Off Topic Question....TV Series That Got Better Af

[mhadley]

We all know that a revamp of a series, while still on the air,
rarely works well, what do you think are some examples of one that got BETTER with the revamp?

Here is my list and I know that some of my picks are going to be very unpopular but I have my reasons....

Angel-Season 1 was pretty good, I hated seasons 2-4 and thought that the major revamp done for season 5 was amazing.

Baywatch Nights-Season 1 Was a goofy detective show with bad scripts, season 2 was also a goofy show with bad scripts but season 2 was fun as hell with them fighting vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens....... A real poor mans X-files...

Practice-The first few seasons were great, then around season 6 and 7 things got very theatrical and over the top, then season 8 came along and the show was reborn in a great way....

SeaQuest-Season 1 was okay, fun, smart but very predictable and overall dissapointing, season 2 was awful in more ways than I can list, season 3 on the other hand was amazing. It was a total reboot with a new title, new characters, dumping the annoying old characters and going with a very serious and dark tone.... Season 3 was really getting great when NBC pulled the plug....

Sirens-Season 1 (ABC) was an average female centered cop show, season 2 (First Run Syndication) was much better. Sure, the stories and writing and production values were not the best but the cast was great (Christopher Judge, Liza Snyder, Tim Thomerson and J.H. Wyman) and I had SUCH a crush on Snyder when this show was on the air (I was in High School then).

21 Jumpstreet-Seasons 1 and 2 were good for their time, then the series had what felt like a major revamp with season 3 and bringing in Booker. The stories got more serious, the stories started playing out over longer arcs, social issues were tackled...

War Of The Worlds-Season 1 was okay, but personally I know this will be very unpopular but I thought season 2 was amazing. I loved the new (gross) aliens, I loved the new "run down, used up future" look and tone, I liked that most of the episodes were more about issues then the aliens and I loved the addition of Adrian Paul (yes, I missed IronHorse as well but Kincad was a decent replacement). Yeah, the show was low budget (and it showed) and season 2 didn't link up with season 1 continuity but I liked season 2 better.

X-files-Again I know this will be a very unpopular opinion, but I liked the addition of Dogget and Reyes. I don't think the stories
(especailly the stand lone, non alien ones) were just as good as the early seasons and personally I feel that the Mulder/Scully stuff was played out long before the producers actually ended that era. I feel that those last 2 seasons were hated so much because it was THE X-FILES and it was so different then what people knew, I think it would have faired better if they had cancelled the X-files and used the Dogget and Ryes seasons as a new show.

[markatisu]

I think one that comes to mind for me is Enterprise, Season 4 was a revamp in many ways with a change in writing and direction of the show and had more to do with the continuity of the other Trek series. Because of this revamp it just blew away the previous 3 seasons hands down before it was in my opinion unwisely cancelled. If only it had been renewed!

[WEW3]

I really liked Viper season 1 and it's final season. I thought the series wasn't anything special in the middle seasons but it got good when The original star came back and the show really got going, then it got cancelled. To me it was the same thing with the addition of Spike on Angel. He totally revived the show.

Cheers and Night Court got better with later cast changes too.

I liked Ironman in the 90s with the addition of Force Works. Actually I liked the second seasons of all the Marvel Universe stuff at the time.

I thought Mutant X was better in the last season than the first season.

I also thought Enterprise was getting better in the last season. Too bad the last episode left a really bad taste in my mouth.

[debwalsh]

I'd agree on seaQuest having some good stuff in the final season, although I loved the first season. But I thought the best episodes of the third season were the unaired ones.

I treat War of the Worlds as two separate shows, each with a lot to enjoy.

I loved The Practice when it debuted. I lived in Boston at the time, and their use of city locations was outstanding - the best I'd seen on network television (much, much, much better than Spenser for Hire had been). But the later seasons not only jumped the shark, they filleted it as well. I never bothered to come back.

Enterprise finally became what it should have been all along in the fourth season. To cancel it at that point was nothing short of criminal. And to end it with the episode they did ... drawing and quartering is far too good for the bums.

I dropped Mutant X in its last season.

X-Files - I really liked Doggett and Reyes. I thought they brought a new perspective to the show that was refreshing.

Charmed is another show that benefitted from a revamp. As much as I liked the original Three, bringing in Rose McGowan and making Alyssa Milano's character *not* the baby of the family really energized the show.