunny, Arrested Development.
Lots of shows improved with age.

[XemaSab]

38. X-files peaked in Season 3

and it was a long, slow downhill from there.

[Bucky]

52. But some of those first season shows were total stinkers.

And they didn't do any really bad shows again until Duchovny was about to leave.

[NewJeffCT]

53. I thought Buffy was great until the last season

Didn't like the last season too much - I think Josh tried to put 3 seasons of ideas into that 1 last season.

[Deep13]

13. Star Trek NG. Seinfeld. nt

[JimGinPA]

15. Dexter

[stanwyck]

16. I've been impressed with how well The Office (US version)

has been able to keep going. And that has to be tricky. They've gone way past the original British series. Plus, they married off two of their principle actors. And the show is still strong. The episode of the Jim-Pam wedding was hysterical.

[insanity]

17. South Park

The first 3 seasons were funny because it was crude and new. However, Matt and Trey didn't really hit their stride until seasons 4-10. Sadly, the show has been in a bit of decline in the last few years, but it is usually funnier than a lot of what happened on the first 3 seasons.

[NJmaverick]

18. Most shows have a 5-7 year life span, after that the decline

there are many shows that actually get better as the seasons go by (at least for the first few years).

[Rambis]

19. New Street Law

BBC show with John Hannah and Lisa Faulkner who are lawyers. The last episode they have a bust up drive away together and they get blindsided by a bus. Series over! Cliff hanger of all cling hangers


http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/newstreetlaw/

[gmoney]

22. The Daily Show

I'd hate to look back on the Kilbourne era shows now... I'm guessing it's pretty painful.

[Broken_Hero]

23. hmm, I can't talk about season 6 of House

because I haven't been keeping up, but seasons 1-5 got progressively better, I still cannot think of a season ender better than House's Head and Wilson's Heart(season 4 ender).

[Jade Fox]

25. It seems that after about three years.....

the viewer interest in even the best TV show starts to wane unless major changes are made to the show. New writers, new characters, etc., seem to be needed to keep viewers after three years.

[Brother Buzz]

26. Simpsons

There are some that say otherwise, but I find the show still has it's zing after twenty years.

[Drunken Irishman]

62. The Simpsons acually started out slow and picked up steam by the mid-90s.

[Brother Buzz]

64. True. It took that long to just develop and introduce the entire cast

[sarge43]

29. WKRP didn't crap out (pardon the pun) n/t

[Bucky]

54. Because they got canceled

Ever see the rebooted made-for-syndication WKRP? They had Tawny Kitaen replacing Loni Anderson as the staff hottie... and it just didn't work.

[sarge43]

57. 88 episodes is plenty of opportunity to jump every shark in the pond.

WKRP didn't

Having the same name doesn't equate to being the same thing. I took a look; it sucked.

[sakabatou]

30. OK

Avatar: the Last Airbender
Bleach

[REP]

31. The 'Bount' arc was useless, though

[sakabatou]

37. True, but it bounced back

And the current story arc (Zanpakuto Unknown Tales) is awesome.

[begin_within]

33. Upstairs, Downstairs never declined in quality.

In fact they knew when to quit before it had the chance to.

[Quantess]

34. Arrested Development.

I wasn't crazy about Charlize Theron's story, but otherwise it was as great as ever.

[LostInAnomie]

35. Family Guy, Futurama, Rome, Star Trek: TNG...

... Deadwood, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, South Park, Moral Orel, Metalocalypse, NCIS, Chappelle Show.

Really, for most shows, the first season is usually the worst.

[Pryderi]

36. Sopranos.

[Quantess]

42. Do you think there wil be a season 7?

[Pryderi]

46. No. I thought they were going to make movies

[Auggie]

58. Update: 'Sopranos' cast members say big-screen version has a shot

N.Y. Daily News:

'Sopranos" producer David Chase remains coy about the possibility of a big-screen followup to the hit HBO show, but loose-lipped cast members are suggesting a script is already on the page.

It's been speculated that a major holdup to the big-screen version is a strong reluctance on the part of James Gandolfini to sign on to the project.

But, according to a chatty Lorraine Bracco, that rumor is way off the mark.

"I don't think it's that at all," says Bracco about Gandolfini's supposed cold feet. "I think it's really trying to get the right script. Without the right script, it's really not worth doing."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/08/04/2009-08-04_sopranos_film_has_a_shot.html#ixzz0cVgKPSmj

[MadBadger]

40. L O S T

[WildEyedLiberal]

41. Another vote for ST: TNG and DS9

TNG is the really stark example of this, though; the first two seasons were AWFUL and it gets so much better from there.

[LeftyMom]

43. The lowpoint of the series was when the aliens decided not to kill Wesley for stepping on the grass

At least the road tar of doom ate Tasha, so season one wasn't a total loss.

[sarge43]

50. Code of Honor and Angel One were also choice stinkers.

Racist and sexist - good call, everyone.

Really surprising TNG survived its first season.

[WildEyedLiberal]

60. Thank God it was syndicated and they were allowed to improve...

... otherwise the legacy of TNG wouldn't be "Best of Both Worlds" but rather Wesley Crusher being put on trial by people wearing speedo things because he stepped on a flower bed.

[Bucky]

55. I kinda wish most of the cast had gone on a picnic that episode.

[WildEyedLiberal]

59. That episode was odious in every possible way

Just cringe-inducingly bad.

DS9 at least was mediocre at worst during its first season, and had a few moments of true brilliance that hinted at what was to come - "Duet" is still one of the top ten eps of the entire series. There is no equivalently amazing episode from TNG's first season - just a few that didn't suck quite as hard :rofl:

[sarge43]

61. Well, there was "The Big Goodbye",

but Season One was a bit of a black hole.

[AllenVanAllen]

45. Adult Swim's The Venture Brothers

It's on season 4 and Every season has been better than the last. I have to mention the BBC series Peep Show as well.

[Orsino]

47. This may be an ironclad rule.

The commitment to put on a television show before all the scripts are in probably guarantees that eventually, the quality will decline after the low-hanging fruit is long since picked. There may still be interesting things to say about the characters, but not enough for a network to fill a whole season using the usual script submission/approval process.

[ThomWV]

48. HBO's "The Wire" - possibly the best program ever produced for Television

Got better with each year.

[peekaloo]

49. 'Scrubs' was on life support in season 7, got a little better in season 8

and is once again breathing on its own this year.

[Bucky]

51. I think it's the opposite. Most shows take a couple of seasons to find their rhythm

Shark jumping takes a while to get to, but think of the quality of most of those early Fox shows like "Married with Children" or "X-Files" which would never have made it on the then-three networks.

[bookworm65t]

63. My Name is Earl

wasn't on the air long enough to decline. IMHO.

[flvegan]

65. Top Gear, Two and a Half Men, Married With Children, NCIS