Shows that you barely recognized its later seasons from its early one(s)

[TMC]

Whether it be the enjoyability factor or subject matter because the show morphed and evolved so significantly and dramatically.

[cnnbcbs]

Facts of Life, in transitioning to a show about schoolgirls to a Designing Women-esque female workplace sitcom.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by cnnbcbs

Facts of Life, in transitioning to a show about schoolgirls to a Designing Women-esque female workplace sitcom.

Yep.

I'll add Little House on the Prairie, which started out as a sweet, semi-historic tale of the historical Ingalls family, and slowly devolved into a show which had almost none of the Ingalls family, and every episode seemed to have a wildfire, a blizzard, morphine addiction, burning babies, or mime rape. By the end, only one original core cast member was left.

[Old School]

Started off as a sitcom about an African American middle class family and ended up as a Steven Urkel/Stefan Urkel sci-fi comedy with the very last season of the series focusing a lot on Jaleel White dressing up in drag as female character when not getting ready to go into outer space with NASA.

Family Matters Started Out As




Family Matters Ended Up As

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by cnnbcbs

Facts of Life, in transitioning to a show about schoolgirls to a Designing Women-esque female workplace sitcom.

The Facts of Life started the female workplace sitcom in 1983, three years before Designing Women started. I don't really see the background setting as a drastic change though. I think the only drastic change FOL had was between season 1 and season 2. The show started with 7 girls and a headmaster that visited the house every day. Season 2 until the end dropped all that keeping the show focused on the core 4 and Mrs. Garrett, until it was just the core 4 in the last 2 seasons.

The Lucy Show and Mama's Family are two that changed drastically. The first half of The Lucy Show was about Lucy, Viv, and the kids. The later years had gotten rid of Viv and the kids turning the show into the Lucy and Mooney series. Mama's Family started off resembling the Carol Burnett skits. After the NBC years, the show retooled Mama's character making her a mean old lady, made Vint a stupid idiot, and Naomi an airheaded bimbo a lot of times. They added in Iola making Mama and Iola a Lucy and Ethel type duo for the last 4 years. It was nothing like what Mama's Family originated as. They also dropped Vint's kids acting like they never existed. It was a hard change to digest.

[dee2364]

Life Goes On. It started off exclusively about the main character and then all of a sudden became the Kellie Martin Show. The series even ended with her character, as if it had been about Corky's sister the entire time. So much for being a groundbreaking series!

[dee2364]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yep.

I'll add Little House on the Prairie, which started out as a sweet, semi-historic tale of the historical Ingalls family, and slowly devolved into a show which had almost none of the Ingalls family, and every episode seemed to have a wildfire, a blizzard, morphine addiction, burning babies, or mime rape. By the end, only one original core cast member was left.

Yes. The turning point was May We Make them Proud. Then the show was all about sleaze and sensationalism.

The show even retconned some of its earlier episodes. There was an entire episode dedicated to Mary dealing with her fears of becoming pregnant so the show could say she was just as capable of taking care of a child as anyone else...only to have her and Adam carelessly waddle away from their baby during a fire when they could've just taken him right then and there. So much for that inspirational episode!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Christopher

The first half of The Lucy Show was about Lucy, Viv, and the kids. The later years had gotten rid of Viv and the kids turning the show into the Lucy and Mooney series.

Great observations regarding The Lucy Show. I remember wondering where Chris, Jerry, Viv, and Sherman all went. It wasn't until years later that I learned what happened.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by dee2364

Yes. The turning point was May We Make them Proud. Then the show was all about sleaze and sensationalism.

The folks on the Television Without Pity Forums used to call that episode May We Bake Them Brown in recognition of what happens to Alice Garvey and the baby. A dark joke, and yet clever...

The show even retconned some of its earlier episodes. There was an entire episode dedicated to Mary dealing with her fears of becoming pregnant so the show could say she was just as capable of taking care of a child as anyone else...only to have her and Adam carelessly waddle away from their baby during a fire when they could've just taken him right then and there. So much for that inspirational episode!

Yes! Adam and especially Mary wandering away from their baby was so unrealistic. They were standing right by the crib! Pick up your baby, you fools!

May We Make Them Proud may have been the tipping point where the show became irredeemable due to the sensational nature of the episodes, but Season 5 started the downhill journey for me. The Ingalls family, always poor, decides to adopt another child. And Carrie, who must have been eight, was peeing her pants in public...? I can't even imagine how that storyline came about.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by dee2364

Life Goes On. It started off exclusively about the main character and then all of a sudden became the Kellie Martin Show. The series even ended with her character, as if it had been about Corky's sister the entire time. So much for being a groundbreaking series!

That was weird. It was like it had become the Becca and Jesse show.

[Sal]

Happy Days

Seasons 1 and 2 - Richie, Potsie, and Ralph grow up in 1950s Milwaukee where they learn about girls, cars, rock and roll, and school - in that order.

Seasons 3-6 - Series filmed before live audience. Fonzie becomes the star and takes over as the hero and older brother figure to the rest of the cast.

Seasons 7-11 - Richie and Ralph leave for the Army replaced by Chachi and a new sorry group of characters that have no connection to the 50s and 60s and provide very few happy days for the remaining viewers.


Mom

Season 1 - Newly sober single Mom Christy starts a new life where she struggles to take care of her kids as well as her annoying, interfering mother Bonnie.

Season 2 - The kids disappear and Bonnie takes over as the mother figure as she tries to raise her adult daughter Christy by herself.

Seasons 3-7 - Christy and Bonnie spend most of their time trying to bond with their support group where very little mothering of any kind takes place.

Season 8 - Christy wisely leaves the group and the series while the rest of the cast go on with their lives as if she didn't exist. Her friends suddenly become Bonnie's new family.

Wasn't this series supposed to be about her real family? This show gets more confusing every season.

[JustaViewer]

MASH.
Began as a comedy with a little drama. Ended as a drama with a little (very little) comedy.

[dee2364]

I just remembered the most obvious one:

Married with Children! It was a completely different show in the beginning. In the first two seasons, it was a very grounded, down to earth blue collar comedy, with Al and Peg just being very normal but uncouth working class people. Some of those episodes were also more thoughtfully written, almost like one act plays.

And then everything changed with one of the episodes (I think it was the one where they go on vacation and Peggy gets kidnapped). That's when the show became a live action cartoon, with more slapstick, silly plots and over the top humor. Ed O'Neill's voice even changed dramatically from when he first started.

The biggest change of all was Peggy. It was clear that in the beginning, she was supposed to be like an Italian-American type housewife but then they made her a hick who came from the Appalachians who had family that looked like they were the Beverly Hillbillies, which never really made any sense given the way she looked and acted.

[LUNCH]

I was going to mention Happy Days, but Sal beat me to it. Such a good show in it's early years. Almost unrecognizable during the last few seasons. I have long thought that whenever they rerun the show they should just air the first 4 seasons than start over again.

[merlinjones]

Happy Days
The Lucy Show
The Doris Day Show
My Three Sons
Two and a Half Men
Mom
The Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry RFD
All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place