12 Great TV Shows That Had Lame First Seasons

[TMC]

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/12-...first-seasons/

Friends

Who needs character development when you can sit in various cool ways?

The writers of Friends clearly had their character types established going into the show: Chandler was the funny one, Phoebe was the hippie, and Ross was the wet blanket WHO RUINED EVERYTHING, SERIOUSLY ROSS WHY DO THESE PEOPLE HANG OUT WITH YOU? But they didn’t yet understand how to make the characters interact with one another. After the first season, relationships became more seamless until eventually, they got a little too comfortable and the show got incestuous and gross.

The Simpsons

While not nearly as rough as its unwatchable beginnings on The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons’ first season lacked a certain something. The animation was crude, the voices were gruffer, and yes, Smithers was black. While the first season’s episodes were well-written, they relied too heavily on Bart’s catchphrases like “Don’t have a cow, man” and “Eat my shorts.” But the main thing the early episodes lacked was the quick-witted humor, textured comedy, and heartfelt middle-class family sentimentality that would become that would become the show’s trademark quality. The Simpsons started to hit its stride by the second season and by the third, it was off and running as an unparalleled benchmark of TV comedy greatness. Tragically, the show ended in the year 2000 and no lackluster episodes that would besmirch the series’ legacy were ever aired after that. …That’s what the diehard fans choose to believe anyway. In actuality, even creator Matt Groening recently admitted that he doesn’t watch the show anymore and hinted that it should end soon. Despite the criticism, the show was just picked up by FOX for a ridiculously unnecessary 26th season. Ay carumba.

Workaholics

With only three seasons under its belt, Workaholics is the shortest-running show of this list but arguably the one that saw the most drastic improvement. The show’s premise was nothing out of the ordinary: slackers who hated their office jobs. So the first season wasn’t anything people hadn’t seen before in Office Space or The Office. But by the second and third seasons, Workaholics started experimenting and things got weird. Really weird. Cyborg fantasies starring Tom Green and doing LSD with your boss in a hotel room weird. But it took almost that whole first season for the show to craft its unique, identity, while still somehow being completely stoned.

Seinfeld

In 1989, Seinfeld, the most celebrated sitcom of all time, was picked up for the smallest sitcom order in TV history: Four episodes. And it’s amazing it even got that many. Originally titled, The Seinfeld Chronicles, the show tested terribly with focus groups who felt it was “too New York” and “too Jewish.” Anti-semitic critiques aside, the show also lacked its famous bassy theme song and a character you may remember named Elaine Benes. The show’s original female cast member was a waitress at Pete’s Luncheonette (not Monk’s Cafe, mind you) named Claire. The character was rumored to have been dropped after the actress playing her made some unwelcome suggestions about the show to Larry David. And can’t you just see David getting upset over that? And while Kramer was a main character in the pilot, he was originally named Kessler and seemed to be agoraphobic. (Jerry mentioned that he had not left the apartment building in 10 years.) Also, Kessler owned a dog named Ralph who was never seen again. Poor Ralph.

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/12-...rst-seasons/2/

Beavis and Butt-Head

The animation on the first few episodes of Beavis and Butt-Head was so crude that it was downright terrifying. And the voices sounded like someone doing a third-rate Beavis and Butt-Head impression. Most of the early episodes were just the two characters huh-huh and heh-heh-ing along to things like farts, asses, and of course, frog baseball. The show later became slightly more nuanced without losing too much of its elementary humor and grittiness. The later episodes had at least some semblance of actual plots. Or to quote another Mike Judge project, “they had stories so you cared whose ass it was and why it was farting.”

Married…with Children

You can’t blame Married…with Children for being a bit rough around the edges in its first season. Being the first primetime series to ever air on FOX, it didn’t really didn’t have a path to follow. So the writers made up their own rules. And man, did they. Fat jokes, misogynist jokes, and poverty jokes abounded. Its crudeness led uptight viewers to boycott the show’s advertisers until they pulled funding. But eventually, America came to accept and even love the Bundys as the country’s most honest representation of blue collar America since All in the Family.

