Viewers appreciate how a drama series can cover a wide range of complex topics, settings, and characters. While most fans never want their favorite shows to end, sometimes the stretching of a series tarnishes what made it stand out in the first place.
No matter how good a drama is, fans may lose interest or only continue watching out of obligation if it continues past a natural ending point. Even the most acclaimed TV shows overstay their welcome. The best thing to do is provide fans with a solid ending without compromising a series' premise or integrity, even if it means only lasting for a single season.
10 Why Women Kill Abandoned Multiple Time Periods
Why Women Kill was created by Marc Cherry, the creator of the award-winning series Desperate Housewives. It focuses on deaths caused by women and engrossed viewers in the various time periods, discussions of social issues, and unfolding of darkly humorous events. While the seasons are standalone and don't build on each other, the second season paled in comparison to the first, as shown by the lower ratings.
The first season masterfully followed the lives of three women in different time periods, discussing social issues relevant to their eras. Season 2 abandoned this premise and focused on two women in the same time period, providing a less captivating plot and losing fans' engagement. By choosing to abandon the concept of multiple time periods, Why Women Kill lost the edge that set it apart from other dramas.
9 Killing Eve Played Cat And Mouse
Based on the Villanelle book series, Killing Eve is a hugely popular BBC drama that sees Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer as Eva Polastri (a British Intelligence investigator) and Villanelle (an expert assassin). The series was praised for its spectacular lead performances. The intense and enthralling first season provided fans with action and fun, making the thriller stand out.
Season 2, on the other hand, tried to liven things up by introducing new antagonists, but the spark was already gone. Killing Eve continues to overplay the cat and mouse game between Eve and Villanelle, and fans are tired of the repetition.
8 Dexter Repeated Itself For Eight Seasons
Dexter is based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first book in a series that centers on Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician working for the Miami Metro Police Department. He leads a secret life as a serial killer who hunts down fellow murderers - those the justice system had not sufficiently punished.
Loyal followers of Dexter enjoyed brief moments of the later seasons, citing season 4 as one of the best. However, even die-hard Dexter fans can admit that the show essentially repeats the first season eight times before having one of the worse finales.
7 Gossip Girl Wasn't Supposed To Survive Outside The High School Years
Based on the novel of the same name, Gossip Girl follows upper-class teens living in Manhattan's Upper East Side through the narration of an unknown blogger, "Gossip Girl." The first season encapsulated high school drama and humor perfectly, but it went downhill from there.
As the characters got older and graduated, they all remained in Manhattan even though some of them wanted to leave the city. Later on, they remained friends even though they hated each other. While the show was successful and earned adaptations and a reboot, it wasn't intended to exist outside the high school premise. Only Gossip Girl's first season truly lived up to its intention.
6 Homeland Changed Its Premise
An award-winning show, Homeland discusses mature themes such as mental health and terrorism through Carrie Mathison. Mathison is a CIA officer who becomes convinced that Nicholas Brody has turned into a threat against the country after he's held captive by terrorists.
After the acclaimed first season, Homeland never managed to recapture the central conflict. Season 1 was morally complex with well-developed characters. Homeland initiated many tough conversations, but after the first season, it broke the boundaries that it had set on itself.
5 13 Reasons Why Covered It All In Season One
After the suicide of his classmate, Hannah Baker, Clay Jensen finds a box of cassette tapes that she left before her death. These tapes explained what and who caused her to end her life in 13 Reasons Why.
13 Reasons Why dealt with complex subjects. However, mental health professionals and fans claim that the show was problematic for many viewers. The events of the book Thirteen Reasons Why were all covered in the first season with a clear ending. However, the show went on to have three more seasons that only got worse.
4 Big Little Lies Was Meant To Be A Miniseries
Based on the novel of the same name, Big Little Lies centers on Bonnie, Celeste, Jane, Madeline, and Renata. After a murder at a school fundraiser, the 5 protagonists become the center of the investigation. The series had a notable cast and received critical acclaim for many of its elements. However, Big Little Lies was initially intended as a miniseries, and many fans think it should've only lasted a singular season.
Although the second season introduced new and prominent cast members, the murder mystery was already solved in season 1. After that big finale, many fans found it unnecessary to create another season.
3 Riverdale Grew In Absurdity
Although it's based on the characters of Archie Comics, Riverdale has taken many creative liberties. The show starts with a murder of Jason Blossom, a local teenager. After his murder, Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica start investigating the strange occurrences in their town.
The first season followed the intended premise, but the following seasons grasped at straws to stay relevant. Riverdale was not supposed to last as long as it did. Each season grows in absurdity, which some fans found entertaining but others found that it broke their suspension of disbelief.
2 They Broke Out As Promised In Prison Break
Considered an action-packed masterpiece, Prison Break follows mastermind Michael Scofield as he gets himself thrown into Fox River penitentiary to break out his brother and clear his name. Scofield goes in with a clear plan, even having his entire body tattooed with blueprints and instructions with backup plans embedded.
Scofield and Burrows escape at the end of the first season, essentially achieving the show's goal. However, Prison Break kept developing new plots, creating convoluted conspiracies, and bringing characters back from the dead to sustain four more seasons, a special, and a spin-off series.
1 Heroes Experienced An Identity Crisis
Heroes earned many Emmy nominations for its premise of regular people discovering their superabilities and working together to save the world, before the prevalence of Marvel and DC shows. Although the story was very promising, viewers felt that it could never recover after its first season as its second saw a 15 percent drop in viewership.
As Heroes continued, it was criticized for the ruthless killing of important characters. On the other hand, it also resurrected a few characters and gave weak explanations for it. Heroes didn't know which trajectory to take after an amazing first season, launching the show's identity crisis and lack of direction.