Which show(s) do you think had the most change (character wise, plot wise ect.) as the seasons progressed? Think of a show that basically seemed like a completely different show by the last season.

I can think of a lot but I'm going to start with Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

I mean come on! half the cast was gone, new friends, college, no aunts, barely even ever uses her magic and wtf is up with that opening theme?? In my opinion, they should have just created a new show with a different title.

Yeah, I used to love Sabrina and then after a while it got old. Wasn't as funny anymore after She and Harvey got together. I can't even remember... did they stay together or did they break up and she went with someone else?:confused:

BTW... you're from Seattle too! How cool is that?!:)

Andrea

Yeah, I used to love Sabrina and then after a while it got old. Wasn't as funny anymore after She and Harvey got together. I can't even remember... did they stay together or did they break up and she went with someone else?:confused:

BTW... you're from Seattle too! How cool is that?!:)

Andrea


That's very cool! I don't think I've run into anyone else on here that's from Seattle. Yep, born and raised in West Seattle :)

Anyways, about Sabrina. They broke up when she met Josh (I think... I stopped watching after season 3) but then in the end when she's about to marry some other guy, she runs off with Harvey. I really thought it was pointless after all of her High School classmates left.

watch an episode from the last season of Happy Days and compare it to one of the first season episodes;

- different cast, different music, different camera and shooting style, different house, different Arnold's, Fonzie wasn't even a big part of Happy Days in the first season - he wasn't even in most of the earliest episodes, heck it looked like they went from the 50's to the 80's by the end there.

The Facts of Life!! The first season differs so much from the rest!!! I feel like the second season was really the first season, if that makes any sense...lol.

The Facts of Life!! The first season differs so much from the rest!!! I feel like the second season was really the first season, if that makes any sense...lol.
Ament to that!! I totally get what you mean abt that. :lol:

Rob, my sentiments exactly abt HAPPY DAYS. My God, the first two seasons are a different show from the rest. And as for how the show ended up, compare that to the 3rd season. :crazy:

Family Matters became the Urkel show.

7th Heaven...by the end of the show, almost all of the Camden kids were out of the house and it became about other people.

Which show(s) do you think had the most change (character wise, plot wise ect.) as the seasons progressed? Think of a show that basically seemed like a completely different show by the last season.

I can think of a lot but I'm going to start with Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

I mean come on! half the cast was gone, new friends, college, no aunts, barely even ever uses her magic and wtf is up with that opening theme?? In my opinion, they should have just created a new show with a different title.
That second theme was awful. I hated that opening altogether.

Family Matters became the Urkel show.
Yes it did. If you watch an early season 1 episode then a late season 9 episode you'll see major differences: Urkel wasn't even on until halfway through season 1, and he really wasn't in the episode very long. the show became a sci fi instead of a family show. The theme song was removed. The grandma and nephew are gone. Rachel and Judy don't seem to exist, Harriet's a different actress (for the last half of the final season). The show moved away from it's original format starting in season 2 as Urkel was a regular now. He had more plots, but there was still a good balance between him and all the other characters. Season 3 started being more about Urkel and season 4 did too. Season 5 lost two cast members with no explanation. Season 6 was the turning point, Steve was officially the main character (well maybe not OFFICIALLY). The show became a sci-fi and focused less on Family Matters (pun :lol: )

That second theme was awful. I hated that opening altogether.

Not to be nitpicky, but there were actually three different themes & intros that "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" had.

1. 1st theme w/the Sabrina trying on different outfits in front of a mirror intro (1996-99)
2. 2nd theme w/the cast members being shown inside bubbles intro (1999-00)
3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Sabrina trying to adjust to it intro (2000-03)

Not to be nitpicky, but there were actually three different themes & intros that "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" had.

1. 1st theme w/the Sabrina trying on different outfits in front of a mirror intro (1996-99)
2. 2nd theme w/the cast members being shown inside bubbles intro (1999-00)
3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Sabrina trying to adjust to it intro (2000-03)
correction:

3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Melissa Joan Hart trying to pretend she knows how to dance intro (2000-03)

correction:

3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Melissa Joan Hart trying to pretend she knows how to dance intro (2000-03)

Yeah, I thought she looked like she was trying to be one of those college party girls that have trouble dancing in that intro myself.

ROSEANNE Enough said.

correction:

3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Melissa Joan Hart trying to pretend she knows how to dance intro (2000-03)


:lol:

correction:

3. 3rd theme w/the lyrics about starting college life and the Melissa Joan Hart trying to pretend she knows how to dance intro (2000-03)

:lol: That's the one I hate.

My vote goes to Happy Days for MOST changed as well.

I stopped watching when Sabrina changed networks.
Glad she ended up with Harvey...

I stopped watching when Sabrina changed networks.
Glad she ended up with Harvey...
If she hadn't, that show would have just been a total waste of time from seasons 5-7. Well, it sort of was anyway, but that helped heal the wounds.