Parks and Recreation

Going back and watching the first season of Parks and Rec is like watching a first place baseball team on a night where all the top players are on the DL. Not only were the show’s current stars Adam Scott and Rob Lowe missing, but the writers clearly didn’t realize the talent they had on their hands with actors like Aziz Ansari and Nick Offerman who went underused. Eventually, Parks and Rec moved away from being the Leslie Knope Show and focused more on the stellar ensemble cast. Yes, that even includes you, Jerry.

That 70’s Show

For the pilot episode and much of its first season, the punchline to just about every joke on That 70’s Show was, “Get it? …Because it’s the 70’s! Isnt that funny?!” But it really wasn’t. It wasn’t at all funny. It was zero funny. Eventually, the relationships between characters became more tenuous and complex and gave viewers a reason to tune in beyond the jokes about perms. (Get it?! Because people had perms in the ‘70’s!)

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/10/12-...rst-seasons/3/

The Daily Show

If you heard “the first season of The Daily Show” and pictured a young Jon Stewart, you have already forgotten that the show was originally hosted by Craig Kilborn and was more or less a 30-minute knock off of SNL’s Weekend Update. In his penultimate episode in 1998, Kilborn did a torch-passing interview with Stewart and in between making jokes about his height, asked Stewart what changes could be expected. Stewart replied, “Changes? By God, this is The Daily Show, man! Why don’t I just draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa for God’s sake!” But clearly, over the last 14 years, he has changed the format, dropping the “5 questions” interview style to more serious talks with politicians and newsmakers. The opening segment also switched from one-off jokes about the day’s headlines to more in-depth segments on specific issues. It seemed to pay off because the show has given birth to stars like Steve Carell, Ed Helms, and Stephen Colbert while managing to win something like 16,000 Emmys.

The King of Queens

People love to look down their snobby little noses at The King of Queens which is unfair given that the show was always good for a few chuckles, usually in the form of food jokes. (Kevin James is a bit overweight, if you haven’t noticed.) The show’s stigma might date back to the growing pains of the series’ first season when it didn’t even have a proper theme song. Characters were shuffled in and out until the lamer ones were eventually given the axe, like Carrie’s half-sister, Sara, and Doug’s suupah New Yawwk tawwkin’ buddy, Richie, who musta went off and gotten some pizza and nevah came back, eh? Ayy, fuggedaboutit.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The problem with the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that every episode was a one-off. It was just Buffy and pals fighting a new monster every week like the Scooby Doo gang. (It’s worth mentioning that in addition to Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar also played Daphne in the Scooby Doo movie.) After some new regular characters like Spike and Angel were introduced, the show became a proper series and the plots became deeper and stopped magically resolving themselves each week to start fresh the following week like a vampire Etch-A-Sketch.

South Park

South Park’s early appeal was that it was largely considered offensive and pissed off parents everywhere with episodes about things like anal probes, a talking Christmas poo, and Cartman’s dirty slut mom. But over the last 17 seasons, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have seemed intent on making those early episodes look like Sesame Street by comparison. Parker and Stone continue to pound hot button issues and relentlessly poke unsuspecting celebrities on a weekly basis. So while an Ethiopian exchange student may have been offensive in 1997, South Park is now on to bigger topics like murder porn.

[icecream]

The only one of those shows I like is Seinfeld. And I agree its 1st (and 2nd) seasons were the weakest.

[70s show watcher]

i agree about season 1 of friends not being very good but i disagree about that 70s show i think season 1 was very funny

[Adamantium]

Friends - I disagree. I think the first season was a pretty good season.

The Simpsons - Eh, I think the first season was good. It's famous for the crude animation but it wasn't fully formed yet, but I wouldn't call it lame.

Seinfeld - Yeah, the first season was the weakest but I wouldn't say "lame." It had funny moments and I liked its modesty.

Married with Children - Again, probably the weakest season but not lame.

Parks & Recreation - Weakest, yes, lame, no.

That '70s Show - This is an outrage. I think the first season is probably the BEST season of the series.

The Daily Show - Eh, it was alright. It just wasn't as popular or important as it became with Jon Stewart.

