Question: TV Shows that fell off a cliff

[TMC]

http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&thread=457217&page=1

I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
one reason or another.

http://www.bonethefish.com/

[Volfie999]

On Nov 25, 1:46 am, TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=disp...

>
> I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> one reason or another.
>
> http://www.bonethefish.com/

Well, ignoring the links, which I of course didn't click on, I can
name a few:

I hear a lot that "Downton Abbey"'s first season was great and then
the second one sucked.

"Frasier" got horribly crappy all at once, after about the fifth
season. (I can remember right here on this board, someone posted a
topic, "Seriously did "Frasier" hire new writers?" It got that bad
from one season to the next.)

I hear from my friend Claire that "Desperate Housewives" only had one
good season, the first.

And as a kid, you remember "Land of The Lost?" First season,
excellent saturday morning kid's fare. Second season, basically a
weak repeat of the first. Third season blew so many rocks that should
have changed the name to Quarry Slut.

[Ian J. Ball]

In article
<c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&threa

> d=457217&page=1
>
> I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> one reason or another.
>
> http://www.bonethefish.com/

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school

"Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character

--
"Surf-crazed aliens... Of course." - Amber, "Alien Surf Girls",
Episode #1.1, "Wipeout".
Wait a minute... "Of course"?! "*Of course*"?!! Did I miss a step here??!!

[BTR1701]

In article
<ijball-NO_SPAM-C98...@news.eternal-september.org>,

"Ian J. Ball" <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

> In article
> <c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&thr
> > ea
> > d=457217&page=1
> >
> > I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> > most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> > decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> > shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> > one reason or another.
> >
> > http://www.bonethefish.com/
>
> "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school
>
> "Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
> Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character

Nah.

[JRStern]

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:56:00 -0800, "Ian J. Ball"
<ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>In article
><c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&threa
>> d=457217&page=1
>>
>> I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
>> most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
>> decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
>> shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
>> one reason or another.
>>
>> http://www.bonethefish.com/
>
>"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school
>
>"Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
>Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character

Yeah that's a good example, I'm not sure exactly when it tanked but
the first season or so was excellent, and then it fell off a cliff.

Even MASH had a pretty mushy last year or two. Even Magnum PI. But
both of those were after several great seasons.

CSI:Miami was an acquired taste from day one, but it was OK until some
point or other, then became unwatchable, about the time Horatio's
ex-wife and kid showed up.

... I dunno, it's hard to distinguish between declines and cliffs.

J.

[Invid Fan]

In article
<78fa5f51-30f9-4652...@e25g2000vbm.googlegroups.com>,

Volfie999 <mooseb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> And as a kid, you remember "Land of The Lost?" First season,
> excellent saturday morning kid's fare. Second season, basically a
> weak repeat of the first. Third season blew so many rocks that should
> have changed the name to Quarry Slut.

The creator of the show, David Gerrold (Star Trek "The trouble with
Tribbles", Star Trek Animated), left after the first season. Season two
had a similar group of SF writers doing the scripts, but no unified
theme. The actor playing the dad left before season three, and that
killed it.

--
Chris Mack "If we show any weakness, the monsters will get cocky!"
'Invid Fan' - 'Yokai Monsters Along With Ghosts'

[Ian J. Ball]

In article <vvl4b8thbgcrf7d2l...@4ax.com>,

JRStern <JRS...@foobar.invalid> wrote:

> On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:56:00 -0800, "Ian J. Ball"
> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
>
> >In article
> ><c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> > TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&th
> >> read=457217&page=1
> >>
> >> I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> >> most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> >> decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> >> shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> >> one reason or another.
> >>
> >> http://www.bonethefish.com/
> >
> >"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school
> >
> >"Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
> >Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character
>
> Yeah that's a good example, I'm not sure exactly when it tanked but
> the first season or so was excellent, and then it fell off a cliff.
>
> Even MASH had a pretty mushy last year or two. Even Magnum PI. But
> both of those were after several great seasons.

I definitely think "Magnum" fell off a cliff in its final season, if not
its last two. IIRC, "Simon & Simon" went through a similar thing.

IIRC, "The A-Team" also fell apart after the first season or two...

[anim8rFSK]

In article
<ijball-NO_SPAM-C98...@news.eternal-september.org>,

"Ian J. Ball" <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

> In article
> <c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&thr
> > ea
> > d=457217&page=1
> >
> > I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> > most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> > decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> > shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> > one reason or another.
> >
> > http://www.bonethefish.com/
>
> "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school

Or more accurately in the episode Dracula

>
> "Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
> Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character

Wesley was the best thing that happened to Angel.

--
"Every time a Kardashian gets a TV show, an angel dies."

[anim8rFSK]

In article <vvl4b8thbgcrf7d2l...@4ax.com>,
JRStern <JRS...@foobar.invalid> wrote:

> On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:56:00 -0800, "Ian J. Ball"
> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
>
> >In article
> ><c0162dd0-0b39-44f2...@ah9g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> > TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&th
> >> rea
> >> d=457217&page=1
> >>
> >> I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
> >> most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
> >> decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
> >> shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
> >> one reason or another.
> >>
> >> http://www.bonethefish.com/
> >
> >"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" - died quickly after they left high school
> >
> >"Angel" - died after Episode #10 when they killed off Doyle, ruined the
> >Cordelia character, and brought in the horrible Wesley character
>
> Yeah that's a good example, I'm not sure exactly when it tanked but
> the first season or so was excellent, and then it fell off a cliff.

