In my opinion, these are the sitcoms that had great first seasons

1.Jeffersons
2.Laverne and Shirley
3.Good Times
4.Welcome Back Kotter


These are the sitcoms I think had horible first seasons

1.Sanford and Son
2.Three's Company
3.Happy Days
4.Married With Children.

Here's my List:

Great First Seasons:
1. NewsRadio (1995)
2. Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002)
3. Taxi (1978-1979)
4. Three's Company (1977)
5. Chico and the Man (1974-1975)

Bad First Seasons: (of shows I like)
1. The Brady Bunch (I liked the later years)
2. Wings (I liked season 3 on)
3. Perfect Strangers (I like the Chicago Chronicles episodes)
4. Boy Meets World (The show got better as it went on)
5. Happy Days (It's just a matter of taste. I like season 3 on)

Originally posted by TVAdam
Here's my List:

Great First Seasons:
1. NewsRadio (1995)
2. Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002)
3. Taxi (1978-1979)
4. Three's Company (1977)
5. Chico and the Man (1974-1975)

Bad First Seasons: (of shows I like)
1. The Brady Bunch (I liked the later years)
2. Wings (I liked season 3 on)
3. Perfect Strangers (I like the Chicago Chronicles episodes)
4. Boy Meets World (The show got better as it went on)
5. Happy Days (It's just a matte of taste. I like season 3 on)


I can stand Happy days before they were in front of a live audience. Like you said, season 3 and on.

The following had great first seasons IMHO:

The Brady Bunch
Leave It To Beaver
Perfect Strangers
The Waltons
The Wonder Years

Great first seasons:
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The New Dick Van Dyke Show
The Cosby Show
Family Ties (That was when it stayed with the original concept and more episodes was dealing with Steven and Elyse as a couple that was hippies during the 60s and parents raising children in the 80s.)
The Beverly Hillbillies
Bewitched
Cheers
Too Close for Comfort
The Jeffersons

Bad first seasons:
One Day At A Time
Alice
Mary Tyler Moore Show
Bob Newhart Show
All In the Family
Gimme A Break

Honorable mention goes to Eight Is Enough for pulling off a first season when tragedy struck the show during the first season when Diana Hyland died of cancer. She was the original mom on the show. I am glad that Betty Buckley came along and breathe life into the show as Abby, Tom Bradford's second wife. I don't think the show would had last if they kept Tom Bradford a widower throughout the series. Abby served as a voice of reason between Tom and the kids.

Originally posted by mstewart

Honorable mention goes to Eight Is Enough for pulling off a first season when tragedy struck the show during the first season when Diana Hyland died of cancer. She was the original mom on the show. I am glad that Betty Buckley came along and breathe life into the show as Abby, Tom Bradford's second wife. I don't think the show would had last if they kept Tom Bradford a widower throughout the series. Abby served as a voice of reason between Tom and the kids.
I never watched Eight is Enough. I was a busy teen when it aired, and I haven't seen it since. I know the characters for the most part. I know that Diana Hyland was John Travolta's first love. It's very sad she died so young.
I know Betty Buckley joined the cast. What I didn't know was that she came on as his second wife. I thought she replaced Diana as his wife and the kids' mother.
I'm curious about this now as it surely must have changed the premise and dynamics of the show with a stepmother on board. Did they deal with blended family issues and dealing with their mother's death? The show must have needed a lot of rewriting and restructuring.
Whatever they did worked because I know the show was very successful had had a long run.

Mork and Mindy had a great first season.

Originally posted by Janice

I never watched Eight is Enough. I was a busy teen when it aired, and I haven't seen it since. I know the characters for the most part. I know that Diana Hyland was John Travolta's first love. It's very sad she died so young.
I know Betty Buckley joined the cast. What I didn't know was that she came on as his second wife. I thought she replaced Diana as his wife and the kids' mother.
I'm curious about this now as it surely must have changed the premise and dynamics of the show with a stepmother on board. Did they deal with blended family issues and dealing with their mother's death? The show must have needed a lot of rewriting and restructuring.
Whatever they did worked because I know the show was very successful had had a long run.
Diana Hyland, who played the mom for the first four episodes, passed away during the first season. The remaining shows had her going away to visit relatives. When the second season began it played that Joan Bradford passed away and it was recent. I hated the episode when Dr. Max tried to show Tom the swingng singles life. The following episode Abby came along. They introduced that storyline as her being a traveling tutor because one of the children got hurt and could not attend school. From that point on the romance between Tom and Abby developed. the wedding episode was good and Betty Buckley gave a powerful performance. I was moved to tears especially when she described her love to Tom to her mom when the wedding was nearly cancelled.

I liked the way they develop her relationship with the family. Some did not openly embraced her and it was dealt with. Her first season on the show dealt with her being a stepmom to the children but she did not bring any children into the marriage. I liked the fact that she did not tried to be the children's mom. She acted more as a friend to them. She was more mothering to Nicholas because he was so young and still at the age of needing a mother figure.

The series was very enjoyable until the final season and the show just played out.

Originally posted by mstewart
The series was very enjoyable until the final season and the show just played out.
Thanks mstewart for a great synopsis. The writers certainly stepped upped to the plate when faced with a change in premise for the show.
I can't help but wonder how different the show would have been had Ms. Hyland not passed away.
Now I want to see the show. It's just never passed my way in all these years. :)

Good first seasons:
Laverne and Shirley
Three's Company
Friends

Horrible first seasons:
Full House
Family Matters
Step By Step

Great First Seasons:
The Lucy Show (one of the best first seasons I've ever watched)
Laverne & Shirley
Three's Company
The Munsters
Bewitched
Mork and Mindy
Sanford and Son
Here's Lucy

So-So First Seasons:
I Love Lucy
Happy Days
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Mary Tyler Moore
The Brady Bunch
The Wonder Years
The Jeffersons

Horrible First Seasons:
The Facts Of Life
Archie Bunker's Place
I Dream Of Jeannie

Good:
I Love Lucy- yes! It was the best season!!!! :p
ABP- better because Murray was there.
Hogan's Heroes
Adam-12
Route 66
The Monkees
Full House
Saved by the Bell
Futurama

Bad:
I Dream of Jeannie- it got better when Roger knew of her existance
The Simpsons- so bad I won't buy the DVD