The King of Queens - I think the first season is one of the best.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I know a lot of fans say this, but I actually like the first season. So... not lame.

The other shows I never watched.

I can say some of these first seasons are the weakest of the series but none of them are considered "lame," in my opinion.

[tlc38tlc38]

The first season of Buffy was actually my favorite! The Master rocked!

[dlemond]

The first season of That '70s Show was one of the best.
(the first 3 were all very good in my opinion, the 4th pretty good).

It is absolutely ridiculous to say that it was lame.

[comedyfreak]

The first season of That 70's Show was very good and so were The Simpsons.

[king of comedy]

Originally Posted by Adamantium

Friends - I disagree. I think the first season was a pretty good season.

The Simpsons - Eh, I think the first season was good. It's famous for the crude animation but it wasn't fully formed yet, but I wouldn't call it lame.

Seinfeld - Yeah, the first season was the weakest but I wouldn't say "lame." It had funny moments and I liked its modesty.

Married with Children - Again, probably the weakest season but not lame.

Parks & Recreation - Weakest, yes, lame, no.

That '70s Show - This is an outrage. I think the first season is probably the BEST season of the series.

The Daily Show - Eh, it was alright. It just wasn't as popular or important as it became with Jon Stewart.

The King of Queens - I think the first season is one of the best.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I know a lot of fans say this, but I actually like the first season. So... not lame.

The other shows I never watched.

I can say some of these first seasons are the weakest of the series but none of them are considered "lame," in my opinion.

I agree with you on The Simpsons, Buffy, that 70s show and Married with Children. Those are my favorites.

[treky]

I agree about SIENFELD-the first season wasn't very good.

I disagree however about THE KING OF QUEENS, THAT 70S SHOW, THE SIMPSONS & FRIENDS. They were all good from the start.

SOUTH PARK has always been goo though, like you said.

I do agree though that THE SIMPSONS has gone on too long.

[Tubehead]

i didn't like the first season of full house or Sanford and son i also didn't like the first season of flash point but it got better after the first season

[installLSC]

I'm surprised two obvious ones didn't make it:Night Court and Newhart. Night Court in its first couple of seasons tried to be a mix of serious and comedic, but just came off as downbeat. It got way better when it became over the top and not even remotely realistic. Newhart's problem is the yuppie couple of the first season (forgot their names) were so boring; the switch to Michael and Stephanie made it a lot better.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by installLSC

Newhart's problem is the yuppie couple of the first season (forgot their names) were so boring; the switch to Michael and Stephanie made it a lot better.

I'm not real sure who you're reffering to here. The first season had Leslie and Kirk, but they were never a couple. Kirk's girlfriend, Cindy didn't show up until the second season.

[Gemini_89]

The Facts of Life. In season 1 the only real stand outs was Mrs G. Tootie, Blair, and Natalie. In season 2, they dropped everybody else (or reduced their role dramatically until they were eventually gone for good) and added in Jo.

[icecream]

Originally Posted by installLSC

I'm surprised two obvious ones didn't make it:Night Court and Newhart. Night Court in its first couple of seasons tried to be a mix of serious and comedic, but just came off as downbeat. It got way better when it became over the top and not even remotely realistic. Newhart's problem is the yuppie couple of the first season (forgot their names) were so boring; the switch to Michael and Stephanie made it a lot better.

The first season of Night Court was better than the last two.

[Torgo]

The King of Queens

People love to look down their snobby little noses at The King of Queens which is unfair given that the show was always good for a few chuckles, usually in the form of food jokes. (Kevin James is a bit overweight, if you haven’t noticed.) The show’s stigma might date back to the growing pains of the series’ first season when it didn’t even have a proper theme song. Characters were shuffled in and out until the lamer ones were eventually given the axe, like Carrie’s half-sister, Sara, and Doug’s suupah New Yawwk tawwkin’ buddy, Richie, who musta went off and gotten some pizza and nevah came back, eh? Ayy, fuggedaboutit.

The first season is excellent. But considering the author of this article thinks that the only good jokes were the food jokes, and that Richie was only on the first season proves they never watched the show beyond that 1 season. Richie was on until season 3.