#1- Mork & Mindy: Went from a funny show about an alien and his Earth GF, to an unfunny show with a political bent, then the focus became Mork's 50 yr old baby, in the 3rd season.
#2- Happy Days: From a show about family life lessons, set in the 50s, it downgraded into a cheesy comedy about a greaseball on a motorcycle.
#3- M*A*S*H: Went from an army comedy based closely on the movie, to a more serious dramady (Although, i love it in both incarnations).
#4- Lost in Space: From serious Sci-fi in the first season, to camp in the second, to something in between, in the 3rd.
#5- The Simpsons: From a show mainly about Bart the Brat, to a show about Homer and his schemes. (A similar thing happened to Married with Children, which started out as a parody of family comedies, and degraded to a show about Al and his "No Ma'm buddies)

HAPPY DAYS-went from a family sitcom set in the 50s, to "THE FONZIE SHOW" with ridiculos plots and characters; not to mention that ANNOYING live audience.
MASH-went from being a funny military sitcom, to a dramedy that was also "THE ALAN ALDA SHOW".
ELLEN-went from being a hilarious sitcom, and then after Ellen DeGenneris "came out of the closet" along with her character, became a showcase for her being gay.

The Doris Day Show. Every season was different and starting with the fourth season it was dramatically different.

The Doris Day Show. Every season was different and starting with the fourth season it was dramatically different.

Actually the first three seasons had some continuity among them so you can group these three together. I plan to buy these three seasons.

the fourth and fifth seasons may have been some sitcom starring Doris Day, but it sure as heck wasn't the Doris Day Show!! :p I refuse to watch those.

No contest.

TATTINGERS went from an hour long drama to a 30 minute sitcom (NICK & HILLARY) in one (15 episode) season.

what the heck was Tattingers?? :confused:

yea; I never heard of it, and I'm 50 years old!

I agree that two of the worst as far as sitcoms changing (for worse) are:
Mork and Mindy: (I HATED that stupid baby storyline!)
Ellen: I remember an interview on The Tonight Show where Joley Fisher said that "We aren't going to become the Gay Ellen Show. Well guess what? That's exactly what it became! And when Ellen was doing interviews later after the show had been canceled, she said "They're scared. That's all it is."

No Ellen. The show was CRAP after that!:mad:

Andrea

I vote for Happy Days as most changed show.

Def.:

Happy Days - As the seasons went on, the show became mostly focused on Fonzie.

Family Matters - Ditto for those that said it became the Urkel Show

What about Good Times?

Good Times - The earlier seasons didn't focus as much on J.J. as the later seasons did. Once John Amos left, most of the eps. from later seasons of the show started increasingly focusing on J.J. and his antics.

Also:

Hangin' With Mr. Cooper - The 1st season had a little more adult innuendo and somewhat played out a little like Three's Company w/ Dawn Lewis's character around. But by S2, Dawnn was out, Sandra Quatermann and Raven Symone were in and the adult innuendo was thrown out the window.

And you can see a somewhat drastic change between S1 and S2, new night timeslot, less adult humor, and a slight change in the plot.

Lucy Show, The - I think w/ the exit of Vivian Vance and the entrance of Gale Gordon, the plot changed somewhat.

TATTINGER'S was a one season wonder from 1989:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094563/

Laverne & Shirley. Not only because Shirley was gone, but just the entire feel of the series had become different.

yea; I never heard of it, and I'm 50 years old!

So, whose fault is that?

Hangin' With Mr. Cooper - The 1st season had a little more adult innuendo and somewhat played out a little like Three's Company w/ Dawn Lewis's character around. But by S2, Dawnn was out, Sandra Quatermann and Raven Symone were in and the adult innuendo was thrown out the window.



Very true!!! When Raven came in it became more family-oriented and the focus was on Mark and Raven's character inetrracting and then the romantic relationship between Mark and Holly. It was no longer like Three's Company when Sandra and her daughter came in.

I think HAPPY DAYS and LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY take the cake. If we were doing shows that hardly changed at ALL in quality and style/format over the years, it would be THE GOLDEN GIRLS. Compare a season one episode to a season seven episode--- the only differences you'll notice are the haircuts and the fact that Sophia looks "younger" as the show progresses. Reverse aging!

Other shows that changed somewhat have been:

FACTS OF LIFE--- too large of a cast in season one; just right for seasons two through seven. Seasons eight and nine with Cloris Leachman were alright. And even though I like Leachman as an actress, Charlotte Rae was the better suited of the two for that particular show.

Its predecessor, DIFF'RENT STROKES--- didn't hit its stride until the later seasons. Season One's Charlotte Rae character Mrs. Garrett, who would of course eventually receive her own sitcom, made the first season okay; the second season to me just was barely satisfactory.

