Rather than getting worse with time, these ten TV shows live up to their outstanding first seasons, making them gems that everyone should watch. When it comes to creating a TV show, it takes more than a great idea to succeed. Many shows will have atop-notch first season but then fail.
These ten shows are a rarity in that they debuted with a fantastic first season and then found a way to live up to the quality of season 1. They might have a few moments of floundering, but overall, they live up to the expectations set from the beginning.
10The Good Place
Eleanor Shellstrop Wakes Up In The Good Place But Realizes She Doesn’t Belong There
The Good Placeis a rare “masterpiece” sitcomthat lives up to its perfect first season. The show has an A+ concept that feels fresh and surprising, and it executes it flawlessly. The first season is particularly excellent at the bait-and-switch, in a positive way. It delves into philosophy topics without feeling patronizing. The comedy is on point and paced well.
There are no bad episodes across four seasons. The cast and writers created characters that feel like people you’d meet on the street, rather than fictional ones.
Other shows drag on too long, ruining their otherwise excellent story and characters. However,The Good Placefeels like it ends at just the right time. Chidi, Tihani, Michael, Eleanor, Janet, and Michael all feel like they’ve transformed.
9The Magicians
A Group Of Graduate Magic Students Has To Save The World Of Fillory
The dark fantasy TV show The Magicians immediately sets expectations with its great first season. It takes a few episodes to ramp up, but once it hits the halfway point, the season will suck viewers in. Audiences quickly realize they’re getting into a gritty, twisted, raunchy show with a really developed magic system. It has so much potential.
Plus, the show makes no illusions about the main characters being “good people,” as most of them are morally gray and frequently unlikable. However, that’s part of the beauty of the show. The heroes of the story are those whom people would expect the least.
All these things carry over into the later seasons and get even better, as they add campiness and the bizarre kingdom in Fillory. I’d argue that every season is better than the last, developing the characters in interesting new ways. I would fully recommend the show to anyone who can stomachThe Magicians’ darkest storylines.
8I Love Lucy
A Housewife Named Lucy Gets Into Hijinks Much To The Chagrin Of Her Husband
Lucille Ball was an absolute comedic genius who knew how to play to the audience. Her timing was nothing short of impeccable, and she excelled at physical comedy. Because she was part of the radio show My Favorite Husband, she had plenty of time to perfect her character before the TV show debuted.
Lucille Ball only agreed to doI Love Lucyif her husband, Desi Arnaz, was cast as her character’s fictional husband.
Consequently, I Love Lucy season 1 is phenomenal. It simultaneously captures the norms of the 1950s while pushing societal bounds. Nobody will ever forget the glorious moments of Ethel and Lucy going on dates and the “Lucy Does A TV Commercial” Vitameatavegimen incident in season 1.
However, I Love Lucy season 2, episode 1, “Job Switching”, makes it absolutely clear that the quality wasn’t going down. Behind Vitameatavegimen, this is thehighest-rated episode of I Love Lucy. Luckily, as expected, the rest of the series lived up to the high expectations of the first season.
7Never Have I Ever
A First-Generation Indian-American Girl Tries To Improve Her Status At Her High School
Led by actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever is one of the most realistic depictions of teenagers that I’ve ever seen. Davi Vishwakumar is selfish, impulsive, hot-headed, and she frequently puts boys ahead of her friends. Still, her messiness doesn’t negate the fact that she’s also lovable.
She’s allowed to be flawed, healing from her insecurity and trauma at her own pace. The loss of her dad continues to impact her across all four seasons in different ways, keeping the story interesting.
Like The Good Place, Never Have I Ever is also a show that feels like it ended at just the right time. Theoretically, they could have continued the story into college, but that would have felt like unnecessarily dragging it out. Instead, we have an awesome final season.
6Arrested Development
A Formerly-Wealthy, Highly Dysfunctional Family Adjusts After The Patriarch’s Imprisonment
When it comes to including Arrested Development on this list, I want to be very clear that I’m only referring to the original run, not the revival on Netflix. If I were to consider the revival, aka seasons 4 and 5, I couldn’t in honestly say that the show lived up to season 1.
