Shows where you liked the later seasons more?

[Lance Uppercut]

Everyone always talks about flanderization and shows jumping the shark but… does anyone ever like the later episodes of a show more?

I remember when I was a kid I preferred the later episodes of

Married with children with Jefferson and that weird period after Steve left. I just liked how much wackier and cartoonish the show got.
Wings. Something about that slow classic music theme song that’s as really long intro, really made the show get boring. I didn’t care for Alex much either. I liked it better with that short 5 second theme and when Casey showed up.
I much preferred the Rebecca version of cheers.

Also, I think back in the 90’s, for some reason, the first 2 or 3 seasons of a show looked really dark and poorer picture quality for some reason in syndication. I don’t know why, but it just just looked so much crappier the 5 pm rerun on the local station vs the 8pm new episode on nbc/abc/fox/cbs

[Zone Was Wrong]

Angel, Season 5. Eclipses the other seasons entirely.

[Cyno]

Every single Star Trek series besides TOS.

[mcmahonfan85]

Seinfeld and Curb. both series the first couple seasons they're trying to find their form

[Spider2024]

I dare anyone to say Monday Night Raw.

[DSR]

Parks and Rec didn't really find its footing until Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joined up.

A lot of folks swear by the original cast of Saturday Night Live, but I've never really gotten into it. I loved Eddie Murphy's tenure, and I love stuff after that (even up to the current cast), and I've loved stuff the original cast did outside of the show, but I've never really been a big fan of OG SNL.

I discovered MST3k during the Sci-Fi era, so I've always been a "Mike Guy". I've grown to enjoy Joel's run of the show a great deal, but I'll probably always prefer Mike.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

Gotham. Once it embraced the wacky it was awesome.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

I generally prefer Red Dwarf IV-VII to the first three seasons, though the first three were damn good.

Nov 3, 2021 13:24:11 GMT -5 DSR said:

Parks and Rec didn't really find its footing until Rob Lowe and Adam Scott joined up.

I think it just just about found its footing prior to their arrivals. To me the visual cue is when Ron stopped wearing suits to work, as by then the actors had made the characters their own and the writers had started incorporating aspects of the actors' personalities into the characters. The addition of Ben and Chris just rounded everything out nicely.

[Deleted]

Nov 3, 2021 13:03:21 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Every single Star Trek series besides TOS.

I'm literally watching a complete Star Trek marathon after having seen random reruns my whole life. I just watched Generations this morning (very underrated btw) and next is Voyager season 1 and the rest of DS9 season 3.

And I totally agree. TNG didn't start getting good until like season 3 or 4, and DS9 is just now starting to get good in season 3 after very average season 1-2.

[Push R Truth]

Outside of Pelant related bullshit episodes that drug the whole show down, Bones was great once they nailed the dynamic with Sweets/Booth/Bones. When the earlier show was more focused on Booth/Bones/Angela/Hodgins it could sometimes get pretty goofy and lame.

Last couple seasons of The Clone Wars completely eclipsed the first couple.

I preferred Woody Cheers to Coach Cheers. *ducks a tomato*

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

The Wire, seasons three and four.

Red Dwarf, all of it is funny but 4-10 are hilarious IMO.

Avatar Last Airbender and Korra are always fun (I’ll defend Korra season two to death), but they both hit their strides in the third and fourth halves.

[Natural Born Farmer]

I guess it depends on how you define "later" seasons, but It's Always Sunny didn't really find it's footing until Danny Devito joined the cast.

I think seasons 3 and 4 of Boardwalk Empire are also definitely the best.  Not that the first two are bad, the story just gets better once the characters are established.

[fw91]

Seasons 3 and 4 of Eastbound and Down are the best

[Cyno]

Nov 3, 2021 13:49:12 GMT -5 @therealoblivion said:

Nov 3, 2021 13:03:21 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Every single Star Trek series besides TOS.

I'm literally watching a complete Star Trek marathon after having seen random reruns my whole life. I just watched Generations this morning (very underrated btw) and next is Voyager season 1 and the rest of DS9 season 3.

And I totally agree. TNG didn't start getting good until like season 3 or 4, and DS9 is just now starting to get good in season 3 after very average season 1-2.

Yep. There were a few standout episodes in those early seasons of TNG and DS9 but they didn't start getting consistently good until like S3 or so. Voyager also got better once they got past the Kazon, who also mostly stopped mattering after the S3 premiere.

Still makes me bitter about what happened to Enterprise because I thought the show was starting to finally hit its stride in S4 with the mostly really good mini-arcs. And then UPN cancelled it and they ended it with that really flimsy series finale that was essentially an interquel to one of the better TNG episodes.

[James Fabiano]

Most of these will be "just as much" examples rather than "more", but....

Match Game : the Star Wheel episodes. Yeah I know pre-SW and during-Dawson was the glory days of the show, but the SW era was "my" Match Game growing up. Similarly there was Family Feud when they got the lollipop trees. Unfortunately, they also got the 400-points-win rule which neutered the show and Richard's banter.

Brittas Empire: There's some post-Fegen/Norriss eps. I like as much as the glory days.

Laverne and Shirley: I LIKE the CA episodes, as long as Shirley's still on the show.

Agreed on MST3K with Mike episodes, including SFC ones. Stretching, but can I include RIFFTRAX with this?

A definite "like the later seasons more" example: SUPERFRIENDS. Starting with when they got to the Legion of Doom, and definitely the Super Powers seasons.

[karl100589]

Kirsty Alley era of Cheers > Shelley Long era of Cheers.

Alley IMO was a better comedic actress then Long, the show became more of an ensemble rather then being Sam centric and it introduced Lilith who was my personal favourite character.

[Casey Jones]

I liked New Aunt Viv episodes of fresh prince. Will and Carlton living in the pool house and working at the peacock was more enjoyable to me.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Married with Children. Enjoy the more cartoonish feel when Jefferson arrived.

Seinfeld doesn’t really kick in until the 4th season. Though the Chinese Restaurant is the very really great episode.

[DiBiase is Good]

MASH, mainly due to the character changes
Charles is a much better foil to Hawkeye than Frank was. BJ is a much better sidekick than Trapper was. Potter is a better boss than Blake.

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

Bob's Burgers. Find the first two seasons pretty mediocre for the majority.