TV shows that burned hot, then burned out almost as fast

[Brian Damage]

There was a time when "Heroes" was popular with TV fans and critics alike, when the ratings were big, when the show was being held up as getting right everything that "Lost" at the time was doing wrong, when its first season was named Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association (over the fourth season of "The Wire," no less, which has since acquired a "best season of TV drama in the history of ever" reputation).

As the show comes to the end of its fourth — and, barring some weird accounting from NBC, what should be its last — season tonight at 9, those glory days feel like a very long time ago. Today, some of the most die-hard "Heroes" fans I know are hoping NBC will put it out of its misery.

This column isn’t an excuse to beat up on "Heroes" again. Lord knows I’ve done that enough over the years. Instead, I want to point out that the weird arc of "Heroes" — from phenomenon in its first season to afterthought in its fourth — isn’t that unusual.

ABC recently announced that this will be the last season for "Ugly Betty," which debuted the same fall as "Heroes," and to similar levels of buzz.

We can argue about the reasons why each show ultimately failed to have cultural staying power — with "Heroes," I’ve long believed that the creative team was good at laying a foundation (introducing the original characters and their powers) but had no idea how to build on it with interesting stories or additional heroes and villains — but TV history is riddled with other shows that similarly burned hot, burned bright, and burned out, even if the realities of the business meant that they kept on flickering for years after anyone stopped paying attention.

[Retro4Life]

I'd add "Twin Peaks" to this list. It was quite the rage during the first season. Everyone kept making comments about "cherry pie" and "the log lady", and "Who Killed Laura Palmer?" was kind of a national mantra for a while.

Then...poof. Nobody cared anymore. The second season just wasn't as fresh and by the end of it there wasn't even much of an outcry for a renewal.

"Batman" too falls under this category. I wasn't old enough to be aware of the show when it originally ran, but from what I've read the first year was like manna from Heaven (and the first "season" was really only half a year long). It slipped in the second year, with weak villains and increasingly goofy plots. By the time the third year (hardly a long run for a show so initially hot) came around, it was "what can we do to save the show?" time, and nothing they did managed that.

[yankeesrj12]

As of right now, FlashForward.

I'd also add Pushing Daisies to the list.

[R.jsheedy]

Deal Or No Deal
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader
1 VS. 100
Cougar Town (FALLING IN RAITINGS EVERY WEEK)
Fringe (DEAD AFTER THIS YEAR)

[catlover79]

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
The Weakest Link
Charlie's Angels
Desperate Housewives

[70s show watcher]

just shoot me was really hot in the mid 90s and even hotter in the early 2000's but then in the space of a year it just dropped like a stone

[JamesG]

HBO's Carnivàle

It started out very strong (had the short-lived record of being the highest rated debut on HBO until Deadwood) and it had strong, solid ratings throughout its first season run.

By the time the second season came, 12 months later, the show lost most of its audience and it was canned after the season ended.

[Jude The Obscure]

The NBC series "Nightingales" with Suzanne Pleshette and Kristy Swanson. It had great buzz among viewers but within a short time, flamed out.

The ABC series "Call to Glory" with Craig T. Nelson and Cindy Pickett. The first season had the ratings and the critical acclaim and it all just sort of petered out during season 2.

[factsoflife]

Ally McBeal falls into this category. Seasons 1 and 2 were very well liked and popular, but by season 3 people were hoping it would go away. It's ratings dwindled and critical support dropped.

I would say that Dawson's Creek falls into this category as well; by the time season 2 came around most critics that had embraced it had long stopped supporting it and fans were drifting away as well; thanks to some bad writing and lack of story ideas, as well as a less than interesting lead character.

I would also mention to some degree, Grey's Anatomy falls right into this category as well. Clearly seasons 1 and 2 were very well liked and had much support but seasons 3 didn't get great response and it keeps getting worse.

and lastly, Boston Legal would be a good fit for this thread, especially since it seemed by the end that even ABC seemed to be over it and jumbled it around timeslots and changed it's cast so much that it couldn't ever really get itself off the ground.

[yankeesrj12]

Originally Posted by R.jsheedy

Deal Or No Deal
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader
1 VS. 100
Cougar Town (FALLING IN RAITINGS EVERY WEEK)
Fringe (DEAD AFTER THIS YEAR)

I don't think Fringe really fits into this category. Yeah people thought it would do great in the ratings, but it didn't premiere to big numbers. Plus it has done the best in that Thursday 9pm timeslot.
1 vs. 100 was never big if I recall correctly.

