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TV shows that started off good but went downhill

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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:46 AM
Original message
TV shows that started off good but went downhill
My choice is the first two seasons of "Happy Days". When it started it was a show about Richie Cunningham and his Jefferson High School friends and his family life. It was not filmed before a studio audience and the plots were funny and nostalgic. Then a minor character who worked well with the others "Fonzie" took off and by season three, the show was before a live audience and the plots began to revolve around Fonzie with Richie and his friends and family relegated to secondary status. As time went by the plots became more and more rediculous and imo, by the time the show went off the air it was a cartoon.

Your choices?
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flamingyouth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:47 AM
Response to Original message
1. And remember his older brother Chuck from the first season?
They never, ever spoke of him again. I always thought that was really weird. :D
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cheezus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. actually, I think chuck went off and died in the war
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Wickerman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #1
5. Perhaps he wound up in the Nixon Administration
or, was convicted of sex crimes. Either one, enough to keep you off TV.

Speaking of shows that have gone down hill - I was watching Will and Grace last night - is Grace expecting in real life?
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ET Awful Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #1
7. Well see, Chuck had a bit of an addictive personality.
They could deal with his gambling and drinking, but the heroine and Yak pituitary gland mixture was just too weird and they asked him to leave :)
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THUNDER HANDS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:47 AM
Response to Original message
2. ER
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zann725 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #2
13. How about West Wing? Since Aaron Sorkin left...
it's been all down-hill! It was truly a work of art before, now it's almost a parody of itself.

I'd heard that the Right was upset about a lot of it's story lines, and were puttig on pressure...and that's why Sorkin left. Is that true? Now it appears they have Bartlett (fading fast with M.S.). Too fast to be medically believable, though rating-necessary, I suppose!

Let me guess, they'll replace it with yet another Reality-based TV show, OR perhaps "Apprentice II."
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ThoughtCriminal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:49 AM
Response to Original message
4. Almost all good shows run out of ideas
after 3-4 seasons unless they are canceled while they are still good. There are probably a few exceptions.
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justinsb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:53 AM
Response to Reply #4
11. That's why HBO and Showtime are cleaning up
They make fewer episodes to begin with 13-14 instead of 30-32 they hire good writers, then they throw out the bad ideas, then they throw out the good ideas and keep the great ideas - then when things first start to get stale, frequently while the ratings are still going up - they pull the plug, do a dramatic grand finale and move on to the next show.
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Prisoner_Number_Six Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 12:18 PM
Response to Reply #11
18. Best example of HBO crashing a series was
OZ. They managed to kill off every single interesting character in the last three episodes. Ruined the entire series because of its ultimate pointlessness.
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justinsb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 12:24 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. I took the ultimate pointlessness of the series
as a statement about the U.S. legal system - the US currently has a higher incarceration rate than any nation, during any period (excluding nazi germany) in recorded history including the former USSR and apartheid South Africa.
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Wickerman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:50 AM
Response to Original message
6. LA Law
interesting at first.
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terrya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:51 AM
Response to Original message
8. "Murphy Brown"
Edited on Fri Dec-10-04 11:51 AM by terrya
It was ok the first 2 or 3 seasons. But Candice Bergen does NOT wear well with time, IMO. Plus, when Murphy had the kid...it was "jump the shark" time. And I didn't really care if Dan Quayle was pissed or not.
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bambo53 Donating Member (558 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:52 AM
Response to Original message
9. Mash
Started off very funny and well done,,, then Alan Alda took over .
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Aiptasia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:52 AM
Response to Original message
10. The term is called "Jumping the Shark"
And actually, Arthur Fonzarelli on "Happy Days" was the first to coin the expression. It's used in Hollywood to describe when a show has gone way past it's prime.

Proper use: "So, Sally Joe, when do you think that 'Friends' jumped the shark?"
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #10
14. Yeah I know
but I decided not to use it.
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On the Road Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:54 AM
Original message
Ally McBeal
The quintessential best-to-worst trajectory.
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Debbi801 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:59 AM
Response to Original message
16. I so agree with this. I couldn't even bear to watch it by the last season
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htuttle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:54 AM
Response to Original message
12. You gotta check out the Jump the Shark site if you haven't
Edited on Fri Dec-10-04 11:55 AM by htuttle
http://www.jumptheshark.com

It's named after the moment when Happy Days went downhill -- when Fonzie jumped a shark on waterskis. The sites lists opinions on when hundreds of television shows 'jumped the shark'.
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mac56 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 11:56 AM
Response to Original message
15. "Mad About You"
It started out so good. Then they decided to dumb it down and start a story arc about Paul flirting with another woman, and Jamie getting kissed by a male co-worker.

At that point, they spotted the fin and began their trajectory.
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Mixxster Donating Member (653 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Dec-10-04 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #15
17. Totally agree.
What was worse, IMO, was that Jamie was portrayed as the bad guy even though old Paul actually flirted with that women and almost bedded her.
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