Arrested Development was one of thebest sitcoms of the aughts. The first season showed so much potential with the excellent casting, writing, and comedic timing.
Luckily, the next two seasons were just as entertaining. The running jokes get even funnier the longer they go on. The second and third seasons offer just as unforgettable quotes as the first season. The family dynamics only continue to get more complex and chaotic.
5The Twilight Zone
The Episodic Anthology That Explores Social Anxieties Through Fantasy, Sci-Fi, & Horror
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Twilight Zone is, without a doubt, one of the most influential TV shows of all time. Rod Serling created the show after he was denied the opportunity to make TV shows about social and political issues. So, instead, he decided to address them under the guise of a sci-fi/horror show.
The Twilight Zone season 1 was proof of concept for later shows in the genre. The Rod Serling project seamlessly addressed topics like xenophobia, mob mentality, and soldiers being treated as expendable, to name a few.
Luckily, The Twilight Zone ran for five seasons, and all of them lived up to the high standards set by season 1. While there are someepisodes of The Twilight Zone that everyone should watch, it’s one of the few shows where it would feel impossible to pick a “best” episode because the show is packed with phenomenal episodes.
4Cheers
The Employees & Patrons Of A Cozy Boston Bar Go Through The Highs & Lows Of Life
Fans cherish the sitcom Cheers, so it might be surprising to know that the show was nearly canceled after a single season. Cheers season 1 tanked in the ratings, but it actually was one of the biggest achievers at the 1983 Emmys. This is because its first season was excellent.
The debut season balances the main characters well, establishing their personalities. The scripts are clever and genuinely funny. Plus, it immediately establishes the will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Sam and Diane.
Luckily, the show lived up to its potential. Cheers is hilarious and comforting. The actors give such compelling performances that they make viewers care about the characters. Unsurprisingly, the sitcom was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys every season, and it won the award in 1983, 1984, 1989, and 1991.
3Six Feet Under
The Fisher Family Own & Run A Funeral Home
The dark comedy show Six Feet Under is nothing short of amazing from start to finish, with later seasons building off the potential of the first season. The cast of Six Feet Under absolutely kills it (pun intended), creating characters that are utterly human in the best and worst ways.
Rather than decreasing in quality, Six Feet Under only continues to get better after an excellent first season. The characters grow in very natural ways, rather than feeling forced. The gallows humor continues to be hilarious.
On top of that,Six Feet Under’s endingis one of the best finales of all time. I won’t go into details for the sake of new viewers because I think every audience member deserves to experience it for themselves. However, it does a great job wrapping up everyone’s storylines.
2Resident Alien
An Alien Crashes On Earth & Hides In A Colorado Town
Alan Tudyk’s sci-fi showResident Alien was unceremoniously canceledat the end of July, putting an end to a show that lived up to its first season. The main character, alien Harry Vanderspeigle, is introduced well. The premise feels fresh and well-developed, laying the foundation for the story. Plus, it has a good balance between making audiences laugh and cry.
While the following three seasons might not have improved upon the first season, they did maintain the high-quality storytelling, character development, and comedy. In this way, it lives up to the first season.
By the finale, it’s hard to say goodbye to Harry and the other Resident Alien characters. I’m just grateful that the creator, Chris Sheridan, predicted Resident Alien’s cancellation and wrote the fourth season to be the series finale, offering closure to fans.
1Community
A Group Of Misfit Students, Led By A Former Lawyer, Form A Study Group
Dan Harmon’s sitcom Community is one of the smartest and most entertaining shows released in the 2000s. The first season immediately introduced Greendale Community College, the zany characters taking the same Spanish class, and the constant homages to pop culture. It immediately gained cult classic status.
Surprisingly, the show lived up to the expectations set by season 1. Except forthe dreaded gas leak year,Communitycontinued to put out smart stories that pushed the characters in interesting and fresh ways. The meta-commentary adds to the already top-notch humor.
Luckily, fans of the show still have one more thing to look forward to:the Community movie. The cast (minus Chevy Chase) is on board, including Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown – both of whom left the show ahead of its final season. The script is written and ready to go. Now, we just have to wait to see if the movie ends up being as good as the show.