Angel fell off a cliff when they decided to write in Charisma's
pregnancy.

>
> Even MASH had a pretty mushy last year or two. Even Magnum PI. But
> both of those were after several great seasons.
>
> CSI:Miami was an acquired taste from day one, but it was OK until some
> point or other, then became unwatchable, about the time Horatio's
> ex-wife and kid showed up.

Some would say about the time Horatio showed up. :D

>
> ... I dunno, it's hard to distinguish between declines and cliffs.
>
> J.

[Captain Infinity]

Once Upon A Time,

TMC wrote:

>I think most of us familiar with the term jump the shark, and that
>most shows have had a moment where they began to show they were in
>decline. Well, what about shows that just fell off a cliff. These are
>shows that didn't gradually decline, but just abruptly imploded for
>one reason or another.

By this time tomorrow the phrase "fell off a cliff" will have jumped the
shark.



**
Captain Infinity

[Michael Black]

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012, Ian J. Ball wrote:


>> Even MASH had a pretty mushy last year or two. Even Magnum PI. But
>> both of those were after several great seasons.
>
> I definitely think "Magnum" fell off a cliff in its final season, if not
> its last two. IIRC, "Simon & Simon" went through a similar thing.
>

I can vaguely see that in Simon & Simon (it's been too long for me to
remember properly). But were they falling or pushed? There were few
iterations of the peripheral characters, and so did the fall happen
because they changed those characters, or was it falling already so they
changed those characters? I check and yes, it was the woman police
detective added that last season and I didn't like her. Of course, Tim
Reid had that role for a while before that.

And wasn't the last season of Magnum more than expected? I thought he
didn't want to do more, they talked him back into it, so perhaps the
season ended up being a patch job because the show did suddenly come back.

Michael

[Ian J. Ball]

In article <anim8rfsk-BFEAE...@news.easynews.com>,

Sure, if you're *insane*.

[Ian J. Ball]

In article <j9g5b8ldbl1tsk547...@4ax.com>,

Bah! You jumped the cliff. Or fell off the shark... Or whatever.

[anim8rFSK]

In article <alpine.LNX.2.02.1...@darkstar.example.org>,

Yes. They actually killed Magnum and had to resurrect him and retcon
the events of the original finale.

That said, some of their best episodes are in the final season, like
Raiders of the Lost Art. And the new finale is waaaaaay better than the
first finale.

[Jim G.]

anim8rFSK sent the following on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:16:49 -0700:

I'd still love to fire up the time machine and hop to a timeline in
which Selleck didn't have to pass on the role of Indy.

> And the new finale is waaaaaay better than the
> first finale.

+1 to the millionth power. I know, I know. It's still 1, but work with
me here. :)

--
Jim G. | A fan of the good and the bad, but not the mediocre
"I'm really ready for this day to be over." -- Duke Crocker, HAVEN

[anim8rFSK]

In article <mb2ab8hnp18d3s1ra...@4ax.com>,

He'd sure be better now as Old Indy. And we'd probably be spared Shia
LaBoof. Tom Selleck and Sean Connery ...

>
> > And the new finale is waaaaaay better than the
> > first finale.
>
> +1 to the millionth power. I know, I know. It's still 1, but work with
> me here. :)

--

[Your Name]

In article <anim8rfsk-84762...@news.easynews.com>, anim8rFSK

<anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> In article <mb2ab8hnp18d3s1ra...@4ax.com>,
> Jim G. <jimg...@geemail.com.invalid> wrote:
> > anim8rFSK sent the following on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:16:49 -0700:
> > >

> > > Yes. They actually killed Magnum and had to resurrect him and retcon
> > > the events of the original finale.
> > >
> > > That said, some of their best episodes are in the final season, like
> > > Raiders of the Lost Art.
> >
> > I'd still love to fire up the time machine and hop to a timeline in
> > which Selleck didn't have to pass on the role of Indy.
>
> He'd sure be better now as Old Indy. And we'd probably be spared Shia
> LaBoof. Tom Selleck and Sean Connery ...

Lia Shaboof was obviously introduced to take on the role in future movies
as "Indy Jnr" ... now that Disney own LucasFilm and they have stated they
have no plans for anything other than "Star Wars", we have to wait and see
what happens with the planned (and partially written?) Indy V movie.

[Jim G.]

anim8rFSK sent the following on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:10:32 -0700:

I've said before that I really like Ford in the role, so it's not as if
I hate the movies as they stand. (Or, at least I don't hate anything
about them *because* of Ford.) But I'd still like to see the
alt-version(s)...

> He'd sure be better now as Old Indy.

I thought that Ford was okay in the last one, with just a few scenes
where I wish they'd remembered that he was getting too creaky to be
doing what he was doing. IMO, the script was the killer, not Ford.

> And we'd probably be spared Shia
> LaBoof. Tom Selleck and Sean Connery ...

I don't know if anyone could have done much better with the lines and
role that LaBrat was given. Most people would come across as awful if
they were given that awful material to begin with.