[McGillicuddy]

Would Max Headroom be considered? Or was that more a show with an extreme "cult" following?

[JulieSomoski]

Originally Posted by yankeesrj12

I don't think Fringe really fits into this category. Yeah people thought it would do great in the ratings, but it didn't premiere to big numbers. Plus it has done the best in that Thursday 9pm timeslot.
1 vs. 100 was never big if I recall correctly.

I believe it was actually doing better last season, on Tuesdays at 9pm out of House. There were 1 or 2 episodes where it even grew out of House. After Idol, it's numbers were also very strong. On Thursdays this season, it's been modestly performing, not great ratings but holding steady, yet still behind anything Hell's Kitchen was doing in the slot last spring.

[jimpickens]

Married With Children
Mork and Mindy
Happy Days
Battlestar Galactica the original series
Buck Rogers
Square Pegs
Miami Vice
Friends this show to be fair was lame to begin with
Cheers

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...then "faded from view":

"THE $64,000 CHALLENGE" (CBS, 1956-'58)
Big money quiz show [a spin-off from "THE $64,000 QUESTION", which started the cycle in 1955] featuring dueling contestants in "isolation booths". It was tainted by several "winners" who were provided certain answers in advance, and eventually forced off the air {as "THE $64,000 QUESTION" was}.

"TWENTY ONE" (NBC, 1956-'58)
Another big money game show featuring two contestants competing against each other in soundproofed "isolation booths". It became famous because of the extended "duel" between Herb Stempel and "champion" Charles Van Doren in early 1957, but also pulled off the air a year later because of allegations that some contestants WERE given answers in advance (including Van Doren, who finally admitted his guilt before a congressional investigation in 1959).

"HOOTENANNY" (ABC, 1963-'64)
Folk music showcase taped at various college campuses across America.
Impressive ratings in its first half-season, but no match against "JACKIE GLEASON'S AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE" in its second.

"SHINDIG!" (ABC, 1964-'66) and "HULLABALOO" (NBC, 1965-'66)
Teenage music showcases (although "HULLABALOO" was aimed more towards "grownups", due to guest hosts like Frankie Avalon, Jerry Lewis, Paul Anka, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Sammy Davis Jr., etc.) that opened strong, but when condensed into weekly half-hour editions in their second seasons ["SHINDIG!", the more "hipper", was seen twice a week in season two], "teeners" quietly drifted away, with "SHINDIG!" cancelled in January '66, and "HULLABALOO" hanging on to the end of the season.

"THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS SHOW" (CBS, 1965-'66)
[Tom's a bumbling angel, whose unwilling living brother Dick has to help fulfill his latest assignment every week]
This premiered with strong ratings ("GOMER PYLE, U.S.M.C." was its lead-in), but eventually "abandoned" by viewers after several weeks as it quickly dropped out of the Nielsen "Top Ten", yet stayed on through the end of the season due to sponsor commitments [Alberto-Culver, American Tobacco].

"F TROOP" (ABC, 1965-'67)
One of the best loved "Old West" parodies of the '60s; however, it wasn't lack of popularity that caused its cancellation at the end of season two- it was a financial tug-of-war, between Warner Bros. Television (the producers) and the network, that ended it {"Sorry, we can't afford what you're asking for to renew it for a third season, good-bye"}.

"THE INVADERS" (ABC, 1967-'68)
Quinn Martin's "sci-fi" variation of "THE FUGITIVE": somewhat successful in its first half-season, abandoned in its second.

"BRACKEN'S WORLD" (NBC, 1969-'70)
20th Century-Fox's glossy soap opera involving a fictional version of their studio {"Century Studios"} as seen through the eyes of three young actresses working on the lot. A success the first season, a dud the second, cancelled in January 1970.

"NANCY" (NBC, 1970-'71)
Sidney Sheldon's take on the "First Daughter" (of the President) courting and marrying a small-town veterinarian. Good ratings, but the network suddenly cancelled it after 17 episodes. Sheldon claimed there might have been influence from the real White House to pressure the network into dropping the series.


There are other examples, to be sure.....

[Marvo301]

Laugh- In (sock it to me!)

(look that up in your Funk and Wagnell's!) (veeerrry interestink!)