Sitcoms that ruined their legacy with one bad season

Even the best television shows aren’t immune to one bad season ruining their reputation.

The most famous example is, without a doubt, Game of Thrones. The show’s still held in high regard today, but there’s no denying the drop off it had from what is universally regarded as a terrible final season.

It’s a problem that I’d wager affects dramas and serials moreso than sitcoms. After all, a sitcom’s story isn’t nearly as important to its legacy. Yet there are still several sitcoms that fall victim to a bad season, tarnishing the show’s reputation.

How I Met Your Mother

The show’s entire premise revolved around the lead character, Ted Mosby, meeting his future wife and the mother of their children. Still, the best part about the show was the journey, not the destination.

Yet despite that, the show’s final season was an overextended glimpse at a wedding between two characters who immediately got divorced, not to mention completely dismissing the mother after her death, just so the writers could find a way to get Ted and Robin back together.

That ’70s Show

To How I Met Your Mother’s credit, the writers did what they could to tie everything together while still staying true to an ending that was written years in advance. The main characters were present from beginning to end.

The same cannot be said for That ’70s Show, which continued despite the loss of Topher Grace’s Eric Foreman and Ashton Kutcher’s Michael Kelso. It results in a huge change in the show’s tone, delivering whiplash for the viewer. Other shows have fallen victim to late season tonal changes, most notably Seinfeld following the loss of Larry David, but it didn’t suffer for it like That ’70s Show.

Roseanne

Now, this has nothing to do with Roseanne Barr as a person. Instead, it has everything to do with the original show’s final season and the questionable storyline decisions.

Discourse about the show’s ending has been talked about plenty of times before, including on this very website. What made the show work so well was its middle-class charm and background. Having them win the lottery in Season 9 took that away.

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Arrested Development

Widely regarded by critics and fans as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, Arrested Development doesn’t get the praise today it deserves today. It’s a shame, because its original run on Fox is still some of the best television you can watch today.

So what gives? The Netflix seasons, of which there are inexplicably several. You can overlook the first Netflix season since it was too complicated to get the cast together in one place to film. The show came back without this restriction, but the result was pretty much the same.

Community

While it was hard to get the cast back together, at least Arrested Development had the same creative team behind it for the Netflix seasons.

The same cannot be said for Community, which lost its series creator, Dan Harmon, due to creative conflicts. There was a noticeable drop in quality without Harmon at the helm, and he would eventually return for the rest of the show’s run. The show explained how things were off by saying that Greendale Community College suffered a gas leak.

While the show would rebound in later seasons with Harmon back, you can’t help but wonder if the series would be held in higher regard among other 2010s sitcoms if he never left.

Two and a Half Men

I know it’s weird to look at Two and a Half Men critically, like it deserves a place at the table with sitcom legends, but here’s the thing. It was, without a doubt, one of, if not the, most popular sitcoms of its time when Charlie Sheen was starring in the show.

Then Charlie Sheen did his thing, resulting in his departure. That didn’t stop the series from continuing without him, as Ashton Kutcher stepped into the spotlight. There are those who (correctly) wonder why the show kept airing. Again, it was a ratings juggernaut, but now, it’s an afterthought.

The Nanny

Part of what made The Nanny work so well was the constant tension between its main characters, Fran and Maxwell Sheffield.

Eventually, the two end up in a relationship, eventually becoming married, but with that comes the loss of the unique tension between them that was unique to The Nanny. Sticoms where happily married couples have conflicts are a dime a dozen. The Nanny had something special and unique going for it, but the writers threw it away by adding on unnecessary seasons after the show’s main narrative reached its conclusion.

Dexter

The first season of Dexter, which mirrors the novel it’s based on, helped put Showtime on the map.

Season 2 fell off as it deviates from the books, but it’s still something I thoroughly enjoyed. Season 3 felt like the show was going to drop off with another dip in quality, but then came the incredible fourth season with John Lithgow. “We’re so back,” I’d tell myself, and then the rest of the series happened.

Dexter was appointment viewing back in the day, but it took such a noticeable dip in quality that not only did I have to pull away, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch the (several) revivals.

Scrubs

Wait, why is Scrubs on this list? Its finale season is, like the rest of the show, incredible, and seeing JD walk down that hallway will always bring a tear to my face.

Hold on, I’m being told there was a ninth season that ran on ABC. Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I blocked that out.

Look, the ABC season of Scrubs is downright atrocious to the point where fans are deadly serious when they say it doesn’t exist. Here’s to hoping that the revival doesn’t suffer the same fate.