CHEERS- The Diane Years vs. The Rebecca Years--- I'm surprised this hasn't resulted in a World War yet. These are two completely different CHEERS camps: each believing that their female lead was the better suited to play off Sam Malone in the long-running sitcom. Personally I liked both. The feel of the show never changed, nor did the atmosphere. But there were many cast changes. Nick Colasanto to Woody Harrelson, Shelley Long to Kirstie Alley, the addition of Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth, as well as Rebecca's numerous love interests who served as supporting characters (Tom Skerritt, Roger Rees, etc) every once in a while.

Melrose Place. The earlier and mid seasons were just your classic hit Spelling drama. Towards the end it just turned into another soap.

DALLAS!!!

"In the House" - a sitcom about Marion Hill (LL Cool J) who was an football player who rented out his house to a family; Jackie (Debbie Allen) her teenage daughter Tiffany and young son Austin. Marion loved in the apartment over the garage and ended up working for Jackie as her kid's "nanny." Through the course of the show Jackie and Austin left, so Marion got his house back. He worked at a gym with Maxwell Stanton and Tonya Harris (Max was new and Tonya was recurring for the previous season). Then pretty much the show focuses on Tiffany and her friends and Maxwell and his girlfriend, and maybe wife, I'm not too sure. I really didn't watch the later seasons much.

90210 through the seasons as the gang got older.

I agree that two of the worst as far as sitcoms changing (for worse) are:
Mork and Mindy: (I HATED that stupid baby storyline!)
Ellen: I remember an interview on The Tonight Show where Joley Fisher said that "We aren't going to become the Gay Ellen Show. Well guess what? That's exactly what it became! And when Ellen was doing interviews later after the show had been canceled, she said "They're scared. That's all it is."

No Ellen. The show was CRAP after that!:mad:

Andreaand whenever you saw an interview with Ellen DeGenerous after it was cannceled, and she'd be talking about it, she'd say "Oh, the only reason ABC cannceled it was because I'm gay". You felt like saying "You know, that's not why it was cannceled. It was cannceled because it sucked the entire last season"!

i cant believe I forgot Cheers....what began as a romantic comedy (with a little sexy spice thrown in) sadly became a sex farce, when Shelley Long was replaced by Kirstey Alley (The show was still funny, but, lost its heart!)

The Waltons: I have seen that at least the first seven seasons are available on DVD. I do not want the final two from the post-Olivia world. Say what you want about Cindy Williams leaving Laverne and Shirley, but Miss Michael Learned was like the glue that held the cast together! It went from the parents (and grandparents) having plots to the kids having their own--and even marrying!

The Wonder Years: Compare the first four (junior high) seasons with the last two (senior high). A lot of Kevin's friends from junior high school were gone (and Winnie was gone for a balance of the fifth season!). Plus, the original writers left. It was like the new ones hated Kevin with the plot lines that made up the last couple seasons, with him being more rebellious. :mad:

My Name Is Earl it went from being about Earl trying to atone for his past to Friends set in a trailer park or more like Shasta McNasty. The Beverly Hillbillies went from a show about a backwoods family trying to adjust to life in California to what screwball situation we can put the Clampett's in and who will try to get their money this week. The Andy Griffith Show Barny years vs Warren years you know the drill.

TATTINGER'S was a one season wonder from 1989



Actually 1988-89

#1-Mork & Mindy:Went from a funny show about an alien and his Earth GF, to an unfunny show with a political bent, then the focus became Mork's 50 yr old baby, in the 3rd season.


Actually, the baby was during the 4th and final season

Hill Street Blues - Around the mid '80s, presumably after the death of Sgt. Esterhaus (Michael Conrad), there were a number of cast additions, removals, plot chnages, etc.

By the 1984-85 season, about 4 more cast members or so joined the cast and they were all gone at the end of that season, except for Robert Prosky.

By 1985-86, Dennis Franz now gets star billing as Norman Buntz, and I think this was when the end of most episodes of this show began focusing a lot more on Furillo and Davenport's relationship.

By 1986-87, two more cast members were added and the exits of Coffey (Ed Marinaro) and Bates (Betty Thomas), slong with Rene Enriquez.

Actually 1988-89
Yes, it was a one season show. I put 1989 because that is when it last aired.

The Waltons: I have seen that at least the first seven seasons are available on DVD. I do not want the final two from the post-Olivia world. Say what you want about Cindy Williams leaving Laverne and Shirley, but Miss Michael Learned was like the glue that held the cast together! It went from the parents (and grandparents) having plots to the kids having their own--and even marrying!
The Waltons did indeed change...for the worst. We had a different actor for John-boy who I could not receive very well in that role. We then had Rose, the cousin from John's side of the family. :rolleyes: I realize Ellen (grandma) became ill and the death of Will Geer caused some changes on the show, but those things were natural, out of people's control, that is what happens in real life. You can accustom yourself to accepting those kind of changes, but when the character of Olivia left for Arizona (why does everyone go to Arizona for their health?) and left her brood behind, that was the Jump the Shark moment for the show. It was never the same.