TV Shows That Should Have Quit While Ahead
Shows that were awesome but got greedy & didn't quit while the show was great. As a result, their last season spoiled their overall reputation.
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- CreatorKevin WilliamsonStarsKevin BaconJames PurefoyShawn AshmoreA brilliant, charismatic, and psychotic serial killer communicates with other active serial killers and activates a cult of believers who follow his every command.This was so good at first and then it just fizzled into moronic mush...
- CreatorAlex GansaHoward GordonStarsClaire DanesMandy PatinkinDamian LewisA bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.Claire Dane just doesn't have the talent or charisma to hold an audience as the sole star. Damien Lewis was sooo good, and he made her tolerable as a co-star. I couldn't believe it when I saw they weren't going to replace him.
Note after Season 3 premiere... maybe... maybe... just maybe they've pulled it out of its nosedive...
... Later in the 3rd season: I'm still watching, but not yet removing this show from this list. - CreatorKurt SutterStarsCharlie HunnamKatey SagalMark Boone JuniorA biker struggles to balance being a father and being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club.This was one of my all-time favorite shows until the last season which I watched hoping every episode that it would get better. Almost all of the main characters deteriorate into people I REALLY disliked. I love anti-heroes but not scumbags, which is what Jax and Jemma turned into in that last season...
- CreatorMatthew WeinerStarsJon HammElisabeth MossVincent KartheiserA drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.It just became irrelevant...
- CreatorTerence WinterStarsSteve BuscemiKelly MacdonaldMichael ShannonAn Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.In the last season, I got the feeling that Steve Buscemi wished he was somewhere else... zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
- CreatorEric Ellis OvermyerDavid SimonStarsKhandi AlexanderRob BrownKim DickensLife after Hurricane Katrina as the residents of New Orleans try to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their unique culture in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in the USA.Ditto
- CreatorDavid WolstencroftStarsPeter FirthHugh SimonNicola WalkerThe missions of MI-5, the UK's domestic intelligence organization.Ditto
- CreatorSteven S. DeKnightStarsAndy WhitfieldLucy LawlessManu BennettThe life of Spartacus, the gladiator who lead a rebellion against the Romans. From his time as an ally of the Romans, to his betrayal and becoming a gladiator, to the rebellion he leads and its ultimate outcome.After Andy Whitfield died & was replaced by Liam McIntyre, even Manu Bennett, Lucy Lawless or John Hannah couldn't make up for the haircuts they cast as actors... But the 1st season was awesome.
- CreatorShonda RhimesStarsKerry WashingtonDarby StanchfieldKatie LowesA former White House Communications Director starts her own crisis management firm only to realize her clients are not the only ones with secrets.Sigh... it was really dynamic to start with... but after a while it was just not believable... I knew it was slipping when I actually started to LIKE Milly... and what is with every character speaking with the same rhythm withouttakingabreath as Kerry Washington???
- CreatorMike KelleyStarsMadeleine StoweEmily VanCampGabriel MannAn emotionally troubled young woman sets out to exact revenge against the people who wronged her father.Yea, yea... totally soap, but it held me with good acting for 2 seasons... but a show can only ride on Madeleine Stowe's draw for so long...
- CreatorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnNorman ReedusMelissa McBrideSheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.101 ways to kill zombies ... after that, you run out of plots...
- CreatorJeff DavisStarsKirsten VangsnessMatthew Gray GublerA.J. CookA group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) using behavioral analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and find the suspect known as the unsub.This show is so formalized that I think it's written by a plug-and-play unmanned drone...
- CreatorKenneth BillerMike SussmanStarsEric McCormackRachael Leigh CookKelly RowanDr. Daniel Pierce is an eccentric neuropsychiatrist who uses his unique outlook to help the federal government solve complex criminal cases.You could substitute Numbers, Scorpion, Arrow... same same... snorrrrrrr...
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsHugh DancyMads MikkelsenCaroline DhavernasExplores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.Regarding Season Three ONLY: Let me just say first that I love the actors in this series--they are its ONLY redeeming quality... after that, UGH! Whatever it is that passes for a soundtrack -- a psychotic cacophony of discordant, strident, atonal, caterwauling -- I assume is meant to spook the audience, but only succeeded in making THIS viewer homicidal. The plotlines were horrific purely for shock value and in the end, the last season was the result of some egomaniac behind the scene wacking off to their own reflection...
- CreatorKim CoghillAndrew De AngelisJeff DetskyStarsTatiana MaslanyDylan BruceJordan GavarisA streetwise hustler is pulled into a compelling conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like her.The first 2 seasons were amazing. By Season Three, I was tired of Tatiana Maslany and her 57 personalities... the novelty had worn off.
- CreatorAlon AranyaJeffrey NachmanoffOmri GivonStarsToni ColletteTate DonovanRhys CoiroA premiere surgeon is blackmailed in a plot to assassinate the president after her family is taken hostage by a rogue federal agent.I wanted to like this series. I really did. And Dylan McDermott did a great job. But, Toni Collette was so skinny that she was not only ugly, she was repugnant. I kept wanting to call 911 for her... This show should have quit before it ever started.
- CreatorRobert DohertyStarsJonny Lee MillerLucy LiuAidan QuinnA crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London, eccentric Sherlock escapes to New York where his father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.Jonny Lee Miller seems to have lost his top-spin because by the 4th season, he was tedious instead of intense while Lucy Liu CONTINUED to be tedious because no one has noticed that she cannot ACT. Never could act. Will never be able to act...
- CreatorAndrew DaviesKate BrookeStarsRon CookJeremy PivenTom Goodman-HillCenters on the real-life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's department store.